Soaked oil rag safety disposal

aherring

Our furnace was recently serviced, and the tech left behind two oil soaked rags (soaked with heating oil) that had dripped from a faulty filter canister. How do I safely dispose of them? Thanks!

Jamie Hall

Good grief. They shouldn't have left them behind. Sloppy. That said the only safe way to handle them is in a sealed, airtight, metal container -- or completely out in the open, outside any building, unfolded or scrunched up -- laid out.

STEVEusaPA

Call them up and tell them to come get them.

JUGHNE

Did they just leave them laying on the floor or put them into your waste can?

Joe V_2

You can toss in trash. It is not considered an oil spill.

Pumpguy

@joe V, The issue is not so much environmental, but the potential for spontaneous combustion. The advice @Jamie Hall posted addresses this concern.

ChrisJ

I've heard of linseed oil spontaneously igniting, but never Diesel fuel.

That's a new one on me.

I mean I could be wrong, but I don't believe it's possible.

Jamie Hall

ChrisJ said:

I've heard of linseed oil spontaneously igniting, but never Diesel fuel.

That's a new one on me.

I mean I could be wrong, but I don't believe it's possible.

It is, unless the rag is perfectly clean and and not cotton or wool. But why take chances? A nice fire in the basement can ruin your whole day...

Danny Scully

Flash point of #2 oil is between 126-204...

HVACNUT

> @Danny Scully said:
> Flash point of #2 oil is between 126-204...

>>Atomized. Used to toss my cigarette buts in my waste oil all the time.
Put the rags in a bag and leave it at the door of the service company.

ChrisJ

Jamie Hall said:

ChrisJ said:

I've heard of linseed oil spontaneously igniting, but never Diesel fuel.

That's a new one on me.

I mean I could be wrong, but I don't believe it's possible.

It is, unless the rag is perfectly clean and and not cotton or wool. But why take chances? A nice fire in the basement can ruin your whole day...

Being safe is always wise, personally I'd throw oil soaked rags in a can out side for the stink alone.

That said, there's also a point of going too far for no reason. For example, we don't store bread in a lead lined container as we would Plutonium.

Also keep in mind, most including OSHA do not consider Diesel or #2 heating oil to be flammable.

As @Danny Scully said, flash point of 126-204F.

EBEBRATT-Ed

what @Jamie Hall said is correct. I would put them outside the house & let them dry completely in the sun. After that toss in the trash.

Same thing as rags which have kerosene, turpentine, paint thinner or stain.

Will any of those self combust? Probably not but don't take a chance.

Better to be safe than sorry

I would certainly call them and complain, sloppy and LAZY. no wonder people switch to gas.

Joe V_2

on the hazard/safety diamond, diesel has a flammability rating of 2.
environmentally, diesel will breakdown in a landfill. Two rags doesnt qualify you as a waste oil generator.

Jamie Hall

Joe V said:

on the hazard/safety diamond, diesel has a flammability rating of 2.
environmentally, diesel will breakdown in a landfill. Two rags doesnt qualify you as a waste oil generator.

No one said it did. I'm just being cautious...

EBEBRATT-Ed

Once had a job with a really old burner that had sagged a little and the burner blast tube was pitched back toward the burner instead of down toward the fire box.

The cutoff in the old Webster Pump failed and oil dripped into the blast tube and ignited on the hot tube after the burner shut off.

The fire follow the blast tube and dripped out on the floor still burning. They had stored paper bags with empty soda cans near the boiler, the bags caught fire and only the soda cans were left.

Lucky for them the Firomatic valve melted and shut the oil off.

It still could have burned down the house. They were lucky old 1860s house would have gone up quick.

I don't give a dam about flash points or what class of flammability fuel oil has.

use common sense.

What if those rags were under the burner and the same situation happened?

Sometimes it's not one hazard. Sometimes several things go wrong at the same time and the results are horrific.

What would those who said it's not hazardous say if the place burned down?

The book says it's ok???

ChrisJ

@EBEBRATT-Ed Have you checked your PM's lately?

JUGHNE

IIRC and the reports are correct a movie theater a few miles from here had spontaneous combustion of cleaning rags from the popcorn oil. Fire in the lobby/concession area was enough to total the building with smoke damage.

Also another interesting event was an explosion of a underground diesel fuel storage tank, (5-10,000 gallon) lighting hit the ground and the tank exploded making quite a crater. As the C-store was closed, I was told the tank was empty and would have only fumes which were the source of the explosion. FWIW

ChrisJ

JUGHNE said:

IIRC and the reports are correct a movie theater a few miles from here had spontaneous combustion of cleaning rags from the popcorn oil. Fire in the lobby/concession area was enough to total the building with smoke damage.

Also another interesting event was an explosion of a underground diesel fuel storage tank, (5-10,000 gallon) lighting hit the ground and the tank exploded making quite a crater. As the C-store was closed, I was told the tank was empty and would have only fumes which were the source of the explosion. FWIW

Yes, popcorn oil I can see.
A petroleum product I cannot.


From another site.

"It's oxidation that creates the potential for spontaneous combustion. Petroleum products like motor oil and gasoline, while flammable, do not undergo oxidation. Also, the tendency of oil to spontaneously combust is related to its iodine number — if it's 130 or greater, the potential is there."



This of course doesn't mean something containing rags soaked in gasoline or Diesel cannot be ignited. That should be obvious. But they won't just burst into flames on their own like Linseed oil has been known to do. I was always warned about this with Linseed oil.



That's my understanding.
I'm by no means an expert, I know only what word of mouth and a quick Google search provided me.

@Jamie Hall Seems to feel the material of the rag may come into play. I have no idea, that's well above my knowledge. I just couldn't find anything to suggest it was true. Doesn't mean he's wrong either.

Like @EBEBRATT-Ed said, use common sense. Of course the rags should not be left on the floor. Like I said, even if they weren't dangerous, they stink!

No one should ever store combustible or flammable items near a boiler regardless. That too, should be common sense.

Pumpguy

Back when I was a boy, we had a situation where a wool navy watchcap that was wet from melted snow and stuffed into a jacket pocket spontaneously combust.

I wouldn't have thought that could happen, but it did. Fortunately we smelled the smoke and found the source before it burst into flames.

We were lucky that day with no loss other than the charred watchcap and jacket.

FranklinD

When I was just starting out as a mechanic, I worked with an old salt that would regularly cut rusty steel fuel lines full of gasoline with an abrasive cutoff wheel chucked into his high-speed die grinder, sparks flying everywhere. When I asked him about the intelligence of doing so, he told me that "liquid gasoline isn't all that dangerous...it's the vapors...so cut quick." He also did everything (fuel filters, tanks, pumps, injectors) with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Ah, Rick, I hope you're still alive...but if you're not I can guess why.

At work we have a 55 gal drum that old spent oil sorbent goes into...floor dry, absorbent pads, sawdust, anything soaked with oil. Then the local waste oil company picks it up when full and incinerates the contents.

Side note: drained oil filters are still allowed to go in the municipal garbage collection around here. Always thought that was odd.

EBEBRATT-Ed

How many people have died cutting into a steel drum or tank that has been drained with a cutting torch.......they "only" had fumes in them

Zman

As for the oily rags, I would dry them and throw the away. If you want to make a point, take them to the oil companies office and set them on the front desk.

If you have seen the movie Spinal Tap you would know how common spontaneous combustion is. Particularly with drummers...

ChrisJ

Zman said:

As for the oily rags, I would dry them and throw the away. If you want to make a point, take them to the oil companies office and set them on the front desk.

If you have seen the movie Spinal Tap you would know how common spontaneous combustion is. Particularly with drummers...

So wait,
I should trust a movie over what chemists say now?

JUGHNE

Or trust the internet for info?

ChrisJ

JUGHNE said:

Or trust the internet for info?

When multiple reputable sources say the same thing, I tend to trust it.

JUGHNE

Just rattling your chain.....I agree with the sources

Zman

Always good to be careful with oily things, plastic and heat. I have seen some scary things catch fire.All it would take would be another product on the rag from another job and poof....

Just as long as the nobody is arguing with the Rock and Roll drummers combusting. Those guys have unique chemical makeup.

JUGHNE

The chemical composition of materials can change also.
Some years ago I was pounding staples on the sides of floor joists in an old basement when the light bulb popped and as the burning filament flamed up the light socket burst into flames. It was the typical surface mount "barn light" fixture as I refer to them. These are brown surface mount wiring devices that double as junction boxes for feed thru etc....switches, outlets, light sockets and J-boxes.
They are made from Bakelite or some Phenolic type material.
My best guess is that having a 300 watt bulb in it for 50 years caused the plastic to carbonize back to flammable carbon.

This can happen to wood inside walls behind plaster/lath that is near a wood burning stove pipe........as a fireman helped carry the stove out of the house late one night.
The wood gets baked into charcoal lowering its ignition point.
How it baked the studs and not the lath I don't know.

TheKeymaster

Throw them in your fire pit and burn them.

EdTheHeaterMan

@ChrisJ said:
...From another site.

"It's oxidation that creates the potential for spontaneous combustion. Petroleum products like motor oil and gasoline, while flammable, do not undergo oxidation. Also, the tendency of oil to spontaneously combust is related to its iodine number — if it's 130 or greater, the potential is there."

What if Oxygen is the problem with us?
I believe that oxygen is Killing all of us... It just takes between 70 to 100 years to happen.

mattmia2

More specifically raw linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil won't oxidize in an exothermic reaction.

When I was a kid the oil burner tech would ask my mom for some old newspapers and wrap up the old filters and sometimes the contents of their soot vac in it and throw it in the trash can outside.

mattmia2

Hmm, not sure about the bakelite pony cleat light socket itself burning. I could see it shorting with the broken filament swinging around and temporarily drawing more current and a bad connection arcing. Sometimes they put wood in bakelite as a filler although i wouldn't think they would do that for electrical products.

Maybe the socket was some other early plastic like acetate or nitrocellulose.

JUGHNE

I distinctly remember the socket itself burning. The broken bulb may have tripped the CB. Once the bulb is broken the filament quickly burns up. My head has broken many bulbs with this result.
I recall having to beat the fire out with my hat. FWIW

426hemi

I personally just throw them in the washer and wash them with my work clothes then you have clean rags and clean clothes