CA1211634A - Cooking oil salvage system - Google Patents

Abstract

COOKING OIL SALVAGE SYSTEM

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A used cooking oil disposal system for receiving oil from a building includes an oil receiving means inside the building communicating with an external, insulated, cylindrical holding tank having thermostatically control-led heater means servicing at least a part of the tank and a discharge outlet connectable through valve means to a pump for removing the oil from the tank.

Description

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COOKING OIL SALVAGE ~iYSTEM

BAC~CGROI~D OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention is in the field of disposal - systems and is more specifically directed to a unique system for receiv:ing and storing for subsequent collection, spent or used cooking oil from a restaurant or the ~ike.
The handling of spent cooking oils for disposal pur-poses in restaurants has normally been effected manually by the draining of such oils into receptacles which are eith~r manually carried or conveyed on dollies or other ~ vehicles to outdoor storage containers. The hi~h tempera-ture of such oils, which can exceed 300F., presents sub-stantial safety hazards to workers and oehers ~n the vicinity who may be aceidentally burned. Additionally, 1~ the hea~y weight of such oil frequently result~ in other injuries, such as back sprains, ant ~he like.
In addition, spent cooking oil m~y be sold for re-processing. Ho~ever, in order to do so, it is necessary that the oil be collected and maintained in a fashion that allows its ready rcmoval from the premises of the restaur-ant where the oil has been used. To date, spent cooking oil has norma}ly been stored outside of the restaurant in open drums having removeable lids or at best, in drums stored inside drum cabinets. Because the security provided for these drums is minim~l~ the oil is often contaminated by waste refuse or various animals. Where drum storage cabinets are used, in most cases, after a few months of ;,_ ,,; ..~ .

~ 3 4 use, the cabinets have been seriously damaged during xe-moval of the drums. Normally, when these drums are full of waste storage oil, they are picked up by oil renderer's trucks and transported to the ~actory for processing.
However, the drums are extremely heavy and difficult to handle. In some instances, the drums have been overturned and the contents spilled on the restaurant's par~ing area in attempting to load them onto the truck. The cooking oil salvage system of the instant invention provides security for cooking oils. In the past, waste cooking oil has been extremely valuable and ha6; often been stolen. The tank of the instant invention subs;equently reduces or eliminates this problem. Secondly, by storing cooking oil outside of the restaurant in a closed, controlled access container, internal and extexnal restaurant housekeeping and sanitation problems normally associated with waste cooking oil are eliminated. For example, previous extern~l storage con-tainers often leaked onto black-top surfaces, causing severe degra~ation. In the past, health department rules often made difficult the storage of waste cooking oil within the restaurant facility. Moreover, by storing the oil in a closed and sealed container, rodents, insects and solid cont~minants are eliminated and potential external and internal sewer clogging from waste oil discharge is elimi-nated. Additionally, the cooking oil salvage system of theinstant invention provides a cost saving means for the - "
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restaurant op~rator by increasing the amount of usable internal restaurant space and by providing an additional source of money from the sale of an upgraded salvaged cooking oil. Because this system provides an exact account-5 ing of all cooking oil supplies, it substan~ially reducespilferage by store employees. Finally, becauce virtually all possibili~y of oil rontamination during storage is eliminated, the oil itself may be reused, for example, as an additive for soaps, cos~metics, animal foods, plastics, ~tc.
Thereore, it is an o'bject of this invention to pro-vide a new and improved me,ans for handling and disposing of spent or used cooking oils.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method for readily storing for sale spent cooking oil, so that it may be removed from the restaurant in a convenient, easy-to-handle fashion.
These and other objectives ~re obtained by utilizing the system of the instant invention.
20 SUMM~RY OF INVENTION
Achievement of the foregoin~ objects is 0nabled by the preferred embodiments of ~he invention through the provision of a receiver means mounted inside the building from which the spent or used cooking oils are to be removed. The receiver means is connected to a transfer conduit extending through one of the walis of the building and having an outer termination external of ~he building comprising a .

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connection to an insulated holding tank permanently mounted outside the building. The holding tank may be of cylindrical construction and is provided with an electric-ally-powered heater means to maintain the temperature of 5 oil in the holding tank at a desired ~emperature above the solidification temperature o~ the particular cooking oil.
Used cooking oil is discharged from the holding tank by means of a discharge tube inserted into the tank. Used oil whîch is maintained at pumping viscosity by the heater is 1~` periodically collected by connecting a hose to the discharge tube And pumping the liquid into a collection vehicle such as a tank truck.
A better understanding of the ma~ner in which the pre-fe~red embodiments achieve the objects of the invention will 15 be ~nabled when the following detailed description is con-sidered in conjunction with the appended drawings in which like xeference numerals are used for the same p~rts as shown in the different figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWTNGS
Fig. l is a sectional view of the in~ention.
Fig. 2 is a partially cut away front view of the invention.
Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation with parts in phantom of a deep fat pressure fryer and a Collectra-matic~ filter floor dolly illustrating one method of draining the oil from the cooker and pumping it into the holding tank.

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Fig. ~ is a side elevation of the prior art method of emp~ying the contents of ~he pressure cooker or fryer into a stock pot.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation, diagrammatically illu5-trating the method of puD~ing oil from the holding tank intothe tank truck.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFER~D EMBODIMENT
Fig. 1 of the drawin~;s illustrates the preferred embodiment of the inventive cookin~ oil salvage system, generally designated 10, ~ich is shown in conjunction with a building wall 12 which will normally be an external wall of a restaurant or the like. The s.ystem may include a receiver slnk 14, preferably formed of stainless steel, and including a removable filter screen not shown. In an alternat_ve arrangement, a simple drain pipe 16 or receiver means may replace the r~ceiver sink, in which case a regular dolly oil filter may be employed to pump fil~ered oil from deep fryers in the restaurant directly into the pipe and thus into the cooking oil salvage system.
This method is illustrat~t in Fig. 3 in which a floor dolly 55 is positioned with its basin 56 directly below the drain valve 53 of the pressure fryer 52. The hot oil drained therefrom can be pumped through the filtering system located in the vertical portion 57 of the floor 25 dolly 55 snd pumped via wand or probe 58 back into the ccoker 52. The wand or probe has an insulated handle 60 ~Z~1634 welded a~ point 59 to the wand so as to be offset there-from and prevent scalds or burns to the party handling ~he wand.
After the oil has been used for a suf~icient time to become rancid or, after l;he fat~y acid concentration has reached or surplassed an alcceptable limit, the oil is dis-carded again by draining the oil from ~he fryer 52 through ehe drain valve 53 into t:he basin 56 of the floor dolly 55.
The floor dolly 55 is then pushed toward the building wall 12 and the end of the wand 58 is inserted into the horizontally disposed col~duit 16 e~tending through the vertically disposed wall so as to pump the hot and fil-tered used oil into the holdin~ tank 20. Since the hold-ing tank 20 i5 located within the tank housing 24 which is filled wi~h insulation 26, the heat of the oil is not rapidly lost. However, in cold weather, the heating ele-ment 42, con~rolled by the thermostatic control 44 can maintain the oil at any desired temperature.
Dolly filters or floor filters are commercially available from Collectramatic, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, Mies Filter Products of West Bend, Wisconsin, and Dean IndustriPs of Culver C~ty, California. The hot oil is drawn from the cooker, f~l~ered free of all partic-ulate matter, and pumped via a tube and nozzle ~known in the trade as a wand) of the dolly filter back to the cooker. Whenever the free fatty acid of the oil reaches l634 or exceeds 1.5%, the oil must be discarded, since a rancid taste is then imparted to the food. It is at this time that the operator drains the cooker of the hot, rancid oil into the dolly filter, and then rolls the 5 dolly filter tc~ the wall adjacent to pipe 16. He then pumps the oil, filtered Eree from all particulates, through the wand into the pipe 1l5 or storage in the ~ank 2G. In some fast food establishments, dolly filters are not used.
o In these es~ablishments, the hot oil is dralned through lO a large funnel-shaped fi'Lter into a five~gallon s~ock pot with handles on either siLde. The employees then must pour the polished or fill:ered oil ~ack into the cooker.
Prior to this invention, if the oil had become rancid, it became necessary for him to carry ~he hot oil, holding 15 it at arms length away ~rom his body, to the drum storage area where it was to be s~ored. This was usually at ~he rear of the parking lot. According to this inven~ion, ~he distance to which the hot oil had to be carried was much reduced. It was now only from the covker to the 20 sink 14 on the inner surface of the wall - rather than from the cooker to clear across the parking lot. Since most fast food restaurants employ teenage workers a~
minimum wage, and, since it is necessary to hold the hot stock pot of oil away from his body for some d~stance, 25 prior to this invention, it was not uncommon for some of the hot grease to splash over the side and spill onto the lZ1163~

worker, causing serious second and even third de~ree ~urns. This was particularly true in a busy ~staurant where the worker had, in effect, to open up the door with his foot or with his back, holding the four or five gallons of 300~F. oil at ~Eull arms length away from his body and make the trip to the drum storage ar~a. A mis-step, or a slip, could and did cause young employees serious and painful injur:ies.
According to a preferréd em~odiment of this inven-tion, spent oil ls pumped via the wand of the filter dolly Lnto pipe 16 and flows outwardly through the trans-fer conduit 16 extending through the wall 12 and into the interior of a cylindrical holding tank 20 permanently - mounted on foundation 22. The holding tank is mounted on 15 i~s cylindrical side, preferabiy parallel to the sides of the building. The tank is placed inside a tank housing 24 whieh is provided with insulation 26 preferably sur-rounâing the tank 20 itself. In addition, it is preferred that ~he transfer conduit 16 coming through the building wall not be exposed to e~terior elements, but rather that the tank housing be mounted flush against ~he wall area where the transfer conduit penetrates the wall~ so that any oil flows directly from the inside of the building ~hrough the wall 12 to the inside of the tank housing.
25Fig. ~ illustrates the prior art method of draining the pressure fryer or cooker through drain valve 53 into ~`~`" 1 ~ ~ 1 6 3 ~

stock pot 50. In this embodiment, ~he stock pot ~an be manually picked up and carried to the building wall 12 and poured into the receiver sink 14. Thus, the hot oil will run through conduit or pipe 16 to the holding tank 5 20 inside of the tank housing directly adjacent to the ex-terior building lwall 12 as previously indicated.
As is illustrated in Fig. 5, the holding ~ank can be emptied easily and quickly by connecting a hose to discon-O nect coupling 38. A pump P and meter are diagrammatically 10 illustrated in the hose 63 leading to tank truck T.
Since the oil is filtered and can be maintained clean and ~ree of contaminants, the oil collector or renderer can determine exactly how much high-grade oil has been pumped into his truck~ The restaurant operator gets top 15 tollar for his waste oil and the safety and housekeeping problems encountered with open drum storage are eliminated.
The system will normally be positioned in the building in ~n area convenient eo the deep fat cooking rea so as to be convenien~ly located for receiving the spent or used 20 cooking oil. The spent or used cooking oil can be deposited in the sink 14 by pump and con~uit means, or from manually positioned containers or stock pots or preferably by pump-ing the oil directly from the deep fryers via the wand or probe of a dolly oil filter and pump of conventional design 25 through conduit 16 horizontally disposed in the verti~al ex~erior wall 12 to the holding tank 20 disposed in the insulated housing 24 directly adjacent to the buildlng.
ThP transfer conduit 16 extends through the top of _9_ ~Z~63~

the holding t~nk 20 to permit direct dischar~e of used cooking oil directly into the interior of the tank. For easy acces~ to the tank itself and to the dis~har~e tube 30, a service door 28 may be provided, for example, on the top of t~e housing. Side service doors may also be included to facilitate cleaning and maintenance. In a preferred embodiment, a service door latch means 32 is located inside the building. The latch is engagable in a latch receiver 34 on ~he sexvice door. Since the latch is operable only from th~ inside of the buildin~, access to the cooking oil salvage system is not permit~ed except with permission of the store occupants. As a result, urther protec~ion against cooking oil pilferage or damage to the salvage system is provided.
A discharge tube 30 is shown in Fig. 2, which in-cludes a valve to be opened to permit the pumping of the contents of the tank to a collection ~ehicle. The dis-char~e tube extends nearly to the bottom of the holding tank, ~o tha~ virtually all of the used cooking oil m~y ~0 be pumped ~rom the tank into the collection vehicle.
Connected to the end of the ~ischarge tube is a flexible hose 36 provided with a quic~ disco~nect coupling 38, coupling onto a corresponding receiver hos~e on the col-lection vehicle. For drainage and cleaning, a gravity discharge petcock 40 is provided at the bottom end of the ~ank, to allow complete drainage of the tank when cleaning 3~

is necessary. The tank is also provided with a heating element 42, wrapped around at least a portion and prefer-ably all of the tank. It i~ preferable to ma mtain the contents of the tank at flowable viscosities, usually at 5 temperatures in the range of about 105F. to 110F.
Normally, with a llO-gal:Lon tank, a 350-watt heating cable is sufficient, whiLe with a 220-gallon tank, a 700-watt heating cable is required. The heating cable is pro-vided with a thermostat control means 44 to m~intain the temperature of the cooking oil at the desired temperature.
In order to insure tha~ t:he tank is no~ over filled, an automatic shut-off valve 47 or warning indicator electric-ally connected to a light 49 inside the restaurant is pro-vided. ~egartless of which embodiment is chosen, a fluid level measurement means 46 is provided. This measuremRnt means either activates a light 49 or closes a valve 47 located preferably on the transfer conduit 16 when the cooking oil reaches a predetermined helght in the tank.
In addition, in order to protect the inside of ~he tank housing from excess cooking oil, an overflow pipe 48 is provided to discharge excess oil.
In use, the cooking oil saivage system of the instant invention is gradually filled with used cooking oil. At periodic i~tervals, the conten~s of the tank are pumped from the tank into a bulk cooking oil salvage vehicle, such as a tank truck, and sold. In this manner, a safe and cost-12~163~

effective storage recovery of used cooking oil is pro-vided. By using this system, restaurants may make hun-dreds of dollars a year in the form of sales ~f used cooking oil, while at the same time~ restaurant employees are protected from dangerous hot cooking oil.

Claims (13)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A cooking oil salvage and disposal system, including means for receiving and transferring hot, used cooking oil from a food processing building through a vertical exterior wall of said building to a receiving tank mounted externally of said building which comprises:
A. a conduit extending horizontally through said exterior vertical wall and opening on the inner surface of said exterior vertical wall on the inside of said building;
B. a receiving tank on the exterior of said building, in communication with said conduit, for receiving hot, used cooking oil from said building;
C. an insulated tank storage compartment adjacent said exterior wall which contains said receiving tank;
D. a means for heating the contents of the tank to bring the contents of said tank to the proper vis-cosity for pumping;
E. an oil discharge tube for connection to a pump for removing the oil from the tank;
F. a normally-latched service door on said compartment, to provide access to said oil discharge tube; and G. latch means operative from the interior of said building for opening said service door.

2. The system of Claim 1, wherein the oil discharge tube extends to the bottom of the tank and is provided with a flexible hose.

3. The system of Claim 2, wherein the flexible hose is further provided with a quick disconnect coupling corres-ponding to a receiver hose coupling on a collection ve-hicle for the oil.

4. The system of Claim 1, wherein a fluid level measure-ment means within the tank is provided.

5. The system of Claim 4, wherein the fluid level measurement means activates a warning light inside the building when the fluid within the tank reaches a prede-termined level.

6. The system of Claim 4, wherein the fluid level measure-ment means within the tank closes a valve on the receiver means when the cooking oil reaches a predetermined height in the tank.

7. The system of Claim 1, wherein an oil overflow tube is provided to discharge excess oil from the tank.

8. The process for the safe and sanitary transfer of spent, hot cooking oil, used in a commercial cooker of a food processing building to a storage tank located outside said building, inside a locked, insulated housing and con-nected to a conduit extending through the exterior wall of said building and opening inside on the inner surface of said wall inside said building, which comprises the steps of:
A. removing the spent, hot cooking oil from said cooker;
B. filtering said oil and removing all filterable particles therefrom;
C. transferring said filtered oil through said con-duit from within said building to the storage tank outside said building;
D. applying the heat necessary to the contents of said tank to bring, the spent oil to a pumpable viscosity;
E. unlatching a service door of said locked insulated housing by manipulation of a latch means inside of said building;
F. coupling an oil discharge tube from said tank through an opening opened by said service door to a receiver hose, leading to a pump; and G. pumping the spent oil from said tank for transport to an oil receiving receptacle.

9. The process, as defined in Claim 8, in which the con-duit opening into the inner surface of said building is connected to a sink; and in which the steps of removing the spent hot cooking oil from said cooker involves:
A. draining the oil into a stock pot;

B. manually carrying the oil to said sink; and C. pouring said oil into said sink for transfer through said conduit to the storage tank outside said building.

10. The process, as defined in Claim 8, in which the spent hot cooking oil is pumped from the cooker through a filter-ing apparatus and into a filter dolly having a wand and thereafter rolling the filter dolly to the exterior wall adjacent the conduit opening and filtered oil is pumped via the wand of the filter dolly into said conduit for transfer into said storage tank.

11. The process, as defined in Claim 8, in which the spent hot cooking oil is drained into a filter dolly and there-after rolling the filter dolly to the exterior wall adja-cent said conduit and pumped into the conduit for transfer to the storage tank.

12. The process, as defined in Claim 8, in which the oil from said storage tank is pumped and metered into a tank truck.

13. The process, as defined in Claim 8, in which the con-tents of the tank are thermostatically maintained at a constant temperature during the storage period.