Using XRF to measure sulphur levels in used cooking oil at collection

Hitachi’s X-Supreme 8000 has the accuracy needed to measure sulphur in used cooking oil, and complies with ASTM D4294, ISO8754 and ISO13032. It is also easy to use by non-technical operators.

Waste cooking oil from food producers, fast-food chains and restaurants has become a valuable commodity. Today, forecasted growth of the worldwide use of cooking oil is 3.8% CAGR until 2023.

Waste cooking oil is recycled and used for a multitude of things but the biggest use of waste cooking oil is to create biodiesel. Driven by environmental targets for biofuels in transport, the demand for biofuel is increasing.

Recycled cooking oil is helping meet this target. To be suitable for conversion into biofuel, waste cooking oil needs to meet certain specifications.

Because used cooking oil contains a variety of contaminants, you need to prepare a sample before taking the measurement. First, you heat a small amount of used cooking oil in an oven, spin the sample in a centrifuge, then take the portion to be measured from the top one-third of the centrifuged liquid. This is placed into a sample cup and in the X-Supreme 8000. Then all the operator needs to do is enter a sample label on the X-Supreme’s display and press a button to start the test.

The X-Supreme 8000 can be set up with a pass and fail message, to make it easy to determine whether the cooking oil will make the grade.

XRF analysis is a quick and easy way to check whether deliveries of waste cooking oil are going to be accepted when they arrive at the refinery.