Able Industries Engineering supplied components for the award-winning, Northern Oil Re-finery (NOR), which opened in March 2014 – turning waste lube oil into re-usable base oil.

Located at Yarwun, near Gladstone, the NOR just won the ‘Innovation in Sustainable Technologies’ title in the 2015 Queensland Premier’s Sustainability Awards.

The re-refinery contracted Able Industries Engineering to construct a range of components back in 2011, and since it started operating last year, the NOR has been delivering positive environmental solutions.

A $65 million venture between Southern Oil Refining and J.J. Richards & Sons- it has already produced 30 million litres of base oil – which could run four million cars in Australia for a whole year.

As Queensland’s only facility that recycles waste lube oil, it’s also the world’s most advanced plant of its kind – capable of re-refining up to 100 million litres a year.

An economic and environmental success, it has created a new industry and jobs for the area, and has already reduced CO2 emissions by more than 130,000 tonnes compared to that waste oil burning.

Southern Oil currently re-refines about 8% of Australia’s annual waste lube oil through its Wagga Wagga plant in NSW, where it has managed the collection and transportation of waste lube oil from across the country since 2001.
The re-refining process in Yarwun, removes all contaminants and restores the oil to its original condition.

The contaminants, such as dirt, water, fuel and used additives, are removed through vacuum distillation and the oil is then further treated to remove remaining chemicals to provide consistent oil quality to international standard.

Southern Oil manufactures two grades of base oil for hydraulic and lubrication oil-blending applications, as well as four grades of fuel oil for applications including agricultural product drying and industrial boilers.