Laughing Stock Farm Lisa and Ralph Turner Freeport, Maine www'laughingstockfarm'com

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Laughing Stock Farm Lisa and Ralph Turner
Freeport, Mainewww.laughingstockfarm.com

• Used Cooking Oil (UCO) Heating Fuel Alternative

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Production At Laughing Stock

• 1, 1700 SF Heated Tunnel
• Summer Tomatoes, Winter Greens, Spring Seedlings
• 1, 1500 SF Unheated Tunnel
• Spring/Summer Seedlings, Fall Greens
• 2, 2500 SF Unheated A-Frame Houses
• Spring Greens Summer Melons, Peppers, and
  Eggplant Fall Greens
• 1, 7500 SF Heated Gutter Connect House
• Winter Greens and Roots, Summer Tomatoes
• 8 Acres of Summer Vegetables and Cut Flowers.
• 1 Acre of Peonies for Cut Flowers.

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Used Cooking Oil (UCO) Heating Fuel

• This Is NOT Biodiesel
• Maine Department Of Agriculture Development Grant
• Demonstrate New Use Of Existing Commercially
  Available Technology
• Environmentally Sound
• Safe
• Economical
• Local Solution Also Helps Restaurants

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Why Did We Decide To Burn UCO?

• We wanted to reduce our heating costs.
• We wanted economical, safe, and environmentally
  sound heating fuel alternative to fossil fuels.
• We dont own a woodlot or have access to
  inexpensive wood.
• We rejected the idea of making biodiesel because
  biodiesel
• uses methanol, NaOH, and H2SO4 which are
  extremely hazardous materials
• reduces the BTU content of the UCO by up to 10
• is 7.5 times less energy efficient than UCO
  considering inputs
• is very time consuming and complicated to make
  correctly
• and costs 0.75 to 1.25 per gallon to make
  correctly neglecting UCO collection, cleaning,
  labor, and capital costs.

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Life Cycle Energy Balance
From Life Cycle Inventory of Biodiesel and
Petroleum Diesel, Prepared for U.S. DOE and USDA
by NREL, NREL/SR-580-24089
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Life Cycle Energy Balance
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Life Cycle Energy Balance
Primary Energy Requirements for Cooking Oil
Percent
41
3
50
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Total 0.16 100
Used Cooking Oil (UCO) has the added benefit that
it has already provided economic benefit to the
restaurant industry.
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Life Cycle Energy Balance
Primary Energy Requirements for Cooking
Oil 0.16 MJ/MJ Biodiesel 1.24 MJ/MJ Petroleum
Fuel 1.20 MJ/MJ From this cooking oil is 7.5
times more energy efficient than either petroleum
diesel OR biodiesel! Energy use in
Maine Heating Fuel 450MM gal/year Transportati
on Fuel 150 MM gal/year Available UCO 1.5 MM
gal/year Neither UCO nor Biodiesel will solve
Maines energy problems, but clearly heating with
UCO is the best use of this extremely limited
resource.
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UCO Oil Properties

• UCO freeze and thaw
• freezes at 40 to 60 deg F.
• Melts at 90 to 110 deg F.
• UCO is triglycerides, 3 fatty acids attached to
  glycerin back bone, as well as Free Fatty Acids.
• Fatty acid flash point is 212 to 400 deg F.
• Glycerin flash point is 390 deg F.
• No. 2 fuel flash point is about 130 deg F.
• BTU content is more than 131,000 BTU/gal.
• No.2 heating oil is 138,000 BTU/gal.
• Biodiesel is 117,000 BTU/gal.

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Used Cooking Oil Air Emissions Reductions

• NOX -5
• SO2 -100
• CO2 -40
• CO -30
• Very Low Ash/Particulate

Source A Demonstration of Fat and Grease as an
Industrial Boiler Fuel, University of Georgia
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Collection

• Drums with covers and lever lock bands are set at
  large volume restaurants.
• Restaurant employees empty the used oil into my
  drums and attach the cover to keep water and
  small animals out of the drums.

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Winch and Forks For Drum Handling

• Drums are lifted into truck with commercial
  electric winch lift arm.
• At farm, drums (400 lbs each) are handled with
  front end loader and material handling forks.

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Storage

• Drums with covers and lever lock bands are set on
  pallets outside for long term storage.
• Small volume restaurants hold UCO in original fry
  oil containers.

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Drum Warming

• Warming is done on concrete slab with PEX tubing
  embedded for hot water heat from waste oil boiler.

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Transfer and 1st Strain

• Warm UCO is sucked from drums, through 1/8
  basket strainer.
• Pump is gear pump, driven by 2 HP electric motor.
• Flow rate is 15-18 gallons per minute.
• Extremely dirty oil requires frequent basket
  cleaning.

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2nd Strain and Settle

• Course strained oil is discharged to strain tank
  with 100 micron SS screen.
• Oil is allowed to settle, and free water and
  sediment are drawn from the bottom valve and
  mixed with collected solids into manure compost
  pile.

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Store in Heated Tank

• 100 micron strained oil is sucked through basket
  strainer now fitted with 100 micron basket for a
  third and final strain.
• Cleaned UCO is then pumped into heated storage
  tank. Tank traced with PEX tubing and insulation
  keeps oil at 95 deg F.

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Burn In Clean Burn Burner/Boiler

• Warm Cleaned UCO is burned in Clean Burn used oil
  burner using oil heaters and compressed air to
  enhance atomization and combustion.
• Ceramic cylinder in combustion chamber radiates
  heat back at flame to aid in combustion of high
  flash point fractions.

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Multiple Units

• First unit must be a boiler to produce hot water
  for process and space heat.
• Subsequent units are hot air furnaces because of
  the low installed cost.
• Hot oil is pumped in a loop past each unit where
  the burner oil pump will operate when needed to
  take oil from the loop. Hot water is used to
  keep the oil warm in the storage tank and in the
  oil loop.

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UCO Use Rate

• 75ftx96ft house requires about 600,000 BTU/hr for
  design condition of 75 deg F to outside air.
• Clean Burn boiler is 350,000 BTH/hr, so it will
  heat all three bays to about 45 deg F above
  outside.
• Thermostat set point is 45-50 deg F for winter
  crops.
• Clean Burn will heat our 7500 SF gutter connect
  house by itself down to about 5 deg F depending
  on the wind.
• 350,000 BTU/hr is about 2.5 gallons of UCO per
  hour.
• January UCO use is about 15 hours, or 38 gal/day.
• Annual use is about 5,500 gal/year for one unit
  base loaded heating our 3 bay, 7500 SF house.
• UCO availability in Freeport, ME is over 20,000
  gal/year.
• UCO available, on average, in the U.S. is about 1
  gal/person/year.

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UCO Economics

• 5,500 gallons x 0.34/gal 1,870.
• Approximate labor to collect, handle and clean
  UCO.
• No. 2 oil averaged about 1.90/gal.
• Total farm energy savings this year was 8,580.
• Total restaurant disposal cost savings was
  8,250.
• Installed cost of boiler system was
• About 25,000 for complete new hot water system.
• About 15,000 for tie in to existing hot water
  system.
• About 10,000 for a new furnace system.
• These figures are estimates including labor and
  materials installed to meet all local, state, and
  federal codes. Savings can result from farm self
  installation.

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Comparative Fuel Costs

• Used Cooking Oil 0.34/gal
• Yellow Grease (Truck Load) 0.95/gal
• No. 2 Fuel Oil 1.90/gal
• Biodiesel B20 2.75/gal
• Biodiesel B100 3.50/gal
• Soybean Oil
• (CBOT Current) 1.84/gal
• (CBOT 24 Month High) 2.50/gal
• (CBOT 24 Month Low) 1.47/gal

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Potential For Maine Agriculture

• 5 of Revenue Generated From Each 1 Gallon of UCO
• 1.5 Million GPY of UCO Available in Maine
• Maine Available UCO Could
• Heat 40 Acres of Greenhouses Distributed Across
  Maine
• Contribute 7.5 Million in Gross Farm Revenue
• Save 2.25 Million in Restaurant UCO Disposal
  Costs
• Do This With
• NO Hazardous Materials Manufactured, Transported,
  Used.
• NO Complicated, Dangerous Expensive Chemical
  Process.
• NO Long Distance Transportation of UCO and
  Biodiesel
• NO Legislative Support Actions

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Laughing Stock Farm Lisa and Ralph Turner
Freeport, Maine

• www.laughingstockfarm.com