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Presented in partnership YOUR ENVIRONMENT
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Powering up on vegetable oil
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As superintendents, we’re always looking for ways to lessen our work’s impact on our environment and also save a little money along the way. Whether it is carefully monitoring our water and chemical usage or investigating ways to reduce emissions on our equipment, we are always searching for ways to use less.
This winter, I stumbled upon one of those ways while watching a science show on TV. The program focused on using vegetable oil as an alternative fuel source for diesel fuel-burning machines. The storyline got me thinking, “Hey, why can’t we do that at our course?” So with the help of our equipment technician, Andy Jacobs, we began to explore the idea of recycling used vegetable oil from the kitchens in our clubhouse in our turf equipment.
Our theory went like this: The used vegetable oil needs to be heated up before being injected into the combustion chamber, with an optimum temperature of 140 degrees or higher. Because the cooling system usually runs at approximately 190-200 degrees, this would be a great source to heat up the used vegetable oil.
The machine we decided to convert was a Toro 2300-D trim mower, which we typically run nonstop — seven to eight hours a day during golf season. Our first move was to use an old hydraulic tank to run coolant lines through to heat the oil. Next, we ran dual lines to the engine — one line for diesel fuel and the other for the heated vegetable oil — that are coupled together by a diversion valve, which is necessary to switch between fuel sources when needed.
When we fire up the machine, we run diesel fuel first to warm up the system, then switch over to the used vegetable oil. Before we turn off the machine, we switch back over to diesel fuel to flush out the filter and lines so that the used vegetable oil does not congeal.
It took us about three days to complete the project at a total cost of $150. Our initial cost-saving calculations indicated that we could save about $23.50 for each day the mower is used, which means we could potentially save $3,000 annually in fuel costs. As the summer has progressed, we have been surprised and pleased to note that the converted mower burns about one-third less fuel, and it’s been running like a charm.
And as far as emissions are concerned, burning used vegetable oil emits 40 percent less carbon monoxide pollution, according to tests performed in a Canadian study, which can only benefit the air we all breathe.
In the end, we feel that making conversions like this will not only save money but it will also contribute to saving our environment.
Clear Creek Golf Course in Houston recently achieved designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. Harvey Rose, CGCS, superintendent at Clear Creek and past president of the South Texas GCSA, led the effort to obtain the status as the 14th course in Texas and the 652nd in the world to achieve the certification. The course demonstrated a high degree of environmental quality in environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation and water quality management. Since 2000, the EPA has tracked environmental efforts and savings of its member facilities through its Performance Track program. The program’s more than 500 members have saved enough energy to power 46,000 homes for one year, saved enough greenhouse gases to offset the annual emissions of 57,000 cars and prevented solid waste equivalent to that produced by 553,000 households yearly. They have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 309,780 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, increased use of recycled materials for production processes by 559,991 tons and reduced water consumption by 5.2 billion gallons. Visit www.epa.gov/ |
