Ariz. biodiesel project to fuel border fire engines

October 29, 2007 07:11 AM

By Claire Conrad
Arizona Daily Star

NOGALES, Ariz. — Used fryer oil from restaurants in Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, will soon be doing more than clogging arteries and drains — it will help save property and lives and reduce air pollution as fuel in the tanks of emergency vehicles on both sides of the border.

A project funded under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Border 2012 program will recycle the used oil from kitchens along the border into biodiesel to run fire engines and other public-safety vehicles in Rio Rico and Nogales, Sonora.

Biodiesel is an EPA-approved alternative fuel touted for its environmental benefits, including a reduction in emissions. It can be made from any triglyceride oil, including the vegetable oil used in kitchens, in a process called transesterification. It can be blended with regular diesel or be the sole fuel source. Diesel vehicles require little, if any, retrofitting to burn biodiesel.

The Biodiesel Capacity Building and Demonstration Project combines two projects proposed to the Border 2012 program in 2005, a joint U.S.-Mexican effort to protect public health and the environment in the border region.

Rio Rico Fire District Chief Mike Foster wanted to recycle the used grease that was being dumped into sewer lines as biodiesel — and the University of Arizona and Instituto Tecnológico de Nogales in Sonora, wanted to examine the air-quality issues associated with the burning of diesel.

They applied to the EPA border the program separately in 2005. Neither proposal was funded.

“We both got back comments that said, ‘Gee, your proposals look an awful lot alike, you all ought to get together,’ ” said Diane Austin, an associate professor of anthropology at the UA’s Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology. “So that’s where we combined forces and created one project, brought everybody together and Rio Rico wanted to take the lead on that.”

In 2006, the combined project proposal was awarded $90,000.

Last spring, students from the Southeast Arizona Area Health Education Center’s after-school health career club at Nogales High School and the University of Arizona and the Instituto Tecnológico helped survey the kitchens in restaurants, in Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, about where they disposed of their oil. This fall, hospitals, schools and maquiladoras, or border factories, in the two cities will be surveyed, Austin said.

So far, the survey results show that some kitchens have arrangements in place to dispose of oil. But some end up pouring oil down the drain, she said. The survey results will be used to determine sources for the oil to convert to biodiesel.
Rio Rico Rentals Inc., which operates portable restrooms on both sides of the border, will be using its equipment to extract the oil from the kitchens, said Gilbert Romero, vice president of Rio Rico Rentals, Inc.

The biodiesel will be manufactured at the Rio Rico and Sonora fire stations.

Foster anticipates running about 20 vehicles, including fire engines and ambulances, using a biodiesel blend soon.
Except for replacing rubber engine parts that can be damaged by biodiesel, no major modifications or retrofitting is expected. Many newer engines do not rely on rubber as much as older-model vehicles, Foster said.

“We’re still making sure that we have no rubber components in any of the fuel systems,” Foster said. “We’re looking to see what is involved in some of our older vehicles in eliminating rubber from the system.”

For Nogales, Ariz., reducing or eliminating cooking oil from the sewer system could offer some benefits, including fewer sewer clogs caused by fats and grease, said Juan Pablo Guzman, a spokesman for the city.

The Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which treats sewage from both border cities, receives elevated levels of fats, oil and grease, he said.

The sewer department on the U.S. side is called out occasionally to unplug sewer lines that have been clogged by fats, oils and greases, Guzman said in an e-mail interview.

Air quality also can be improved by the project.

As part of the project, the Rio Rico Fire District will be testing the emissions of its vehicles at different percentages of biodiesel to see how the mix changes the emissions. Rio Rico is about 10 miles north of the border.

A 2006 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that for large vehicles, burning a mixture of 20 percent biodiesel to 80 percent petroleum diesel, known as B-20, reduced emissions of particulate by 16.4 percent, carbon monoxide by 17.1 percent and total hydrocarbons by 11.6 percent.

The Rio Rico Fire District will move from a B5 (5 percent) blend to a B20 in 5 percent increments, testing emissions as they go, Foster said.

While there are potential environmental benefits, Foster said, another factor also prompted the project.

“Our goal is sort of selfish from the ‘Let’s save dollars with fuel’ kind of approach,” Foster said. “We’re really looking at it to save a portion of our pretty steep fuel bill every year.”

The fire district could save 20 percent on its annual fuel budget of $90,000 by running a B20 blend, Foster said.

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