Waverly manager's bright idea leads to bio-friendly transformer oil
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Luis del Valle (right), global marketing director of Cargill Industrial Oils & Lubricants, accepts one of Waverly Light and Power's first BioTrans transformers from WL&P General Manager Glenn Cannon for display in Cargill's Minneapolis headquarters. (photo courtesy of American Public Power Association)
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The cliché about the Chinese character for "problem" and "opportunity" being the same turned out to be true for Waverly, Iowa, Light and Power General Manager Glenn Cannon when a PCB spill gave him the idea for an earth-friendly transformer oil, now available to all utilities.
"I was pretty upset," said Cannon of the 1994 accident caused by a truck hitting one of the few remaining WL&P transformers containing PCB.
The resulting spill cost the small, northeastern Iowa utility $27,000 to clean up, and it got Cannon thinking about alternatives to the toxic lubricant. "I thought, wonder if you could use soybean oil in a transformer," he recalled.
That not-so-idle question eventually became soy-based BioTrans. Cannon holds five patents on the biodegradable, recyclable transformer fluid that is naturally fire resistant and extends transformer life by retaining more moisture than petroleum or synthetic oils.
Public power associations lend support for research and development
Many utilities, especially ones as small as WL&P with only 26 employees and fewer than 4,300 customers, might leave the development of a green transformer oil substitute to another organization. That would not be the kind of thinking that made WL&P a national leader among utilities in environmentally responsible energy service, however.
The Waverly utility board hired Cannon in 1990 because it wanted a manager who would emphasize environmental protection, conservation, demand-side programs, efficiency and renewable energy. The general manager carried out his mission by promoting the Good Cents energy-efficient housing program to local builders, adopting an aggressive rebate program for high-efficiency appliances and by establishing the Iowa Energy Tags program in 2001. WL&P was the first Iowa utility to offer outsiders the opportunity to invest in renewable energy.
"This wasn't one of our typical programs," Cannon admitted, "but it was finding a better way of solving a common utility problem. The board saw the potential benefits and was very supportive."
Having a handy research facility close by also helped. The University of Northern Iowa Ag-Based Industrial Lubricants Research Program in Waverly was doing research on industrial uses for soybean oil. Cannon contacted Dr. Lou Honary of ABIL, who was intrigued by the potential application. Over the next four years, ABIL researchers and Cannon worked together to develop an environmentally safer alternative to petroleum-based transformer oil.
That research would not have been possible without assistance from agencies that shared Cannon's commitment to environmental stewardship. "As a small utility, we didn't know what was involved in product development. After the preliminary studies, there was more research and development to do," Cannon noted.
A timely grant from the American Public Power Association's Demonstration of Energy-Efficient Developments program provided critical start-up funding. Tennessee Valley Authority Public Power Institute contributed funding and technical expertise. Later in the project, some of TVA's member systems participated in field studies. "We would never have been able to do the BioTrans project had it not been for APPA, DEED and PPI," declared Cannon.
A long-time APPA member and current chair of the association's board of directors, Cannon calculates that WL&P would have to pay dues to the DEED program for 150 years to repay the value of the DEED grants.
Manufacturing partner refines product, seeks clarity for regulations
In the early stages of research, Cannon and UNI applied for patents on their unique product and began looking for a partner to manufacture and market it. "Utilities don't adopt new technology overnight," he stated. "We didn't want logistics to stand in the way once the product was ready."
In 1997, WL&P became the first utility to retrofill transformers with BioTrans. Now every new transformer in its distribution system uses the soy-based lubricant. PPI, Nashville Electric Service, Nebraska Public Power District and other utilities in Iowa, Missouri and Tennessee are currently field or lab testing BioTrans oil.
A collaboration with Cargill Industrial Oils and Lubricants and Electric Research and Manufacturing Cooperative will soon make BioTrans more widely available to electric utilities. Cargill purchased Waverly's technology and patents about a year ago with plans to make the soy-based product the cornerstone for a line of biobased transformer fluids. ERMCO offers BioTrans fluid in its electrical transformers and has exclusive rights to market BioTrans fluid to the industry in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
"We talked to several manufacturers. Cargill had the most expertise in vegetable oil chemistry and the capacity to ensure a ready supply," Cannon said. "ERMCO's industry and marketing savvy really complete the picture."
Cargill improves product, addresses environmental regulations
Cargill used its expertise to make improvements in BioTrans and develop a second product, BioTrans 5000, which contains a synthetic ester for enhanced stability. "Because BioTrans is based on an edible oil, it contained antioxidants that were harmless to the human system but potentially toxic to simpler animals like fish and algae," explained Technology Manager Brent Aufdembrink. "We reformulated it with safer antioxidants that reduced its already low toxicity."
Thanks to the manufacturer's improvements, Cannon pointed out, BioTrans now meets or exceeds the new standards for natural ester transformer oil set by ASTM International. He is also pleased about Cargill's help on the regulatory front. "WL&P couldn't begin to sort out all the environmental regulations specific to dielectric fluid," he said. "Cargill has the staff, resources and experience to make a case for BioTrans with the government agencies."
"Vegetable oil takes one-third to one-half less time to break down than the mineral oil currently used in most transformers," Aufdembrink elaborated. "The rules for cleaning up BioTrans spills should reflect that fact. Cargill is developing technical support for that argument."
By Cargill's estimate, there are now 15 to 18 utilities using BioTrans, either in new transformers or retrofills, and more are showing interest every day. In the meantime, recognition—not only for BioTrans, but for all WL&P's energy-efficiency initiatives—keeps coming. The utility has won four DEED Energy Innovator Awards, and was the first recipient of the DEED Award for Continued Excellence in 2001. For Cannon, it is just part of turning the challenges facing all public utilities into a chance to give better service. "I tend to look at the service we provide as a public good," he said. "With the responsibility of providing that public good comes the moral obligation to be more environmentally responsible."