Eastman Chemical Company Receives Awards for Energy Efficiency
Kingsport, Tenn., May 18, 2011 For the 18th consecutive year since the program began, Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) earned energy efficiency awards from the American Chemistry Council (ACC). As part of the Responsible Care® program, the ACC honors specific projects that have achieved distinction in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Eastman received six of the 48 awards presented to 17 member companies.
Eastman is honored to be awarded again. This recognition demonstrates Eastmans commitment to being a sustainable company, said Jim Rogers, CEO. We will continue to focus our efforts on improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Combined, the winning projects save over 386,000 MM BTUs and
37,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Thats enough
energy to power 10,000 homes and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions
from over 6,000 cars!
Eastman is constantly looking for ways to drive energy
improvements, said Ray Ratheal, Director of Energy and Climate
Change Policy, Feedstock and Energy Procurement. These six winning
projects are innovative examples of achieving energy efficiency
through creative redesign, exploration and trials with new types of
equipment, initiation of control strategies and operational
changes.
The Company has reduced greenhouse gas intensity 27 percent over the last 10 years and energy intensity by 38 percent over 15 years. For 2010, Eastman reduced energy intensity another 6 percent, with energy savings of 3 M MMBTUs and 275,000 fewer tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Eastmans six awards were for Significant Improvement in Manufacturing, which recognizes companies that improve energy efficiency in their manufacturing operations through technical innovations, creative projects or implementation of novel or established procedures or actions.
Eastmans Kingsport, Tennessee site received five awards:
- Recovery of steam leak-off. Six Sigma techniques were used to recover 15 psi steam leak-off from shaft seals on turbo generators in a powerhouse. New construction and use of an abandoned recovery system resulted in the recovery of the 15 psi steam for an annual energy savings of 44,391 MMBTU and an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 4,661 tons annually.
- Improvements in boiler feed water exchanger. The boiler feed water stage heaters at a powerhouse were found to be operating at reduced efficiency due to material wear in the heat exchangers, resulting in the boiler feed water bypassing the stageheater. A monitoring program compared temperatures of the boiler feedwater exiting the stageheater with an entitlement value. As a result, the stageheaters were returned to optimum efficiency and the temperature of the boiler feed water was increased. This affected a decrease in the heat input required during steam generation and an increase in topping power from the generators leading to an annual energy savings of 180,456 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 17,330 tons.
- Improvements in distillation columns. The combined use of a new distillation column and the replacement of an existing column with a new, more efficient design led to lower reflux rates, improved control, and greater energy efficiency while maintaining production. The new column that incorporated energy efficiency improvements was started up when the existing column was shut down to replace sieve trays with high-efficiency distillation trays and optimize tray spacing for greater efficiency. This resulted in annual energy savings of 44,150 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4,635 tons.
- Reduced ester still heat usage. An ester still was previously heated with 600 psig steam that was modulated through a valve to a lower pressure. Experiments with the still revealed that the column could be heated from an existing 100 psig steam header with decreased energy use and increased controllability. The heater was repiped to take the steam from this header and drain to a lower pressure condensate header. This resulted in annual energy savings of 81,000 MMBTUs and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 8,500 tons.
- Reduction of natural gas usage in three heat transfer material furnaces used to provide heat for DMT (Dimethyl Terephthalate) production. A new control strategy was implemented that automatically shifts load from less efficient furnaces to more efficient furnaces so that the overall heat duty required is provided at maximum efficiency, reducing natural gas consumption. When compared to 2008, natural gas consumption was reduced by 80 scf per MMBTU of heat delivered to the process, with a savings of 35,393 kscf in 2010 or 6.3% of the total gas usage. This converts to an annual savings of 36,455 MMBTUs and 1922 tons of green house gas.
Eastmans Longview, Texas site received one award:
- Improvement of steam turbine discharge. As two large steam turbines discharge into an existing 160 psig steam system and their compressors foul, their steam load increases to maintain operating horsepower. The ability of the existing 20 inch diameter steam lines to export additional steam was limited, causing higher discharge pressure and incremental operating cost increases over the five years between plant shutdowns. Adding an additional steam line to maintain a constant 175 psig steam discharge pressure resulted in lower 1,500 psig steam demand, an annual savings of 34,000 MMBTUs and 2,250 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
About the American Chemistry Council
(ACC)
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents the leading
companies engaged in the business of chemistry. ACC members apply
the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services
that make people's lives better, healthier and safer. ACC is
committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance
through Responsible Care®, common sense advocacy designed to
address major public policy issues, and health and environmental
research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $674
billion enterprise and a key element of the nation's economy. It is
one of the nations largest exporters, accounting for ten cents out
of every dollar in U.S. exports. Chemistry companies are among the
largest investors in research and development. Safety and security
have always been primary concerns of ACC members, and they have
intensified their efforts, working closely with government agencies
to improve security and to defend against any threat to the nations
critical infrastructure. Visit http://www.americanchemistry.com.
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