SABIC Innovative Plastics has won two American Chemistry Council (ACC) Responsible Care Energy Efficiency Awards. The company's Mount Vernon, Ind., resin unit was recognized for significant manufacturing improvement -- for simplifying and optimizing its resin purification process, leading to reduced use of steam and electrical energy. Additionally, the company's plastics manufacturing plant in Selkirk, N.Y., received ACC's "Exceptional Merit" designation for a recently installed steam turbine generator to capture energy that was previously lost during pressure reduction.
[sidebar id="1"]The Mount Vernon facility's improvements stem from installing three patented plate decanter separators, which allowed eliminating electrically driven centrifuge separators. This not only cut electrical and steam-generated energy usage but reduced carbon dioxide emissions.
The new steam turbine generator at Selkirk produces electricity from an existing steam flow and is integrated into the site's distribution system. It reduced both energy and carbon dioxide emissions in 2010.
In other news, SABIC has joined forces with Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. to form a limited liability company, Saudi Japanese Acrylonitrile Co., in Saudi Arabia. The company will build a plant to make acrylonitrile (AN) and sodium cyanide (NaCN).
"A key driver for the project is Saudi Arabia's National Industrial Clusters Development Program aimed at growing and diversifying the Kingdom's manufacturing sector," says Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC vice chairman and CEO. He also noted that AN and NaCN are very important chemicals for downstream diversification into acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), carbon fiber, acrylic fiber, acrylamide and others materials that serve various industries such as automotive, construction, water treatment, oil recovery, personal care, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and electronics.
Another SABIC partnership, aimed at diversity, is moving forward as well. The ExxonMobil Elastomers Project joint venture has moved into Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED).
This project would provide a domestic supply of more than 400,000 tonne/yr of rubber, thermoplastic specialty polymers (EPDM/TPE, TPO, butyl, SBR/PBR) and carbon black to serve emerging local and international markets in Asia and the Middle East. It also would include a vocational training institute and product application development and support center, which is aligned with Saudi Arabia's National Industrial Clusters Development Program to increase and diversify the Kingdom's manufacturing sector
