Oxy Petrochemicals, Inc.

Year Submitted: 2003

Process: Stack Gas Cleaning

Industry: Chemical Manufacturing

Wastes Reduced: Wastewater

Substance: Scrubber Liquid

Equipment: Air Scrubbers

Location: Corpus Christi, Nueces County TX

No. of employees: 310

Contact: Michael Mudrock

Phone: (512) 242-8098

Description:

Acid gases, such as carbon dioxide are produced as by-products of ethylene production. These gases are removed by caustic scrubbing to ensure product quality. The spent caustic is a hazardous waste. It is disposed by deep-well injection in accordance with state and federal permits.

P2 Application:

A facility "Quality Team" made up of representatives of a wide cross-section of employees began reviewing the caustic scrubbing system in mid-1991. The system's operations were monitored and statistically analyzed. Several operational and design changes were recommended and implemented during the first half of 1992.

Environmental Benefits:

Source reduction was achieved by lowering the scrubber system's caustic waste stream and the quantity that was deep-well injected by 75% of the 1987 level.

Details of Reductions

Additional Information :

Return on investment for this project was 58%.

Source: TCEQ