December 10, 2004—Energy efficiency projects at ExxonMobil Chemical Company manufacturing sites that are saving in excess of 2.6 trillion BTUs annually earned American Chemistry Council (ACC) awards. The improvements at the company’s Baton Rouge, La., and Baytown and Beaumont, Texas, chemical plants are yielding energy savings equal to the needs of about 14,000 households and reductions in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 150,000 tons per year.
The awards are part of ACC’s Energy Efficiency Continuous Improvement Program, which has recognized ExxonMobil Chemical for each of the past seven years.
Through implementation of the Global Energy Management System at the Baytown Olefins Plant, ExxonMobil reduced fuel consumption and resulting emissions per unit of production from the steam cracker. The site installed state-of-the-art equipment to improve energy efficiency and developed an improved method to analyze energy use at the facility.
ExxonMobil’s Beaumont Chemical Plant reduced energy demand through improved design, operation and maintenance of equipment. This includes distillation towers, furnaces and boilers. Employees implemented operational changes, completed maintenance projects and developed a monitoring program to ensure that savings continue.
Two projects at ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge Chemical Plant in 2003 earned ACC energy efficiency awards. One project established the optimum operating level for the heat exchangers that cool process streams. The other project maximized the efficiency of the compressors in the recovery section of the ethylene plant.
ExxonMobil installed its XyMax xylene isomerization technology at its Baytown Chemical Plant paraxylene feed unit. The state-of-the-art zeolite catalyst technology yields energy savings through reduced fuel consumption and demand for steam.
Through the Energy Efficiency Continuous Improvement program, ACC members demonstrate commitment to Responsible Care(R), the chemical industry’s environmental, health and safety performance improvement initiative. Under Responsible Care, members and partners adhere to a core set of guiding principles and codes of management practice that make health, safety and environmental impacts, including the use of energy and natural resources, key considerations in developing and improving products and processes.
For more information, contact ExxonMobil Chemical.
