ExxonMobil plants recognized for energy efficiency

ExxonMobil Chemical has earned awards for energy efficiency from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and from the Industrial Energy Technology Conference (IETC) hosted by the Energy Systems Laboratory of the Texas A&M University System.

Since 2000, ExxonMobil has identified opportunities to improve energy efficiency by 15 to 20 percent at its chemical plants and refineries. The company has implemented more than half these opportunities, with associated costs savings of about $750 million per year in the chemical and refining businesses. As a result of these activities, in 2006 ExxonMobil avoided the emission of about 8 million tons of associated greenhouse gases, which is roughly equivalent to removing 1.5 million cars from U.S. roads.

ACC Awards
ExxonMobil Chemical has received ACC’s energy-efficiency awards for 10 consecutive years. The company received eight of the total 36 awards ACC presented under the 2006 program.

The award recipients include:

Baton Rouge Chemical Plant - five awards.

·     for the company's Global Energy Management System monitoring practices that let console operators take timely action to improve energy efficiency. The practices use Key Energy Variables, critical measures that are continually monitored and controlled.

·     for implementation of new energy efficient technology to recover dissolved metal from wastewater

·     for installation of a new, energy-efficient heat exchanger

·     for improved flare controls to reduce natural gas consumption; and

·     for adjustments to distillation equipment that reduced by 25 percent the amount of energy to make resins.

Baytown Chemical Plant

·     for new equipment that improves maintenance of large heat exchangers.

Beaumont Olefins and Aromatics Plant - two awards.

·     for removing a boiler from service and employing a more efficient steam source from the ExxonMobil Beaumont complex cogeneration unit, and

·     for the use of automated software that reduces energy consumption and increases hydrogen production.

IETC Award
The company earned the 2007 IETC Energy Award for operation of cogeneration facilities at ExxonMobil's Baytown site, which increase the energy efficiency at the complex's refinery, two chemical plants and research center, and help decrease the region's emissions of greenhouse gases.

The facilities, located at the Baytown Olefins Plant, include a 160 megawatt gas-turbine generator, coupled with a heat-recovery unit that can produce 560,000 pounds-per-hour of steam for use in manufacturing processes. Using the most efficient technology available today, the cogeneration unit produces both steam and electricity from clean-burning natural gas at an efficiency rate of about twice traditional power generation. The generator is large enough to supply the average energy needs of at least 100,000 homes in the United States.

The 2007 IETC program in New Orleans includes recognition for the ExxonMobil Chemical recipients of Responsible Care Energy Efficiency awards for 2006 and 2005. The IETC promotes innovation in energy use and waste reduction programs in the industrial sector and monitors regulatory programs affecting industry.