Huntsman

Year Submitted: 2003

Process: Wastewater Treatment

Industry: Chemical Manufacturing

Wastes Reduced: Organics

Substance: Organics

Equipment: Supercritical Water Oxid.

Location: Austin TX

No. of employees: 225

Contact: Dr. Richard Bennett

Phone: (512) 483-0934

Description:

Huntsman's research laboratory in Austin generates several organic/water waste streams that were being transported off-site for incineration. Huntsman decided to build the first Super Critical Water Oxidation (SCWO) unit to handle it's waste. Eco Waste Technologies of Austin was contracted to build a 5 g.p.m. unit at the Huntsman facility.

P2 Application:

This is the first commercial application of SCWO. The 5 g.p.m. unit can handle 15-25% organics in water with almost complete conversion (99.95% or higher) to CO2 and water. The facility is permitted to discharge water to a publicly owned treatment system, but actual effluent samples from the system have met drinking water standards. Off gas is primarily CO2 and water vapor (and N2 from amines) with insignificant concentrations of NOx, particulates, ozone and ammonia.

Environmental Benefits:

The Huntsman unit has capacity to treat about 2 million lbs./year of organic by-products from the research facility. The water and gaseous effluent from the process is significantly cleaner than other treatment systems, and it eliminates the potential hazards associated with transporting the material off-site incineration.

Details of Reductions

Additional Information :

The operating costs are projected to be less than $0.20/gallon, once the unit is running at full capacity which will provide significant waste disposal savings to Huntsman.

Source: TCEQ