Texas Eastman

Year Submitted: 2003

Process: Process Control

Industry: Chemical Manufacturing

Wastes Reduced: VOC Emissions

Location: Longview, Harrison County TX

No. of employees: 2700

Contact: Glenn Phillips

Phone: (903) 237-5348

Description:

As part of a fugitive emissions program Texas Eastman found that a substantial part of the fugitive emissions came from thousands of block valves. Due to a lack of industry's knowledge in this area a Valve Repair Team was formed in 1991 to develop methods and procedures to reduce fugitive emission from block valves. In order to determine the cause of the problem, approximately 100 used valves were disassembled, inspected and the recorded data was then analyzed. A test stand was fabricated and used to test the various theories and practices that would be required to solve the problem. Methods and procedures were developed and field tested. The procedure includes which valve packing configurations are acceptable for use at Texas Eastman, the allowable clearances for the types of packings, and the methods and work practices which must be followed when installing the valve stem packings.

P2 Application:

The test stand was also used to test new valves before installation. Our testing indicated many of the new valves did not meet our desired emission levels. Armed with the results, Texas Eastman worked with various valve manufacturers to improve the fabrication of valves. As a result, the primary valves purchased now meet emission standards and do not require bench testing and/or repacking before installation.

Environmental Benefits:

These efforts have reduced fugitive emissions from block valves by over 90%, this amounts to a reduction of over 500,000 pounds per year.

Details of Reductions

Additional Information :

The savings from this project results from decrease loss of reagents and products, as well as reduced labor in testing and repacking new valves.

Source: TCEQ