Dow Corning in $50m project to cut emissions

Midland, Michigan -  Silicone materials company Dow Corning Corp. is investing $50 million in new equipment to reduce the environmental impact of its Midland site. The project aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20%, total emissions by 75% and cut natural gas consumption  by 400 billion Btu/yr. 

The new equipment includes a recycle system to remove and recycle by-products from manufacturing processes, and a thermal oxidizer that will reduce air emissions from the site while generating steam for process heating.

The recycling system uses a plasma gasification process that separates the waste material generated in the chlorosilanes manufacturing process into organic and chlorine parts. The organic portion is converted into a synthetic gas for use in the steam boilers.

The chlorine portion will be converted into one of the raw materials used to make chlorosilanes. Remaining materials will be turned into a relatively small amount of inert material that is also recyclable. When fully operational this process will generate around 30% of the site’s steam load, so reducing its consumption of natural gas.

The waste processing system will be owned by Integrated Environmental Technologies, a US-based supplier of plasma-based waste processing and clean energy systems. Veolia Environmental Services, meanwhile has been contracted by IET to operate the recycling equipment.

“This is the first time that the plasma-based waste processing system will be used commercially in the US to recycle chemical waste,” said IET CEO Jeffrey Surma. “We are pleased to be part of such a revolutionary process that provides low-cost and environmentally sound alternatives for waste disposal.”