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Environment

Green Silicones Manufacture

Dow Corning will install $50 million in equipment to curb emissions and natural gas usage

by Marc S. Reisch
October 8, 2007 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 85, Issue 41

Silicones maker Dow Corning has started a $50 million project to outfit its Midland, Mich., plant with equipment intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20%, cut other emissions by 75%, recycle hydrochloric acid, and lower annual natural gas consumption by 400 billion Btu—enough to heat more than 3,500 homes during the winter.

The project, set for completion in mid-2008, will depend on a plasma-based waste-processing system, the first of its kind to be installed in the U.S. Integrated Environmental Technologies (IET) will own the system, which will handle more than 6,600 tons of waste per year.

Dow Corning begins the silicone-manufacturing process with chlorosilanes. It will feed chlorinated organic waste generated during chlorosilane production to IET's plasma-enhanced melter. The plasma system will separate the wastes into organic and chlorine streams. Dow Corning will pay IET to manage the waste streams.

The system will then convert the organic stream into a synthetic gas, which will be burned to generate steam. It will also convert the chlorine stream into hydrochloric acid, which Dow Corning will recycle back into its chlorosilane process. A small amount of remaining waste material will be converted into an inert obsidian-like glass that, according to Dow Corning and IET officials, will initially be sent to a landfill but may eventually be recycled for uses such as sand blasting.

IET will spend $18 million to install the plasma equipment. Dow Corning will put up the remaining $32 million, which covers infrastructure improvements and other equipment costs.

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