Styron Reduces Energy Use at Indonesia Polystyrene Plant by 41%
Styron’s polystyrene plant in Merak, Indonesia, manufactures polystyrene resins for customers across the Asia-Pacific region. In 2005, a complete assessment of the polystyrene production train at the Merak plant revealed energy consumption rates of more than 1000 BTUs per pound of resin produced, the highest of any Styron polystyrene train, globally.
Driven by rising energy costs and a desire to make operations of the Merak plant more sustainable, a team was assembled to develop and drive a plan to reduce energy consumption. At the early stages, it was believed that making a significant reduction would either be too cost prohibitive due to the capital expenses required to upgrade the facility.
Through benchmark studies and deep drill analysis of every single unit in the plant requiring energy to operate, a team led by Ridona Buchari identified the largest opportunities and then worked to find energy reduction solutions, such as:
- Eliminating simultaneous heating and cooling in certain process areas
- Increasing raw material conversion by optimizing reaction profiles
- Improving efficiency of process heaters
- Replacing oversize electrical motors
- Installing variable speed drives on some electrical equipment
- Removing recirculation streams by implementing once-through systems
- Reducing agitation on several units
- Eliminating double transfer of raw materials and product
By 2009, energy consumption of the polystyrene train was reduced by 41%, saving approximately $1 million in energy costs and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 9 billion tons. And, most of the improvements were done with little or no capital investment.
The Styron team in Merak, and other Styron sites, continue to find opportunities to make further improvements, and other Styron plants are learning from what they were able to accomplish. According to Luciano Blazina, Styrenics Technology Center Energy Focal Point, “These innovations by Styron people are a shining example that becoming more sustainable does not necessarily require large investments of time or money. In some cases, finding a viable, sustainable solution means looking at the problem in a slightly different way.”
