Midland, MI - November 21, 2008

In October, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) held its annual award ceremony in Birmingham, UK, and recognized as “Highly Commended” Dow projects in two categories. This recognition is of great significance to Dow as the IChemE is a premier, professional institution for chemical and process engineers with 27,000 international members across more than 113 countries.

The first recognition was for a project called “Industrial Symbiosis / By Products Synergy at Dow Terneuzen.” This project captures the partnership between Dow, water company Evides, and the regional water board “Waterschap Zeeuws-Vlaanderen” to take the local community’s treated wastewater, which had been discharged directly into the river, and reuse it twice – first in manufacturing plants and then again in cooling towers – before releasing it into the atmosphere as vapor.

Reusing the water results in 65 percent less energy used at the Dow facility – compared to desalinating the same amount of sea water. This is the equivalent of lowering carbon dioxide emissions by 5,000 tons per year. Reusing the water also leads to a reduction in the need for water treatment chemicals.

The second project recognized, entitled “KT-3: A Novel Tickler for Solids Removal from Slurry Vessels” details the solution to a common problem in stirred-tank reactors: so-called solids heels. Solids heels are suspended solids that form thick deposits on the vessel bottom and walls in these reactors, which are both wasteful and hard to remove. Standard practice is to use “ticklers” – small rotors operating below the main mixing blades – to try to prevent the deposits. However, these traditional ticklers tend to channel the slurry to the wall rather than the central discharge drain.

Dow’s revolutionary tickler, the KT-3, has an opposite flow pattern which drives the slurry toward the drainage hole, with resounding success. The production of one particular resin used to generate more than 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of waste per batch – but with the new tickler, it produces less than 2 kilograms of waste, saving more than $1.4 million per year just for this product.

Dow has installed the KT-3 in multiple plants and has licensed the technology for implementation in other companies.

“Dow is substantially building on its reputation as a leader in sustainable chemistry,” says Margaret Walker, vice president for Engineering and Technology Centers. “This recognition of the Terneuzen project – which has already won four prestigious national and international awards, combined with the KT-3 tickler, is further proof that people are taking notice of Dow’s solutions to world challenges, including our focus on generating less waste and using our resources more efficiently.”

About Dow

For further information, please contact Birgit Lacey, Sustainability Communications Manager, The Dow Chemical Company, on (519) 542-7416

For Editorial Information:

Birgit Lacey
The Dow Chemical Company
(519) 542-7416