S-PVC plant

For 2003, the following consumption data were reported (see Table 5.10)  

Water (m /tPVC) Steam (t/tPVC) Electricity (kWh/tPVC) 

Note Electricity does not include off-site and utilities  

Due to the replacement of old filters by new ones at the storage silos and for the dryers, the average dust emissions were reduced to  

The plant does not have a biological waste water treatment plant, it uses a lagoon. For 2003, the following emissions were reported (see Table 5.12). The emission levels fit within the (OSPAR) standards for S-PVC production. 

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Table 13.1 Improvement of technology for a large size S-PVC plant [1],...

The recovered VCM is either returned to the plant from which it arose, or to a neighbouring plant, to be used in the pol5mierisation process together with virgin VCM. Where facilities for E-PVC and S-PVC polymerisation processes are located side by side, it is common for the recovered monomer to be used exclusively at the S-PVC plant, as this process is less sensitive to the quality of the VCM. 

Economics ISBL installed cost on the U.S. Gulf Coast, for a 150,000 mtpy suspension PVC plant is U.S. 45 million. 

An existing stripping system can be revamped by installing an EVC slurry stripping column. Cost of such a facility for a 150,000 tpy PVC plant would be U.S. 2.5 million. At the moment, eleven stripping columns are operating worldwide. 

EPA Vinyl Chloride Standard. On October 21, 1976, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated the National Emission Standard for Vinyl Chloride (35) under the provisions of Section 112 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C., Section 7412) which provides for national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) that present a threat of increased mortality or serious irreversible illness. This standard provides emission standards applicable to ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, and PVC plants. In the case of PVC plants, this requires the following ... 

Alternative 1. A competitor s vinyl-chloride plant, which produces 2 MMM (billion) Ib/yr of vinyl chloride and is located about 100 miles away, might be expanded to produce the required amount, which would be shipped by truck or rail in tank car quantities. In this case, the design team projects the purchase price and designs storage facilities. This might be the simplest solution to provide the monomer required to expand the local PVC plant. 

Where manufacturing plants for the pol5mierisation of E-PVC and S-PVC are located side by side, it is common for them to share the same water treatment facilities. 

Germany reported that for German plants waste water from the S-PVC proeess is 1 - 4 m /t, cooling water is in the range of 100 - 200 m /t and COD after pretreatment is 150 - 750 g/t PVC. However, these figures may be higher when the pretreatment is less effective. 

Table 5.6 Dust and VCM emissions from German S-PVC reference plants...

Chlorine. Chlorine, the material used to make PVC, is the 20th most common element on earth, found virtually everywhere, in rocks, oceans, plants, animals, and human bodies. It is also essential to human life. Eree chlorine is produced geothermally within the earth, and occasionally finds its way to the earth s surface in its elemental state. More usually, however, it reacts with water vapor to form hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid reacts quickly with other elements and compounds, forming stable compounds (usually chloride) such as sodium chloride (common salt), magnesium chloride, and potassium chloride, all found in large quantities in seawater. 

The rapid movement in the global phthalates market away from using plasticisers 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in favour of alternative products was underscored recently when BASF revealed plans to close its 2-EH and DEHP plants in Germany. The restructuring in Europe will have no effect on BASF s plasticiser portfolio in Nafta and Asia, however, where the company will continue to offer 2-EH and DEHP. About 70% of the plasticiser maiket volume is phthalates, and plasticisers make up about 60% of the plastic additives maiket. PVC accounts for 80-90% of global plasticiser consumption. In October 2003, California added DEHP to the state s list of more than 750 chemicals known to cause birth defects or reproductive harm. Previous studies had shown that the chemical can leach from plastic bags that contain intravenous fluids, blood, tube feedings or other medical treatment, and thereby enter the bodies of patients. 

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