Description:

Texas Eastman ships propionaldehyde and butyraldehyde via rail car to Tennessee Eastman. The cars at Tennessee Eastman are unloaded under a pressured nitrogen blanket, then vented to the atmosphere prior to a visual inspection to make sure the cars are empty. Texas Eastman employees were concerned that oxygen entering the cars during inspection would affect product quality. The rail cars were washed and repurged before being reloaded with nitrogen.Personnel from Texas Eastman Materials Handling Department and Tennessee Eastman's Acid Division Materials Handling determined that upgrading tank level instrumentation eliminated the need for visual inspection. The cars were returned to Texas with nitrogen pressure, then depressured through a flare and loaded with aldehyde without washing and repurging.

Environmental Benefits:

All the aldehyde emissions from unloading are eliminated at Tennessee Eastman. The vapors in the rail car are burned in the Texas Eastman flare system, an environmentally-responsible action.

Details of Reductions

Additional Information :

There was an annual cost savings of $95,000 resulting from elimination of washing (which included two railroad switches per rail car), repurging the car and improved turn-around time.