INTERNATIONAL CLEANER PRODUCTION INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE

CASE STUDY # 213

1.   Headline:   A  petrochemical  company  saves   more   than
2.000.000  NKR  a  year  from implementing  cleaner  production
measures

2.   Background:   See   Description  of   Cleaner   Production
Application

3.  Cleaner  Production  Principle: Good housekeeping,  product
modification, process modification

4.  Description  of Cleaner Production Application:  This  case
study was carried out in March 1992. A variety of options  were
adopted:

--Good  Housekeeping--In the original  process  plastic  powder
left  over  from  the production process was washed  away  with
water which led to a basin. Another waste stream containing oil
was  led  to  the  same basin. Because the waste  streams  were
mixed,  none of the wastes could be re-used or recycled. Change
of  operation  routines eliminated the  oil  contents  and  the
plastic powder was sold to a recycling company.

--Product  Change-- The company uses cardboard  containers  and
plastic bags as packaging for their products. Current packaging
requires a non-standard pall etc. by changing the size  of  the
package, standard EUR-pallets can be used.

--Raw  material substitution-- The company uses a large  amount
of  oil in their compressors. By changing the specification  of
the  oil,  the oil can be used for a longer period of time  and
oil consumption decreases.

Statoil  Bamble  produces polypropen (PP),  polyeten  with  low
density  (PEL)  and  polyeten with high  density  (PEH).  Total
yearly   production  is  300.000  ton.  The  company  has   640
employees. The following main points have been evaluated during
the project:

-  When  the  production process is in a  closing  down  phase,
propane  gas  is led to a torch. Instead of being  led  to  the
torch,  this gas can be pumped into a tank and then be used  as
raw material in the production process.

-  Some of the pellets from the production is of a quality  too
low  to  be sold. These pellets can be transferred to a  powder
silo and then extruded once more.

-  The  company  uses 23 million tons of water  each  year  for
cooling. The water is paid for, runs through the factory and is
then discharged into the fjord. Re-use of water is possible  by
changes in the cooling system and investment in a cooling tower
and cooling system.

-  Re-use  of a large amount of the waste the company generates
each year is possible.

5.  Economics:  The  only  measure  that  requires  substantial
investments  is  to lead the gas away from the torch,  but  the
figures  have  not  been calculated. Regarding  waste  streams,
yearly  changes in costs include the following: elimination  of
oil  in  production, 250.000 nkr; elimination  of  non-standard
pallets,  400.000  nkr;  re-use of pellets,  700.000  nkr;  net
profit  from sales due to re-use of used pallets, 400.000  nkr;
re-cycling  of  plastic bags, 120.000 nkr; re-use  of  extruded
plastic,  50.000  nkr;  re-cycling of paper/cardboard,  315.000
nkr; and re-cycling of plastic containers, 100.000 nkr.

6.  Advantages:  Main  benefits from implementing  the  cleaner
production  techniques were economical as outlined above,  with
net savings close to 2 million nkr.

7. Constraints: Most measures were taken are in accordance with
"good  housekeeping"  principles, and no  particular  technical
constraints were reported.

8. Contacts:

The following documents were cited:

Amundsen,   A   (1993)  Miljoteknologi  og  renere  produksjon.
Universitesforlaget, Oslo ISBN 82-00-41009-9

Amundsen,  A  et.al.  (1992) Renere produksjon,  Bransjemetode,
Petrokjemi, Polyolefinproduksjon. Oestfold Research  Foundation
report  no  .  OR  02-92 ISBN 82-7520-078-4, Scandpower  report
no.24.21.0l/A.

Company contact:

Statoil Bamble
Att: Grant Gundersen
3960 Stathelle
Norway
TEL: +47 35 57 70 00

Norwegian State Pollution Authority
Att: Uno Abrahamsen Postboks
8100 Dep. 0032 Oslo, Norway
TEL: +47 22 57 34 00

Oestfold Research Foundation
Att: Audun Amundsen
Boks 276
N-1601 Fredrikstad
TEL: + 47 69 34 00

Scandpower A/S
Att: Helge Brakestad
Boks 3
N-2007 Kjeller
TEL: + 47 63 81 49 20
9. Keywords: ISIC Code SIC 3513, polyolefin production process,

10.  Reviewer's Comment's: This case study was translated  from
Norwegian  and submitted to UNEP IE on behalf of the  Norwegian
State     Pollution    Control    Authority    by    Stiftelsen
Ostfoldforskning  in  February 1994.  They  were  reviewed  and
edited  by  UNEP  IE in July 1995.  They have not  undergone  a
formal quality review.