Protecting the environment is a priority for Shahid Tondgooyan Petrochemical Company in southwest Iran, the managing director said.
Although increasing output is important, saving water and reducing environmental pollution is high on the agenda, Reza Qasemi Shahri was reported as saying by the National Petrochemical Company news website Nipna.
“To safeguard the environment and move toward a greener petrochemical industry, the company has launched a project to recycle water from the cooling towers,” he said.
“With completion of the project in the coming months, about 350 cubic meters of water per hour will be recycled.”
Cooling towers use evaporative cooling, a process in which water reduces the temperature of another object, evaporating as a result. The water used in the process cycles back through the system for reuse.
Ensuring that a cooling tower is properly functioning and properly recycling is important for water management, energy preservation and saving money. High quality cooling towers are manufactured and designed to recycle at least 98% of all wasted system water. Recycling that much water can result in major energy and water reduction and can save money and improve water efficiency.
Founded in 1998, the Tondgooyan complex produces raw materials for downstream industries such as textile and packaging. Located in Mahshahr City, Khuzestan Province, the plant is the largest supplier of polyethylene terephthalate, better known PET. It also produces purified therephtalic acid (PTA) as one of the main raw materials for PET.
PET is a clear, strong, and lightweight plastic that is widely used for packaging foods and beverages, especially convenience-sized soft drinks, juices and water.
Speaking about the company’s status in the last calendar year (ended March 19), Qasemi Shahri said: “Last year, In addition to meeting domestic needs, we were able to export as well. With the implementation of development projects, we expect to increase production in all units this year”.
The PET output of the company reached a historic record of 110,000 tons per month last December. Plans are in place to create an extra 4,800 tons of new capacity for bottles and textile PET in the STPC.
The company is also planning to start production of 20 new variants of the plastic, including a special fiber which is widely used in the tire industry and is currently imported.
The rise in output was reported last year and will continue in the current year despite the new US economic sanctions.
The US imposed tough new sanctions on Iran in August 2018, targeting the oil, banking, insurance and shipping sectors. In the May of that year President Donald Trump tore up the landmark 2015 nuclear deal Iran had signed with the six world powers. In November he imposed a second round of sanctions, targeting the key energy sector.
Iran’s petrochemical sector has survived since there are many customers worldwide for Iranian products. Officials have said that unlike the key oil sector, the petrochemical industry cannot be restricted. Diversity of petrochemical products plus high global demand make the nature of the industry un-sanctionable.
