Pentane is some hairy stuff. Pentane (C5H12) is an alkane hydrocarbon. A liquid commodity chemical compound, it is mainly used as fuel and as a solvent. (See MSDS.)
Pentane is also involved in the process of making Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), an ideal construction material and that is used in structural insulated panel building systems and as insulation in building structures.
At plants where an IBT customer makes EPS, pentane was being vented to atmosphere. This venting had environmental issues and represented a missed opportunity to reduce fuel expenses as well.
IBT, in collaboration with the customer's team members, developed an environmental and economic engineering remedy. Now, the company uses pentane as a supplemental fuel to fire their steam generating boilers.
Currently there are multiple pentane abatement systems in use by the customer. Several are in the Midwest.
With this plan, pentane is burned in the boiler and not vented to atmosphere. This reduces EPA problems and lowers natural gas fuel consumption. The solution is definitely a win-win for the customer – and the environment.
The idea for these systems was originally developed by an employee of the customer. He then contracted IBT Engineering to design the control portion of the pentane abatement system.
The system includes an Allen-Bradley® PLC and a Dell® PC with Wonderware® InTouch®. The Wonderware software provides a graphical human-machine interface which allows operators to control the operation and also to log data directly from the equipment.
Data from this system is also reported to the EPA. This system also controls the water cooling process. Steam is introduced during production and is vented into condensers. These condensers spray cool water into the incoming steam flow and send the hot water to a cooling tower. It can then be reused in the manufacturing process.
To learn how IBT Engineering can help you control costs and the environment, or improve your operations in general, write to us.
