Dow Saves on Water Bill with New Cooling Technology

Dow Chemical has saved more than one billion gallons of water at is Freeport Texas plant after using new technology for water cooling through Nalco’s 3D TRASAR, allowing it to save about $4m in costs.

The technology significantly decreased the water required to operate the plant’s cooling systems, according to Dow, after it was used to treat 80 process and comfort cooling tower systems.

The technology is eco-friendly, also lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the impact of Dow’s operations on the environment.

A team from both companies deployed the Six Sigma methodology to modify the technology to classify cooling tower systems based on various control parameters to optimise operations.

The technology maintains optimal chemistry of the water utilised in cooling systems, significantly decreasing the amount of water required, maximising the effectiveness of the processes and decreasing the energy needed to operate them, according to Dow.

Dow’s Freeport vice-president and site leader Gary Hockstra said the company offers some of the basic building blocks for the chemistry the 3D TRASAR system uses to achieve these water savings at Freeport and other Nalco customer locations.

“The collaborative efforts used at Freeport were built on our longstanding supplier/customer relationship to provide a leading-edge solution that benefits both companies while contributing to our 2015 Sustainability goals,” Hockstra said.

Dow’s vice-president of sustainability Neil Hawkins said responsible operations are an integral part of the company’s commitment to sustainability.

“Dow’s commitment to addressing the global water crisis includes game-changing technologies, partnerships in strategic regions, and collaboration with industry leaders like Nalco to reduce our own environmental footprint,” Hawkins said.