Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s TDI Team Steams Up Annual Energy Savings at Baytown, Texas, Plant

Baytown, TX, May 20, 2011 --(PR.com)-- A team of employees at Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s Baytown, Texas, plant have substantially reduced energy consumption by optimizing site operations.

At the 2011 Industrial Energy Technology Conference (IETC), held May 17-19 in New Orleans, the Baytown toluene diisocyanate (TDI) Train team received the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Exceptional Merit award for its efforts. IETC is hosted by the Energy Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M University, and focuses on the adaptation of industrial manufacturers and suppliers to the growing need for energy efficiency in business.

The TDI train team worked with Bayer MaterialScience AG’s Isocyanates Technology Center in Leverkusen, Germany to generate ideas for improvements. The implemented energy-saving projects reduced the overall use of steam, allowed for the use of lower-value steam, and provided the means to recover waste steam. “By making these changes to the TDI process, we were able to reduce steam usage by approximately 20 percent over two years,” said Don Pferdehirt, TDI Production Lead, Bayer MaterialScience LLC. “Using less steam not only lowers operating costs, but also is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by approximately 45,000 tons per year.”

The TDI Train team’s efforts also were the subject of a presentation at IETC.

Pferdehirt and Mamadou Barry, TDI Energy Officer, Bayer MaterialScience LLC, presented “TDI Train Energy Improvement Projects” today. The processes used to create TDI, which is used to produce flexible polyurethane foams for furniture, bedding and automotive applications, are all energy intensive. The presentation outlined the team’s three-step approach to thinking differently about energy management, the efficiency-increasing processes applied, and the successes of the energy improvement projects.

Bayer MaterialScience LLC is one of the leading producers of polymers and high-performance plastics in North America and is part of the global Bayer MaterialScience business with approximately 14,400 employees at 30 production sites around the world and 2010 sales of 10.2 billion euros. The company manufactures high-tech polymer materials and develops innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction, medical, and sports and leisure industries. Sustainability is central to Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s business and is based around the key areas of innovation, product stewardship, excellence in corporate management, social responsibility and respect for the environment.

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