1.0 REVIEW OF NOWRA CHEMICALS OPERATIONS
2.0 PLANNING AND ORGANISATION OF THE NOWRA CHEMICALS CLEANER PRODUCTION PROJECT
2.1 CLEANER PRODUCTION APPROACH USED AT NOWRA CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS
2.2 CLEANER PRODUCTION OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED AT NOWRA CHEMICALS
2.2.1 Solid Waste Reduction
2.2.2 Preliminary Evaluation of Solid Waste Reduction Opportunity
3.0 CLEANER PRODUCTION INITIATIVES
3.1 DETAILED EVALUATION OF THE SOLID WASTE REDUCTION PROJECT
3.2 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS
The Cleaner Production Demonstration Project (the
Project) is an initiative of Environment Australia -The Environment
Protection Group (the EPG). The aim of the Project was to raise
the awareness of Australian industry and actively promote cleaner
production issues. This was to be achieved by conducting ten
successful cleaner production demonstration projects in industry
around Australia, documenting the benefits and experiences of
the project, and publicising the results to wider industry. Dames
& Moore, assisted by Energetics, were engaged as technical
consultants on the project. The project commenced in June 1994,
and ran for 27 months.
Nowra Chemical Manufacturers in Nowra, NSW was
selected as one of the ten companies to participate in the
Project. This case study report presents a record of the progress
of the Nowra Chemicals project, from initial meeting to project
completion, and details the results of the Project any problems
or lessons which may been encountered. The case study demonstrates
the application of Cleaner Production to the chemical manufacturing
industry.
Nowra Chemical Manufacturers specialise in the
production of a wide range of chemicals, including cleaning chemicals,
flocculants and other specialised chemicals. The companyÕs
ability and commitment to their clients to produce this vast number
of chemicals has set the operating methodology over the years.
Nowra Chemicals have approximately 24 vessels
in which they manufacture all their products via batch operations.
After completion of the batch and transferring the product to
containers, the vessels are opened to drain, and washed out.
Mixing of the various washouts results in the formation of
a chemical sludge. Treatment and handling of the sludge has grown
to become a highly time consuming exercise as the volume of sludge
generated has increased over the years with the number of chemicals
being produced.
The sludge cannot be handled by the Council waste
water treatment plant, and has to be separated, dried and disposed
to landfill as solid waste. Nowra Chemicals have committed to
minimising the solid waste problem through the Cleaner Production
Project.
The main focus of the project was the reduction
of the volume of sludge produced. The possibility of separating
the effluent streams to avoid mixing of the products was determined
by analysis of products. The trial of effluent mixing indicated
that the effluent can be classified into three main groups. Two
of these groups would ideally eliminate any sludge formation and
the third contained all other waste products. Based on the classification
of the products, suitable pipework and additional holding tanks
were installed.
The separation of effluent streams led to:
Total capital costs to implement the project were
$25,000, which the company expects to recover in three years (not
including the additional productivity savings made in personnel
time.).
The Cleaner Production Demonstration Project has shown in this case study that it is often simpler and more effective to solve a problem where it is produced rather than treating it at the end point. The process modifications and new methodology has proven to be effective for this project.