Innophos
Chicago Heights, Illinois
Intern: Rashad Nuruddin
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Innophos facility in Chicago Heights is a specialty phosphate manufacturing operation. The facility specializes in the production of sodium and calcium phosphates, with products being utilized in such industries as oral care, pharmaceutical and baking.
The intern project focused on opportunities to improve energy use, water conservation, heat loss and process efficiency.
Results:
The intern worked on the following projects:
- Conducted a light survey of store room lighting, maintenance garage lighting and outdoor lighting. The company could save $4,000 dollars by installing occupancy sensors and photocells in several areas. The recommendations also includes replacing metal halide to T-8 lighting. This project could reduce 40 tons of CO2 annually
- Participated in calculating the water savings from converting AC systems from water condensers to air condensers or supply fan systems. There is a total project savings of $105,912 in water and $5,264 in electricity, while reducing CO2 production by 31 tons annually.
- Conducted a boiler efficiency study. It is recommended the plant install a blow down recovery system, resize #1 boiler to meet lower demand and improve efficiency, and reuse blow down sampler cooling water as boiler feed water. This project could save $4,782 in reduced sewer costs.
- Replaced all failed traps found as a result of the steam trap survey. Installed traps in areas that need a trap, but were never equipped. A heat loss study was performed on a plant stabilizer, which showed a 55,400 BTU/hr heat loss from radiation alone. It is recommended the stabilizer be insulated or a waste heat recovery system be installed.
- Recommended that the company enter the plastic drum recycling program provided by the drum manufacturers or company that ships the chemical filled drums to the facility, instead of sending emptied plastic drums to the landfill at about $14 dollars a drum.
- Recommended that the facility continue to dewater the lime sand by-product using current methods, but continue to search for dewatered lime p products.
- Recommended that the facility take part in the free energy audit services provided by the Cook County Commercial Energy Audit Program to determine energy savings on building envelopes.
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