Goodyear, Sandia Labs to study petrochemical efficiency processes

Oct. 9, 2000
Goodyear Chemical and the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories reported they plan to jointly study new, more energy efficient processes that could dramatically reduce the US petrochemical industry's dependence on foreign oil.


Goodyear Chemical, a division of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, and the US Department of Energy�s Sandia National Laboratories reported they plan to jointly study new, more energy efficient processes that could dramatically reduce the US petrochemical industry's dependence on foreign oil.

Under an agreement signed in Albuquerque, NM, Friday, Goodyear Chemical and Sandia researchers will share expertise to analyze chemical process technologies that may reduce energy consumption, waste generation, and environmental emissions.

�Energy costs continue to escalate at our production facilities,� said Dr. Jonathan Rich, Goodyear Chemical�s director of research and development. �Successful results of this project could help Goodyear and ultimately the US petrochemical industry in the global marketplace by lowering operating costs, while protecting the environment.�

Rich said the research will be targeted at Goodyear�s Beaumont, Tex., solution polymer plant, which began full-scale operations this week. The plant uses petrochemicals to produce synthetic rubber and specialty polymers for tires and engineered products. Developments from the initiative could then be made available to the entire US chemical industry, said Rich.

He said Goodyear research and development personnel will provide engineering and economic modeling studies based on the company�s newest plant operations. Sandia will use advanced computer-aided design and engineering to test fabricated material recovery devices and quantify results.

The agreement is the sixth Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between Goodyear and Sandia since 1993 and the first for the company�s chemical business. The technologies being evaluated may also be useful in raw material recovery and transportation processes, said Rich.

Sandia is operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. Its main facilities are based in Albuquerque and Livermore, Calif.