April , 28, 2023 –. Orion Engineered Carbons, a specialty chemicals company, announced that cogeneration technology that produces renewable energy has been installed at its Ivanhoe plant in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana. According to Orion, the new facility will make facility more efficient, reliable and sustainable.

The cogeneration system, which includes a steam turbine generator, uses the waste steam from the carbon black plant’s production process and converts it to electricity. The energy can be used to power the facility as well as be exported to the local grid.

“The new technology will reduce our reliance on the grid, which should result in less downtime at the plant and more consistent production,” Orion CEO Corning Painter said. “This is especially important in the Gulf Coast region of the U.S., where severe weather can pose a threat to the power supply. With this cogeneration system, we expect to be better able to continue safely operating and producing the products our customers need.”

Another anticipated benefit of the technology is improved equipment reliability. Any power failure can shut down the plant suddenly, causing fatigue and degradation with carbon black production equipment, which requires significant cool-down and warm-up periods.

Similar cogeneration technology is used at many of Orion’s plants worldwide.

This is the second significant upgrade at the Ivanhoe plant in the last three years. In late 2021, Orion installed air emissions control technology that captures pollutants and converts them to sulfuric acid, commonly used in a wide range of products -- from fertilizers and glue to dyes and car batteries.

Orion Engineered Carbons is a global supplier of carbon black, a solid form of carbon produced as powder or pellets. The material is made to customers’ exacting specifications for tires, coatings, ink, batteries, plastics and numerous other specialty, high-performance applications. Carbon black is used to tint, colorize, provide reinforcement, conduct electricity, increase durability, and add UV protection. Orion has innovation centers on three continents and 14 plants worldwide. The company’s corporate lineage goes back more than 160 years to Germany, where it operates the world’s longest-running carbon black plant.

Source: Orion Engineered Carbons