Nalco Water, an Ecolab company, will participate in the Ethylene Producers Conference at the 2024 AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS). This premier event for the chemical process industry is set to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, from March 25-28. Attendees are invited to engage with Nalco Water experts and discover innovative solutions for process and water applications designed to help their businesses achieve operational objectives and environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. 

Dave Smith, senior marketing manager for Global Chemical at Nalco Water, is set to make two technical presentations that will highlight crucial advancements in the ethylene market. The first will focus on the critical role of monitoring compressor performance to minimize fouling. The second will delve into advancements in plastics recycling technology.

Strategies to mitigate fouling

The process gas compressor is essential in ethylene production, serving as the heart of the steam cracking process. The equipment helps to maintain continuous production, and impacts energy use as well as greenhouse gas emissions. However, fouling can severely affect performance and lead to operational issues, downtime and equipment damage.
Digital solutions and insights can help counter these challenges and boost efficiency, which can also positively influence sustainability. In this session, Smith will discuss fouling mechanisms, mitigation techniques and the importance of monitoring to improve manufacturing reliability and profitability.

Presentation Time: 8:05-8:30 AM Central on Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Location: R06-R07 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)

Advanced recycling solutions

As advanced recycling continues to evolve, the feedstocks produced by chemical recycling processes present distinct challenges for recyclers, chemical manufacturers and refineries. By adopting a full-cycle approach, companies can leverage existing infrastructure and equipment to integrate recycled plastic feedstocks into their operations.
The session will present the results of extensive laboratory testing of various recycled plastic feedstocks, highlighting the potential hurdles in producing and processing these feedstocks. In addition, Smith will discuss solutions to help improve feedstock quality, reliability and reduce the adverse effects of their production and processing.

Presentation Time: 8:55-9:20 AM Central on Thursday, March 28
Location: R08-R09 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)

About the presenter

Dave Smith brings 28 years of extensive experience in refining and petrochemicals, covering process design, operations, field sales, marketing and technical support, with the last 25 years dedicated to Nalco Water. As senior marketing manager for Global Chemicals, Smith excels in providing technical marketing support for the chemical processing industries with a focus on olefins production processes, reactive monomers, polymers and advanced recycling. His responsibilities include developing new treatment programs and technologies, interfacing with customer technology centers for troubleshooting and coordinating Nalco Water process treatment programs to meet the changing needs of the petrochemicals marketplace.