MFG Chemical, a global leader in specialty and custom chemical manufacturing, is improving its manufacturing capabilities in Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate (DOSS) through the current upgrading of its three Dalton, Georgia plants.
DOSS is a specialty surfactant used in oilfield, lubricants, ethanol, coatings and agricultural industries, as well as polymerization, paints and inks, pulp and paper, resins, textiles and carpets, rubber, metals and minerals, petroleum oils and dry cleaning applications.
The upgrading of MFG Chemical’s Dalton plants has been named Project Odyssey. It is a multi-million dollar capital investment project which is already improving management systems related to process safety and key compliance workflows generally. It will be especially useful for improving the quality, consistency and safety of DOSS manufacturing.
The Project Odyssey improvements will include the following:
- New cooling towers for better quality control of the reaction using a closed system at known temperature with lower cycle time and lower water waste;
- New DCS process control technology for better control on reaction parameters and cycle times, reduced human error by having remotely activated valves and reduced risk by automating the shutdown process; and,
- New pressure release control valve, safety instrumented systems and upgraded piping to minimize and localize possible run-away reaction.
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Joe Welch, Director of EHS&S, and Fred Carder, Mechanical Systems Manager, work together to assure all engineering and compliance aspects of Project Odyssey are being implemented on schedule. Welch stated, “DOSS is a core chemistry of MFG Chemical, which the company has been producing in large quantities since 1982. These improvements in manufacturing quality, control, consistency and efficiency will catapult MFG Chemical into an industry leadership position in the quality, efficiency and safety of DOSS manufacturing.”