Oman Sustainable Project of the Year

29 March 2013

Octal petrochemicals plant

Entrant: Octal Petrochemicals
Project owner: Octal Petrochemicals
Project manager: Faithful + Gould
Project contractor: China CMIIC Engineering & Construction/Larsen & Toubro Electromech
Engineering consultant: Uhde Inventa-Fischer
Architect: Atkins

Description: Octal is the world’s largest producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin and sheets and operates a PET complex in Oman’s Salalah Free Zone. The company produces direct PET (DPET), which has a 25 per cent lower carbon footprint than the conventionally used amorphous PET.

Octal uses 67 per cent less power to manufacture DPET sheets and 38 per cent less power to produce PET resin. All of the facility’s energy needs are met via onsite high-efficiency burners, which use clean natural gas and consume up to 20 per cent less feedstock than conventional PET plants.

The plant has the ability to recycle trim waste and offers the option of recycling the skeletal waste generated during the thermoforming process. Octal also uses treated wastewater to supply its facility’s demand, and the wastewater produced during its activities is treated and then used to water plantation around the factory. To date, the company has invested $600m in green technologies and the sustainable design of its plant.

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