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Chemical Reuse
Integrys Gas Group provides gas supply, gas engineering and other support for Integrys' five natural gas utilities. Centralizing these operations helps control costs for utility customers. It's also a great way to consistently incorporate environmentally friendly practices across all of the companies. Chemical reuse is one of those practices. Here are some examples Integrys Gas Group has in place at a gas storage facility near Chicago:
- Gas compressors require a lubricant. Some of the lubricant ends up being carried into the gas stream, leaves the compressors, and then is re-captured immediately. Normally, this recaptured chemical would be a waste product. But instead of disposing of it as a waste, Integrys Gas Group employees run it through a reclaiming unit. This returns the lubricant to like-new condition, and it can be reused.
- Integrys Gas Group employees use glycol to treat natural gas after it's withdrawn from underground storage. This removes excess moisture from the gas. The used glycol would otherwise be a waste product, but employees recapture it and run it through a reclaiming unit.
- The Gas Group also uses methanol that is a byproduct of another industry's operations. Our Chicago facility uses thousands of gallons of methanol each year, injecting it into natural gas that is withdrawn from storage. Methanol absorbs moisture from the gas. Rather than purchase new methanol, employees purchase recovered methanol from a Chicago-area firm. They can reuse the methanol, while at the same time relieving the other firm of needing to dispose of it as waste.
Not only is chemical reuse good for the environment, but it makes financial sense, too. The process of reclaiming lubricant and glycol requires fuel, but the cost of that fuel is far lower than that of purchasing new lubricant or glycol. Waste methanol costs about 10 cents per gallon, whereas refined methanol costs about 2 dollars per gallon.