For Immediate Release

Kingsport, Tenn., April 30, 2012 - Eastman Chemical Company (EMN) was one of 19 American Chemistry Council (ACC) members honored today at the annual ACC Responsible Care Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C. for implementing energy-efficiency improvements in 2011. Eastman received eight of the 67 awards presented for outstanding projects, including one of the 16 Exceptional Merit awards. This marks the 19th consecutive year Eastman has earned energy efficiency awards from ACC.

"Eastman is honored to be recognized again by ACC for our efforts in achieving energy efficiencies in our operations," said Jim Rogers, Chairman and CEO. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through improved energy efficiency is a key part of our vision of being a sustainable chemical company."

Combined, Eastman`s winning projects save over 737,000 MMBTUs and 337,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. That`s enough energy to power 16,000 homes and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from over 60,000 cars!

"These eight winning projects exhibit innovative examples of control strategy modifications, trials with new types of equipment, creative process redesign and operational changes," said Sharon Nolen, Corporate Energy Program Manager. "Each success confirms our commitment to saving energy and continuous improvement in energy management."

Eastman received an Exceptional Merit award for the restructure of its energy program to a corporate-wide program with broad participation and executive level support, and an emphasis on corporate initiatives, designated funding, ENERGY STAR resources, and employee awareness and engagement in energy conservation. The company was named a 2012 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for its enhanced energy management program and commitment to continuous improvements in energy efficiency.

Seven of Eastman`s awards were for Significant Improvement in Manufacturing. Eastman`s Longview, Texas site received an award for the following project: Fuel reduction in cracking furnaces - To reduce fuel usage in cracking furnaces without affecting plant reliability or production, better control over excess air in the furnaces was implemented. Measures taken included extensive maintenance on the burners, installation of sample points for manual readings, repair of broken draft controls and elimination of tramp air. This project resulted in annual energy savings of 213,662 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 12,392 tons.

Eastman`s Kingsport, Tennessee site received awards for these projects: Energy minimization in acetic acid refining - To reduce energy consumption by a refining system that removes impurities from acetic acid, a two-phase effort involving control strategy modifications and heat integration was implemented. This resulted in annual energy savings of 40,900 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4,300 tons.

Energy reduction through leak repair in compressed air piping network - A leak survey identified, tagged and quantified leaks from an extensive network of piping that provides compressed air to many manufacturing divisions. The amount of the leak was converted into energy used to compress the air lost to the leaks and the amount of coal burned to generate electricity to run the compressors. This project resulted in annual energy savings of 43,000 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4515 tons.

Reactor heat recovery - A partial condenser was added to recover heat from the vapor leaving a reactor to preheat the liquid feed to the reactor, providing a significant improvement in energy efficiency as well as increased capacity. This project resulted in annual energy savings of 45,280 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4754 tons.

Read more here:
Eastman Chemical Company Receives Energy Efficiency Awards for 19th Consecutive Year