Eastman plans thermal battery power for the recycling plant

In March of this year, Eastman announced that the location of its second molecular recycling facility for difficult-to-recycle polyester waste will be in Longview, Texas.

The first plant in Kingsport, Tennessee, also began production in March and is already generating revenue, with the company expected to reach $75 million in profit by 2024.

The company’s next-generation methanolysis technology can break down such waste into monomer polyester building blocks that can be reused without compromising performance in a high-performance material-to-material loop.

The Kingsport and Longview plants are expected to meet Eastman’s ambitious goals of recycling 125,000 tons of polyester by next year and doubling that amount by 2030.

Pure energy

But the new Longview plant plan will also use a relatively new energy technology – thermal batteries – on an unprecedented scale to produce zero-emission process heat.

Eastman is currently negotiating for up to $375 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstration (OCED) program to enable this goal and simultaneously address two global challenges.

Eastman worked with Rondo Energy to deploy thermal batteries on the project. Rondo heat batteries (RHBs) are essentially modular units containing thousands of tons of bricks and metal coils – much like those in a toaster. RHBs convert intermittent renewable energy – in this case mainly from new, local solar energy – into heat at temperatures exceeding 1000°C. Brick batteries can store huge amounts of heat for up to 24 hours with very little loss.

By using thermal batteries powered by renewable energy, Eastman will be able to recycle difficult-to-recycle polyester waste and produce new recycled materials, emitting up to 90% less greenhouse gases than materials produced from fossil raw materials. PepsiCo has already signed an agreement to use Eastman Renew materials from its Longview facility to create more sustainable packaging with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

Critical innovation

According to John O’Donnell, CEO of Rondo, the project demonstrates how collaboration can provide a multiplier effect through cutting-edge technologies.

“Our collaboration with Eastman demonstrates how innovation and collaboration are essential to tackling the world’s great challenges,” he said. “Eastman’s years of innovation and development in molecular recycling combined with Rondo’s expertise in thermal batteries have created a moment when these technologies can be used together at scale.”

Neil Brown, an Eastman engineer and leader in renewable energy assessment, believes thermal batteries could be a key innovation for decarbonizing the industry.

“Wherever there is a high demand for process heat – and Eastman uses a lot of heat to power our processes – thermal batteries can be a solution because you can store heat for so long with so little loss. Another advantage of building a new facility on an existing site is that if we encounter challenges while integrating new thermal technology, we have backup steam and power systems to ensure business continuity.”

In addition to the benefits of clean energy and the circular economy, there will be tangible benefits for the community. Eastman contributed $20 million to the Comprehensive Community Benefits Plan as part of the DOE award. Overall, the Longview project will create 1,000 temporary construction and trade jobs and 200 full-time jobs once construction is completed around 2027.

www.eastman.eko