COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Dec. 4, 2008 – Three groups of students from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University have been recognized for their original designs of a vinyl acetate chemical processing plant by the Celanese Corporation as part of the Fall 2008 Plant Design Competition.
Sara Guest of Paris, Texas; Jason Jeansonne of Lewisville, Texas; Ufuoma Boma of Lagos, Nigeria; and Regina Ramsey of Nederland, Texas are members of the team awarded first place by Celanese for its original design of a vinyl acetate plant.
Daniel Balch of Liberty, Texas; Ankush Bhalla of Missouri City, Texas; Oscar Cabada Kriebel of San Jose, Costa Rico; and Majemite Dafinone of Lagos, Nigeria were awarded second place.
The team composed of Brian Klussmann of Brenham, Texas; Richard Lietzau of Austin, Texas; and Brook Marshall of Humble, Texas received third-place honors.
Each of the winning teams received a monetary prize from Celanese, and the first-place team also will be recognized with a plaque commemorating its achievement.
The competition, which was sponsored by Celanese, tasked students with designing a fully functional vinyl acetate production facility in South America. Vinyl acetate, Harrison explained, is a monomer used in paints, coatings and other adhesives. The plant design challenge is a task that Celanese representative Chris Harrison said the soon-to-be graduates will draw upon as they begin their professional careers.
In designing the plant, students had to account for both the specifications for the plant and product set by Celanese as well as safety factors associated with developing such a facility and process.
Celanese Corporation, which is based in Dallas and employs approximately 8,900 employees worldwide, is a global leader in the chemicals industry. The company manufactures acetyl products, including acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer and polyacetal products. Celanese also is a world leader in the production of high-performance engineered polymers used in consumer and industrial products.
