LG

Underground Leak Prevention Walls Pops Up and Waste Gas Recycled
LG Chem Finds Unique Ideas from College Students
 
■ 1st LG Chem - Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers Petrochemicals Olympiad Awards Ceremony Held in Metaverse
□ The team composed of students majoring in chemical engineering at Hongik University that proposed an embedded dike system wins the grand prize
□  Total of 59 million KRW in prize money and hiring benefits to the 10 teams that proposed waste gas recycling, etc.
 
■ KUG LAE, NOH (Executive Vice President / President, Petrochemicals Company)  “We will find and foster talented college students who will lead the future petrochemical industry”
 
 
A leak prevention wall hidden underground out of sight in normal times automatically rises up when material leaks are detected.
 
While a strong wall protects the adjacent storage tank, the leaked materials are safely transported to an empty space inside the wall.
 
Despite being a safety measure idea that college students came up with, it was assessed to have high possibility to apply in actual industrial sites considering its precise design according to leak speeds and accident handling measures based on safety-related laws.
 
LG Chem met with the ideas of college students through the Petrochemicals Olympiad.
 
LG Chem announced that it held the ‘1st LG Chem - Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers Petrochemicals Olympiad’ awards ceremony on a metaverse platform on the 21st.
 
At the Olympiad that was held since July, a total of 1,692 college students majoring in chemical engineering grouped in 647 teams participated to suggest solutions to problems facing the chemical industry in areas such as ▲process safety ▲enhanced productivity ▲environment/energy.
 
Expert judges from the LG Chem Global Production Center and the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers selected one team for the overall grand prize and gold/silver/bronze for one team in each of the sectors based on actual applicability, uniqueness, etc.
 
The grand prize went to the Emergency Escape Number 1 Team composed of Park Joong-hoon, Park Sang-young, and Eom Se-bin of Hongik University.
 
The winning team’s embedded leak prevention wall system protects the surroundings from dangers such as fires by a dike buried underground automatically rising up when there are chemical substance leaks.
 
The materials that flow out are moved into an empty space within the wall.
 
While existing dikes simply stopped leaked materials, the embedded dike immediately quarantines the materials, thereby minimizing leaking of chemical materials to the outside.
 
Also, because it is an embedded-type, it has great spatial utilization as the space can be used passageways in normal times.
 
The judged commented, “The proposed safety facility was realistic and practical because it gave comprehensive consideration of actual safety management standards at both home and abroad, and the precise and logical computed design, etc. stood out,” while also adding, “It demonstrated high potentials for use in actual industrial sites.”
 
Nine other teams were awarded for their proposals such as process design for producing hydrogen fuel using by-product gas emitted during the naphtha cracking process, optimization plans for NBR latex production, RFID (radio-frequency identification) system that monitors mechanical defects of materials storage tanks, etc.
 
The awards ceremony was held on a metaverse platform so that the MZ generation can participate conveniently and with fun during the COVID-19 pandemic. Park Joong-hoon, who won the grand prize, stated, “It is very meaningful as we received evaluations that it may be helpful for the actual industrial sites,” and added, “I have become more certain about my career path goal in petrochemicals.”
 
LG Chem will give a cash prize of 5 million KRW and internship (converted to full-time employment) per person in the team that won the grand prize.
 
Three teams that won the gold, silver and bronze medals in each sector will be exempted from resume reviews if they choose to apply to LG Chem, and they will also be given 3 million, 2 million, and 1 million KRW each as prize money according to their awards.
 
KUG LAE, NOH (Executive Vice President / President, Petrochemicals Company) said, “We were able to find talented college students who will lead the future petrochemical industry through this Olympiad,” and added, “LG Chem will continue to foster innovative human resources for the chemical engineering sector in the future.”