【Haichuan’s Best Practices】Converting the surplus tetrahydrocarbon products from ethylene plants into high-value MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) products

Thread Content

Recently, through cross-departmental collaboration, Sino-Korea Petrochemical successfully converted the surplus tetrahydrocarbon products from its ethylene plant into high-value MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) products. This approach resolved the resource balance issues that had long plagued the company, increased the value of its products, and helped it improve quality and efficiency. Residual carbon IV is a by-product in the ethylene production process, while MTBE is a high-octane component for gasoline. With the high-load operation of chemical plants and the growing demand for butadiene, the utilization of extracted carbon tetrafluoride resources poses challenges. In the past, companies could only choose to sell the material at low prices or dispose of it by burning, which wasted resources and affected efficiency. At the beginning of this year, the Refining and Chemical Production Management Department of Sino-Korea Petrochemical formed a task force to develop an implementation plan for the reuse of idle pipelines. By utilizing these old pipelines, transmission channels were created to connect the chemical area with the refining area, allowing n-C4 to be sent directly to the MTBE plant. To address the complexity of the four components in the residue carbon, the research team prepared a comprehensive plan in advance, and by dynamically adjusting the reaction parameters, ensured the stability of key indicators. After three months of renovation and testing, this 10-kilometer-long pipeline has been put into operation; it is capable of processing 3 tons of raffinate tetrahydrocarbon per hour, and it is expected to enable an annual increase in the production of high-octane gasoline by 16,000 tons.