Ethylene process types----petroleum route

Everyone can share their experience based on the ethylene process they are familiar with.

Types of ethylene production processes – non-petroleum routes https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-2955041-1-1.html (Source: Huahai Chuanliu – Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)

After nearly 30 years of research and development, the Sinopec project team has successfully developed a million-ton-scale ethylene production technology capable of efficiently cracking light feedstocks such as ethane, light hydrocarbons, and naphtha, as well as heavy feedstocks like diesel and hydrogenation tail oil. It can also effectively crack complex feedstocks with high olefin content, enabling China to become the first country to fully master such advanced ethylene production technology for complex feedstocks. This set of technological innovations has led to the development of ultra-large-scale, long-cycle, high-efficiency pyrolysis furnace technologies suitable for complex feedstocks, overcoming the challenge of achieving high selectivity alongside long operational cycles. The largest pyrolysis furnace in China, with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons, has been in operation for 4 years, while the world’s largest furnace, with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons, is now ready for operation. Meanwhile, a new efficient separation process was developed, centered around fractional condensation and distillation towers as well as distribution and separation techniques, which enables high ethylene recovery rates with low energy consumption, thereby significantly improving product recovery rates and reducing energy use. A series of high-performance catalysts were created for the entire ethylene production process, including those for high-selectivity hydrogenation of C2 and C3 compounds as well as low-temperature, high-speed methanation; the performance of these catalysts exceeds that of similar products available domestically and internationally, and they have been exported. Major equipment for ethylene production at a scale of millions of tons, including pyrolysis gas and propylene refrigeration compressors along with cryogenic tanks, was also developed. Green and efficient specialized technologies were created, and the results of these technological advancements have been exported as well. This set of technologies has also yielded significant intellectual property achievements: a total of 206 patents have been granted, including 157 invention patents (64 of which are foreign), 137 research papers, 4 monographs, and 15 standards. This has created a comprehensive technical framework that provides a solid foundation for the rapid development of related technologies in the future.

The complete set of technologies for producing ethylene on a million-ton scale from complex raw materials has been widely adopted and applied. Following the successful construction and commissioning of the 800,000-ton/year ethylene plant at Wuhan Sino-Korean Petrochemical, the 800,000-ton/year ethylene plant at Zhanjiang Zhongke Petrochemical was completed at the end of December 2019 and is about to start up for trial operation. A number of other ethylene plants with capacities of millions of tons per year, utilizing complex feedstocks, are under design and construction, including the 900,000-ton/year ethylene plant in Fujian Gulei, the 1,000,000-ton/year ethylene plant at Hainan Petrochemical, and the 1,200,000-ton/year ethylene plant at Zhenhai Petrochemical. In addition to new installations, renovation and expansion projects for million-ton-class ethylene plants such as Fujian United Petrochemical have also been completed.