Ethylene Plant Process (Hot Section)
There are many ways chemical plants that rely on filtration can accomplish the desired reaction or separation. Whether it's by purifying feedstocks, removing emulsions from chemicals, filtration for process fluid reuse, or final production purification, the need for efficient filtrations systems applies to many applications. Chemical plant operators want to efficiently and reliably filter contaminants from a wide variety of process and product streams, which can cause a multitude of costly operational and fluid quality problems.
In the hot section, gas feedstocks (ethane, propane, blends) or liquid feedstocks (naphtha, gas oil) are cracked in a high temperature furnace (~800 °C). Dilution steam is introduced into the furnace to reduce the hydrocarbon partial pressure, thus favoring the production of ethylene and to reduce coke formation. The intense heat in the radiant section causes the hydrocarbon to undergo numerous chemical transformation reactions. The hot gas exits the radiant section and is quickly cooled to reduce the reactivity of effluent gas in exchangers and quenched to separate coke, solids and pyrolysis gasoline (pygas). It is then compressed and washed to remove acidic gases (CO2 and H2S). In the purification (cold) section, gases are dried and refrigerated via cold boxes to separate the various products (methane/hydrogen, ethylene, propylene, butadiene) by fractionation (distillation).
Coalescing addresses this challenge by:
- High efficiency coalescer, usage results in guaranteed free pygas levels in quench water<20 ppm. Coalescer life is enhanced to about 1 year
- Effective removal of corrosion by products in feedstock feeds and if required, sodium in liquid feeds to furnaces <0.2 ppm
- Substantial removal of particulates and hydrocarbons in fuel/ cracked gas with surface treated SepraSol® Plus coalescer to improve burner efficiency
- Longer process run times at lower risk of encountering upset process conditions
Ethylene Production Hot Process Facts
- Usage: As a basic building block in the manufacture of ethylene glycol, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyester resin, polyvinyl chloride, etc.
- Form of final product: Gas with low boiling point.
- Feedstocks: Ethane, propane, ethane/propane, naphtha, gas oil.
- How it’s made: By cracking of gas or liquid feeds in high temperature furnaces, followed by quenching the cracked gas and obtaining various products by fractionation.
For more information about High Floe Filtration Technology, please see below.