The primary task of the petrochemical industry is to continue to provide high-quality products, so it is very important to control pollution in ethylene production. Contaminants in the processing process will affect the production work. Removal of contaminants early in the process helps reduce fouling-related problems in downstream process units. Alfa Chemistry provides customers with filtration and separation solutions to improve pollution control in ethylene production.
Our solutions can be used to help remove pollutants in the ethylene production process, covering the hot and cold sections of the process. Potential pollutant removal applications include raw material treatment, caustic alkali treatment, etc. The use of pollutant mitigation measures can extend the service life of the steam cracker, reduce fouling in the benzene stripper and heat exchanger, and extend the cycle between molecular sieve dryer regeneration.
Innovative Solutions
As industry growth drives the development of new standards, advancements in filtration technology have been successfully applied to ethylene plants. Some of the filtration and separation solutions provided by Alfa Chemistry to increase ethylene production include:
- Particle filter: The solid particles in the liquid stream can be removed through a disposable filter.
- Liquid/liquid coalescer: High-efficiency L/L coalescer system can handle up to 10% inlet discontinuous phase concentration. These devices can effectively handle difficult-to-separate emulsions with an interfacial tension as low as 0.5 cm and can withstand a series of corrosive chemical applications in a wide temperature range.
- Liquid/Gas Coalescer: High-efficiency L/G coalescers can remove liquid aerosols from gas streams and very small droplets that usually originate from condensation.
- Oil purifier: The lubricating oil of the equipment is essential to maintain optimal operation. Water, solid particles, and even gas can accumulate in the lubricating oil and cause adverse effects. Oil purifiers are a cost-effective way to reduce the risk of lubricating oil problems.
Our superior filtration and separation solutions improve contaminant control, thereby enabling efficient ethylene processing. Please learn more about our ethylene production solutions in our hot and cold sections.
Ethylene Process (Hot Section)
In the hot section, gaseous raw materials (ethane, propane, mixtures) or liquid raw materials (naphtha, gas oil) is cracked in a high-temperature furnace (~800 ℃). Dilution steam is introduced into the furnace to reduce the hydrocarbon partial pressure. The intense heat of the radiating part causes many chemical conversion reactions of hydrocarbons. The hot gas leaves the radiant section and is rapidly cooled to reduce the reactivity of the exhaust gas in the exchanger, and quenched to separate coke, solids, and pyrolysis gasoline. It is then compressed and washed to remove acid gases (CO2 and H2S).
Our coalescers solve the challenge in the following ways:
- The high-efficiency coalescer can ensure that the free pyrolysis gas content in the quench water is less than 20 ppm.
- Effectively remove the corrosion products in the raw material feed, if necessary, the sodium in the furnace liquid feed<0.2 ppm
- The use of surface-treated coalescers can remove a large number of particles and hydrocarbons in the fuel/cracked gas to improve the efficiency of the burner
Ethylene Process (Cold Section)
In the purification part, the gas is dried and refrigerated in a cold box, and various products (methane/hydrogen, ethylene, propylene, butadiene) are separated through fractional distillation (distillation). The following are the challenges of the cold segment and where we can help:
- Molecular sieve protection: This process involves removing liquid from the feed gas. The L/G coalescer will help remove hydrocarbons in the gas phase in this application. For more information about protein concentration, please click here.
- Cold box protection: Composed of a series of low-temperature heat exchangers, the cold refrigerant evaporates and cools the incoming cracked gas before fractionation. The product gas from the cold box is sent to the demethanizer to remove methane/hydrogen. If a liquid intrusion occurs in the dryer, fine micron solid particles can be released from the upstream molecular sieve dryer due to abrasion or degradation of the beads, which will limit the capacity and productivity of the cold box. Our filter is a solution that can help the application remove these particles.
- Green oil removal: Green oil is produced by the side reaction of hydrogenating acetylene to ethylene and ethane on a palladium catalyst. It is necessary to generate steam to remove the deposited green oil. The light fraction of green oil remains in the gas phase; a part is cooled when it leaves the reactor and condenses into fine droplets in the gas stream. To help remove oil from the gas phase, L/G coalescers can be used to solve this challenge.
For more information, please contact us.