Steam cracking: key role in petrochemistry

1. FEA PhD symposium – David Van Cauwenberge, Ghent, 06/12/2013 Steam cracking: keyrole in petrochemistry Crude oil 10% chemicals: Ethane & Naphtha Base chemicals Steam cracker Distillation Ethene Propene 80% to fuels Butadiene Aromatics 10% asphalt, residue, lubricants Chemical industry Natural gas Processing Consumer goods Methane NGL (Ethane, Propane...) Gascondensates

2. FEA PhD symposium – David Van Cauwenberge, Ghent, 06/12/2013 Coke formation Hydrocarbons at high temperatures form graphitic coke layers on the inner reactor walls Decoking of the reactors with a steam/air mixture is inevitable Insulatinglayerinterfereswith heat transfer to the process gas increasing the tube metal temperatures (TMT) -> metallurgicconstraints Reduced cross-section of the tubes -> higherpressure drop -> loss of selectivity

3. FEA PhD symposium – David Van Cauwenberge, Ghent, 06/12/2013 Coke reductionmethods Coke production causes the industry 2 billion $/year in losses (*) Recent advances in: Feed additives Metal surfacetechnologies 3D reactor technology(Q = U.A.ΔT) (*) Nova Chemicals, 2002

4. FEA PhD symposium – David Van Cauwenberge, Ghent, 06/12/2013 Outlet temperature profile Helix Straight SmallFins Bare Industrial geometry Optimized 1030 930 1000 900 960 °C More uniform gas temperature Lower metal temperature