Energy Efficiency and Innovative Emerging Technologies for Olefin Production

Among the current IPPC installations, steam cracking for olefin production is the single most energy consuming process (ca. 30%) in the chemical industry, accounting for ca. 180 million tons of CO2 worldwide. This paper reviews steam cracking and innovative emerging olefin technologies in terms of energy efficiency. Pyrolysis section alone consumes ca. 65% of the total energy use and ca. 75% of the total exergy loss. An overview of state-of-the-art naphtha cracking technologies shows that ca. 20% savings on the current average energy use are possible. Advanced naphtha steam cracking technologies in the pyrolysis section (e.g. advanced coil and furnace materials) may together lead to up to ca. 20% savings on the total energy use by state-of-the-art technologies. Improvements in the compression and separation sections may together lead to up to ca. 15% savings on the total energy use by state-of the-art technologies. Catalytic olefin technologies could possibly save at least ca. 20% on the total energy use by the state-of-the-art naphtha steam cracking.