New Trends in Olefin Production

Abstract

Most olefins (e.g., ethylene and propylene) will continue to be produced through steam cracking (SC) of hydrocarbons in the coming decade. In an uncertain commodity market, the chemical industry is investing very little in alternative technologies and feedstocks because of their current lack of economic viability, despite decreasing crude oil reserves and the recognition of global warming. In this perspective, some of the most promising alternatives are compared with the conventional SC process, and the major bottlenecks of each of the competing processes are highlighted. These technologies emerge especially from the abundance of cheap propane, ethane, and methane from shale gas and stranded gas. From an economic point of view, methane is an interesting starting material, if chemicals can be produced from it. The huge availability of crude oil and the expected substantial decline in the demand for fuels imply that the future for proven technologies such as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) or methanol to gasoline is not bright. The abundance of cheap ethane and the large availability of crude oil, on the other hand, have caused the SC industry to shift to these two extremes, making room for the on-purpose production of light olefins, such as by the catalytic dehydrogenation of propane.

Keywords

Olefin production / Steam cracking / Methane conversion / Shale gas / CO₂ emissions

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Long-Term Structural Methusalem Funding (BOF09/01M00409) by the Flemish Government and the European Union’s Horizon H2020 Programme (H2020-SPIRE-04-2016) under grant agreement No. 723706. Ismaël Amghizar acknowledges financial support from SABIC Geleen. Laurien A. Vandewalle acknowledges financial support from a doctoral fellowship from the Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders (FWO).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Ismaël Amghizar, Laurien A. Vandewalle, Kevin M. Van Geem, and Guy B. Marin declare that they have no conflict of interest or financial conflicts to disclose.

Funding

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