ADVANCED CATALYTIC OLEFINS (ACOTM): FIRST COMMERCIAL DEMONSTRATION UNIT BEGINS OPERATIONS

摘要

With the number of new ethane-based crackers coming on line in the next fewyears, it is anticipated that the traditional source of nearly two-thirds of the world’s propylene,steam crackers, will fall short of demand. Thus, there is great interest in new propylene-onpurposetechnologies. One such technology is the Advanced Catalytic Olefins (ACOTM)process, an FCC-type process which cracks straight run feeds such as naphtha (already thefeed source for approximately half of the world’s ethylene production) to large quantities ofpropylene and ethylene. Compared to a traditional steam cracker, ACO produces significantlymore propylene (typical P/E production ratio is approximately 1:1) and more total olefins atlower energy consumption and CO_2 footprint. A description of the ACO process is provided,along with an economic comparison to steam cracking when processing a typical naphthafeed. A description of the ACO Demonstration Unit constructed by SK Global Chemical(formerly SK Energy) at its site in Ulsan, Korea, the first commercial demonstration of ACOtechnology, is also provided, including a summary of early operations which began in 4Q10.