Enhanced Ethylene Production Via Flash Methanolysis of Coal

摘要

According to a recent report, an estimated 31 billion pounds of ethylene was produced in the US alone. Ethylene is an important raw material in the vast plastic and polymer markets. An upward trend in the demand for ethylene has been predicted for the future years. Currently, ethylene is produced mainly through thermal and catalytic hydrocracking of ethane and other hydrocarbons. Although a large amount of work has been performed on the production of gaseous and liquid fuels from coal, much less attention has been focused on the production of ehtylene using coal as the raw material. In an on-going pyrolysis research project at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, methods for increasing the yield of ethylene through flash methanolysis of coal are being investigated. Flash methanolysis is defined as pyrolysis of coal under pressure in an atmosphere of methane. This study attempts to identify the influence of important process variables such as reaction temperature, gas pressure, solids residence time, gas/solids ratio etc on the production of ethylene and other pyrolysis products. We have shown that there are definite advantages in the use of methane as an atmosphere in the flash pyrolysis of coal. At temperatures higher than 800 exp 0 C, 2 to 5 times greater yields of ethylene are obtainable in methane atmosphere compared to flash pyrolysis in an inert helium atmosphere. An enhancement in the yield of ethylene and BTX are important raw materials in the vast polymer and plastic markets, flash methanolysis of coal has potential process applications. 5 references, 4 figures, 6 tables. (ERA citation 09:017932)