3. Project Definition
• Introduction:
Production of olefins
North Dakota Plant
• The project’s objectives:
Location
Ethane and propane
• Goals and Aims:
Successfully design a plant that will convert NGLs to olefins with a 1.5 billion
lb/yr capacity
Use ethane and propane as a feedstock from the North Dakota reserves
Place the plant in North Dakota and send products out by railroad
Design the plant to produce high purity (99.8%) ethylene and propylene
4. Business Opportunity
• Ethylene :
Polyethylene, PVC, ethylene glycol and styrene monomer [2]
Packaging, televisions, VCRs, cameras and other electronic equipment[2]
• Propylene:
Propylene oxide, acrylonitrile, cumene and polypropylene[2]
Furniture and bedding, batteries, automobile interior parts, carpeting, clothing and
other textiles[2]
• By-products:
Hydrogen (H2)
Methane (CH4)
4
5. Plans
• Fall semester:-
1- Built an olefin unit in Aspen+
2- Decide the location of our plant
3- Decide weather to use ethane and propane as a mixture in the feed or separate,
in terms of economics
4- Estimate the recycle streams
5- Estimate most of the equipment cost
6- Produce more products (e.g. produce polyethylene and polypropylene)
• Spring Semester:-
1- Decide what to do with the heavies in the by-products
2- Liquefied our products (ethylene and propylene)
3- Finish all the economic and pricing estimations
4- Heat integration (e.g. Heat exchanger)
5- Refrigeration system
6- Moving the plant to the gulf coast
7- Optimize our unit
8- Environmental issues
8. Thermal Vs. Catalytic Cracking
[1]
Thermal Cracker Catalytic Cracker
No catalyst Uses a catalyst
Higher reaction condition Lower reaction condition
Free radical reaction Ionic reaction
High gas yields Low gas yields
Low octane number High octane number
High yield of C2 & C3
olefins and low yields of
gasoline and other distillates
High yield of C4 olefins and
high yields of gasoline and
other distillates
8
9. Reactions
• In steam cracking, initiation usually involves breaking a chemical
bond between two carbon atoms, rather than the bond between a
carbon and a hydrogen atom. [4]
CH3CH3 → 2 CH3•
• Hydrogen abstraction occurs where a free radical removes a
hydrogen atom from another molecule, turning the second
molecule into a free radical. [4]
CH3• + CH3CH3 → CH4 + CH3CH2•
• Radical decomposition occurs where a free radical breaks apart into
two molecules, one an alkene, the other a free radical. This is the
process that results in the alkene products of steam cracking. [4]
CH3CH2• → CH2=CH2 + H•
19. Capital Cost
Installed ISBL MM$ 383
Installed OSBL MM$ 38.3
The overall capital cost at this point is $421.24 million dollars
Compressor $18,500,000.00
Furnace/ Crackers $22,000,000.00
Heat Exchangers $3,200,000.00
Vessels $544,000.00
Towers & Trays $5,300,000.00
Pumps $5,000,000.00
TOTAL ISBL FOB $54,544,000.00
20. Capital Cost Summary
NPV0 $15,500.00
NPV20 $3,500.00
IRR 51.2%
PBP (approx) (yrs) 2.9
MARR 12%
NPV, IRR, and payback period (Millions of dollars)
21. Sensitivity
NPV0 $15,000.00
NPV20 $3,000.00
IRR 30.70%
PBP (approx) (yrs) 3.6
MARR 12%
NPV and IRR based on triple capital cost (Millions of dollars)
The overall capital cost at this point is $1.263 Billions of dollars
22. Assignments
• Travis: Distillation and fractionation research, Simulation
assistance, Papers and progress reports, and Consulting.
• Scott: Cracker research, Simulation, Economics and sizing,
Database, Proofreading, and Advisor consulting.
• Mohammed: Distillation and fractionation research,
Physical properties, Economics and sizing, Simulation, and
Proofreading.
• Salman: Cracker research, Economics and sizing,
PowerPoint presentations, Simulation, and Proofreading.
23. References:
[1] N. K. Ibrahim, "Scribd," 26 May 2011. [Online]. Available:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56377886/24/Comparison-between-thermal-and-catalytic-cracking.
[Accessed 12 September 2012].
[2] "Flint Hills Resources," chemicals and biofuels Productions, [Online]. Available:
http://www.fhr.com/about/default.aspx. [Accessed 03 December 2012].
[3] L. Kniel, O. Winter and K. Stork, Ethylene, keystone to the petrochemical industry, New York:
Marcel Dekker Inc, 1980.
[4] R. M. Rioux, "The Pennsylvania State University," [Online]. Available:
http://www.research.psu.edu/events/expired-events/naturalgas/presentations/Rioux.pdf.
[Accessed 04 September 2012].
Travis:-
Production of olefins, primarily ethylene and propylene, is a huge business for chemical and petrochemical companies. After refining, it is probably the largest chemical industry. Although olefins can be produced from heavier feed stocks, the most commonly used feeds are ethane and propane. Ethane and propane are produced at pipeline purities (98-99%) by natural gas plants and are used individually or as mixtures in olefins units.
There has recently been an enormous amount of natural gas and shale gas discovered in North Dakota and Pennsylvania/Ohio. This means that there is an enormous amount of ethane and propane liquids available.
The objectives of this project is to use North Dakota feeds in an olefins unit to make both ethylene and propylene. Also, to design a “classic” olefins unit with a cracker, quench system, fractionation system, and refrigeration system.
Is it best to build an olefins unit in North Dakota and transport products to customers OR transport ethane and propane to an olefins unit close to customers?
Is it economically optimal and/or practical to reduce ethane and propane feedstock costs by not separating them in a natural gas plant and feeding them as a mixture to the olefins unit?
Our goals for designing this plant are:
Successfully design a plant that will convert NGLs to olefins with a 1.5 billion lb/yr capacity with ethylene and propylene being the primary products using North Dakota feed stocks.
Place the plant in North Dakota and send products out by railroad.
Use ethane and propane as a feedstock from the North Dakota reserves.
Design the plant to produce high purity (99.8%) ethylene and propylene for petrochemical uses such as polymerization for plastics.
Travis:-
Ethylene and liquid ethylene are used to produce polyethylene, Ethylene dichloride, ethylene glycol and styrene monomer, which in turn are used to manufacture a wide range of consumer products including packaging, televisions, VCRs, cameras and other electronic equipment.
Propylene is the second most important starting product in the petrochemical industry after ethylene. It is another building block material for other important chemicals and plastics including propylene oxide, acrylonitrile, cumene and polypropylene. These chemicals are the base materials used in the manufacture of a variety of consumer products, including furniture and bedding, batteries, automobile interior parts, carpeting, clothing and other textiles.
Polyethylene is used for plastic films, plastic bottles, insulating material; and for solvents.
Byproduct: Hydrogen is an important Byproduct in the manufacturing of ethylene and propylene. It could be produced under 95% purity of Hydrogen.
Methane: used for boilers
Travis:-
Fall semester:-
1- built an olefin unit in Aspen+.
2- decide the location of our plant.
3- decide weather to use ethane and propane as a mixture in the feed or separate, in terms of economics.
4- theoretically estimate the recycle streams.
5-Estimate some of the equipment cost.
6- Produce more products (e.g. produce polyethylene and polypropylene)
Spring Semester:-
1- decide what to do with the heavies in the by-products.
2- liquefied our products (ethylene and propylene).
3- Do all the economic and pricing estimations .
4- Optimize our unit.
5- Heat Supplies (e.g. Heat exchangers)
7- Refrigeration system.
8- Moving the plant to the south coast.
Travis:-
Location: The location of the unit is going to be in North Dakota area.
Size: The olefin unit should produce 1.5 billion lb/yr of ethylene+propylene.
Feeds: Ethane, propane and form North Dakota Natural gas plant. Steam
210000 lb/hr ( Ethane 150000 lb/hr & Propane 50000 lb/yr)
Products:
Ethylene (93119.9117 lb/hr)
Propylene (1701.31735 lb/yr)
Byproducts: in the chart!
Mathane (16960.7588 lb/hr)
H2 (4995.27334 lb/hr)
-Recycle Streams:
Ethane (49627.6193 lb/hr)
Propane (1300.59642 lb/hr)
Recycle Ratio = (125488.815+ 31334.6641)/(240000)
Recycle Ratio = (0.653431163)*100
Recycle Ratio = 65.343%
