“ON-PURPOSE” PROPYLENE – TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS.pdf

“ON-PURPOSE” PROPYLENE – TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS J. Mark Houdek (mark.houdek@) James Andersen (jim.andersen@) UOP LLC 25 East Algonquin Road Des Plaines, Illinois, USA Tel. (1) 847.391. 2000, Fax. (1) 847.391.2253 Presented at the ARTC 8th Annual Meeting 29-April-2005 Kuala Lumpur Page 1 ABSTRACT Most of the propylene consumed in the production of petrochemicals is produced as a by- product of ethylene production. Expected capacity additions in the ethylene industry over the next few years will result in less propylene production per ton of ethylene from conventional ethylene plants as a result of shifts towards lighter cracker feedstocks. Over this same period the demand for propylene is growing slightly faster than ethylene demand. The net result is a shortfall of propylene supply from steam cracking relative to demand, a shortfall that will have to be made-up by “on-purpose” propylene production. As is the case today, this on-purpose propylene production is projected to come from a number of sources, both refinery and petrochemical-complex based. On the refining side, increased propylene production from FCC units is expected to be a major contributor to the on-purpose requirement. It is expected that this FCC production will come from revamps of existing FCC units as well as an increasing petrochemical focus in new FCC units installed to meet transportation fuel market demands. On the petrochemical side, there are