EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF ETHYLENE PRODUCTION USING OXIDATIVE DEHYDROGENATION

Abstract A HYSYS simulator was utilized to predict the performance of an ethylene oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) production facility using alternative diluents and separation technology not currently used in the standard industrial process. An ODH process system was modeled with ethane being fed along with air into a reactor with simultaneous mixing with pure methane to lower the product gas temperature. The methane feed was later separated from the other product gases and eventually fed into a recycle stream. This process was fairly expensive due to the use of a demethanizer within the process recycle stream. Safety and operational improvements for the ODH process was another aspect of this analysis that yielded interesting results. By the inclusion of storage vessels before and after the ODH reactor, the reactor unit can operate even in the event of an upstream or downstream failure, resulting in less downtime for the process.