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Conflict of Interest: In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Publication history: Received June 15, 2005
Accepted September 7, 2005

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Systematics and modelling representations of LPG thermal cracking for olefin production

Jafar Towfighi Aligholi Niaei^1† Ramin Karimzadeh Giti Saedi

ORG, Dept. of Chem. Eng., Tarbiat Modares University, P.O.Box 14115-143, Tehran, Iran ¹Petroleum Res. Lab., Dept. of Chem. Eng., University of Tabriz, 51666 16471, Tabriz, Iran

Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, January 2006, 23(1), 8-16(9), 10.1007/BF02705685

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Abstract

Pyrolysis of hydrocarbons is an important commercial process for the production of ethylene, propylene and 1,3 butadiene. These low molecular weight olefins are among the most important base chemicals for the petrochemical industries for polymer production. A simulation program of the reaction kinetics and coke formation inside the coils of a thermal cracking unit can provide information on the effects of operating conditions on the product distribution. The aim of this study was to develop a mechanistic reaction model for the pyrolysis of LPG that can be used to predict the yields of the major products from a given LPG sample with commercial indices. A complete reaction network, using a rigorous kinetic model, for the decomposition of the LPG feed has been developed, which is used for the simulation of industrial LPG crackers. This model has been adapted using industrial data for the pyrolysis yields of LPG. The present paper attends on the asymptotic coking mechanism and describes the development of a kinetic coking model in the pyrolysis of LPG. Detailed and accurate information about the product distribution, growth of coke layer, the evolution of the tube skin temperatures can be obtained from this simulation. Simulations of this kind can be used to optimize the furnace operation. They can be used as a guide for the adaptation of the operating variables aiming at prolonging the run length of the furnace. The reactor model, as well as kinetic scheme, is tested in an industrial cracking furnace.

Keywords

LPG Modelling Cracking Furnace Coke Deposition Olefin

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