Production of Ethylene from Dehydration of Ethanol

Chemistry
Chemical Engineering
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Executive Summary
A tubular reactor is used for the production of ethylene from the dehydration of ethanol. The
ethylene which is produced using this tubular reactor is used as a feedstock to produce para -
xylene at a rate of 2,00,000 tonnes per year apart from dimethylfuran. The feedstock consists
of biomass which is obtained using ethanol which is produced using sugar from natural crops.
The purity of para - xylene required is 97%. But the feedstock does not have any
specification. The location of the plant is Triunfo, Rio Grande do sul, Brazil.

Contents
Executive Summary............................................................................................... 2
Background........................................................................................................... 4
Planning................................................................................................................. 4
Methodology.......................................................................................................... 6
Discussion.............................................................................................................. 9
Result.................................................................................................................. 10
References........................................................................................................... 11

Background
Here, the purpose is the conversion of the liquid ethanol into ethylene gas ( of high purity )
by using alumina as catalyst. Ethylene acts as an intermediate product and it is widely used
throughout the world. The demand is rising day by day. An important application of ethylene
is in manufacturing PVC ( poly Vinyl Chloride ).
In the 18th century, ethylene was initially obtained by passing ethanol over a heated catalyst.
As the plastic industry grew in size, the ethanol dehydration plants also increased from 1930s
to 1960s. With the coming of the naptha cracking process, the trend changed.
But as the hydrocarbon demand is increasing and very strict rules and regulations are coming
for environment, this older method to produce ethylene ( by ethanol dehydration ) is again
coming into picture. Also, the napha cracking method is costly.
Planning
Production of Ethylene from Dehydration of ethanol ( Tubular Reactor )
The dehydration of ethanol can be used for the mass production of ethylene. If 1 MM tonne
pure ethylene ( 99.96 % ) has to be produced in an year, then 2.3 MM tonne ethanol ( 95 %
ethanol and 5 % water ) is required. The fixed-bed catalytic reactor is used with adiabatic
process and 750 degree F and 600 psi. The catalyst used in the process is gamma-alumina ( in
form of spherical pellets with a diameter of 1cm ). Once the process of dehydration is done,
the purification of the product is done using 2 flash separation units. A unit consists of zeolite