Boost Ethylene and Propylene Production with Air Liquide's MTP Process and Technip's Ethylene Technology

In recent years, the steam cracker industry has moved to lighter feedstocks. In particular, a significant number of steam crackers in the US have been revamped to switch to ethane feedstock, thereby reducing the propylene production. As a result, olefin producers must find new ways to restore the balance between the ethylene and propylene products. Conversion of methanol to propylene via Lurgi MTP^TM from Air Liquide is one of the proven technologies available for on-purpose propylene production. Up to now, Air Liquide MTP^TM plants have been designed and installed as stand-alone units. Air Liquide and Technip are currently proposing a new design approach, which combines an MTP plant and a steam cracker unit. Compared to a stand-alone MTP plant and a stand-alone ethane cracker, the integration of the two units boosts the overall ethylene and propylene production by 5 to 10%, depending of the site configuration. The proposed integration is flexible and can be applied to both existing steam crackers as well as grass-root plants.