(79e) Ethylene Plant Feed Sulfur Removal

Olefins plant feed flexibility allows operators to maximize profitability. When market conditions shift, it may be possible for traditional ethylene plant feedstocks to have higher value sold as product directly to other users. Plant processes to prepare these feedstocks for the market have occasionally made them unfit for sale to these other users. This has been observed in the case of an ethane/propane import mix. The geography surrounding this importer dictated propane was seasonally more valuable than propylene. The feedstock was separated and propane was to be sold directly to market. However, this propane routinely failed pipeline corrosivity metrics (ASTM 1838 Copper Strip) and had to be fed to the crackers resulting in lower profitability for the site. The contaminant causing these copper strip failures was identified to be sulfur species. Baker Hughes provided a solution to consistently remove this contaminant. In addition to propane, the technology can be applied to C₄ and C₅ streams. A case history will be presented to demonstrate how this technology was used to facilitate performance improvement with a Baker Hughes proprietary equipment solution.