Energy and Economic Metrics for Evaluating Chemical Processing Technologies Associated with Oxidative Dehydrogenation- Ethylene Case Study

An economic and environmental approach for analyzing the potential of a new chemical processing technology for multiple grades of ethylene is described. In order to optimize design and implementation of new processes, a set of performance metrics are established and calculated for light olefins production. The performance metrics are those that could be used by the chemical industry in analyzing the potential of new technologies. Economic evaluations are based on the Cost of Production in relation to current market pricing (spot or contract). The Required Netback is a methodology practiced in industry to define instantaneous production economics. The RNB represents the sum of the Variable Cost, Fixed Cost and Capital Recovery all expressed as currency per mass unit of the main product, ethylene. This is then compared to current pricing; if the RNB is less than the market price then the technology will have favorable economics and increased profit margins. This approach uses current state-of-the-art technology as a baseline for evaluating the promise of a novel technology. In the case of ethylene via oxidative dehydrogenation, the improvement in Cost of Production comes from a drastic reduction in capital cost, energy requirements, and carbon footprint. In this current analysis, oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane is compared with Conventional Steam Pyrolysis and is shown to be superior in all performance metrics.