Integrating Methanol to Olefins with Steam Cracking to Maximize Profitability

Global demand for both ethylene and propylene is forecast to grow at a rate of more than 4% per year.  In order to meet this growing demand, the world will need to add approximately 100 million metric tons of additional light olefin capacity over the next ten years.  Currently, most light olefins are produced via steam cracking using a variety of feedstocks including heavier hydrocarbons such as naphtha and lighter hydrocarbons such as ethane and LPG. 

By increasing the availability and lowering the cost of light hydrocarbons, hydraulic fracturing and other enhanced hydrocarbon recovery technologies are shifting the balance towards the use of lighter feedstocks.  When available, ethane is often considered a preferred feedstock due to its low cost, high yield of ethylene, and lower capital cost.   However, one of the key drawbacks of cracking ethane is that it produces essentially no propylene or other heavier, high value olefins.  This can be a particularly important factor to any operator contemplating switching feedstocks from naphtha to ethane as existing markets would need to be abandoned.

UOP’s recently commercialized Advanced Methanol to Olefins (MTO) technology, co-developed with INEOS and Total. which provides an attractive solution to this dilemma.  As the name implies, MTO produces polymer or chemical grade propylene and ethylene from methanol, which can be derived from low cost feedstocks such as natural gas or coal.  By integrating an UOP MTO unit, an ethane steam cracking operator can produce a broader portfolio of products including propylene and higher olefin products.  For naphtha steam cracking operators who have or are contemplating a switch to ethane cracking, MTO provides the opportunity to retain existing markets and improve overall profitability.

This paper will focus on the technical and economic issues of integrating steam crackers with UOP’s MTO technology.  An overview of the MTO technology will be given along with a brief update on the startup of the first commercial unit at Wison Clean Energy in Nanjing, China.