Acetylene Converter Runaway

The designers, owners and operators of ethylene plants must consider the reality that acetylene converters can experience operating upsets that cause the reaction rate to exceed safe limits. Experience and expertise are required to deal with this problem both by design decisions and by operating practices.

For crackers to operate safely and profitably, the ethylene plant’s acetylene converter must incorporate features to minimize the chance of a converter runaway. The plant must be able to detect operating upsets which can cause excess reaction rate as well as the high reaction rate itself. Safety systems need to be included which allow for the arrest of the reaction without causing additional problems. Finally, after a runaway has occurred and the reactor has been rendered safe by the controls, the plant must be returned to normal operations

This paper presents fundamental principles for the design and operation of ethylene plant acetylene converters to deal with runaway reaction. The paper is focused on providing basic knowledge to people relatively new to the ethylene business.