Turbomachinery for Mega-Ethylene Plants

Ethylene producers continue to search for ways to improve capital expenditure versus payback ratio and to reduce installation and maintenance costs by benefitting from economies of scale. As ethylene plant outputs increase beyond the 1 million ton per year size, turbomachinery manufacturers must meet the challenges of designing and providing larger and more efficient equipment to satisfy production needs. Manufacturers' track records of engineering and providing equipment for significant large scale production facilities provide the foundation of this transition to ever-increasing production levels. Some areas to consider include compressor and steam turbine design and fabrication, rotor assembly and balancing, performance and mechanical testing, equipment support arrangements, shipping constraints and installation details. This presentation describes some of the potential complexities of the massive equipment involved in what are commonly termed “Mega-Ethylene Plants.”