ANJEVOC Effluent Separation with Rapid Cooling and CO2 Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional steam cracking processes for producing ethylene face issues such as heat losses, complexity, plugging from coking, and lack of feedstock flexibility, with conventional separation trains unable to handle effluents from non-conventional hydrocarbon cracking units like the annular jet vortex chamber reactor (ANJEVOC).
Innovation Solution
The use of an annular jet vortex chamber reactor (ANJEVOC) for hydrocarbon cracking, combined with specific separation processes to recover ethylene from its unique effluent, including a swirling fluid flow pattern, rapid cooling, and advanced separation units like continuous regeneration CO2 removal and once-through CO2 removal units, to handle the distinct composition and properties of ANJEVOC effluents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional steam cracking processes are used to produce ethylene, then ethylene can be produced from natural gas condensates and petroleum distillates, but the process suffers from heat losses, complexity, plugging from coking, and lack of feedstock flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The conventional steam cracking process is divided into separate exothermic (combustion in furnace) and endothermic (cracking in process tubes) steps, which are spatially separated. The patent applies segmentation by further dividing the cracking process into multiple zones within the reactor, including a combustion zone and a cracking zone, allowing independent optimization of each zone's conditions to improve overall efficiency while managing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary heat transfer medium (combustion products and/or steam) that carries thermal energy from the combustion zone to the cracking zone. This intermediary enables efficient heat transfer without direct contact between fuel and feedstock, reducing heat losses and improving energy utilization while simplifying the overall process configuration
2Productivity
If conventional steam cracking processes are used, then ethylene production can be maintained, but coking causes plugging in the process tubes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the combustion process from the cracking process by providing separate combustion and cracking zones. The combustion products are used as a heat transfer medium to transfer energy to the feedstock without the feedstock being present in the combustion zone, thereby preventing coking and plugging in the heat transfer pathways while maintaining continuous production
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful combustion process into a beneficial heat source by using combustion products as a heat transfer medium. The high-temperature combustion gases, which could cause coking if in direct contact with feedstock, are instead used to heat the feedstock indirectly, transforming a harmful effect into a useful heating mechanism that prevents plugging
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional separation trains are used to process ethylene, then separation can be performed for standard effluent compositions, but the trains cannot handle effluents from non-conventional hydrocarbon cracking units with different compositions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a separation train configuration that can handle multiple effluent compositions from different cracking processes. The separation train includes flexible unit operations (such as condensers, separators, and fractionation columns) that can be adjusted to process effluents with varying compositions, making the system universal and adaptable to different feedstocks and cracking technologies without requiring complete redesign
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic adaptability in the separation train by allowing operational parameters (temperature, pressure, flow rates) to be adjusted based on the specific effluent composition being processed. This dynamic configuration enables the same separation train to handle both conventional steam cracker effluents and non-conventional cracking effluents with different compositions, maintaining versatility while managing complexity through flexible operation rather than fixed design
Data Source
AI summary
A process for producing ethylene comprising introducing fuel, ethane/higher hydrocarbons, oxygen, steam to annular jet vortex chamber having combustion upstream of cracking to provide swirling fluid flow pattern producing cracking product (ethylene, acetylene, ethane, methane, 10-60 wt. % water, CO2, CO, hydrogen, oxygenates) having first temperature; cooling cracking product with residence <2,000 milliseconds yielding first cooled product having second temperature lowered by ≥30° C.; cooling first cooled product yielding second cooled product having third temperature lowered by ≥300° C. and heated heat exchange medium; separating second cooled product into removed water (water, oxygenates), and cracked gas (ethylene, acetylene, ethane, methane, CO2, CO, hydrogen) introduced to continuous regeneration CO2 removal unit producing CO2-lean gas having at least 10× less CO2; introducing CO2-lean gas to once-through CO2 removal unit producing CO2-depleted gas (ethylene, acetylene, ethane, methane, CO, hydrogen); separating CO2-depleted gas into ethylene, ethane, tail gas (methane, CO, hydrogen).