TURBOMACHINERY FOR OLEFINS PRODUCTION

Abstract

This tutorial covers the basics, applications, and operation of compressors, expanders, and steam turbines in the plastics industry. Plastics manufacturing, which is part of the petrochemical industry, produces polymer materials, often called plastics, and is a major user of rotating machinery. Modern plastic manufacturing processes, such as ethylene plants, utilize a wide range of turbomachinery that must flexibly operate under harsh fluid conditions with long life and minimal maintenance downtime. Cracked gas feed-gas, propylene, and ethylene refrigeration compressor trains are usually custom engineered to meet the high volume, high efficiency requirements of today’s “mega” ethylene plants. In ethylene service, the fluids pose unique aerodynamic, materials, and structural design challenges including wet gas service, fouling, high gas path temperatures, and corrosive, flammable, and sometimes toxic service. These requirements make the design, packaging, controls, application and operation of turbomachines in ethylene plants highly complex and challenging. Operational and technical details of turbine and compression applications such as gas boost, refrigeration, cracked gas compression, propylene compression/ethylene compression, and steam turbine drivers will be discussed for polymer processing. Topics covered in this tutorial will include: ethylene and propylene process fundamentals, turbomachines in polymer process applications, design conditions, and special operational considerations in the plastic industry service.