Cracking nonane into heptane and ethene molecule

However, the actual cracking reaction must be carefully tailored depending on the composition of the feedstock as well as the desired end product. steam crackers are designed to run either feedstock. Steam cracking furnaces for ethane are similar to those using naphtha.

American petrochemical manufacturers are now very competitive globally and are expanding ethane cracking capacity. This all changed when hydraulic fracturing shale formations provided inexpensive and plentiful supplies of natural gas and NGLs, which are rich in ethane. Because oil prices were much lower overseas, many U.S.-based steam cracking plants were forced to close, as they were simply not competitive on a global scale. Olefins are a group of petrochemicals, because they are derived from petroleum and/or natural gas.īefore hydraulic fracturing revolutionized the way we produce natural gas and NGLs in the U.S., most steam cracking furnaces used naphtha as the primary feedstock. These olefins, or monomers, are then processed so they form chains of molecules called polymers – plastics with varying properties and uses. The resulting product streams are separated and purified, leaving valuable compounds called “olefins”: ethylene, propylene, and others. The cracked feedstock is then rapidly quenched (cooled) to stop the hydrocarbon molecules from being completely consumed. Steam cracking these hydrocarbons is accomplished by first mixing them with steam, then running them through tubes in a cracking furnace where the feedstock is briefly heated to very high temperatures.

Naphtha is primarily derived from crude oil, while ethane is more prevalent in natural gas and natural gas liquids (aka NGLs, a mixture of various hydrocarbons often co-produced along with natural gas). In the petrochemical industry, two of the main feedstocks for steam crackers are naphtha and ethane. The majority of ethylene is produced using a process called “steam cracking”, a thermal process where hydrocarbons are broken down, or “cracked” into smaller molecules that are then used to manufacture more useful (and valuable) chemicals. Let’s investigate naphtha and ethane cracking.Įthylene – because its molecules have very distinctive and useful chemical properties – is manufactured in greater amounts than any other chemical. Understanding Naphtha and Ethane Cracking Processes By: Frank Caprio | On: June 6, 2017

Cracking nonane into heptane and ethene molecule