Ethylene Derivatives (Part - 1) | Chemical Technology - Chemical Engineering PDF Download

Ethylene Derivatives: Ethylene Oxide,Ethylene Glycol, Ethylene Dichloride And Vinyl Chloride

Ethylene is one of the most versatile petrochemicals and its production has steadily increased over the years. Ethylene is called as king of chemicals and surpasses all organic chemicals in production and in amount sold. Ethylene is the basic building block for petrochemicals. Product profile of ethylene is given in Table M- VII 5.1. Because of its ready availability at low cost and high purity & reactivity, ethylene has become one of the important raw materials for large number of petrochemicals and products.

Ethylene has replaced the earliest route of production of vinyl chloride, acetaldehyde, vinyl acetate and other chemicals through acetylene route. Installed and production capacity of ethylene and its derivatives is mention in Table M- VII 5.2. Large tonnage of ethylene is being used for the manufacture of polyethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol and styrene. World requirement of ethylene is given in Figure M- VII 5.1. World ethylene capacity is shown in Figure M- VII 5.2. World ethylene complexes, capacity and top 10 producers are mention in Table M- VII 5.3, Table M- VII 5.4 and Table M- VII 5.5 respectively.
Global ethylene capacity growth is given in Table M- VII 5.6

Table M-VII 5.1: Product Profile of Ethylene

	Ethylene Capacity, tpy
Asia-Pacific	42631000
Eastern Europe	7971000
Middle East, Africa	23357000
North America	34508000

South America	5083500
Western Europe	24904000
Total Capacity	138454500

Table M-VII 5.5: Top 10 Ethylene Producers

Company	Sites	Capacity, TPY
		Of Entire Complexes	With Only Company Partial Interests
Saudi Basic Industries Corp.	15	13392245	10273759
Dow Chemical Co.	21	13044841	10529421
ExxonMobil Chemical Co.	19	12515000	8550550
Royal Dutch Shell PLC	13	9358385	5946693
Sinopec	13	7575000	7275000
Total AS	11	5933000	3471750
Chevron Philips Chemicals Co.	8	5607000	5352000
Lyondell Basell	8	5200000	5200000
National Petrochemical Co.	7	4734000	4734000
Ineos	6	4656000	4286000

 

                             

Figure M- VII 5.1: World Ethylene Supply/Demand Profile 2008 production = 117.3 million metric tons

Table M-VII 5.6: Global Ethylene Capacity Growth (-000-Tons)

 

Major Region	2008 Capacity	2013 Capacity	08 to '13 Delta
Middle East / Africa	19,711	34,461	14,751
Asia Pacific	39,617	56,349	16,732
America's	40,421	40,434	12
Europe	30,953	31,293	340
World Total	130,702	162,537	31,836

 

 

                                      

Figure M- VII 5.2: World Ethylene Capacity (120 Million tonnes 2008)

 

Etylene Oxide (Eo)
 

Ethylene oxide is one of the important petrochemical intermediate used for the manufacture of large number of products; some of the major uses are in the manufacture monoethylene glycol, glycol ethers which is made by reaction of ethylne oxide and alcohols, ethanol amines. Surfactant indutry is one of largest user of EO, both for industrial and house hold applications. Product profile of ethylene oxide is given in Table M- VII 5.7.

 

Table M-VII 5.7: Product Profile of Ethylene Oxide

 

Product	Uses
Ethanol Amines	Detergent, Soap solvent, Cosmetics, Morpholine
Mono Ethylene Glycol	Polyester, Staple fiber yarn, PET Bottles, Film
Diethylene Glycol	Coolants, Pesticides, Rubber Compounding, Plasticizer, Polyurethane, Alkyl Resin

Tri ethylene Glycol	Natural gas conditioning agents plasticizer
Polyethylene Glycol	Pharmaceuticals, Brake Fluid, cosmetics
Non-ionic surfactants, Ethoxylates	Textile auxiliaries, Binders, Dyes, Pesticides, Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics
Glycol Ethers	Brake Fluid and Protective Coating

 

Chlorohydrin Process

Direct Oxidation