Design and economic analysis of industrial-scale methanol-to-olefins plants

The production of ethylene and propylene, which are the building blocks of the petrochemical industry, from methanol is attractive because of the possibility of green methanol generation or the availability of inexpensive natural gas for methanol production. Based on the reactor performance of UOP/Flydro MTO (Methanol-to-olefins) technology, a base design and an alternative design of the overall process for an industrial-scale MTO plant are presented. The design scope includes the reaction and conditioning section, product separation and recovery section, ethylene and propylene refrigeration cycles, and cold-box. The alternative design differs from the base design by the use of a cold-box. The design employs driving force analysis, column targeting analysis, and pinch design method for distillation train determination, column improvement, and energy integration. Based on the current prices of methanol and olefins, both designs are profitable with IRR higher than 26%. The alternative design is superior to the base design in ethylene loss, energy consumption, energy loss, and economic profit. (C) 2021 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study presents a base design and an alternative design for an industrial-scale Methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plant, based on the reactor performance of UOP/Flydro MTO technology. The designs include reaction and conditioning, product separation and recovery, refrigeration cycles, and cold-box. The alternative design outperforms the base design in terms of ethylene loss, energy consumption, energy loss, and economic profit.