Sei sulla pagina 1di 8

PETROCHEMICAL PLANTS

A refinery processes crude oil into different components such as kerosene,


gasoline, diesel, LPG (light petroleum gases), etc. A petrochemical plant is a
chemical plant that will use a petroleum based feedstock, such as LPG or other
products from a petroleum refinery to produce a chemical product, such as plastics
for example.
Chemical and petrochemical plants are utilized to convert natural resources (e.g.
crude oil, natural gas, ores and minerals) into products for a variety of applications.
Petrochemical plants produce the bulk building blocks like ethylene, propylene and
aromatics from fossil resources, which in further processes are transferred into
plastic materials of a broad range of qualities, properties and applications and base
products for the chemical industry..
These plants are a challenge with respect to complexity and scale, which has been
increased significantly in the last decade.

Petrochemical Plant in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Petrochemicals
Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical
compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such
as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane.
Global ethylene and propylene production are ~115 million tonnes and ~70 million
tonnes per annum, respectively. Aromatics production is ~70 million tonnes. The
largest petrochemical industries are located in the USA and Western Europe;
however, major growth in new production capacity is in the Middle East and Asia.
There is substantial inter-regional petrochemical trade.
Primary petrochemicals are divided into three groups depending on their chemical
structure:
 Olefins includes ethylene, propylene,
and butadiene. Ethylene and propylene are important sources of industrial
chemicals and plastics products. Butadiene is used in making synthetic rubber.
 Aromatics includes benzene, toluene, and xylenes. Benzene is a raw material
for dyes and synthetic detergents, and benzene and toluene for
isocyanates MDI and TDI used in
makingpolyurethanes. Manufacturers use xylenes to produce plastics and synthetic
fibers.
 Synthesis gas is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen used to
make ammonia and methanol. Ammonia is used to make
the fertilizer urea and methanol is used as a solvent andchemical intermediate.
The prefix "petro-" is an arbitrary abbreviation of the word "petroleum"; since
"petro-" is Ancient Greek for "rock" and "oleum" means "oil". Therefore, the
etymologically correct term would be "oleochemicals". However, the
term oleochemical is used to describe chemicals derived from plant and animal
fats.
Petrochemical plant feedstock sources
Petrochemical feedstock sources.
The diagram above schematically depicts the major hydrocarbon sources used in
producing petrochemicals are:
 Methane, ethane, propane and butanes: Obtained primarily from natural gas
processing plants.
 Naphtha obtained from petroleum refineries.
 Benzene, toluene and xylenes, as a whole referred to as BTX and primarily
obtained from petroleum refineries by extraction from the reformate produced
in catalytic reformers.
 Gas oil obtained from petroleum refineries.
Methane and BTX are used directly as feedstocks for producing petrochemicals.
However, the ethane, propane, butanes, naphtha and gas oil serve as optional
feedstocks for steam-assisted thermal cracking plants referred to assteam
crackers that produce these intermediate petrochemical feedstocks:
 Ethylene
 Propylene
 Butenes and butadiene
 Benzene
In 2007, the amounts of ethylene and propylene produced in steam crackers were
about 115 Mt (megatonnes) and 70 Mt, respectively. The output ethylene capacity
of large steam crackers ranged up to as much as 1.0 – 1.5 Mt per year.
Steam crackers are not to be confused with steam reforming plants used to
produce hydrogen and ammonia.

Types, Energy Requirements and The Engineering Problems involved in the


management of materials of PetroChemical Plants in Nigeria

Nigeria has a robust petrochemical sector that has been evolving over the last
fifteen years. The petrochemical industry is focused around the three centres
located at Kaduna, Warri and Eleme.
The Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) operates the complex
Kaduna refinery located in northern Nigeria. The refinery produces linear alkyl
benzene, benzene, and kerosene solvents. KRPC is a subsidiary of NNPC. During
the 1990’s there have been numerous stoppages at the Kaduna refinery and in
October 1999 there was strong evidence that the Kaduna refinery was in
substantial trouble.
The Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) has a complex 125,000
bpd refinery. The petrochemical plant produces polypropylene and carbon black.
Stoppages and equipment failure have resulted in falling outputs.
The Eleme Petrochemical Company is a subsidiary of NNPC. It has been
developing the Eleme Petrochemical plant, a project which will boost the
petrochemical industry substantially. Phase I of the Eleme Petrochemicals
Complex came into operation in 1995, and, since then, has generated $130 milllion
from the sale of products. It is associated with the two Port Harcourt refineries at
Alesa-Eleme.
In May 1999, a second petrochemical plant was inaugurated representing phase II
of the petrochemicals project. The complex has an ethylene plant and subsidiary
plants producing polyethylene, ethylene glycol, polypropylene and polyvinyl
chloride. In 1999, phase I of the Eleme petrochemical plant was producing at 60%
capacity for polypropolylene and 50 percent for polyethylene. The two-billion-US-
dollar petrochemicals project phase II is expected to produce over 40 different
grades each of polyethylene and polypropylene products used in industial
productions.
Other projects include an integrated 680,000 million tonnes/year methyl tertbutyl
ether (MBTE) and methanol complex. The owners will be NNPC (30%),
Ferrostaal, Germany (40%) and a private Nigerian group (30%). 180,000 tonnes/yr
will be used to make MBTE and the rest will be exported.

List of significant petrochemicals and their derivatives


The following is a schematic list of the major commercial petrochemicals and their
derivatives:

Chemicals produced from ethylene


Chemicals produced from propylene

Chemicals produced from benzene

Chemicals produced from toluene


Chemicals produced from xylenes

Potrebbero piacerti anche