Dr.

Rozita Omar,
Dr. Dr Mohd Syazarudin bin Mohd Said,
Lecturers of Energy Balance,
Department of Chemical Engineering, UPM

Dear Dr Rozita and Dr Din,

This is our project report based on the task given throughout this semester 2.
The topic for the task given is the ‘Production of Ethylene’ from 98186.46806 ton of
naphtha per year as our raw materials. As requested, this report needs to be
submitted to you as part of our assignment for Material Balance’s subject for year 1
2018/2019. This report contain executive summary which include the objective of our
project, introduction of the project, process description for the production, process
flow diagram and material balance. We also include our costing, conclusions and
recommendations for our project, acknowledgement, bibliography and references.
Thank you.
This report is constructed by Group 10, Natura Sdn. Bhd.’s group members
as listed below:

Muhammad Al-Alif Irfan Bin Alpian Loo Jing Lin

199090 199181

Sumathi a/p ilamaran Sumaya Hassan

196508 191350

1
 ECH 3115
ENERGY BALANCE
SEMESTER 2 2018/2019
DESIGN PROJECT
PRODUCTION OF ETHYLENE – NAPHTHA
GROUP 10 – NATURA
Submission Date: 23rd May 2019

Lecturer’s Name:
1) Dr Rozita Omar
2) Dr Mohd Syazarudin bin Mohd Said

Group members:

Name Matrics No.

Muhammad Al-Alif Irfan Bin Alpian 199090
Loo Jing Lin 199181
Sumathi a/p ilamaran 196508
Sumaya Hassan 191350

2
TABLE OF CONTENT

No. Content Page

1.0 Executive Summary 4

2.0 Introduction 5-7

3.0 Process Description 8-14

4.0 Process Flow Diagram And Energy Balance 15-26

5.0 Costing 27-28

6.0 Conclusion and Recommendation 29

7.0 Acknowledgement 30

8.0 Bibliography and References 31-32

9.0 Appendix 33-35

3
1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report explains briefly to the design project with the title of Production of
Ethylene from Light Naphtha with the 99.99% Purity of Ethylene. The objective of this
report is to summarize all the description of process, process flow diagram and
energy balance, costing analysis, conclusion and recommendation along with
acknowledging the individuals involved and bibliography. The main objective of this
project is to produce 99.99% purity of ethylene from the specific raw materials which
is feed of light naphtha that needs to go through a lot of process by thermal cracking
of light naphtha and to calculate heat released or heat needed and also electricity for
the main and minor reactors. Our company has to produce ethylene from the raw
material Naphtha. Naphtha goes through a selected process to yield the ethylene
product.

Firstly, 162.6 kmol per hour of heavy naphtha will enter a pump to increase
the pressure, and then the stream enters a heat exchanger to elevate the
temperature. After that the high temperature of heavy naphtha with a stream of water
to dilute it will enter a furnace unit. The function of the furnace is to crack the heavy
naphtha into multiple compositions. The decomposed naphtha will then enter a
quench tower to cool down the hot gases, followed by a compressor to elevate the
pressure of the cracked naphtha, then a cooler to reduce the temperature of the
naphtha stream. The next main unit is an absorber to remove water and CO, followed
by a boiler to increase the temperature. Then the stream will go under a series of
distillation columns, dehydrogenator, demethanizer and deethanizer to remove
hydrogen, methane, and ethane respectively. After that the stream will be
compressed again in a compressor to increase the pressure. Lastly, these remaining
products of hydrocarbon compound will enter the C2 Splitter unit and will be
separated into two streams in which one of them containing ethylene with the most
purity. The 99.82% purity we got was a bit less than the desired purity of 99.99%
purity. C2 splitter is the final unit where the ethylene production is obtained. The top
stream output from the C2 splitter enters a condenser to convert the product from
vapour state to liquid state.

4
2.0 INTRODUCTION

Our company (NATURA Sdn Bhd) has been set up in Malaysia in the South
East Asia region because the availability of naphtha in this region is sufficient for our
need and the price is low enough that it will reduce our cost of operation by a
significant amount. In every industry a large amount of energy is used to power a
diverse range of manufacturing and resource extraction processes. Many industrial
processes require large amounts of heat and mechanical power, most of which is
delivered by natural gas, petroleum fuels and as electricity. In addition, some
industries generate waste streams that can be recovered to provide additional
energy.

Ethylene is one of the most important organic materials; it is used as a

building block to produce fibres, plastics, and other chemicals. Our market target of
production ethylene is China. China ethylene glycol market is likely to experience a
tremendous growth, primarily due to the burgeoning demand for polyester fibres
across the globe. Polyester fibres are widely used in the textile industry in the
manufacturing of carpets, upholstery, conveyer belts, and seat belts. Ethylene glycol
is an organic compound primarily used in the manufacturing of polyester fibres and
polyethylene terephthalate. Thus, in order to obtain ethylene glycol it requires
ethylene so the demand for ethylene would be high too. The country is expected to
commercialize its coal-based manufacturing processes in the forthcoming years
across all Japan, South Korea, and India is the major players in this market.

Due to ethylene’s high endotherm city and complex product-separation steps,

steam cracking is one of the most energy-intensive processes in the chemical
industry. It is currently treated as an old technology that is not as profitable. But,
(Choudhary et al., 2013) conducted an experiment to test whether carbon dioxide is
an appropriate substitution for steam as a diluent in pyrolysis process and to
compare the effect that it had on the cost and maintenance of the plant. His results
were satisfying and provided enough evidence to encourage the use of carbon
dioxide as it help contribute to solving a lot of problem previous steam cracking
system had.

A control system for the thermal cracking of naphtha was proposed. A control
system are designed to achieve many objectives, including safety, good product
quality, and high profit. This is because the control design determines the controlled
and manipulated variables. It affects the steady-state operating conditions that are

5
encountered as disturbances occur. Therefore, the control design can have a
profound effect on the profit.

The aim of this project was to produce ethylene with the purity of 99.99%
using 1 million ton of naphtha per year. More than 80% of the ethylene produced in
Europe and the Asian-Pacific region is produced by using naphtha. In this report, we
included our ethylene plants design consisting of heat exchanger, furnace, quench
tower, acid gas remover, compressor, dehydrogenator, demethanizer, deethanizer
and C2 splitter. The core of an ethylene plant is the cracking furnace where the
thermal cracking occurs and ethylene is produced from naphtha. By using 1 million
ton of naphtha per year, 6000 ton of 99.82% pure ethylene was produced.

Thermal cracking is an endothermic process in which large molecules are

broken up into smaller ones. Cracking process is occur in the cracking furnace, but
first the naphtha has to be preheated in the heat exchanger before enter the cracking
furnace. In the cracking furnace, carbon dioxide is added to reduce the coke deposits
by reacting with it to form carbon monoxide. High temperature is needed in the
furnace for the cracking process to occur. Then the flue gas will go to the next unit
process which is quench tower unit which will reduce the temperature of the flue gas.
After that, the flue gas will enter the compressor. The compressor is used to increase
the pressure of the flue gas in preparation of the next unit, followed by a cooler to
reduce the temperature of the naphtha stream. The next main unit is an absorber to
remove water and CO, followed by a boiler to increase the temperature. The
compressed flue gas then proceeds to the dehydrogenator in order to remove
hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide from it followed by demethanizer which removed
methane. After that, the flue gas will then enter the deethanizer to separate the the
C2 compound which are ethylene and ethane from the C 3+ compound which are
propylene, butane, pentane and hexane. After that the stream will be compressed
again in a compressor to increase the pressure. Lastly the mixture of C 2 compound
will enter the C2 splitter in order to produce ethylene with 99.99% purity. The top
stream output from the C2 splitter enters a condenser to convert the product from
vapour state to liquid state.

The energy flows into and out of each process unit for this process is
accounted and the overall of energy requirement for the process is determined by the
energy balances. Energy Balance is the difference between the energy output and
the energy input.

6
 In short, the amount of ethylene required per month is 500 ton which is equal
to 694.44 kg/hour. 11208.50092 kg/hour of naphtha is fed to produce 694.44 kg/hour
of ethylene. The lowest price of naphtha per metric ton is USD 235.94 while the
highest price of naphtha is USD 1180.47. In total, USD 9526535.34 is the highest
price of naphtha per month and USD 1904064.269 is the lowest price of naphtha per
month. Other than that, highest price of ethylene is USD 1841.58 and the lowest
price of ethylene is USD 847.35. In total, USD 423675 is the lowest price of ethylene
sold per month and USD 920500 is the highest price of ethylene sold per month. In
conclusion, the minimum profit obtained is USD -983564.2691 and the maximum
profit obtained is USD -9102860.338.

Ethylene is consumed the most in the Asian region in the last 10 years, so the market
area for ethylene from Natura will be commercialized in Asia. There are lots of
competitors that also produced ethylene such as Petronas (Malaysia), Saudi Basic
Industries (Saudi Arabia), Sinopec (China) and National Petrochemical Company
(Iran).

7
3.0 Process Description

Figure 1: Block diagram for the production of ethylene from naphtha using thermal
cracking.

Generally, the whole process of producing ethylene from naphtha using

thermal cracking consists of six main subsystems which are pump, heater, furnace,
quench tower, compressor, cooler, absorber boiler, distillation columns like
dehydrogenator, demethanizer, deethanizer , c2 splitter and finally condenser. An
absorber is used in order to remove water from the flue gas as to prevent hydrates
and ice to form in the fractionation units and damage the pipes and parts of the units.
This process was omitted in our proposed process due to the absence of any water
or steam throughout the entire process.

3.1 Pump

Pump is used to make sure the raw material which is heavy naphtha at
standard condition which is 1 atm pressure and 20 oC temperature. 88.9624
kmol/hour C4H10, 122 kmol/hour C5H12 and 33.0376 kmol/ hour C6H14 feed into pump
at temperature 293 K and pressure 1 atm. Composition in outlet of the pump does
not change while the pressure has been increased to 2.65 atm. Outlet of pump
charged into heater. A mechanical energy balance formula has been used in this unit
to find works shaft. Potential energy, kinetic energy and enthalpy of heat has
neglected in pump. Q+W= ∆Ep + ∆Ek + H; Q= -W. Pump uses motor to move the
fluid. When a unit had moving part in it such as motor work must be done to push
input streams into system. So, energy is transferred as work from system to its

8
surrounding. Work is defined as negative in this unit as the work is done by system to
its surrounding. Power of pump is -1257526.39 kJ/s.

3.2 Heater

Heavy naphtha feed stock is preheated before feed into furnace for further
heating in order to crack the heavy naphtha into smaller hydrocarbons. 88.9624
kmol/hour C4H10, 122 kmol/hour C5H12 and 33.0376 kmol/ hour C6H14 feed into heat
exchanger at temperature 863 K and pressure 2.655atm. Composition in outlet of the
heater does not change while the temperature and pressured has been increased to
889 K and 5.026 atm respectively. Outlet of heater charged into furnace. The heat
exchanger increased the temperature of naphtha to 889 K. High temperature enables
the reaction in furnace to occur in short period. Moreover, high temperature needed
to crack the naphtha into smaller hydrocarbons in furnace. Heat of formation has
been used in this unit to find enthalpy of heat. Potential energy, kinetic energy and
work has neglected in pump. Q+W= ∆Ep + ∆Ek + H; Q= H. So, energy is transferred
as enthalpy from surrounding to its system. 1.01325 bars and 20 oC set as reference
in this unit. Therefore, inlet enthalpy is equals to zero. Heat absorb in heater is
8.89x107 kJ/mol.

3.3 Furnace

Thermal cracking is an endothermic process which used to upgrade very heavy

fractions to produce light fractions or distillates; where long-chain hydrocarbons are
broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking
of carbon-carbon bonds in the precursors. The rate of cracking and the end products
are strongly dependent on the temperature. Furnace is used in this process to break
down long hydrocarbon chain in naphtha to produce light hydrocarbons. The heated
feed is then exited the heater and enters the furnace in order for thermal cracking
(pyrolysis) to occur. 244 kmol/ hour of heavy naphtha feed into furnace at the inlet
temperature 889 K and pressure 2.655 atm. There will be coke formation in the
furnace during cracking process occurs; where form coke which is 0.01 wt. % of the
naphtha feed. The coke deposits on the walls of reactor reducing the overall heat
transfer coefficient and increasing the pressure drop across the reactor. As heavy
naphtha feed into furnace, 465.855 kmol/ hour steam also were feed into furnace to
dilute the heavy naphtha to prevent from coke formation. Requirement of steam will
depend upon the type of feedstock; the lighter hydrocarbon requires less steam as

9
compared to heavier feedstock. The steam cracking of the naphtha yields wide
variety of products, ranging from hydrogen to highly aromatic heavy liquid fractions.
High temperature in the furnace results in breaking down the heavier hydrocarbons
(C4H10 , C5H12 , C6H14) into smaller compound (C3H6 , CH4 ,C2H4 , C2H6 , CO , H2 , H2O,
C4H10 , C5H12 , C6H14). According to the process occurred in the furnace, the following
reactions are considered,

i) C4H10 C3H6 + CH4

ii) C4H10 C2H4 + C2H6
iii) C CO + H2O

Selectivity of, CH4, C2H4, C3H6, C2H6 in the reactor is 42%, 79%, 62% and 6%
respectively and fractional conversion of C4H10 in the furnace is 40%.

Figure 1: Product selectivity vs. conversion in the pyrolysis of n-butane (Elsevier

Science Publishers B.V., 1988)

3.4 Quench Tower

In quench tower section, the temperature change is from 865 oC to 349oC

because to prevent compressor from damaging. Thus, a negative enthalpy is
expected to occur because the heat is released in order to cool the substances.
There is no change in pressure because only temperature goes down. The inlet
temperature and pressure is subjected as the reference state. The total work done is
-6486.412 kW. The work done is not very high even though the temperature change
is quite big because the substance is in vapour state. The calculation of Q is based
on hypothetical pathway drew and a non-reactive energy balance is used.

10
3.5 Compressor

Compressor receives inlet with temperature of 349 oC and pressure 2.02 atm.
The substances are compressed for 3 times until they reach 35 atm and 800 oC. The
work done on the system is 7784 kW. Positive value is obtained because the
temperature and pressure increase, thus it means that heat is needed to increase
those values. Electricity is used to compress. The calculation of Q is based on
hypothetical pathway drew and a non-reactive energy balance is used.

3.6 Cooler

Cooler will reduces the temperature of the inlet from 800 oC to 100oC in order
to enter adsorption column. The Q value is -13504 kW; it is high because there are
phase changes that occur in the substances. Any substance that have boiling point
higher than 100oC at 35 atm will be experiencing phase changes from vapour to
liquid. The calculation of Q is based on hypothetical pathway drew and a non-
reactive energy balance is used.

3.7 Absorber

A water absorber is needed because water will turn into solid ice inside the
high pressure and low temperature of the separation units and will thus damage the
delicate and sensitive equipment inside those units. A benefit of using zeolite to
absorb water is that there would no energy consumption required by the unit. During
the drying process, only liquid water is removed by the zeolite and the other flue gas
isn't affected by the drying process. That is why zeolite was chosen as the preferred
method of drying in our plant design. It is used to absorb liquid water from our flue
gas. The calculation of Q which is -648.3561 kJ/s is based on hypothetical pathway
drew and a non-reactive energy balance is used.

3.8 Boiler

A boiler is used wherever a source of steam is required. Boilers are usually worked at
low to medium pressure (7–2,000 kPa or 1–290 psi). The purpose of a boiler is to boil
water and create steam by applying heat energy to water. The water is confined in a

11
restricted space heated by the fire. The steam produced has lower density than the
water and therefore will accumulate at the highest level in the vessel and its
temperature will remain at boiling point and will only increase as pressure increases.
The saturated steam taken from the boiler may contain entrained water. Continued
heating of the saturated steam will bring the steam to a superheated state, where the
steam is heated to a temperature above the saturation temperature, and no liquid
water can exist under this condition. The boiler unit operates at the inlet temperature
of 373.15 K and pressure of 38 bars. Butane, pentane, hexane, hydrogen, methane,
ethane, ethylene, and propene exist as gas at the outlet temperature of 413.15K and
pressure of 38 atm. This condition is very important as it can affect the purity of our
product which is 80% purity. The calculation of Q which is 1.24E+03 kJ/s is based on
hypothetical pathway drew and a non-reactive energy balance is used.

Fractionation

The principle process of fractionation is that unless disturbed by changes in

feed, heat or ambient temperature, the amount of feed being added is always equals
the total amount of product being removed from both the overhead and bottoms
components. The distillation columns that we used are dehydrogenator,
demethanizer, deethanizer, and C2 splitter.

3.9 Dehydrogenator

The purpose of dehydrogenator is to separate hydrogen as an overhead

component from the hydrocarbon compound. Concurrently, a little of methane and
hydrogen are removed as an overhead compound as well.

At the overhead temperature and pressure of around -19 °C and 23 bars, only
hydrogen, and methane exist primarily as gas. At the bottom component temperature
and pressure of around 45°C and 31.4 bars, it is impossible for hydrogen to exist as
liquid since it has an extremely low boiling point at those conditions; hydrogen is
completely removed in dehydrogenator as an overhead component. Butane,
pentane, hexane, methane, ethane, ethylene, and propene exist as liquid at the
bottom outlet stream. We use method of hypothetical pathway and balance on non-
reactive processes to calculate the energy balance of the dehydrogenator. The
calculation of Q which is -2366.18155 kJ/s is based on hypothetical pathway drew
and a non-reactive energy balance is used.

12
3.10 Demethanizer

The bottom component from dehydrogenator that consists of mostly

hydrocarbon is sent to the demethanizer. The function of demethanizer is to separate
methane as an overhead component from the C 2 and heavier bottom components.
Unavoidably, little amounts ethylene will also get removed as overhead components
due to the relatively close boiling point between them and methane at the
temperature and pressure at the overhead outlet. Almost all of the methane will get
removed here since at the bottom outlet temperature of 5°C and 26 bars, methane is
the least likely to be in a liquid state. The bottom components from the demethanizer
are butane, pentane, hexane, ethane, ethylene, and propene which exist as liquid.
We use method of hypothetical pathway and balance on non-reactive processes to
calculate the energy balance of the dehydrogenator. The calculation of Q which is -
3301.523314 kJ/s is based on hypothetical pathway drew and a non-reactive energy
balance is used.

3.11 Deethanizer

Deethanizer is used to split ethylene and ethane as overhead components

from C3+ bottom components. The main components leaving the deethanizer
overhead outlet are ethane and ethylene for our proposed plant. This is cause at the
overhead temperature and pressure of around -54 °C and 26 bar, only ethylene and
ethane would exist primarily as gas while at the bottom temperature and pressure of
around -8 °C and 26 bars, ethylene is the least likely to exist as a liquid thus it is
completely removed as an overhead component. The bottom components from the
demethanizer are butane, pentane, hexane, ethane, and propene which exist as
liquid. We use method of hypothetical pathway and balance on non-reactive
processes to calculate the energy balance of the dehydrogenator. The calculation of
Q which is -2214.894419 kJ/s is based on hypothetical pathway drew and a non-
reactive energy balance is used.

3.12 Compressor

The main purpose of the compressor is to increase the pressure of the inlet
components before they enter the next distillation column. The two components of
the compressor inlet are gaseous Ethane and Ethylene with pressure and
temperature are 1 atm, -16.8°C respectively. The pressure of the compressor outlet

13
increased majorly to 9.78931 atm with slight decrease in temperature to -16.65 °C.
We use method of hypothetical pathway and balance on non-reactive process to
calculate the energy balance of the compressor.

3.13 C2 Splitter

C2 Splitter is the last separation column of the process. Thus, it yields the
target product. The gaseous two components; Ethylene and Ethane enter the column
with temperature and pressure of -16.8°C, 9.789319653 atm respectively. Based on
the volatility, the components in the outlet are both in vapour form on the top product
and liquid form in bottom product. The top and bottom products maintain the same
temperature and pressure; -31°C, 18.7515atm respectively. We use method of
hypothetical pathway to calculate the enthalpy associated with each change of
pressure, temperature and phase change. Finally, preform energy balance on non-
reactive to calculate the heat of the C2 Splitter.

3.14 Condenser

In systems involving heat transfer, a condenser is a device or unit used

to condense a substance from its gaseous to its liquid state, by cooling it. Condenser
is added after the C2 splitter to condense the vaporized ethylene. The ethylene is
condensed for easy transportation. The boiling point of ethylene is -103 degree
Celcius, hence the ethylene is condensed to -120 degree Celcius at 2 atm. Due to
there are changes in temperature in this condenser, and there will be enthalpy
changes. From the energy balance equations, kinetic energy, potential energy, work
is neglected because there is no rising or falling, acceleration and moving parts.
Hence, Q changes in H. The Q value for the condenser is -5379440 kW.

14
4.0 Process Flow Diagram and Energy Balance

4.1 Pump

16819.64468 kg per hour of naphtha was fed into the pump. In the pump, the
composition of the input and output stream remain the same as there are no
chemical reactions occur in the pump. Therefore, mass in will be equals to mass out.
The inlet and outlet temperature of naphtha in pump is 20 oC. This is an isothermal
process in which the temperature remains constant therefore change in temperature
equals to zero; ΔT= 0. The pressure of the naphtha before and after the pump has
increased from 1 atm to 2.69 bars. The momentum produces
an increase in pressure at the pump outlet.

Pump uses motor to move the fluid. When a unit had moving part in it such as
motor work must be done to push input streams into system. So, energy is
transferred as work from system to its surrounding. Work is defined as negative in
this unit as the work is done by system to its surrounding. The work shaft by the
pump is -1257526.39 kW. Mechanical energy balance formulae have been used in
this unit to find works shaft. No kinetic energy changes occur since pipe of the same
diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential energy change since the pipe
was placed at the same height. Potential energy, kinetic energy and enthalpy of heat
has neglected in pump. Q+W= ∆Ep + ∆Ek + H; Q= -W. The work requirement is
calculated as pressure divided by average density than times with the mass flow rate
of the stream.

4.2 Heater

Heavy naphtha feed stock is preheated before feed into furnace for further
heating in order to crack the heavy naphtha into smaller hydrocarbons. 16819.64468
kg per hour of naphtha was fed into the heater. In the heater, the composition of the
input and output stream remain the same as there are no chemical reactions
occurring in the boiler. Therefore, mass in will be equalled to mass out. The inlet
temperature of naphtha is 20oC and the outlet temperature of naphtha is 616oC. High
temperature enables the reaction in furnace to occur in short period. Moreover, high
temperature needed to crack the naphtha into smaller hydrocarbons in furnace. The
pressure of the naphtha before and after the boiler increased from 2.69 bar to 5.8
bar. The drastic pressure increase is due to the increasing of temperature and
conversion of naphtha from liquid to gas phase.

15
 Heat of formation has been used in this unit to find enthalpy of heat in this
unit. The energy required by the boiler is 89800000 kW. Positive energy value
indicates that energy is transferred as enthalpy from surrounding to its system. The
energy requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy of each of the
compound since there is no work done by the boiler, no kinetic energy change occur
since pipe of the same diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential
energy change since the pipe was placed at the same height. Which means potential
energy, kinetic energy and work has neglected in pump. Q+W= ∆Ep + ∆Ek + H; Q= H
The enthalpy change is calculated by first setting the inlet temperature, pressure and
phase as the references state for each component forming naphtha. From there a
hypothetical pathway was constructed to ease the calculation required to obtain the
outlet enthalpy. 1.01325 bars and 20oC set as reference in this unit. Therefore, inlet
enthalpy is equals to zero. The calculation process that start from first reducing the
pressure to 1.01325 bars at a constant temperature and phase. This is calculated by
multiplying the change in pressure times the specific volume for each component.
The components then undergo a temperature increase at a constant pressure and
phase to their individual boiling point. The enthalpy changed here is calculated by
using the integration of the formula containing specific heat capacity of each
components at the liquid state obtained from Bruce et al. Perry’s Chemical
Engineers’ Handbook 8th Edition (2008). After that heat of vaporization was obtained
from Richard Felder’s Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes (1974). From the
same source, the formula and value of specific heat capacity of gases state was
obtained and from there the value of enthalpy of each gas from their respective
boiling point to the outlet temp was calculated. Lastly, the pressure was changed to
the outlet pressure at a constant phase and temperature. The enthalpy is assumed to
be 0 since the enthalpy change that occurred due to the pressure change is
miniscule enough to be considered 0. The final value of enthalpy was calculated by
subtracting the value of enthalpy of inlet form the total value of enthalpy from the
outlet with the difference being multiplied by the number of moles.

4.3 Furnace

Thermal cracking is an endothermic process which used to upgrade very heavy

fractions to produce light fractions or distillates; where long-chain hydrocarbons are
broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking
of carbon-carbon bonds in the precursors. The rate of cracking and the end products
are strongly dependent on the temperature. Furnace is used in this process to break

16
down long hydrocarbon chain in naphtha to produce light hydrocarbons. The heated
feed is then exited the heater and enters the furnace in order for thermal cracking
(pyrolysis) to occur. 244 kmol/ hour of heavy naphtha feed into furnace at the inlet
temperature 889 K and pressure 5.8 bars. There will be coke formation in the furnace
during cracking process occurs; where form coke which is 0.01 wt. % of the naphtha
feed. The coke deposits on the walls of reactor reducing the overall heat transfer
coefficient and increasing the pressure drop across the reactor. As heavy naphtha
feed into furnace, 465.855 kmol/ hour steam also were feed into furnace to dilute the
heavy naphtha to prevent from coke formation.

Heat of formation has been used in this unit to find enthalpy of heat in this
unit. The energy required by the boiler is 12.39 kW. Positive energy value indicates
that energy is transferred as enthalpy from surrounding to its system. The energy
requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy of each of the compound
since there is no work done by the boiler, no kinetic energy change occur since pipe
of the same diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential energy change
since the pipe was placed at the same height. Which means potential energy, kinetic
energy and work has neglected in pump. Q+W= ∆Ep + ∆Ek + H; Q= H The enthalpy
change is calculated by first setting the inlet temperature, pressure and phase as the
references state for each component forming naphtha. From there a hypothetical
pathway was constructed to ease the calculation required to obtain the outlet
enthalpy. The calculation process starts from first reducing the pressure to 1.01325
bars and temperature which is 25oC. Since all the components are in gas phase
calculation of enthalpy for change in pressure is neglected. The components then
undergo a temperature increase at a constant pressure and phase to their individual
boiling point. The enthalpy changed here is calculated by using the integration from
25oC to its respective temperature. Specific heat capacity of each component at the
gas state obtained from Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook. After that heat of
vaporization was obtained from Richard Felder’s Elementary Principles of Chemical
Processes (1974) and from there the value of enthalpy of each gas from their
respective boiling point to the outlet temp was calculated. Lastly, the pressure was
changed to the outlet pressure at a constant phase and temperature. The enthalpy is
assumed to be 0 since the enthalpy at gas phase can be neglected and to be
considered 0. The final value of enthalpy was calculated by subtract the value of
enthalpy of inlet form the total value of enthalpy from the outlet with the difference
being multiplied by the number of moles. Once the total energy requirement was

17
obtained, the amount of coal needed to power the boiler was calculated by dividing
the average heating value per kilogram of coal from the total energy required.

4.4 Quench Tower

A stream of 18869.3760 kg/hr (544.2770 kmol/hr) flows into quench tower

from furnace. The temperature of the stream is 865 oC and at the pressure 2.02 atm.
In quench tower, the temperature will be reduced until 349 oC and the pressure will
remain the same. This temperature is indeed required before going into compressor,
because compressor cannot withstand a high temperature. The composition in the
stream will not be changed because no reaction occurred in quench tower.

In quench tower, -6474.466415 kJ/mol amount of energy is required. The

negative sign indicate the energy is being transferred outside the unit. The energy
requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy, ΔH of each of the
compound since there is no work done by the quench tower, no kinetic energy
change occur since pipe of the same diameter was used throughout the unit and no
potential energy change since the pipe was placed at the same height. Heat of
enthalpy is calculated by setting the reference for each substance first. The reference
must be the state, temperature and pressure. The temperature and pressure
reference in quench tower is at 865oC and 2.02 atm. Then, a hypothetical pathway is
constructed to ease the calculation. By using C p value from the table B.2, the specific
heat capacity is calculated by using the reference temperature as the initial and the
desired temperature as final temperature. There is no change in pressure, so
ΔH=ΔPV is not used in the calculation. The final value of enthalpy change is
calculated by subtracting the ΔnHf – ΔnHi.

4.5 Compressor

A stream of 18869.3760 kg/hr (544.2770 kmol/hr) flows into compressor from

quench tower. The temperature of the inlet stream is 349 oC and at the pressure 2.02
atm. In compressor, the temperature will increase until 800 oC and the pressure will
be increased until 35 atm. The mixture must be compressed to increase the pressure
of the light products. This is required to easily remove those light products in later
stages. The composition in the stream will not be changed because no reaction
occurred in quench tower.

18
In compressor 7769.62425 kJ/mol amount of energy is required. The positive sign
indicate the energy is being absorbed. The energy requirement is calculated from
only the change in enthalpy, ΔH of each of the compound since there is no work
done by the compressor, no kinetic energy change occur since pipe of the same
diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential energy change since the pipe
was placed at the same height. Heat of enthalpy is calculated by setting the
reference for each substance first. The reference must be the state, temperature and
pressure. The temperature and pressure reference in quench tower is at 349 oC and
2.02 atm. Then, a hypothetical pathway is constructed to ease the calculation. By
using Cp value from the table B.2, the specific heat capacity is calculated by using the
reference temperature as the initial and the desired temperature as final temperature.
There is change in pressure, but it is in the phase of vapour. So, the ΔPV is equal to
zero as it is negligible. The final value of enthalpy change is calculated by subtracting
the ΔnHf – ΔnHi.

4.6 Cooler

A stream of 18869.3760 kg/hr (544.2770 kmol/hr) flows into cooler from

compressor. The temperature of the stream is 800 oC and at the pressure 35 atm. In
cooler, the temperature will be reduced until 100 oC and the pressure will remain the
same. This temperature is indeed required before going into absorber, because in
order for water to be removed, it must be in the liquid phase. The composition in the
stream will not be changed because no reaction occurred in quench tower.

In quench tower, -13479.53515 kJ/mol amount of energy is required. The

negative sign indicate the energy is being transferred outside the unit. The energy
requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy, ΔH of each of the
compound since there is no work done by the quench tower, no kinetic energy
change occur since pipe of the same diameter was used throughout the unit and no
potential energy change since the pipe was placed at the same height. Heat of
enthalpy is calculated by setting the reference for each substance first. The reference
must be the state, temperature and pressure. The temperature and pressure
reference in quench tower is at 800oC and 35 atm. Then, a hypothetical pathway is
constructed to ease the calculation. By using C p value from the table B.2, the specific
heat capacity is calculated by using the reference temperature as the initial and the
desired temperature as final temperature. There is change in pressure that is in the
form of liquid, so ΔH=ΔPV is used in the calculation. The value for change of

19
enthalpy that consists of change in pressure at constant temperature only applies for
substances that are in the liquid phase. Besides, there is also ΔH v, heat of
vaporization. The value is obtained from Table B.1. The final value of enthalpy
change is calculated by subtracting the ΔnHf – ΔnHi.

4.7 Absorber

A stream of 18869.3760 kg/hr (544.2770 kmol/hr) flows into absorber from

compressor. The temperature of the inlet stream is 100oC and at the pressure 35
atm. In absorber, water is removed along with carbon monoxide. Initially, only water
is removed in the absorber using molecular sieves that contains Zeolite 3A. But,
because of the miniscule amount of carbon monoxide, it is negligible thus carbon
monoxide is removed along with water. That means, there are two outlet streams
after water and carbon monoxide is removed. The efficiency of removing water is
100%, so water and carbon monoxide are completely removed. The temperature will
remains the same at 100oC and the pressure will be increased until 38 atm. The
mixture must be compressed to increase the pressure of the light products. This is
required to easily remove those light products in later stages. The composition in the
stream will not be changed because no reaction occurred in quench tower.

In compressor 7769.62425 kJ/mol amount of energy is required. The positive

sign indicate the energy is being absorbed. The energy requirement is calculated
from only the change in enthalpy, ΔH of each of the compound since there is no work
done by the compressor, no kinetic energy change occur since pipe of the same
diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential energy change since the pipe
was placed at the same height. Heat of enthalpy is calculated by setting the
reference for each substance first. The reference must be the state, temperature and
pressure. The temperature and pressure reference in quench tower is at 349 oC and
2.02 atm. Then, a hypothetical pathway is constructed to ease the calculation. By
using Cp value from the table B.2, the specific heat capacity is calculated by using the
reference temperature as the initial and the desired temperature as final temperature.
There is change in pressure, but it is in the phase of vapour. So, the ΔPV is equal to
zero as it is negligible. The final value of enthalpy change is calculated by subtracting
the ΔnHf – ΔnHi.

20
4.8 Boiler

350.8950437 kg per hour of naphtha was fed into the boiler. In the heat
exchanger, the composition of the input and output stream remain the same as there
are no chemical reactions occurring in the boiler. Therefore, mass in will be equalled
to mass out. The inlet temperature of naphtha is 100 oC and the outlet temperature of
naphtha is 140oC. The pressure of the naphtha before and after the boiler remained
the same which is 38 bars. The constant pressure is due to the slight increase of
temperature and conversion of naphtha from liquid phase to gas phase.

The energy required by the boiler is 1.24E+03 kW. The energy requirement is
calculated from only the change in enthalpy of each of the compound since there is
no work done by the boiler, no kinetic energy change occur since pipe of the same
diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential energy change since the pipe
was placed at the same height. The enthalpy change is calculated by first setting the
inlet temperature, pressure and phase as the references state for each components
forming naphtha. From there a hypothetical pathway was constructed to ease the
calculation required to obtain the outlet enthalpy. The calculation process that start
from first reducing the pressure to 1.01325 bars at a constant temperature and
phase. This is calculated by multiplying the change in pressure times the specific
volume for each component. The components then undergo a temperature increase
at a constant pressure and phase to their individual boiling point. The enthalpy
changed here is calculated by using the integration of the formula containing specific
heat capacity of each components at the liquid state obtained from Bruce et al.
Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook 8th Edition (2008). After that heat of
vaporization was obtained from Richard Felder’s Elementary Principles of Chemical
Processes (1974). From the same source, the formula and value of specific heat
capacity of gases state was obtained and from there the value of enthalpy of each
gas from their respective boiling point to the outlet temp was calculated. Lastly, the
pressure was changed to the outlet pressure at a constant phase and temperature.
The enthalpy is assumed to be 0 since the enthalpy change that occurred due to the
pressure change is miniscule enough to be considered 0. The final value of enthalpy
was calculated by subtracting the value of enthalpy of inlet form the total value of
enthalpy from the outlet with the difference being multiplied by the number of moles.

Once the total energy requirement was obtained, the amount of coal needed
to power the boiler was calculated by dividing the average heating value per kilogram
of coal from the total energy required.

21
4.9 Dehydrogenator

350.8950437 kg per hour of naphtha was fed into the dehydrogenator. The
inlet temperature of dehydrogenator is 140°C while the inlet pressure is 38 bars. The
compositions of the input and output stream are different and there is no chemical
reactions occurring in the dehydrogenator. Therefore, mass in will be equalled to
mass out. At the overhead temperature and pressure of around -19 °C and 23 bars,
only hydrogen, and methane exist primarily as gas. At the bottom component
temperature and pressure of around 45°C and 31.4 bars, it is impossible for
hydrogen to exist as liquid since it has an extremely low boiling point at those
conditions; hydrogen is completely removed in dehydrogenator as an overhead
component. Butane, pentane, hexane, methane, ethane, ethylene, and propene exist
as liquid at the bottom outlet stream. The drastic change in pressure is due to the
increase of temperature.

The energy required by the dehydrogenator is -2366.18155 kW. The energy

requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy of each of the compound
since there is no work done by the dehydrogenator, no kinetic energy change occur
since pipe of the same diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential
energy change since the pipe was placed at the same height. The enthalpy change is
calculated by first setting the inlet temperature, pressure and phase as the
references state for each components forming naphtha. From there a hypothetical
pathway was constructed to ease the calculation required to obtain the outlet
enthalpy. The calculation process that start from first reducing the pressure to
1.01325 bars at a constant temperature and phase. This is calculated by multiplying
the change in pressure times the specific volume for each component. The
components then undergo a temperature increase at a constant pressure and phase
to their individual boiling point. The enthalpy changed here is calculated by using the
integration of the formula containing specific heat capacity of each components at the
liquid state obtained from Bruce et al. Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook 8th
Edition (2008). After that heat of vaporization was obtained from Richard Felder’s
Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes (1974). From the same source, the
formula and value of specific heat capacity of gases state was obtained and from
there the value of enthalpy of each gas from their respective boiling point to the outlet
temp was calculated. Lastly, the pressure was changed to the outlet pressure at a
constant phase and temperature. The enthalpy is assumed to be 0 since the enthalpy
change that occurred due to the pressure change is miniscule enough to be
considered 0. The final value of enthalpy was calculated by subtracting the value of

22
enthalpy of inlet form the total value of enthalpy from the outlet with the difference
being multiplied by the number of moles.

4.10 Demethanizer

336.7667685 kg per hour of naphtha was fed into the demethanizer. The inlet
temperature of demethanizer is 45°C while the inlet pressure is 31.4 bars. The
compositions of the input and output stream are different and there is no chemical
reactions occurring in the demethanizer. Therefore, mass in will be equalled to mass
out. At the overhead temperature and pressure of around -17.1 °C and 5.4 bars, only
ethylene, and methane exist primarily as gas. At the bottom component temperature
and pressure of around 5°C and 26 bars, it is impossible for ethylene to exist as
liquid since it has an extremely low boiling point at those conditions; methane is
completely removed in demethanizer as an overhead component. Butane, pentane,
hexane, ethane, ethylene, and propene exist as liquid at the bottom outlet stream.
The drastic change in pressure is due to the increase of temperature.

The energy required by the demethanizer is -3301.523314 kW. The energy

requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy of each of the compound
since there is no work done by the demethanizer, no kinetic energy change occur
since pipe of the same diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential
energy change since the pipe was placed at the same height. The enthalpy change is
calculated by first setting the inlet temperature, pressure and phase as the
references state for each components forming naphtha. From there a hypothetical
pathway was constructed to ease the calculation required to obtain the outlet
enthalpy. The calculation process that start from first reducing the pressure to
1.01325 bars at a constant temperature and phase. This is calculated by multiplying
the change in pressure times the specific volume for each component. The
components then undergo a temperature increase at a constant pressure and phase
to their individual boiling point. The enthalpy changed here is calculated by using the
integration of the formula containing specific heat capacity of each components at the
liquid state obtained from Bruce et al. Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook 8th
Edition (2008). After that heat of vaporization was obtained from Richard Felder’s
Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes (1974). From the same source, the
formula and value of specific heat capacity of gases state was obtained and from
there the value of enthalpy of each gas from their respective boiling point to the outlet
temp was calculated. Lastly, the pressure was changed to the outlet pressure at a

23
constant phase and temperature. The enthalpy is assumed to be 0 since the enthalpy
change that occurred due to the pressure change is miniscule enough to be
considered 0. The final value of enthalpy was calculated by subtracting the value of
enthalpy of inlet form the total value of enthalpy from the outlet with the difference
being multiplied by the number of moles.

4.11 Deethanizer

323.7644752 kg per hour of naphtha was fed into the deethanizer. The inlet
temperature of deethanizer is 5°C while the inlet pressure is 26 bars. The
compositions of the input and output stream are different and there is no chemical
reactions occurring in the deethanizer. Therefore, mass in will be equalled to mass
out. At the overhead temperature and pressure of around -54 °C and 26 bars, only
ethylene, and ethane exist primarily as gas. At the bottom component temperature
and pressure of around -8°C and 26 bars, it is impossible for ethane to exist as liquid
since it has an extremely low boiling point at those conditions; ethane is completely
removed in deethanizer as an overhead component. Butane, pentane, hexane,
ethane, and propene exist as liquid at the bottom outlet stream. The drastic change
in pressure is due to the increase of temperature.

The energy required by the deethanizer is -2214.894419 kW. The energy

requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy of each of the compound
since there is no work done by the deethanizer, no kinetic energy change occur since
pipe of the same diameter was used throughout the unit and no potential energy
change since the pipe was placed at the same height. The enthalpy change is
calculated by first setting the inlet temperature, pressure and phase as the
references state for each components forming naphtha. From there a hypothetical
pathway was constructed to ease the calculation required to obtain the outlet
enthalpy. The calculation process that start from first reducing the pressure to
1.01325 bars at a constant temperature and phase. This is calculated by multiplying
the change in pressure times the specific volume for each component. The
components then undergo a temperature increase at a constant pressure and phase
to their individual boiling point. The enthalpy changed here is calculated by using the
integration of the formula containing specific heat capacity of each components at the
liquid state obtained from Bruce et al. Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook 8th
Edition (2008). After that heat of vaporization was obtained from Richard Felder’s
Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes (1974). From the same source, the

24
formula and value of specific heat capacity of gases state was obtained and from
there the value of enthalpy of each gas from their respective boiling point to the outlet
temp was calculated. Lastly, the pressure was changed to the outlet pressure at a
constant phase and temperature. The enthalpy is assumed to be 0 since the enthalpy
change that occurred due to the pressure change is miniscule enough to be
considered 0. The final value of enthalpy was calculated by subtracting the value of
enthalpy of inlet form the total value of enthalpy from the outlet with the difference
being multiplied by the number of moles.

4.12 Decompressor

Our inlet is about (58.9391528 kmol/hr) with (-54°C) temperature and

(25.6600049 atm) pressure. The produced outlet is the same flow rate (58.9391528
kmol/hr) with (-16.65°C) temperature and (9.78931 bar) pressure. As we can see
there is a big difference in the pressure; the pressure is decreased. Furthermore, The
energy requirement is calculated from only the change in enthalpy of each of the
compound assuming there is no work done by the decompressor, no kinetic energy
change occur and no potential energy change .For this unit, energy balance
calculation is exothermic. Thus; it releases heat and energy. We consider the
reference point to be as (C2H4, C2H6 (g,-16.8, 1 atm) for both inlet and outlet
streams to make our enthalpy easier to calculate. Finally, we found Q which is our
energy as a (-142.4150887 kJ/mol).

4.13 C2 Splitter

This separator contains one input stream and two output streams. The input
stream contains C2H4 gas and C2H6 gas. The top outlet stream is mostly vapour
phase and the bottom stream with mostly liquid phase. The C2 splitter, the inlet flow
rate is about (58.93915281kmol/hr) with (-16°C) temperature and (9.78 bar)
pressure. The top gaseous outlet stream is about (37.16177739 kmol/hr) and the
bottom liquid outlet stream is about (21.77737542 kmol/hr). The temperature for both
outlet streams is (-31°C) which is the approximately the average temperature of dew
and bubble points. Likewise, the pressure for both outlet streams is (19 bars). We
consider our reference to be as (C2H4, C2H6 at l, -31°C, and 19 bars). Finally, we
found Q which is our energy as a (173241.7049 KW). Since, the temperature of this

25
unit decreases, the Q value expected should be in negative not in positive as
mentioned above; thus an error is displayed.

4.14 Condenser

In systems involving heat transfer, a condenser is a device or unit used

to condense a substance from its gaseous to its liquid state, by cooling it. Condenser
is added after the C2 splitter to condense the vaporized ethylene. The ethylene is
condensed for easy transportation. The boiling point of ethylene is -103 oC, hence the
ethylene is condensed to -120oC at 2 atm. Due to there is changes in temperature in
this condenser, there will be enthalpy changes. From the energy balance equations,
kinetic energy, potential energy, work is neglected because there is no rising or
falling, acceleration and moving parts. Hence, Q= changes in H.

The energy required by condenser is -537940 kW. Negative energy value

indicates that energy is transferred as enthalpy from system to its surrounding. The
inlet temperature, pressure and phase as the references state for each component
forming naphtha. From there a hypothetical pathway was constructed to ease the
calculation required to obtain the outlet enthalpy. The reference at condenser set as
31oC and 2atm. Since the inlet temperature and pressure is same as reference;
therefore, the enthalpy is equals to zero. Secondly, the enthalpy change is calculated
based on temperature difference which is from reference point 31 oC to -120oC.
Enthalpy obtains from integrating specific heat capacity with the inlet and outlet
temperature. Then, phase changing to their individual boiling point of component
which is from gas phase to liquid phase, where the value of enthalpy is same as
value of heat of vaporization which is 13.54 kJ/mol of ethylene and 14.74 kJ/mol of
ethane. Moving further, the following enthalpy calculated based on pressure
difference which 1 atm is where the reference pressure 2 atm minus with the
standard pressure which is 1 atm. This is calculated by multiplying the change in
pressure times the specific volume for each component. The final value of enthalpy
was calculated by subtract the value of enthalpy of inlet form the total value of
enthalpy from the outlet with the difference being multiplied by the number of moles.
Once the total energy requirement was obtained, the amount of electrical energy
need for the condenser to operate was calculated.

26
5.0 Costing

The production of ethylene from Natura Sdn. Bhd. is 500 ton/month which is
equal to 694.44 kg/hr. Ethylene is produced from naphtha as the raw material. In a
10 years’ time, the highest recorded price for naphtha is USD 1180.47/metric ton
while the lowest recorded price is USD 235.94/metric ton. Besides, the highest price
for ethylene in 10 years’ time is USD 1841.58/metric ton while the lowest is USD
847.35/metric ton.

Minimum Price

Selling Price USD 920500

Costing Price USD 1907577.26

Profit -USD 987077.26

Maximum Price

Selling Price USD 423675

The table above indicates profit or
Costing Price USD 9540311
loss that is obtained. The minimum price is
Profit -USD 9116636 the least loss because ethylene is sold at the
highest price whilst naphtha is bought at the
lowest price. The maximum price is the highest loss because ethylene is sold at the
lowest price whilst naphtha is bought at the highest price. According to statistics,
ethylene is consumed the most in Asia as most Asian region conquered the chart for
Ethylene consumption in 2005-2026. Thus, Asia is the most suitable place to market
ethylene for industrial usage.

In the process of producing ethylene, there are raw materials used. Those are
zeolite and coal. Zeolite 3A is used in absorber as to remove the unwanted water
from the stream. The price for zeolite is USD 1200/metric ton. 196486.9722 ton of
zeolite is used per year to remove a total of 48305758.96 kg of water. The total cost
of zeolite in a year is USD 235784366.60. Coal is used in boiler to heat the mixture in
the stream. 21.04 ton of coal is required per year. It is because 0.0248 kg of coal
needed per that energy value for 33412 kJ/mol energy to be absorbed. Thus, the
price of coal per metric ton is USD 44.27. Thus, the price of coal per year is not very
high as it only cost USD 931.50.

27
 Next, there are also costing for the equipment that is used in the plant.

EQUIPMENT QUANTITY PRICE (USD/UNIT) TOTAL PRICE (USD)

PUMP 1 28500 28500

HEATER 1 80000 80000

FURNACE 1 250000 250000

QUENCH TOWER 1 98500 98500

COMPRESSOR 1 25000 25000

COOLER 1 45000 45000

ADSORER 1 99500 99500

BOILER 1 23000 23000

DISTILLATION COLUMN 1 288000 288000

TOTAL COST (USD) 937500

Table above states the current prices of equipment in the plants.

In total, around USD 261267927.4 is spent per year if we included the capital cost in
the operating cost.

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

6.1. Conclusion

At the end of the entire process, by feeding 500 ton of naphtha per month, our
company can produce around 90 thousand tons of ethylene per year with 99.82%

28
purity. The wasted materials were not handled properly and released to the
environment and the atmosphere. Lastly, based on profit analysis graphed, even
when we choose to buy naphtha at the lowest price and sell it at the highest price, we
will still obtain a loss of around RM which is around % of our initial cost.

6.2. Recommendation

 A catalyst like zeolite can be used to increase the conversion of naphtha to

form ethylene so that we can sell more ethylene. The temperature of our
furnace can also be increased in order to increase the percentage of butane
and favour the endothermic reaction for the formation of ethylene from
naphtha.
 A high amount of wasted materials was released to the environment and
atmosphere. The wasted materials in the finals stream can be recycled back
into the furnace or distillation columns in order to increase the yield of our
ethylene while simultaneously reducing waste and environmental pollution
 The wasted material like propylene and methane could also be purified by
adding more distillation columns in order to sell them at the market price in
order to increase our revenue and pay back the initial cost for the plant.

 Waste gas like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide should be handled
properly since .they proposed some harms to the environment like
contributing towards climate change.
 The dehydrogenator should be removed since the mass of hydrogen is too
little and should not waste additional energy and cost to remove it.
 Total costing did not include cost of purchasing each unit we used, fixed cost
of maintenance and capital charges. These costs are assumed to be zero.
Hence, further detail costing might result in better estimation.

7.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to thank GOD for giving us strength and courage to complete
the project entitled “PRODUCTION OF ETHYLENE USING NAPHTHA”. My group
would like to thank Dr Mohd Syazarudin bin Mohd Said and ASSC. PROF Dr Rozita

29
Omar for their valuable teaching and guidance for us to finish the project. They
inspired us greatly to work in this project. Their willingness to motivate us contributed
tremendously to our project.

We also would like to take this opportunity to thank to Chemical Engineering

Department of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) for offering this subject, Energy
Balances and this project. It gave us an opportunity to participate and learn about the
process of company to produce ethylene based on the requirement given. In
addition, we would also like to thank our beloved seniors who are willing to give their
time to help us and give us brilliant idea for our project.

We also want to thank to our course mates who help us when we need them
by providing us some journal and information to make sure that we can complete this
project. Besides, we would like to thank our own group members for giving their time
and cooperation to complete this project successfully. It is an interesting and useful
experience for us as we are exposed to the chemical industry. This project would
help to use this experience in the future.

The purpose of this course is to expose to the chemical student about

chemical engineering. In ECH3115, we are being taught about energy balance that
use in each reaction and each process whether it is unreactive or reactive.

8.0 Bibliography/ References

1) Ethylene -Production. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.liquisearch.com/ethylene/production

30
2) Ortiz-Espinoza, Andrea P., Noureldin, Mohamed MB., El-Halwagi, Mahmoud M.,
& Jim´enez-Guti´errez, Arturo., Design, simulation and techno-economic analysis
of two processes for the conversion of shale gas to ethylene.Computers and
Chemical Engineering

3) Aribike, D., & Susu, A. (1988). Thermal cracking of n-butane and a light
hydrocarbon mixture. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 14(1), 37-48.
doi:10.1016/0165-2370(88)80006-8

4) Research, Z. M. (2018, May 24). Global Polyethylene Market Will Reach USD
215 Billion by 2024: Zion Market Research. Retrieved from
https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/05/24/1511282/0/en/Global-
Polyethylene-Market-Will-Reach-USD-215-Billion-by-2024-Zion-Market-
Research.html

5) Lazonby, J. (n.d.). Ethene (Ethylene). Retrieved from

http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/chemicals/ethene.html

6) Wenning, H. (1993). The VEBA OEL Technologie pyrolysis process. Journal of

Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 25, 301-310. doi:10.1016/0165-2370(93)80049-
6

7) Haribal, V. P., Chen, Y., Neal, L., & Li, F. (2018). Intensification of Ethylene
Production from Naphtha via a Redox Oxy-Cracking Scheme: Process
Simulations and Analysis. Engineering, 4(5), 714-721.
doi:10.1016/j.eng.2018.08.001

8) Haghighi, S. S., Rahimpour, M., Raeissi, S., & Dehghani, O. (2013). Investigation
of ethylene production in naphtha thermal cracking plant in presence of steam

31
 and carbon dioxide. Chemical Engineering Journal, 228, 1158-1167.
doi:10.1016/j.cej.2013.05.048

9) Olahová, N., Bajus, M., Hájeková, E., Šugár, L., & Markoš, J. (2014). Kinetics
and modelling of heptane steam-cracking. Chemical Papers, 68(12).
doi:10.2478/s11696-013-0518-2

10) G. L. Kaes, A Practical Guide to Steady State Modeling of Petroleum Processes

(Using Commercial Simulators), Athens Printing Company, 2000, pg. 68

11) BULLIN, J. A., & POLASEK, J. C. (2006). The Use of MDEA and Mixtures of
Amines for Bulk CO2 Removal. Bryan Research and Engineering, Inc. -
Technical Papers.

12) Adhikari, S., & Fernando, S. (2006). Hydrogen Membrane Separation

Techniques. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 45(3), 875-881.
doi:10.1021/ie050644l

13) Huertas, J., Giraldo, N., & Izquierdo, S. (2011). Removal of H2S and CO2 from
Biogas by Amine Absorption. Mass Transfer in Chemical Engineering Processes.
doi:10.5772/20039

14) Spallina, V., Velarde, I. C., Jimenez, J. A., Godini, H. R., Gallucci, F., &
Annaland, M. V. (2017). Techno-economic assessment of different routes for
olefins production through the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM): Advances in
benchmark technologies. Energy Conversion and Management, 154, 244-261.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2017.10.061

15)Naphthalene -Price. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/China/electricity_prices/

9.0 Appendix

32
9.1 Market analysis

Based on the chart, the global world consumption of ethylene, China is the
highest region followed by Middle East, and Western Europe. Our market target of
production ethylene is China because it is the main market for petrochemical industry
in Asian region. Therefore, China ethylene market is likely to experience a
tremendous growth in the year 2020-2026, primarily due to the increasing demand
for polyester fibres across the globe. Polyester fibres are widely used in the textile
industry in the manufacturing of carpets, upholstery, conveyer belts, and seat belts.
Ethylene glycol is an organic compound primarily used in the manufacturing of
polyester fibres and polyethylene terephthalate. Thus, in order to obtain ethylene
glycol it requires ethylene so the demand for ethylene would be high too. Naphtha
that is used in the feed is bought from Southeast Asia countries. This is mainly
because the currency over there is relatively low compared to other naphtha
producing countries.

9.2 Risk Analysis

33
FEED ANALYSIS

Figure 1

Figure 2

Naphtha is required in the production of ethylene as it is used as a feed. Figure 2

above shows the production of naphtha in Malaysia. In 2016, around 2744000 metric
tons of naphtha is produced in Malaysia. Even though in Figure 1, it shows Naphtha
is produced the most in China and Malaysia only make it to top 30, but the currency
in Malaysia is lower than other countries in the chart, thus purchasing naphtha in
Malaysia is also a good move. Thus, we will purchase our naphtha in Malaysia.

34
Figure 3

Figure 3 above shows that the demand for ethylene from year 1965 to 2005. The
demand is increasing with the year. Thus, market for ethylene will still need the
ethylene to be produced in a large scale every year. So, we will not lack of
customers.

SUPPLIER

Minda Kota SDN BHD (Malaysia)

PBC Alliance SDN BHD (Malaysia)

Alphine Oil SDN BHD (Malaysia)

COMPETITORS

Petronas (Malaysia)

Saudi Basic Industries (Saudi Arabia)

Sinopec (China)

National Petrochemical Company (Iran)

35