The technical and economic comparison of ethylene production from natural gas and ethane

Ethylene is one of the most primary and widely used petrochemical products in today's world and is considered as a chemical building block in the petrochemical industry. In this research, ethylene production from ethane and natural gas is evaluated in terms of cost and optimum conditions. Also, a comprehensive economic and technical comparison is made to achieve the optimal conditions for ethylene production concerning feed diversity. Nowadays most ethylene production units run with ethane feed. If it is possible to implement gas-ethylene processes with an inexpensive natural gas feed, it will be a significant step for technical and economic optimization. Thus, some methods are introduced and compared, and finally an economic review about best condition for ethylene production from ethane and natural gas/investment with regard to cost and economic efficiency of the methods is provided. The investment cost for Gas to Ethylene (GTE) and Ethane to Ethylene (ETE) processes is 363-701 million dollars per year, respectively. Also, rate of return (ROR) of 24 and 19% is calculated for GTE and ETE processes, respectively.

Automated summary

The study evaluates the cost and optimal conditions of ethylene production, as well as technical and economic optimization by using natural gas as a feedstock. It provides an economic review on the best conditions for ethylene production from ethane and natural gas, with a focus on investment cost and economic efficiency.