ECC - - Ethylene Cracking Heaters Brochure

www.ClearSign.com©2013 ClearSign Combustion Corporation. All rights reserved. By controlling flame shape on both the hearth burner and radiant wall burners, enhanced tai- loring of the heat flux profile should be achieved. Lengthening the de-coking cycle will bring sub- stantial economic benefits to operators of ethylene cracking furnaces. The period of a de-coking cy- cle varies depending on the process and technol- ogy. Under the worst-case scenario, de-coking must be performed after as little as less than 20 days, while under the best-case scenario, de-cok- ing occurs every six months. Improvements in de-coking cycles represents less downtime and more revenue. Additionally, by improving flame luminosity, ECC may provide far greater control (a new degree of freedom) for operators to sig- nificantly increase heat flux transfer to the process tubes while still maintaining optimal uniformity. The ECC™ Solution Limitations in the ability to optimize burner per- formance (i.e., meeting NOx objectives while optimizing flame geometry) create challenges in delivering uniform heat flux profiles. Most heat- ers experience higher heat flux profiles near the bottom of the furnace with fluxes gradually de- creasing with furnace height. Delivering a more uniform heat flux profile is desirable because it has the potential to 1) improve energy exchange and 2) lengthen the de-coking cycle. The Problem Ethylene Cracking Heaters Ethylene is an important chemical widely used in the production of plastics for products such as PVC, packaging, and window frames, among others. The product is obtained by the pyrolysis of naph- tha, ethane or propane. Currently there are 45 ethylene plants in the United States, 90% of which use gaseous feedstock. Due to expanded world demand, it has also experienced rapid growth. An ethylene cracking furnace is a tall and narrow box -- typically 40ft+ high -- with vertical process tubes on one side and a combustion wall’ on the other. They use burners of two types: The first, ‘hearth’ burners are rectangular, floor mounted, vertical-firing against the combustion wall to radi- ate heat into the tubes on the opposite wall. The second, ‘radiant wall’ burners are installed in one to four rows at various furnace heights and fire radially onto the combustion wall to heat up the refractory surface and radiate energy to the pro- cess tubes. These two burner types are designed and installed to try to maintain a uniform heat flux profile to the process tubes. Ethylene Cracking Plant www.ClearSign.com Contact Us Phone: (206) 673-4848 Fax: (206) 299-3553 Email: info@clearsigncombustion.com 12870 Interurban Avenue South Seattle, WA 98168 ©2013 ClearSign Combustion Corporation. All rights reserved. Petrochemical ProcessingImproved Heat Flux Uniformity Improved Ethylene Heat Flux Profile - De-Coking Cycle Increase Ethylene/Poly plants in US 45 Facilities Polypropylene Spot Price $0.63 per lb. Ethylene Spot Price $0.75 per lb. Plant Capacity (liquid feed) 120,000 lb/hr Number of Furnaces 6 Yield Efficiency (est.) 45% per year Product Revenue $336MM per year Product Profit $219MM Margin 62.5% ECC™ .75% Capacity Increase $1.6MM Incr. Annual Profit ECC™ 2% Capacity Increase $4.4MM Incr. Annual Profit This benefit will impact two areas: Summary of ECC™ Annual Economic Impact on Ethylene Processing Low Est. High Est. Extending De-Coking Cycles $1.6MM $4.4MM Increased Capacity $2.2MM $4.4MM Total $3.8MM $8.8MM Although de-coking cycles vary depending on feed- stock, technology and operating practices, we could make a conservative assumption that an ethylene heater retrofitted with ECC could enhance the de-cok- ing cycle from every four months to every six months. Sometimes increasing capacity in an ethylene heater does not provide any benefit because downstream equipment (e.g., distillation towers, compressors) may not be able to accommodate the increase. However, in cases where a capacity increase can be handled plant-wide, we can calculate the economic benefit as- sociated with a 1-2% capacity increase. Increasing Capacity Increasing De-Coking Cycles