A low-olefin production process was developed with natural gas as the feedstock. The proposed process directly generates low olefins based on the Fischer−Tropsch synthesis reaction. Techno-economic assessments were conducted to evaluate the economic aspects of the developed process, whereby data were compared to that of the counterpart gas-to-liquid process. Results showed that the Fischer−Tropsch to olefins process has good economic prospects. This work provides a feasible approach for a low-olefin production process through process synthesis and optimization. Input chilling utilities could be reduced by 45% compared to that before the exergy recuperation and heat integration, while the heating utilities could be reduced to 0 MMBtu/h. Effects of catalyst's selectivity to low olefins on the economic performance of the proposed process were also analyzed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.