Evaluation of retrofitting of an industrial steam cracking furnace by means of CFD simulations

Rebordinos, Jesús González; Herce, Carlos; González-Espinosa, Ana; Gil, Miguel; Cortés, Cristóbal; Brunet, Francisco; Ferré, Laura; Arias, Alfred

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114206

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…SERC, RFC, and TRE are regional reliability entities for the U.S. electric grid. Efficiency data is from refs − .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical, Environmental, and Economic Analysis Comparing Low-Carbon Industrial Process Heat Options in U.S. Poly(vinyl chloride) and Ethylene Manufacturing Facilities

Schoeneberger,

Dunn,

Masanet

2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Electrification and clean hydrogen are promising low-carbon options for decarbonizing industrial process heat, which is an essential target for reducing sector-wide emissions. However, industrial processes with heat demand vary significantly across industries in terms of temperature requirements, capacities, and equipment, making it challenging to determine applications for low-carbon technologies that are technically and economically feasible. In this analysis, we develop a framework for evaluating life cycle emissions, water use, and cost impacts of electric and clean hydrogen process heat technologies and apply it in several case studies for plastics and petrochemical manufacturing industries in the United States. Our results show that industrial heat pumps could reduce emissions by 12–17% in a typical poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) facility in certain locations currently, compared to conventional natural gas combustion, and that other electric technologies in PVC and ethylene production could reduce emissions by nearly 90% with a sufficiently decarbonized electric grid. Life cycle water use increases significantly in all low-carbon technology cases. The levelized cost of heat of viable low-carbon technologies ranges from 15 to 100% higher than conventional heating systems, primarily due to energy costs. We discuss results in the context of relevant policies that could be useful to manufacturing facilities and policymakers for aiding the transition to low-carbon process heat technologies.

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“…SERC, RFC, and TRE are regional reliability entities for the U.S. electric grid. Efficiency data is from refs − .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical, Environmental, and Economic Analysis Comparing Low-Carbon Industrial Process Heat Options in U.S. Poly(vinyl chloride) and Ethylene Manufacturing Facilities

Schoeneberger,

Dunn,

Masanet

2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[23][24][25] In the last two decades, lots of simulators used CFD methods to investigate the performances of fireboxes. [14][15][16][17]19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Some of them used a 3-D model for a firebox and 1-D numerical model for the reactor of a thermal cracking furnace. Having established a 3-D model for the propane cracker, Zhang et al [25] investigated the profiles of the TST and the rate of a radical cracking reaction through the bends of the reactor tubes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For decades, radiative transfer equation (RTE) models in fireboxes were mostly simulated utilizing Hottel's zonal method, [11,13,14,19,20,32,33] but some firebox simulations solved the RTE models in conjunction with CFD models. [16,17,26,28] Due to the growing coke layer inside the tubes, steam cracking is a dynamic process. Although some recent studies have introduced strategies for dynamic or realtime simulation, [34][35][36] it is still a difficult task to perform a comprehensive real-time simulation over the run length.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coke deposition and run length in industrial naphtha thermal cracking furnaces via a quasi‐steady state coupled CFD model

et al. 2022

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Mathematical modelling of the thickness of the coke layer growing over months in millisecond cracking reactors is a dilemma in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. To address the time scale issue, a quasi-steady state (QSS) approach was employed through a comprehensive coupled reactor/ firebox CFD model in the current study. The model was applied to predict the time-dependent behaviour of coke deposition and to determine the appropriate operating conditions for maximum olefin yields over an industrial furnace run length. A novel algorithm was designed to overcome the complexity of QSS simulation of the CFD model, which is a combination of reactive turbulence flow, combustion, and radiation models. The furnace parameters were studied as a function of two variables: the dilution steam-to-feed ratio and the liberated heat by the burners. The results indicated that the run length can be extended by up to 20% while retaining the main product yields. This study offers practical suggestions to maximize the run length in the operation.

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“…Depending on feedstock advantage and availabilities, there exist several technologies for producing light olefins as the base materials for synthesizing different polymers [5]. In this regard, steam cracking of feedstocks such as naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas, ethane, propane or butane is the most widely applied industrial process for producing ethylene and propylene as the olefinic products [6,7]. However, considering the influences of the feedstock mix, utilities, and operational conditions on the economic performance of steam crackers, there is a need to select between the options and carry out optimization and control on the basis of operating cost.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of a Neuro‐Based Computing Paradigm for Simulation of Industrial Olefin Plants

Esmaeili-Faraj

Vaferi

Bolhasani³

et al. 2021

Chem Eng & Technol

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A neuro-based computing technique is used for simulation of olefin plants at industrial scale. Artificial neural networks are applied to estimate the flow rate of the main products of the olefin unit from available information in terms of flow rate of feed streams and operating condition of furnaces. The structure of the smart model is determined through a trial-and-error procedure taking the real plant information over four successive years. The proposed paradigm estimates the tonnage of the product streams by an absolute average relative deviation in the range of 0.9 % for methane to 3.14 % for propylene. Results confirmed that this smart simulation not only presents accurate predictions, but is easy to use, straightforward, and can be simply employed for optimization and control of the unit.

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Evaluation of retrofitting of an industrial steam cracking furnace by means of CFD simulations

Cited by 17 publications

References 33 publications

Technical, Environmental, and Economic Analysis Comparing Low-Carbon Industrial Process Heat Options in U.S. Poly(vinyl chloride) and Ethylene Manufacturing Facilities

Technical, Environmental, and Economic Analysis Comparing Low-Carbon Industrial Process Heat Options in U.S. Poly(vinyl chloride) and Ethylene Manufacturing Facilities

Coke deposition and run length in industrial naphtha thermal cracking furnaces via a quasi‐steady state coupled CFD model

Design of a Neuro‐Based Computing Paradigm for Simulation of Industrial Olefin Plants

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