Abstract
Styrene Monomer (SM) is one of the most basic chemicals which is used to produce several polymers. Almost all SM production technologies uses Ethylbenzene (EB) as starting point.
Currently, EB dehydrogenation is the most widely used technology and is also the process used in Trinseo. EB dehydrogenation is more than 80 years old technology, and the process is using a large amount of superheated steam used in the process. Due to thermodynamic limitation and/or high capital investment requirements, the energy for producing the superheated steam cannot be regained. This study contains two parts. In the first part, the process is optimized by applying developments in catalyst technology. The result reveal that the usage of superheated steam can be reduced by 5% to 10%. Secondly alternative cutting-edge SM production technologies are investigated. Based on the literature review, the most promising alternative is chosen: the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with using carbon dioxide as soft oxidant. Then, the technology is implemented in a flowsheeting software. The result shows that shifting the new technology decreases the energy consumption by 50%. However, these new technologies are still premature, and require time and money to reach high Technology Readiness Level (TRL).
Currently, EB dehydrogenation is the most widely used technology and is also the process used in Trinseo. EB dehydrogenation is more than 80 years old technology, and the process is using a large amount of superheated steam used in the process. Due to thermodynamic limitation and/or high capital investment requirements, the energy for producing the superheated steam cannot be regained. This study contains two parts. In the first part, the process is optimized by applying developments in catalyst technology. The result reveal that the usage of superheated steam can be reduced by 5% to 10%. Secondly alternative cutting-edge SM production technologies are investigated. Based on the literature review, the most promising alternative is chosen: the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with using carbon dioxide as soft oxidant. Then, the technology is implemented in a flowsheeting software. The result shows that shifting the new technology decreases the energy consumption by 50%. However, these new technologies are still premature, and require time and money to reach high Technology Readiness Level (TRL).
| Original language | English |
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| Place of Publication | Eindhoven |
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| Publication status | Published - 17 Oct 2022 |
