Processes EBOne

Application State-of-the-art technology to produce high-purity ethylbenzene (EB) by liquid-phase alkylation of benzene with ethylene. The Lum-mus/UOP EBOne process uses specially formulated, proprietary zeolite catalyst from UOP. The process can handle a wide range of ethylene feed compositions ranging from chemical (70%) to polymer grade (100%). 

Economics The EBOne process features consistently high product yields over the entire catalyst life cycle, high-product purity, low-energy consumption, low investment cost, and simple, reliable operation. 

Application Production of polymer-grade styrene monomer (SM) from benzene and ethylene. The Lummus/UOP EBOne process is used to alkylate benzene with ethylene to form ethylbenzene (EB). The EB is then dehydrogenated to SM using the Lummus/UOP Classic SM process. 

Commercial plants Fourteen EBOne units are in operation with a total EB capacity of 3.7 million tpy, and two additional units are under construction. Thirty-six Classic SM units are in operation, with a total SM capacity of 6.7 million tpy. The SMART process is also available for increasing the capacity of existing SM units. 

A typical EBOne plant flow diagram is shown in Fig. 4. The alkylation reactor is maintained in the liquid phase and uses multiple catalyst beds and ethylene injections to improve the reaction selectivity. Dividing the ethylene into multiple feed streams keeps the alkylation catalyst deactivation rate very low. In some plants using EBZ-500 catalyst, operating lengths of more than 8 yr have been obtained without catalyst regeneration. The ethylene conversion is essentially 100% in the alkylation reactors, and the reactors operate nearly adiabatically. The exothermic heat of reaction is recovered and used within the process to heat internal process streams or to generate steam. 

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