Production vinyl chloride monomer plant

In 1984, acetylene production received a significant influx with the increase of capacity at the Borden Co. plant in Geismar, Louisiana. This influx provided an additional 33,000 t/yr, which were absorbed by the vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and acetylenic chemicals market. Acetylene demand has... 

Most of the HCl produced is consumed captively, ie, at the site of production, either in integrated operations such as ethylenedichloride—vinyl chloride monomer (EDC/VCM) plants and chlorinated methane plants or in separate HCl consuming operations at the same location. Captive use of anhydrous HCl accounted for 80—85% of the total demand in 1989. The combined merchant market for anhydrous and aqueous HCl in that same year was about 9.1 X 10 metric tons on the basis of 100% HCl (see Table 12) (73). 

Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is one of the leading chemicals used mainly for manufacturing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The PVC worldwide production capacity in 2005 was of about 35 million tons per year, with an annual growth of about 3%, placed after polyolefines but before styrene polymers. In the 1990s the largest plant in the USA had a capacity of about 635 ktons [1], but today there are several plants over one million tons. At this scale even incremental improvements in technology have a significant economic impact. Computer simulation, process optimization and advanced computer-control techniques play a determinant role. 

Example 4.28 Assessment of separation section of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant VCM is produced by the pyrolysis of 1,2-dichloroethane (EDC) at 483°C and 26.5 atm with a conversion of 55%. The pure EDC is fed to the reactor with a flow rate of 909.1 kmol/h. The feed is at21°Cand26.5 atm. The reactor outlet is cooled to 47.6°C. The first column operates at 25 atm with 15 stages. The feed is introduced at stage 8. The top product is anhydrous... 

S5mthesis of other chemicals Plant protection product (insecticide) Production of vinyl chloride monomer for PVC production... 

Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) manufacture Maximization of VCM production and minimization of environmental burden, environmental impact and operating cost simultaneously. e-constraint method A design methodology consisting of 4 steps was proposed and applied to VCM plant The steps are (1) life cycle analysis of the process, (2) formulation of the design problem, (3) MOO, and (4) multi-criteria decision-making to find best compromise solutions. Khan et al. (2001)... 

Slovakia. The Slovakian petrochemical industry is dominated by Slovnaft, which operates two petrochemical sites. The complex at Bratislava has a naphtha cracker, three LDPE units, two propylene plants, and an aromatics unit. Most of the ethylene produced goes to LDPE and ethylene oxide/ ethylene glycol production. Some ethylene goes to vinyl chloride monomer... 

PVC is produced by polymerization of vinyl chloride by free-radical mechanisms, mainly in suspension and emulsion, but bulk and solution processes are also employed to some extent [11-14]. (The control of vinyl chloride monomer escaping into the atmosphere in the PVC production plant has become important because cases of angiosarcoma, a rare type of liver cancer, were found among workers exposed to the monomer. This led to setting of stringent standards by governments and modification of manufacturing processes by the producers to comply with the standards.)... 

Widespread concern about the dangers to health of vinyl chloride monomer has had a major effect on production plant design and construction in the last 20 years. The general aspects of environmental acceptability of PVC has been a contentious topic perceived as a potential market threat and has stimulated much action and comment from the major producers. 

Finally, there is a great interest in the development of ethane-based technology for the production of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). Indeed, several processes have been patented by several companies, but as yet none have been commercialized. Ineos (formerly EVC) has operated a 1,000 ton/year pilot plant at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and has plans to commercialize the technology at some stage. 

In practice, both processes are carried out together and in parallel because most EDC plants are connected to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) units, and the oxychlorination process is used to balance the hydrogen chloride from the VCM production. 

The HCI byproduct manufacturers in the United States include Dow Chemical (live plants), DuPont Fluoroproducts (three plants), Occidental Chemical (three plants), and BASF, Honeywell, Lyondell, Magnesium Corp. of America, Pioneer Americas, and PPG (each with one plant). Much of the byproduct HCI is generated from the manufacture of vinyl chloride monomer (for PVC production). About 60% of HCI goes to the merchant market (after the market for PVC is excluded). In total, the United States produces about 9 billion pounds of HCI each year. 

Technip (Paris, France www.technip.com) has won a US 50 million contract from Cangzhou Cang Hua Chemical Industry for a plant to produce both the intermediate vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and the end product PVC. The facility will be constructed next to the company s existing petrochemical complex at Guangzhou. On completion in 2005, the plant will be capable of producing 400 000 tpa of VCM/PVC. 

Commodities are large-volume, low-price, homogeneous, and standardized chemicals produced in dedicated plants and used for a large variety of applications. Prices are cyclic and fully transparent. Petrochemicals, basic chemicals, heavy organic and inorganic chemicals (large-volume) monomers, commodity fibers, and plastics are all part of commodities. Typical examples of single products are ethylene, propylene, caprolactame, methanol, BTX (benzene, toluene, xylenes), phthalic anhydride, poly (vinyl chloride) soda, and sulfuric acid. 

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