Propane world production

The current world production of ethene and propene is mainly covered by the petrochemical route based on steam cracking, that is, thermal pyrolysis of petroleum liquids (naphtha, gas oils) and natural gas condensates, that is, ethane, propane, etc. [13-15]. A schematic stoichiometry is given in Eq. (5.2). As an alternative, ethanol can be converted via catalytic dehydration to ethene, as shown in Eq. (5.3) [16]. For steam cracking of naphtha, the reaction stoichiometry gives a maximum product yield of nearly 100 wt%, whereas ethanol conversion can lead only to maximum yields of 61 wt%. 

Epoxide resins contain the characteristic oxirane structure which can be converted to cross-linked structures in what is known as the curing or hardening reaction. More than 85% of the world production of epoxide resins consists of the bisphenol-A-diglycidyl ether, also known as 2,2-bis(p-glycidyloxyphenyl)propane, which has the idealized structure... 

Bisphenol A (BPA) 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane in polycarbonates (PC), some epoxy resins, and polysulfones (annual world production 4.4 MMT)... 

Currently, this process is employed to produce propylene (lower than 2% of world production), butenes, butadiene, isobutene, and styrene, operating at high temperatures (550-600°C). Nevertheless, this reaction carries the drawback of being an endothermic process (positive formation enthalpy, AG, of 132,119, and 116 kJ/mol, for ethane, propane, and -butane, respectively). Moreover, undesired reactions occur such as cracking of both paraffins and olefins and especially coke formation which blocks the catalyst s active sites, causing deactivation. 

The market value of natural gas Hquids is highly volatile and historically has been weakly related to the world price of cmde oil. During the 1980s, the market value of natural gas Hquids ranged from approximately 60% of the price of cmde to 73% (12). In this 10-year interval, several fluctuations occurred in the natural gas Hquid market. Because of the variabiHty of the natural gas Hquid market, the NGL recovery plants need to have flexibiHty. Natural gas Hquid products compete in the following markets ethane propane a Hquefted petroleum gas (LPG) a C-3/C-4 mix and / -butane all compete as petrochemical feedstocks. Propane and LPG are also used as industrial and domestic fuels, whereas 2-butane and natural gasoline, consisting of C-5 and heavier hydrocarbons, are used as refinery feedstocks. 

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is a propane-butane mixture. It is mainly used as a fuel or a chemical feedstock. Liquefied petroleum gas is evolving into an important feedstock for olefin production. It has been predicted that the world (LPG) market for chemicals will grow from 23.1 million tons consumed in 1988 to 36.0 million tons by the year 2000. ... 

Cracking n-hutane is also similar to ethane and propane, hut the yield of ethylene is even lower. It has been noted that cracking either propane or butanes at nearly similar severity produced approximately equal liquid yields. Mixtures of propane and butane LPG are becoming important steam cracker feedstocks for C2-C4 olefin production. It has been forecasted that world LPG markets will grow from 114.7 million metric tons/day in 1988 to 136.9 MMtpd in the year 2000, and the largest portion of growth will be in the chemicals field. 

The production of ethylene by gas crackers, mostly from C2, C3, and some C4 feeds, amounts to about 40% of the world ethylene capacity. This results in a small coproduction of benzene compared to benzene co-produced in naphtha and gas oil crackers, which account for 60% of the world s ethylene production capacity. A typical overall benzene yield from ethane cracking is on the order of only 0.6% of the ethane feed, and the yield of benzene from propane cracking is on the order of 3% of the propane feed. In contrast, the... 

Lewis and protic acids, usually AICI3 and H2SO4, are used in the liquid phase at temperatures of 40-70°C and at pressures of 5-15 atm. Phosphoric acid on kieselguhr promoted with BF3 (UOP process)309 319 is used in gas-phase alkylation (175-225°C, 30-40 atm). In addition to the large excess of benzene, propane as diluent is also used to ensure high (better than 94%) propylene conversion. This solid phosphoric acid technology accounts for 80-90% of the world s cumene production. 

The demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG consisting of propanes and butanes) is projected to increase rapidly in future years.(1) World consumption is dominated by the United States and Japan. Processing of natural gas accounts for the bulk of domestic LPG however, natural gas production has leveled off forcing the LPG industry to examine other feedstock sources. Japan must look to other countries for future LPG supplies due to environmental and space limitations. An allied problem, especially in the United States, is the continuing need for isobutane to produce valuable alkylates for the gasoline pool. 

The world-wide production of PA (excluding fibers) in 1997 was 1.6x10 t, with a 75 % use of casting processed materials. For food contact articles the following can be used as starting materials straight chain u -amino acids (C6-C12) and their lactams adipic acids, azelaic acids, sebacic acids, dodecane dicarboxylic acids and heptadecane-dicarboxylic acids salts with hexamethylenediamine isophthalic acid, bis(4-aminocy-clohexyl)-methane, 2,2-bis(4 -aminocyclohexyl)-propane, 3,3 -dimethyl-4,4 -diamino-dicyclohexyl-methane, terephthalic acid or its methylester, l,6-diamino-2,2,4-tri-methylhexane, 1,6-diamino-2,4,4-trimethylhexane, l-amino-3-amino-methyl-3,5,5-tri-methylhexane. 

Natural gas was once treated as a waste product of petroleum production and destroyed by flaring it off. Now natural gas is an equally valuable natural resource, pumped and stored throughout the world. Natural gas is about 70% methane, 10% ethane, and 15% propane, depending on the source of the gas. Small amounts of other hydrocarbons and contaminants are also present. Natural gas is often found above pockets of petroleum or coal, although it is also found in places where there is little or no recoverable petroleum or coal. Natural gas is used primarily as a fuel to heat buildings and to generate electricity. It is also important as a starting material for the production of fertilizers. 

In the past, natural gas liquids - ethane, propane and butane -were the favoured feedstock for ethylene production. Propylene was extracted from the off-gas of some of the world s largest oil refineries in the same region. In recent times, naphtha crackers and flexible fiiel crackers have been built (the favoured approach in the Far East and Europe). However, as the following Figure 1.2 illustrates, natural gas liquids (ethane, propane and butane) aeeount for the major portion of the ethylene feedstoek. 

As discussed previously, the world traded price for propane is dependent on the prevailing price of crude oil, as are the values of downstream products such as pyrolysis gasoline. Keeping all other variables constant, the impact of changing the price of oil on the economics of cracking propane is illustrated in Figure 8.3, which shows how the production cost rises with increasing oil price. 

This figure shows that propylene production cost increases rapidly with increasing oil price. This is based on the assumption that propane is priced according to the world parity price for LPG. In some parts of the world, propane comes from large scale gas developments and is not necessary priced on a world parity basis and this offers lower production... 

Fumonisins are a group of toxins produced primarily by Fusarium verticil-lioides (formerly called F moniliforme), Eprolifemtum and other related species which readily colonize corn all over the world [120-124]. Nine structurally related fumonisins including Bj, B2, B3, B4, A, and A2, have been described (fig. 8). Chemically, fiimonisin Bj is a derivative (diester) of propane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid of 2-amino-12,16-dimethyl-3,5,10,14,15-pentahydroxy-icosane [121-130]. The other fumonisins lack the tricarballylic acid or other ester groups [121, 131, 132]. Fumonisins are chemically similar in structure to toxins (AAL) produced by Altemaria altemata [133]. Production of fumonisins hy Altermria has also been reported [134,135], and some fumonisin-producing Fusaria have been knovm to produce AAL toxins [136]. 

Propylene is usually produced as a byproduct of ethylene manufacture. An alternative process is catalytic dehydrogenation of propane, as described in U.S. 4,381,417 (to UOP). What is the cost of production of propylene by this route for a world-scale plant ... 

The world propylene production capacity based on the use of catalytic dehydrogenation of propane has increased steadily over the past lOyr and is expected to grow even further under the right economic conditions relative to the availability and pricing of pro-pane. On the other hand, environmental concerns on the use of methyl-/ r/-butyl ether (MTBE), an oxygenated gasoline additive, are expected to adversely impact the future expansion of isobutane dehydrogenation applications. 

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