Ethylene

The production of Ethylene involves steam cracking of hydrocarbons at extremely high temperatures. The use of extreme heat during processing provides a high conversion of feedstock to ethylene. However, the temperature (reaching 1000°C) also increases the rate of coking, causing frequent furnace shutdowns. To lessen furnace downtime, thus maximizing the operational time, it is imperative to run an ethylene furnace as close as possible to the optimum set point. Critical to this control strategy is the compositional analysis of the reactor feed and effluent streams. To accomplish this task, real-time data of the reactor feed and effluent streams are necessary. Since cracking occurs in seconds, the speed at which the data is obtained is also critical.

Ethylene producers have relied on our Quadrupole Mass Spectrometers for decades. Our seventh generation EXTREL™ MAX300-RTG™ 2.0 Industrial Process Mass Spectrometers analyze multiple pairs of reactor inlet and outlet streams with an analysis time of less than 10 seconds per stream. Producers also benefit from the system’s ability to provide real-time data analysis, thus allowing the operating set points to be moved closer to the optimum set points. This ability to tighten the control of the process provides higher ethylene yields.

Easily measure all of the hydrocarbons in the feed gas stream as well as ppm contaminants, like H2S. Control parameters, such as BTU value, Specific Gravity, and Wobbe Index, are instantly calculated and transmitted for use by the plant’s process control system.

Benefits of the Extrel MAX300-RTG 2.0 Mass Spectrometer

Analysis time less than 10 seconds per stream
Utilizes our next-gen design for inlet, ionizer and filament assembly to extend the life of filaments and decrease maintenance time
Near-zero mass scale drift for outstanding measurement precision and stability
Uniform resolution across the entire mass range for ultra-high sensitivity to all compounds
Extreme resistance to corrosion and contamination
Performance specifications superior to other mass spectrometers and commercial process technologies
Supports a variety of industry standard communication including Ethernet, Bi-directional Modbus, Modbus RTU or TCP/IP, OPC, Analog and Digital outputs and custom communication protocols