or the use of renewable or bio-based feedstocks or ones that supply process heat. Carbon capture technology is another way to lower the carbon footprint of these tradi- tional processes. In addition to reducing overall emissions, making olefins production less dependent on fossil fuels is an important driver going forward. Electrification is a key energy transition technology in the chemicals industry. Governments and oil and gas majors are clearly buying into the progress of electrified steam crackers and looking seriously to scale them up in the near term. Technip Energies and Siemens announced their joint Rotating Olefins Cracker (ROC) technology, which will be selected by the Cracker of the Future consortium for a demonstration unit. Dow’s CEO claimed that e-crackers are more than a decade away from commercialisation, yet the consortium has claimed it will have commercial units ready by 2026. Coolbrook’s concept differs from the others in that it is not just about using electric resistance heated cracker coils. Instead, it relies on a technology that converts kinetic energy to heat produced from an electrically powered rotor. It has shown impressive yields compared to both Lummus and Technip steam cracking technology. It claims it can be a retrofit solution to dramatically lower CO₂ footprints for existing crackers. However, its ability to do so on large scales, as well as mechanical robustness and maintenance issues still need to be proven from pilot demonstration. Bio-ethylene, like other bio-based chemicals, relies on sources of cheap and plentiful feedstocks. The Braskem process has been successfully scaled up in Brazil, whereas pyrolysis of bio-based waste is likely to result in many small-to-medium-sized plants. Despite Braskem’s suc- cess, there is a need to consider the ‘food vs fuel’ argu- ment when considering biomass feedstocks, especially the first-generation ones like corn and sugarcane. The conversion of forestry land for bio-ethylene production can lead to considerable CO₂ emissions that offset envi - ronmental benefits. The use of CO₂ feedstocks via electrocatalytic routes is being developed rapidly and for a good reason. CO₂ is an extremely abundant resource, and locking it into a plastic product is viewed as a win in the eyes of many when com- pared to geological sequestration. Unfortunately, ethylene is a challenging molecule to make directly from CO₂. Many hurdles must be overcome, including purification of CO₂, low conversions and efficiencies, and a problem of ‘CO₂ crossover’. It is likely to remain further behind other uncon- ventional olefin technologies. In summary, changing the emphasis on both energy transition and non-petroleum feedstocks has substantially redirected efforts to produce olefins. This is a continually evolving landscape. Non-fossil approaches are likely to be popular because many downstream chemicals producers wish to remove fossil fuels from their supply chains and have pledged to do so to meet their net zero goals. The need to decarbonise the olefins industry appears to be real, and the electrification of steam crackers is the most near-term technology that can make the biggest impact on lowering emissions. The drive toward chemicals circularity involving
waste plastics is well underway, with major investments announced by polyolefin producers. These will influence the value chain and change the competitive production of olefins in the decades to come. This article is based on a presentation from the 16th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT-16) Conference, Oct 2022.
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References 1 The Catalyst Group Resources, Unconventional Catalytic Olefins Production II: Technological Evaluation and Commercial Assessment – 2021, A Multi-Client Study, Oct 2021. 2 Gholami Z, Gholami F, Tišler Z, Tomas M, Vakili M, A Review on pro- duction of light olefins via fluid catalytic cracking, Energies, 2021, 14 (4), 1089. 3 ISPT. https://ispt.eu/projects/amazing/; n.d. 4 Amghizar I, Vandewalle L A, Van Geem K M, Marin G B, New Trends in Olefin Production, Engineering , 2017, 3 (2), 171-178. 5 Cruellas A, Melchiori T, Gallucci F, Van Sint Annaland M, Advanced reactor concepts for oxidative coupling of methane, Catalysis Reviews 2017, 59 (3), 234-294. 6 Vandewalle L A, Gonzalez-Quiroga A, Perreault P, Van Geem K M, Marin G B, Process Intensification in a gas-solid vortex unit: compu - tational fluid dynamics model based analysis and design, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2019; 58 (28), 12,751-12,765. 7 LanzaTech, 2017. 8 Gao J, Zhang H, Guo X, Luo J, Zakeeruddin S M, Ren D, Grätzel M, Selective C-C Coupling in carbon dioxide electroreduction via effi - cient spillover of intermediates as supported by Operando Raman Spectroscopy, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2019; 141 (47), 18,704-18,714. 9 Theofanidis S A, Galvita V V, Poelman H, Dharanipragada N A, Longo A, Meledina M, Van Tendeloo G, Detavernier C, Marin G B, Fe-containing magnesium aluminate support for stability and car- bon control during methane reforming, ACS Catalysis, 2018, 8 (7), 5983-5995. 10 Theofanidis S A, Galvita V V, Poelman H, Marin G B, Enhanced car - bon-resistant dry reforming Fe-Ni catalyst: Role of Fe, Acs Catalysis, 2015, 5 (5), 3028-3039. 11 Buelens L C, Galvita V V, Poelman H, Detavernier C, Marin G B, Super-dry reforming of methane intensifies CO2 utilization via Le Chatelier’s principle, Science , 2016, 354 (6311), 449-452. 12 Adapted from Cefic, 2017. Christopher R Dziedziak is a Senior Sales and Project Manager with The Catalyst Group (TGC) and The Catalyst Group Resources (TCGR), responsible for managing TCGR’s Catalytic Advances Program and CO 2 Capture and Conversion Program. He oversees the development of TCGR multi-client studies on industrial topics while supervising market research for multi-client and client-confidential reports. He holds a BSc degree in chemical engineering from Rutgers University. John J Murphy is CEO of The Catalyst Group (TCG) and The Catalyst Group Resources (TCGR). Having been with TCG/TCGR since 1994, he has expertise in industrial process technologies for decarbonisa- tion, sustainability and circularity as well as refining, petrochemicals, polymerisation and environmental applications, He holds a BA degree from Bowdoin College and an MBA from Lehigh University.
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