PTQ Q3 2023 Issue

Pressure (psia)

C12

Feed to product recovery

C14

C6-C10

MC1

DeC4

DeC6-10

DWC

C6+

C16

C4 to C10 recovery section

C10

C12/14

C12+

C14/16

1.0

C16/18

3.8

2.3

C18/20-24

1.1

0.6

C16

C20-24

0.1

C18

MC2

C26+

DeC12/14 (former DeC6-C10)

C20-24

DeC14/16

DeC16/18

DeC18/20-24

DeC20-24

Figure 2 PPD distillation scheme for large expansion

LAO reactor product stream sent to the product recovery section and the distillation specifications selected for each of the final LAO products. Selection of optimal distillation column operating pressures and temperatures rounded out the design basis used to develop the process simulations. The composition of the LAO reactor product stream sent to the product recovery area was determined using data published in chapter three of Alpha Olefins Application Handbook , which includes estimates of ethylene oligom - erisation reactor yields from several major producers of LAOs.1 Graphical yield data for the Chevron/Gulf (currently Chevron Phillips Chemical) process using a Q factor of 0.7 was selected as the basis for the composition of the LAO reactor product stream. This data set was selected because the reactor yield distribution corresponding to the Chevron/ Gulf process was judged to be the closest to median values for LAO reactor yield distributions from among all of the graphical data sets provided in Alpha Olefins Application

Handbook . The compositions of the LAO reactor product stream used to develop the simulations for this evaluation are shown in Table 1 . In this case study, the reactor product stream sent to product recovery was specified to contain 100% linear alpha olefins. The product specifications used in this study are derived from LAO product information provided on the websites of three major manufacturers that produce LAOs by ethylene oligomerisation. Two of the major producers of LAOs pro - vide typical compositions for each LAO product as well as sales specifications for each product. A third major producer of LAOs provides only sales specifications for each prod - uct. The typical compositions are more useful as distilla - tion specifications in the process simulations because they more closely approximate the actual performance achieved by distillation columns in operating LAO plants. Because of significant variations between major LAO producers in both typical product compositions and sales specifications, com - posite distillation specifications were selected for use in the process simulations. The product specifications used as the basis for the simulations are shown in Table 2 .

Composition of LAO reactor product stream

Carbon number

wt% in reactor product

C4 C6 C8

13.9 14.7 13.6 11.9 10.0

LAO product specifications

Product

Max wt% impurities allowed

C10 C12 C14 C16 C18 C20 C22 C24 C26 C28

Light contaminant

Heavy contaminant

C4 C6 C8

0.05 C6+ 0.1 C8+ 0.2 C10+ 0.5 C12+ 1.2 C14+ 1.5 C16+ 2.0 C18+ 3.0 C20+ 3.0 C26+

8.2 6.5 5.2 4.0 3.1 2.3 1.8 1.3 3.5

0.1 C4- 0.1 C6- 0.2 C8- 0.6 C10- 1.0 C12- 2.0 C14- 2.0 C16- 3.0 C18- 1.0 C24-

C10 C12 C14 C16 C18

C20-24

C30+ Total

C26+

100.0

Table 1

Table 2

PTQ Q3 2023