Petrochemical & Petroleum

Refining Technology
Conversion Process
(Unification)
Conversion
 Change the size and/or 2. Unification (combining)
structure of hydrocarbon
molecules - alkylation & polymerization

1. Decomposition (dividing) 3. Alteration (rearranging)

- hydro, thermal & catalytic - isomerization & catalytic

cracking, coking and reforming
visbreaking
Polymerization Process
Polymerization Process
 Combines two or more identical olefin molecules to form a single
molecule with the same elements in the same proportions as the
original molecules.

Product : Polymer gasoline

Polymerization Process
 Polymerization is the process of combining two or more unsaturated
organic molecules (olefins) to form a single, heavier molecule with the
same elements in the same proportion as the original molecule.
It converts gaseous olefins, such as ethylene, propylene and butylene
converted by thermal and fluid cracking units, into heavier, more
complex, higher-octane molecules, including naphtha and
petrochemical feedstocks.
The olefin feedstock is pretreated to remove sulphur compounds and
other undesirables, and then passed over a phosphorus catalyst, usually
a solid catalyst or liquid phosphoric acid, where an exothermic
polymeric reaction occurs.
Polymerization Process
This requires the use of cooling water and the injection of cold
feedstock into the reactor to control temperatures at various pressures.
Acid in the liquids is removed by caustic wash, the liquids are
fractionated, and the acid catalyst is recycled.
The vapour is fractionated to remove butanes and neutralized to
remove traces of acid.
Polymerization
 Convert light olefin gases including ethylene, propylene, and butylene
into hydrocarbons of higher molecular weight and higher octane
number that can be used as gasoline blending stocks.
Polymerization
 Propene & butene can be polymerized to form a high octane
product boiling in the gasoline boiling range.
 The product is an olefin having unleaded octane numbers of
RON 97 and MON 83.
 This process produces ~0.7 barrels of polymer gasoline per
barrel of olefin feed as compared with ~1.5 barrels of alkylate by
alkylation.
 But the product has high octane sensitivity, low capital &
operating cost compared to alkylation – polymerization are being
added to some refineries
Polymerization

Schematic Diagram of Polymerization Unit

Polymerization

UOP Solid Phosphoric Acid Polymerization Unit

Polymerization

DIMERSOL Polymerization Unit

Thank You