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May 2022

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Carbon capture application to
ethylene plants
Operationally proven carbon capture applied to ethylene plants, with examples
of deployment in new and existing plants

Myrian Schenk and Jim Middleton

T
he production of ethylene originates mainly The modifications to ethylene plants to
from steam cracking. This thermal process accommodate the addition of a CC plant are
uses a large amount of energy and, as such, principally in the flue gas and utility areas.
is a significant emitter of CO2 in the industrial Therefore, it is relatively straightforward to
sector (Middleton, 2021). The reduction of CO₂ design new ethylene plants to allow for the future
emissions from the cracker can be achieved by installation of a CC plant; indeed, Technip Energies
replacing the methane fuel from the process with is currently designing two such plants.
alternative lower carbon fuels, such as hydrogen, The use of CC on ethylene plants can be
or installing electrical heating. However, a third complementary to other methods of CO₂
option to reduce CO₂ emissions is to add a post- reduction, such as partial hydrogen firing and
combustion carbon capture plant. reduced conventional firing in furnaces, both of
Post-combustion carbon capture (CC) has been which reduce flue gas flow rates and lower the
proven in the power industry and can be applied operating and capital costs of the CC plant.
to steam crackers. Apart from the use of high The 'conventional' routes for captured CO₂ are
hydrogen content fuels, CC is the only currently for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or sequestration;
commercially proven technology that can achieve however, more and more alternative uses of
very high levels of reduction of CO₂ emissions captured CO₂ are starting to emerge.
from steam crackers (Middleton, 2021).
In this article, we will highlight some studies Post-combustion carbon capture technology
carried out by Technip Energies, in which we Continuous improvement in the affordability of
show the feasibility of installing a CC plant on a CC is key to enabling the technology to play its
steam cracker and that the operation of the steam part in worldwide CO₂ reduction. The integration
cracker should not be affected by the addition of a between CC technology and CC and cracker
CC plant. engineering represents a significant step towards
The installation of CC, both on a new cracker achieving this goal.
design or as a retrofit to an existing cracker, is At Technip Energies, we maximise the benefits
relatively straightforward, provided the designer of our alliance with Shell Catalysts & Technologies,
of the CC plant understands how the cracker licensor of the Cansolv CO₂ capture technology, to
operates to allow for smooth integration. The provide a single point delivery of projects.
right decisions must be made for the proper Since 2012, we have had an exclusive alliance
functioning of the two plants together. The main with Shell Catalysts & Technologies for the
requirements are: power industry. However, in recent years, we
• A destination for the captured CO₂ have extended our cooperation across numerous
• A plot area, if possible close to the furnaces (and projects and sectors in the carbon capture,
auxiliary boilers if the capture is planned for these utilisation and storage industry.
units too) Together, we work on technology and
• The utilities required to run the CC plant engineering improvements and drive integration

www.decarbonisationtechnology.com 67
 Treated flue gas CO2 to compression
Sludge effluent Condenser

Thermal Reflux
Wash reclaimer accumulator
water Wash water
cooler section
Filter
CO2
Main Lean amine stripper
absorption
section cooler Reflux pumps
Wash water
Lean amine CO2 MVR
pumps feed pumps Lean amine
Main tank compressor
absorption Reboilers Steam
section Intercooler from OSBL
Flue gas Lean rich
from pre- Intercooled
exchanger Steam
scrubber section condensate
Intercooler pumps level pot
CO2 absorber
Steam
Lean amine condensate
Rich amine pumps pumps Condensate
flash pot to OSBL

Figure 1 Cansolv CO2 - simplified PFD

to continuously enhance CC solutions to make characterises many CCUS projects and also at
projects affordable. the much smaller scale expected to characterise
Technip Energies and Shell have a team for many CO₂ capture applications in the future.
project delivery and integration of a joint axis of The Cansolv CO₂ capture system is an amine-
R&D efforts, enabling us to deliver both capital based technology using Shell’s proprietary
and operating cost reductions in our combined Cansolv DC-103 absorbent. The process line-
offerings for CC plants. up is shown in Figure 1, and relies on standard
The Cansolv CO₂ capture technology, equipment (vessels, pumps, exchangers) and
integrated into the Shell technology portfolio mass transfer internals (structured packing).
through the acquisition by Shell of Cansolv The CO₂ is captured from the cooled gas
Technologies Inc. in 2008, is positioned among by contact with the aqueous (lean) amine
the leading technologies for CO₂ removal absorbent in the absorber, where multiple
(Shell, 2022). structured packing beds are used to promote
Through projects like SaskPower’s Boundary mass transfer while keeping pressure drop
Dam, the technology has been deployed low. Capture efficiencies of up to 99% can
at the large scale (1 MT/y and above) that be achieved (depending on the application),

Figure 2 SaskPower Boundary Dam Capture Project in Canada Courtesy of Shell

68 www.decarbonisationtechnology.com
Figure 3 Lanxess CISA CO2 capture plant in South Africa Courtesy of Shell

but the economic optimum is around 95% in lean absorbent exiting the stripper to preheat the
most cases. rich absorbent before it enters the column.
CO₂ absorption is exothermic, which results in The lean absorbent exiting the lean-rich
a temperature bulge in the absorption column. exchanger is further cooled in the lean absorbent
As high temperatures are detrimental to efficient cooler and is then sent back to the absorber to
absorption, at high inlet CO₂ concentrations, absorb more CO₂. Existing Cansolv CO₂ plants
an intercooler is used to remove heat from the are shown in Figures 2 and 3.
system and maintain an operating temperature
profile favourable to absorption: a draw-off tray Ethylene plant considerations for a plant
collects absorbent from the upper packing beds, operating with a post-combustion CC unit
which is pumped through the intercooler before Flue gas from ethylene plant furnaces is very
returning to the lower packing bed. low in sulphur and low in particulate matter,
The upper section of the absorber is a water- two good points for post-combustion CC with
wash system that ensures the emissions absorbent technology like Cansolv. The fuel
of solvent and degradation products to the gas composition can change depending on the
atmosphere are minimised. The water-wash ethylene plant feedstock, so there is typically
system is usually sufficient to meet the most a difference in the hydrogen fraction in the
stringent emissions specifications. However, fuel gas between liquids and gas crackers; this
depending on the project requirements and feed results in a difference in the ratio of H₂O to
gas characteristics, an aerosol mitigation device CO₂ in the flue gas. For gas crackers, the fuel
can be added downstream of the absorber. to the furnaces is normally high in hydrogen,
The rich absorbent, loaded with CO₂, is which means the flue gas contains a relatively
regenerated in a stripping column using high amount of water vapour and a lower
structured packing to promote mass transfer CO₂ content (8.5 wt%). However, this is still
and reboilers to generate the stripping steam. attractive for absorbent technology.
A condenser is used to condense the stripping If the ethylene plant is located in desert regions,
steam from the overhead vapours, and the dust and sand in the combustion (ambient) air
pure (water-saturated) CO₂ is released for may contribute to higher particulate levels in the
downstream treatment. A lean-rich heat flue gas than for European/American crackers,
exchanger is used to recover heat from the hot so it would be prudent to consider higher

www.decarbonisationtechnology.com 69
particulates emissions in the design basis for CC to allow the continuous/smooth operation of the
units on such ethylene plants. ethylene plant.
NO₂ is a contaminant that should be reduced It should be noted that the CC plant does not
for the CC plant, as it degrades the absorbent. rely on the availability of low CO₂ electricity
Modern ethylene furnaces without a selective to reduce the CO₂ emissions from the cracker,
catalytic reduction (SCR) are typically designed although the increased utility demand for the
to achieve NOx emissions in the range of 50-70 CC plant should be met with as low a carbon
ppm (dry basis, corrected to 3 mol% O₂). A typical footprint as possible. A large part of the CC plant
conservative assumption is to have a split of utility demand can be met from the cracker.
85% NO and 15% NO2 during a normal cracking
operation. The addition of an SCR to reduce CO₂ utilisation
NOx and consequently NO₂ at the inlet to the If the ethylene plant is located near depleted
capture plant will be a trade-off between amine reservoirs or next to a CO₂ pipeline, the CO₂
degradation and the cost and operation of the can be sequestered or used for EOR. Only a
SCR. This can be analysed in detail for each case. compression and purification unit will be required
Another interesting point is that the operation of (mainly removing water, but a small concentration
the furnaces in the different modes (decoking, hot of oxygen can also be removed if required for
steam stand-by) introduces very small changes pipeline safety).
to the emitted flue gas. Also, ethylene crackers Traditional technologies for the use of CO₂
offer an advantage for CO₂ capture as they run include the production of urea and using gas/
at constant loads for long periods, allowing the liquid CO₂ in the food industry, such as dry
CC plant to run smoothly over time with little ice production. Methanation is another ‘old’
intervention. It is worth noting the CC plant is technology being proposed to ‘recycle’ CO₂.
also very flexible in operation and can handle a Emerging technologies for transforming the CO₂
more challenging, dynamic type of operation. into a ‘usable’ product (IEA, 2019) are utilising
In modern ethylene plants, each furnace has hydrogen, produced with renewable electricity,
an individual induced draft (ID) fan to control its to transform CO₂ into methanol or ethanol. From
arch pressure. When CC is installed, the outlet there, a number of routes can be followed to
of the ID fan will discharge to a common duct, transform these alcohols into chemicals or fuels
which receives the flue gas from each furnace (aviation fuel, for example). Ethylene production
and directs it to the CC unit. A common booster by ethanol dehydration (Technip Energies’
fan upstream of the CC unit pulls the flue gas Hummingbird technology) is an attractive route
through the common duct. Dampers will be for conventional ethylene producers. The ethylene
installed to permit the furnaces to continue to produced in this way will be expected to have
operate when the CC unit is not running and a higher price, as it could be considered ‘green
enable the furnaces to be individually isolated ethylene’ (depending on the source of hydrogen).
from the common duct. Another way of utilising CO₂ is to produce
Upon trip of the downstream CC unit, the building materials to replace water in concrete:
ethylene plant shall remain in operation. This CO₂ curing. This process is perhaps one of the
will require an alternate route to atmosphere for more mature/developed technologies. CO₂ can
the flue gas from the furnaces. Each furnace will also be used as a raw material in its constituents
retain an individual stack, which is isolated by (cement and construction aggregates). Both
a damper in normal operation. On failure of the technologies are centred on the reaction of CO₂
common booster fan (or trip of the CC unit), the with calcium or magnesium to create low-energy
stack damper on each furnace would be tripped carbonate molecules, the form of carbon that
open to allow the furnace flue gas to discharge makes up concrete. This technology requires
directly to atmosphere. Failure modes for utilities further development compared to curing.
are considered: for example, the steam supply In both cases, the resultant concrete can be
to the CC plant could be tripped to conserve tested on the construction of non-structural
steam in the ethylene plant in the event of a units (roads, floors) until these new materials
power failure. Everything shall be considered can meet regulations, which can be very

70 www.decarbonisationtechnology.com
 Duct Pre-scrubber
Process line Booster fan
(in different colours)
WHB
Ethylene
furnaces

LP steam/condensate
Waste water
Treated flue gas
to atmosphere Sludge effluent CO2 to compression
Condenser
Thermal
reclaimer Reflux
Wash accumulator
water Wash water Filter
cooler section

CO2
Main Lean amine stripper
absorption
section cooler Reflux pumps
Wash water
Lean amine CO2 MVR
pumps feed pumps Lean amine
Main tank compressor
absorption Reboilers Steam
section Intercooler from OSBL

Lean rich
Intercooled
exchanger Steam
section condensate
Intercooler pumps level pot
CO2 absorber
Steam
Lean amine condensate
Rich amine pumps pumps Condensate
flash pot to OSBL

Figure 4 Schematic CC added to an ethylene plant (furnaces connection)

stringent, particularly for concrete used for be marketed as green ethylene with a larger
structural purposes. Note that the use of CO₂ to profit margin. A schematic of the addition of the
manufacture products can significantly reduce the capture plant is shown in Figure 4.
utility consumption of the CO₂ compression stage,
as the delivery pressure required is much lower Conclusions
than for EOR and sequestration applications. A solution to reduce CO₂ emissions from steam
crackers has been discussed. Technip Energies
Summary believes that the presented option is viable and
The basis for designing a CC plant to be retrofitted easily applicable if a destination or use of CO₂ is
to a steam cracker, or incorporated into a new available. Different considerations for new-build
plant design, has been proposed, with details of plants or retrofits are required, but with the recent
key considerations. It is important to note that a development of new projects, there have been
good understanding of the ethylene and CC plants clear advancements in the technology.
and how these can be integrated is essential to Hummingbird is a trademark of Technip Energies.
proper execution of the project. The destination of
the captured CO₂ can be studied, depending on VIEW REFERENCES
the ethylene plant location and the availability of
utilities. For example, having hydrogen available Myrian Schenk
will allow the CO₂ to be used for methanol or [email protected]
ethanol production. Technip Energies also offers
the possibility of transforming ethanol to ethylene Jim Middleton
[email protected]
through the Hummingbird process, which could

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