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Energy Benchmark
Programs
Base chemicals
Aromatics
(BTX) extraction
The benchmark program deals with plants producing pure aromatics
(e.g. benzene, toluene or xylenes/C8-aromatics) through
recovery from aromatics containing streams using extraction
or extractive distillation technology. Worldwide hundreds
of aromatic extraction or extractive distillation units
are operational in refineries and petrochemical complexes.
This benchmark focuses on the latter complexes, which use
hydrogenated pyrolysis gasoline as a feedstock. Not included
in the benchmark are units for the production of pure aromatics
by reaction, such as through hydrodealkylation and disproportionation
of alkylbenzenes.
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Butadiene (extraction)
The benchmark comprises butadiene extraction or extractive
distillation plants, which produce high purity 1,3-butadiene
from raw C4 (steam cracker) feeds. There are more than 100
such plants in the world. Process layouts considered are:
(i) two extractive distillations, whereby in the first stage
raffinate-1 is the distillate and in the second stage acetylenic
components are removed, (ii) single extractive distillation
with superfractionation, (iii) single extractive distillation
with selective hydrogenation of acetylenic components. The
benchmark also includes butane- or butene dehydrogenation
plants, which have a different feedstock.
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C3-Splitters
This benchmark is confined to the energy efficiency of propane/
propylene (C3) splitter columns. C3-splitters may be stand alone
units or integrated into a refinery or petrochemical complex.
The benchmark covers the column including vapor recompression
system (heat pump)if present.
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Cumene
This benchmark study deals with the production of cumene
from benzene and propylene.Cumene is obtained via the liquid
phase alkylation of benzene with propylene. In a subsequent
distillation, cumene is recovered from light end products,
excess benzene and byproduct diisopropylbenzene (DIPB).
The latter is usually treated in a trans-alkylation reactor,
where it is reacted with benzene to yield additional cumene.
Differences in propylene feedstock purity are taken into account.
Catalyst regeneration is excluded from the system boundary.
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Hydrodealkylation of toluene/xylenes
(HDA)
In hydrodealkylation the essential reaction is the removal
of alkyl groups fixed to the benzene ring. The process is
primarily used to produce benzene from alkylbenzenes (toluene,
xylenes). Since both thermal and catalytic processes are
in use, correction methods are applied to account for differences
between participants.
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Hydrogen and
carbon monoxide (H2/CO)
The H2/CO benchmark deals with the energy efficiency of the
production of hydrogen with/without carbon monoxide from
hydrocarbon feedstock ranging from natural gas to naphtha.
The benchmark system boundary includes feed pretreatment,
synthesis gas generation (SMR/POX/ATR/WGS/…), and product
separation and purification.
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Isobutane (butane isomerization)
This benchmark deals with the process of isomerization of
(mixed) butane streams into isobutane. Along with the isomerisation
unit, the purification of feed and product streams in a
depropanizer and/or DIB-column is also included in this
benchmark. The feedstock can either be of petrochemical
or refinery origin, the product is normally used for the
production of fuel oxygenates (e.g. MTBE)
or alkylates.
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Propane dehydrogenation
This benchmark comprises the comparison of the energy efficiency
of the four major propane dehydrogenation technologies on
the basis of licensor information.
The system boundary includes feed preparation, the dehydrogenation
reaction, propylene work-up, catalyst regeneration, and
supporting units such as the refrigeration system. The process
has a special characteristic of propane raw material used
as an energy source (fuel), which is accounted for in evaluating
the energy efficiency.
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Pygas hydrogenation
Pyrolysis gasoline or pygas is produced as a byproduct in
steam cracking olefin plants and usually consists of C5-
to C10-hydrocarbons. It is a valuable feedstock for the
production of aromatics (e.g. benzene), but can also be
applied for other purposes such as gasoline production.
Because the raw pygas contains unstable or undesired components
such as dienes, olefins and sulfur components, the stream
is subjected to (2-stage) hydrogenation or hydrotreatment.
Because of the custom-made plant layout, general correction
methods are used to correct for the differences between
participants. The survey is limited to two-stage pygas hydrogenation
plants, which fully hydrogenate at least one fraction of
the pygas and focuses on plants located at steam cracker
facilities.
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Organic chemicals
Bisphenol-A
Bisphenol A (BPA) is the main raw material for manufacturing
polycarbonate (PC) and epoxy resins. The benchmark covers
the synthesis of BPA from acetone and excess phenol via
a catalyzed reaction and the separation and purification
to a purified crystalline product. The molten BPA may be
delivered to the customers or may be further processed in
a solidification section to form shapes such as spherical
prills, flakes and pellets. The potential recovery and recycling
of useful feed and product streams is also incorporated
in this benchmark.
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Butanediol
The butanediol benchmark deals with the propylene oxide
(PO) hydroformylation route with PO and syngas as feedstock.
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Caprolactam
Most caprolactam units in the world use either phenol or
cyclohexane as the raw material. The system boundary of
the caprolactam benchmark includes all units required to
produce caprolactam from cyclohexanone.
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Dimethyl Terephthalate
(DMT)
The DMT benchmark covers manufacturing plants producing
dimethyl terephthalate from p-xylene by successive oxidation
and esterification with methanol. The benchmark includes
the purification section: light-ends and heavy-ends removal
and purification by crystallization.
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EDC/VCM (Ethylene dichloride
/ vinyl chloride)
The benchmark involves the production of vinyl chloride
monomer (VCM) via thermal cracking of 1,2-dichloroethane
(EDC) and the production of EDC from ethylene by chlorination
and/or oxychlorination. The benchmark focuses on the balanced
EDC/VCM process, and also accommodates plants producing
EDC only or VCM from import EDC.
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EO/EG
The system boundary of the ethylene oxide / ethylene glycol
(EO/EG) process comprises all units required to manufacture
high purity ethylene oxide and/or high purity ethylene glycols
from ethylene and pure oxygen. Part of the ethylene raw
material is completely combusted providing some of the process
energy requirement. This is accounted for in evaluating
the energy efficiency. A correction method applies for the
final EO-EG product ratio in order to arrive at a fair comparison
between participants.
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MDI
The methyl diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) benchmark starts
with aniline and formaldehyde as the feed. The system includes
three steps: i) production of methylene dianiline (MDA),
ii) production of phosgene from CO and Cl2, and iii) the
phosgenation of MDA to crude MDI. The MDI precursor aniline
is covered by a dedicated PDC benchmark. The purification
of crude MDI to final MDI products (monomeric MDI, polymeric
MDI, modified MDI) is excluded from the system boundary.
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Methylamines
This energy benchmark covers the production of mono-, di,
and trimethylamine from ammonia and methanol. Because of
custom-made plant layouts, corrections are made to account
for differences between participants, especially with respect
to the product mix.
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MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone)
The benchmark covers the production of methyl ethyl ketone
(MEK) from butylene with sec-butyl alcohol (SBA) as
intermediate.
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MIBK (Methyl IsoButyl
Ketone)
The benchmark deals with the production of Methyl Isobutyl
Ketone (MIBK) from acetone by aldol condensation via diacetone
alcohol and mesityl oxide in a single- or multiple-step process.
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MTBE
The benchmark covers Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE)
plants with mixed C4 feedstocks (Raffinate-1). Products
are MTBE and an isobutylene-free mixed C4 stream. MTBE plants
using pure isobutylene as a feedstock (e.g. isobutylene
byproduct from the PO/TBA process) are not included. For
this specific MTBE process see the PO/TBA
benchmark.
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Nitrobenzene / aniline
This energy benchmark comprises of two steps: i) production
of nitrobenzene from benzene and nitric acid, ii) production
of aniline by hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. Possible import
or export of nitrobenzene has been taken into account. World
aniline production is almost completely applied for MDI
production, for which a dedicated PDC benchmark exists.
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Oxo Alcohols
This benchmark covers the production of (plasticizer range)
higher branched alcohols from C5 to C14 (branched) olefins
via the High Pressure Cobalt technology.
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Phenol / aceton (cumene
route)
This energy benchmark covers the co-production of phenol
and acetone via the well-known cumene-route. Cumene is oxidized
by enriched air/oxygen to form cumene hydroperoxide, which
is subsequently cleaved into phenol and acetone in the presence
of an acid catalyst. Phenol and acetone are then purified
to meet market specifications. Because of the custom-made
plant layouts, corrections are made to account for the differences
between participants.
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PO/SM (including upstream EB-unit)
This benchmark deals deals with the co-production of propylene oxide and styrene
monomer via hydroperoxidation of ethylbenzene The ethylbenzene hydroperoxide
then, is used to epoxidize propylene to propylene oxide. The resulting
byproduct from this epoxidation step (methylbenzyl alcohol) is dehydrated
in a subsequent step to form the co-product styrene monomer (SM).
The study includes energy-benchmarking of the upstream ethylbenzene (EB)
production unit, which benchmark results are reported separately.
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PO/TBA
The PO/TBA process consists of the following process steps:
Isobutane is oxidized to t-butylhydroperoxide, which is
used for the epoxidation of propylene to propylene oxide
(PO). The resulting byproduct t-butyl alcohol is dehydrated
and used for the manufacture of MTBE. PO can be used for
manufacturing propylene glycols and propylene glycol ethers.
The benchmark comprises all the above-mentioned process
steps, and treats them as separate blocks.
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Propylene glycol ethers
The benchmark deals with the production of propylene
glycol ethers from propylene oxide and alcohols (methanol,
ethanol, propanol, …).
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Toluene oxidation (TOLOX)
This is a benchmark of toluene oxidation plants, which have
benzaldehyde, benzoic acid and phenol as products.
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Inorganic chemicals
Fertilizers
This benchmark deals with the ammonium nitrate / calcium
ammonium nitrate (AN/CAN) production process. Pure liquid
or gaseous ammonia and a nitric acid solution (ca. 60%)
serve as feedstock for the ammonium nitrate production.
The ammonium nitrate solution produced is further concentrated,
and, after mixing with the appropriate amount of calcium
carbonate, treated in a solidification section for the production
of solid AN/CAN by prilling or granulation.
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Hydrogen cyanide
The inorganic manufacturing of cyanides can be done in many
ways by direct reaction of ammonia with alkanes. From the
commercial point of view, most important are the Shawinigan
process, the Andrussow process and the BMA process.
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Hydrogen peroxide
This benchmark covers the production of hydrogen peroxide
via the anthraquinone auto-oxidation process. To arrive
at a fair comparison of energy consumption, corrections
have been introduced to account for any on-site use of crude
hydrogen peroxide and to account for differences in product
concentrations.
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Nitric acid
The nitric acid benchmark compares plants producing nitric
acid (ca. 60 wt%) from ammonia and air. Worldwide, there
are several hundred plants. Process steps included are the
oxidation of ammonia to nitric oxide, the oxidation of nitric
oxide to nitrogen dioxide and the absorption in water. Because
NOx-emission might be an important factor, the offgas treatment
is also taken into account.
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Sulfuric acid
This benchmark covers the production of 'virgin' sulfuric
acid from elemental sulfur via the S-burning Contact process.
Products can either be concentrated sulfuric acid, oleum
or SO3 export gas. The process may produce steam as well
as power as an utility export.
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Urea
The system boundary for the benchmark survey of the urea
plant covers the production of urea from ammonia and CO2.
Pure urea and a virtually pure water stream (process condensate)
are the products.
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Polymers
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
(ABS)
The ABS benchmark deals with the energy efficiency of the
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) production. The system
boundary of the benchmark is flexible towards processes and
feedstocks, allowing various processes to participate (e.g.
emulsion, solution, suspension, bulk or combined processes).
ABS raw materials include the monomers, but also (butadiene)
rubbers. Primary ABS is considered as main product, further
processing steps starting from primary ABS are not included.
The benchmark applies correction factors to account the
differences in battery limits, compositions, and conditions
of feedstocks and products.
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Ethylene vinyl alcohol
(EVOH)
EVOH is a resin with excellent barrier properties produced
from ethylene and vinyl acetate. The system boundary of
the energy benchmark study includes the acetic acid production
through hydrolysis of the byproduct methyl acetate.
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Polyamid-6 (PA6)
Different industrial processes are in operation for the
polymerization of caprolactam. Several common names are
available for the product poly[imino(1-oxo-1,6-hexanediyl)],
like polycaprolactam, polycaproamide, polyamid-6 (PA6) or
nylon-6. Correction methods are used in the benchmark to
take different PA6 product qualities (e.g. colored or
non-colored) into account
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Polycarbonate
Polycarbonate (PC) is used in a variety of applications
such as the fast growing optical media industry (CD and
DVD's), construction, automotive and packaging applications.
This benchmark is based on the most commonly used process
for PC production, namely the interfacial polymerization
process. The polymerization is carried out in a solution
of Bisphenol A (BPA) and phosgene at the interface. The
production process of phosgene from carbon monoxide and
chlorine is also included in this benchmark.
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Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
There are two chemical routes used for industrial production
of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the alternating copolymer
of terephthalic acid and 1,2-ethanediol (ethylene glycol).
One route is the transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate
(DMT) with ethylene glycol followed by polycondensation.
The other route is the direct esterification of terephthalic
acid (TA) with ethylene glycol.
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PVC (polyvinylchloride)
The PVC benchmark deals with the energy efficiency of the
polymerization of VCM (vinyl chloride monomer) to PVC according
to suspension process (S-PVC). The suspension process represents
more than 80% of the global PVC production. The PVC benchmark
includes the water purification and solution preparation unit,
the suspension polymerization reactors, the stripping and
VCM recovery section, the section for dewatering, drying and bulk
handling of the PVC product and the waste treatment units.
PDC conducts a separate benchmark for the process upstream of
PVC production, the production of VCM from
ethylene via EDC (ethylene dichloride).
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Superabsorbent polymer
(SAP)
SAPs are materials that can absorb water equivalent to multiple
times their mass and are often used as crystalline powders,
e.g. in diapers. When SAPs come into contact with aqueous
liquids, within a short period of time, the powder absorbs
the liquid and forms a gel-like substance. The number of
production units for acrylic acid based SAPs worldwide is
relatively limited.
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Terephthalic acid (TA)
More than 60 production facilities in the world produce
terephthalic acid (TA) by oxidation of p-xylene. Differences
in product purities (e.g. purified terephthalic acid (PTA )
or medium-purity terephthalic acid) between participants are
taken into account using correction methods.
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Food & allied products
Methionine
D,L-methionine and its hydroxy analogue belong to the largest
amino acids commercially produced and are mainly used as
a food additive. It is manufactured in a complex multistep
synthesis based on methyl thiopropionaldehyde (MMP) and
hydrogen cyanide (HCN) together with other raw materials.
Because of the limited number of production facilities worldwide,
they are benchmarked in a best practice study.
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Starch (and derivatives)
There are several hundreds of plants in the world, which
produce starch and starch derivatives. This starch benchmark
focuses on plants using corn or wheat as feedstock. To make
a fair comparison possible, the benchmark is further subdivided
in the following sections: 1) Corn wet milling, 2) Wheat
milling (wet process), 3) Starch slurry processing, and
4) Refinery.
In the corn and wheat milling benchmarks, the liberated
starch slurry and various by-products are taken into account.
The starch slurry processing benchmark is further subdivided
into a) Starch drying, b) Starch modification, and c) Starch
pregelatinization.
The refinery benchmark deals with the production of various
starch sugars such as glucose/fructose syrups, maltodextrines,
dextrose etc.
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Yeast (fresh)
Fresh (wet) yeast is obtained via a biochemical route.
To compare all benchmark participants on an equal basis,
the fresh yeast product is normalized to a standard percentage
of dry matter. Also, the production scale has been accounted for
in this benchmark study, as the energy efficiency of yeast
production depends considerably on production scale.
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