Introduction To PCE 357

Introduction to PCE 357
J.K. Bonsu
N.Y. Asiedu
OPS: A value added pathway
• Petrochemical engineering can be defined as a specialized field within chemical
engineering that deals with the production and transformation of chemicals from
petroleum and natural gas.
• Traditionally petrochemical engineers focused on the production refining of crude
oil to produce LPG, gasoline/petrol, diesel, kerosine, fuel oil etc
• However, the invention of the catalytic cracking of heavy fuels, meant that close
to 85% of all petrochemical products from the refinery were converted to various
fuels for transportation and electricity generation
• Petrochemical synthesis which became significant after WW II is another means
of increasing the profitability of the petroleum/petrochemical industry by
converting some of the by-products of refinery into high value products
• This makes natural gas engineering, oil refinery technology and petrochemical
synthesis, the bedrock of production in petrochemical engineering
The rise of the petrochemical synthesis industry
• Since then, advances in petrochemical synthesis technology have
enabled the creation of advanced materials and products in other
related industrial sectors including: apparel, packaging, consumer
goods, automotive products, electronics, medical devices, agriculture,
communication, and transportation.
• For example, in the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the latest modern
aircraft to be launched, modern synthetic materials comprise about
half of its primary structure (Zhu et al., 2020)
• The petrochemical industry also produces everyday consumables
such as fertilizer, drugs, solvents, detergents etc.
Petrochemical products are taking over
Demand of man made fiber has overtaking that of natural fibre
The syngas industry
• The traditional petrochemical feedstock were olefins and aromatics
• However syngas ( a mixture of CO and H2) is feedstock to a lot of
chemical products
• These include ammonia, methanol, syn crude etc.
• Syngas can be produced from solid, liquid and gaseous fuels
• This has greatly increased the scope of petrochemical synthesis

What does this course entail?
• The components of this course can be grouped into:
• Chemistry
• Technology
• Case studies
• Simulation
Chemistry
• Reactions are the main way chemical of high-value can be produced from
raw materials
• Two of the major raw materials used in the petrochemical industry are
olefins and aromatics
• These chemicals are mostly converted to monomers or solvents
• The monomers undergo polymerization or oligomerization to some final
product
• The chemical reactions employed in such processes include nitration,
oxidation, alkylation, etc.
• This course will focus on the major chemical reactions that are observed in
the petrochemical industry
• Students will also be expected to be able to combine reactions to synthesis
pathways for the production of new chemicals
Technology
• Chemistry may be the building blocks of the petrochemical industry
• However, it combines with other pertinent technologies to enable a
safe and economic production of high value petrochemical products
• This include reactor technology, separation technology, heat exchange
technology etc
• Students will be introduced to these technologies and how they are
deployed to ensure that products of high value are produced
Case studies
• In addition to the abstract explanation of the principles
• Students will be exposed to numerous case studies on the production
of the building blocks of the petrochemical industry and the
conversion of these compounds into intermediate products
• During this process, students are expected the link the principles of
chemistry and technology studied earlier to the case studies
Simulation
• Computer simulation software will continue to play a big role in the
understanding and operation of petrochemical industries
• They have usually played a feasibility analysis role during the
conversion of experimental findings to a pilot or full scale plant
• They also have the ability to make students understand things which
are not obvious when one visits a production facility
• Hence students will be introduced to the use of ASPEN PLUS in the
petrochemical industry
How does this course relate to other courses
• The PCE 357 has a lot of connections with most of the 3rd and final year
courses
• Catalysis: Catalyst are very important in the petrochemical industry.
Although the catalyst used will be mentioned, students will receive a
thorough teaching under Catalysis course (PCE 451)
• Separation Process I: Separation techniques will be encountered a lot in
this course. However no attempt will be made to perform calculations on
any of these separation techniques. This will be treated in Separation
processes I and II courses (PCE 351 & 352).
• Kinetics and Reaction engineering: reactors are the foundation of
petrochemical synthesis. Hence several types of reactors will be
encountered in this course. However the calculations concerning reactors
are treated in the Kinetics and Reaction engineering (PCE 350).
Aim and objectives
• The aim of this course is to provide students with the understanding
of the processes and operations of petrochemical plants
• Objectives
• To provide students with the overview of the petrochemical industry
• To expose students to the chemical reactions that happen in the
petrochemical industry
• To provide students with the tools to develop process flowsheet for
petrochemical plants
Course outline
• Introduction to organic and petrochemical synthesis
• Basic reactions in petrochemical engineering
• The production and conversion of ethylene
• The production and conversion processes for propylene
• The production and conversion process of butadiene
• The production and conversion process of Aromatics
• The syngas industry
References
References

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• Syngas can be produced from solid, liquid and gaseous fuels

• This has greatly increased the scope of petrochemical synthesis

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