Transforming Plastic Waste A Sustainable Path to Olefin Production

At the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting in San Diego, KBC's Ghoncheh Rasouli, Ph.D., and Wajid Shaik presented, "Closed-Loop Plastic Waste to Olefins." They discussed an innovative approach to olefin production that transforms plastic waste into valuable feedstock. This approach tackles two global challenges-plastic pollution and high carbon emissions from traditional olefin manufacturing. This breakthrough demonstrates the potential for sustainable solutions in the petrochemical industry. Held annually, the AIChE Meeting is one of the industry's leading events for chemical engineers to explore the latest advancements and network with industry leaders.

Why Olefins

Olefins are fundamental to producing everyday products. The rising demand for petrochemicals and polymers is driving global market growth for olefins. However, olefin production presents challenges due to its significant energy use, generating up to 1.8 metric tons of CO₂ emissions per ton of ethylene. Meanwhile, plastic waste management has become a critical issue, with 70% of plastics ending up in landfills or being discarded. This not only pollutes the environment but also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Plastic Pyrolysis: Turning Plastic Waste Problem into Solution

Integrating a circular economy approach into sustainable olefin solutions can mitigate both plastic waste and emissions challenges.

Plastic pyrolysis, which converts plastic waste into liquid oils, presents a unique yet promising feedstock for olefin plants. To assess its impact accurately, Petro-SIM^® software provides a robust simulation environment that supports decision-making by enabling a detailed analysis across the following key areas:

• Product Slate Analysis Provides valuable insights to assess the impact of pyrolysis oil on the cracker product slate.
• Pyrolysis Oil Characterization Allows a comprehensive analysis of pyrolysis oil characterization, including boiling point, density, impurities, and PIONA composition (paraffins, isoparaffins, olefins, naphthenes, aromatics).
• Cracker Furnace Performance Evaluates the impact of different feed types - both conventional and unconventional - including pyrolysis oil on cracker furnace performance like furnace yield, severity, duty, coking and run length.
• Impurity Tracking Assesses and tracks the impact of impurities on different sections of the olefin plant.
• Downstream Upgrade and Treatment Needs Meeting product specifications may require additional processing of pyrolysis oil via hydroprocessing units like hydrotreaters and hydrocrackers. Petro-SIM software assesses these downstream requirements, which helps to optimize product quality and operational efficiency.

By leveraging the capabilities of Petro-SIM software, operators gain a deeper understanding of how plastic pyrolysis oil can be used as a sustainable feedstock in olefin plants to move the industry toward a circular and environmentally conscious economy.