Technoeconomic Perspective on Natural Gas Liquids and Methanol as Potential Feedstocks for Producing Olefins
2018
Dutta, Arnab | Karimi, Iftekhar A. | Farooq, Shamsuzzaman
With increasing worldwide explorations of gas resources, in particular, shale gas, there will soon be an abundance of natural gas liquids (NGL) for exporting as potential feedstock for chemical production to countries deprived of natural gas (NG) reserves. Methanol, derived from NG or via CO₂ utilization as a measure to curb CO₂ emissions, is also a potential feedstock in chemical industries. We anticipate that a shift toward unconventional feedstocks in the future will make NGL and methanol the likely competitors as raw materials in the chemical sector. In this context, we present a technoeconomic perspective on two processes, NTO (NGL to olefins) and MTO (methanol to olefins), for producing olefins. Our analyses suggest that NTO is more profitable than MTO. It not only results in a 55% higher net present value but also yields a lower break even ethylene price compared to MTO. Accounting for the fluctuations in market prices, NTO is 14% more likely to be profitable than MTO. Thus, from an economic perspective, NGL appears to be a more attractive feedstock for producing olefins than methanol.
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