The Snamprogetti Cracking Technology allows producing high-purity isobutylene, which can be used as monomer for elastomers (polyisobutylene, butyl rubber) and/or as an intermediate for the production of chemicals—MMA, tertiary-butyl phenols, tertiary-butyl amines, etc.
Feed: Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) can be used as feedstock in the plant. In the case of high level of impurities, a purification section can be added before the reactor.
The MTBE cracking technology is based on proprietary catalyst and reactor that carry out the reaction with excellent flexibility and mild conditions as well as without corrosion and environmental problems. With Snamprogetti consolidated technology, it is possible to reach the desired isobutylene purity and production with only one tubular reactor (1) filled with a proprietary catalyst characterized for the right balance between acidity and activity.
The reaction effluent, mainly consisting of isobutylene, methanol and unconverted MTBE, is sent to a counter-current washing tower (2) to separate out methanol, and then to two fractionation towers to separate isobutylene from unconverted MTBE, which is recycled to the reactor (3) and from light compounds (4). The produced isobutylene has
a product purity of 99.9+ wt%. The methanol/water solution leaving the washing tower is fed to the alcohol recovery section (5), where high-quality methanol is recovered.
Utilities:
Steam, ton/ton isobutylene 5
Water, cooling, m³/ton isobutylene 186
Power, kWh/ton isobutylene 17.4
Licensor: Saipem
