Ethylene manufacture by partial oxidation with sulfur

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the sulfur-mediated oxidation of ethane to ethylene. In summary, it has been found that ethylene can be produced in high yield (ca 75%) by the oxidation of ethane with excess sulfur in the 800–850 °C temperature range using a residence time of about 1 s. It is surmised that the high ethylene yield arises from the relatively weak C–S bond which precludes the formation of carbon–sulfur compounds so favoring pathways to ethylene. A process scheme is suggested which incorporates ethylene production into sulfur recovery, plants for which are found in essentially all refineries and in sour gas processing. A potential advantage of this chemistry over standard ethane steam cracking is that the sulfur process considerably increases carbon efficiency for ethylene production as most of the energy required for ethylene synthesis is supplied by the oxidation of H2S.