Thermal integration of styrene production process with chemical looping combustion to reduce the CO2 emission by omitting the conventional methane combustion furnaces

Abstract

Upstream petrochemical units like olefins and aromatics are among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses Innovative technologies for carbon capture and storage have received increasing attention for adjusting the conventional methods of processes. The chemical-looping combustion (CLC) technology is an alternative method to supply the required heat for endothermic processes. In this work, we suggested the thermal coupling of the CLC process and the ethylbenzene dehydrogenation (EBDH) process, in a single-stage reactor. The two processes are integrated, and the porous medium of the fixed bed is used to simulate the reaction leading to styrene monomer. Then some critical parameters of the EBDH reactor and the CLC reactors are discussed and compared with valid results from previous simulations. Using a new structure and implementing several optimizations improved the yield of useful styrene monomer and key factors of the EBDH process.