The production of Ethylene involves steam cracking of hydrocarbons at extremely high temperatures. The use of extreme heat during processing provides a high conversion of feedstock to ethylene. However, the temperature (reaching 1000°C) also increases the rate of coking, causing frequent furnace shut downs.

To lessen furnace downtime, thus maximizing the operational time, it is imperative to run an ethylene furnace as close as possible to the optimum set point. Critical to this control strategy is the compositional analysis of the reactor feed and effluent streams. To accomplish this task, real-time data of the reactor feed and effluent streams are necessary. Since cracking occurs in seconds, the speed at which the data is obtained is also critical.

Ethylene producers have relied on Extrel’s Quadrupole Mass Spectrometers for decades. Our seventh generation MAX300-RTG Industrial Process Mass Spectrometers analyze multiple pairs of reactor inlet and outlet streams with an analysis time of less than 10 seconds per stream. Producers also benefit from the system’s ability to provide real-time data analysis, thus allowing the operating set points to be moved closer to the optimum set points. This ability to tighten the control of the process provides higher ethylene yields.

Application benefits of the Extrel MAX300-RTG Mass Spectrometer include:

• Analysis time less than 10 seconds per stream
• Utilization of Extrel’s next generation design for inlet, ionizer and filament assembly to extend the life of filaments and decrease maintenance time
• Support of a variety of industry standard communication including Ethernet, Bi-directional Modbus, Modbus RTU or TCP/IP, OPC, Analog and Digital outputs and custom communication protocols

Extrel is the world leader of Quadrupole Process Mass Spectrometers for ethylene cracker applications. We installed the first Process mass spectrometer in 1976, and since then have sold over 40 systems to various ethylene producers.