Design Project

Ethylene Oxide
Review 1
Amarjit Jena (13BCH00)
Bhaghesh Godhwani (13BCH00)
Sudiv Gulla (13BCH0027)

Introduction
With the advancement of modern technology, it is

becoming increasingly feasible economically to

synthesize and produce on a large scale
The development of new technologies also plays a
role in the petrochemical Industry, where the
practice is to build up the complex
Molecular structures needed from relatively
simple building units.
Such a building unit is the compound ethylene
oxide, which forms the keystone of products as
diverse as detergents, synthetic fibers,
paints, solvents, and pharmaceutical bases.

Properties of Ethylene Oxide

It is a cyclic ether. (A cyclic ether consists of an alkane

with an oxygen atom bonded to two carbon atoms of

the alkane, forming a ring.)
At room temperature it is a flammable,
carcinogenic,mutagenic, irritating, and anaesthetic
gas
The chemical reactivity that is responsible for many of
ethylene oxide's hazards has also made it a key
industrial chemical.
Because of its special molecular structure, ethylene
oxide easily participates inaddition reactions; e.g.,
opening its ring and thus easilypolymerizing. Ethylene
oxide isisomericwithacetaldehydeand withvinyl
alcohol.

Market Survey (2013)

The market for Ethylene Oxide (EO) and

Ethylene Glycol (EG) is being driven by strong

demand in the downstream applications and
end-user markets especially in Polyester fibers
and PET resin
Ethylene glycol based polyester fibres are
broadly used in the textile industry.
With the crude oil prices moving upwards the
price trends are expected to reflect in the
ethylene prices, an important raw material
Producers will increase their prices and pass the
burden of rising feedstock costs to the buyers
that could hamper the market.

The business focus of EO producers is in one of

three areas:
Ethylene Glycol Producers.These petrochemical
producers are in the business of manufacturing
ethylene glycol, they are low-cost suppliers.
EO Derivatives Producers.Some large
petrochemical companies are in the business of
manufacturing high-purity EO (HPEO) and ethylene
oxide derivatives, which may include any or all of
the following: ethanolamines, glycol ethers, EObased surface-active agents etc
Full-Portfolio Producers/Sellers of Glycols and
EO Derivatives.These companies are in the
business of manufacturing ethylene glycols and
purified EO, for internal production of EO derivatives
and often for other customers of purified EO.

Trends in consumption
The global market for ethylene oxide in terms of

revenue was estimated to be worth $27,430.0 million in

2010 and is expected to reach $39,865.3 million in
2016, growing at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2011 to 2016.
(as predicted in 2013)
The global market for ethylene glycol in terms of
revenue was estimated to be worth $23,620.3 million in
2010 and is expected to reach $37,524.8 million by
2016, growing at a CAGR of 7.7% from 2011 to 2016.
Polyester fibers are the largest application for ethylene
glycol, accounting for 56.4% of the overall market in
2010.
Asia Pacific is the largest consumer and producer,
accounting for 65.3% of the overall market in 2010

Methods of production
From Ethylene chlorohydrin:
The chlorohydrin process was first

introduced during World War I inGermany

by Badische Anilin-und Soda-Fabrik (BASF).
The process involves the reaction of
ethylene with hypochlorous acid followed
by dehydrochlorination of the chlorohydrin
with lime to produce ethylene oxide and
calcium chloride.

Direct oxidation process:

The direct oxidation technology, as the name implies,
utilizes the catalytic oxidation of ethylene with oxygen
over a silver based catalyst to yield ethylene oxide.
The process can be divided into two categories
depending on the source of the oxidizing agent.
The AIR-based process and the OXYGEN based
process.
In the first, air or air enriched with oxygen is fed
directly to the system.
In the second high purity oxygen stream (>98 mol%)
from an air separation unit is employed as the source
of the oxidizing agent.
Most of the ethylene oxide plants currently in
operation are based on the original process chemistry
discovered by Lefort in 1931.

Chemistry of the process

C2H4+ O2 =>C2H4O
The only significant by-products are carbon dioxide and water,

which are formed either by complete combustion of ethylene:

C2H4 + 3O2 => 2CO2 + 2H2O
Or by further oxidation of ethylene oxide:
C2H4O+2 O2 => 2CO2+ 2H2O
To prevent the further oxidation of ethylene oxide, the ethylene
conversion is typically between 20-30% for ethylene oxide.
In addition to ethylene oxide, carbon dioxide, water, small
quantities of acetaldehyde and traces of formaldehyde are also
produced
A large amount of heat is released by the ethylene oxide
reactions.
Energy recovery and integration is a prime concern in process
design.

Selection of process
The main disadvantage of the direct oxidation

process is the lower yield or selectivity of

ethylene oxide per unit of feed ethylene
consumed. The main inefficiency in the
process results from the loss of 20-25 mol%
of the ethylene to carbon dioxide and water.
Consequently the operating conditions must
be carefully controlled to maximize
selectivity.
Thus the chosen process for the design thesis
is the air based oxidation method.

Process Description
Ethylene (95-98% purity) and oxygen (air with 95 mole

% of oxygen) are mixed in a ratio of 1:10 by weight and

passed over a catalyst consisting of silver oxide
deposited on an inert carrier such as corundum.
Generally an anti catalyst such as ethylene dichloride
(about 2% based on the weight of ethylene) is added to
the ethylene feed to suppress the formation of carbon
dioxide.
At a pressure of 4-5 atmosphere and temperature of
270-300C, when a contact time of 1 sec is used, about
50 % of ethylene is converted. 25% of the ethylene is
converted to ethylene oxide.
The effluent gases from the reactor are washed with
water under pressure in an absorber.

The ethylene is absorbed and sent to a desorber

to desorb the water, which is used for the

absorption.
This water is recycled. The overhead product
from the desorber is sent to a steam stripper to
remove the dissolved gases. The water- ethylene
oxide mixture with small amount of ethylene and
other impurities are fed to a fractionating column
to purify the ethylene oxide to 99 mole%.
The reactor is of shell and tube type comprised of
several thousand mild steel or stainless steel
tubes, 20-50 mm inside diameter.
The yield (moles of product formed per moles of
ethylene consumed in the process) is normally
70-80% depending on catalyst type, per pass
conversion, reactor design and normally a large
number of other process variables.

SAFETY MEASURES
Explosion and Fire control
Pure ethylene oxide vapor or ethylene oxide vapor mixed with air or

inert gases can decompose explosively.

Explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide in closed containers can be
suppressed by blanketing with an inert gas until the total pressure of
the non explosive range is reached. Blanketing agents with higher
thermal conductivities suppress explosions more effectively.
In the presence of water, ethylene oxide may be hydrolyzed to

ethylene glycol and subsequently polymerize with evolution of heat.

The organic material gets collected in the insulation and forms hot
spots. These can trigger an explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide
vapour.
To avoid these risks, special insulating material with a low specific
surface and closed cells (glass foam) is used. A gap between the
outer wall of the apparatus and the insulation prevents accumulation
of organic material in the insulation and allows monitoring of organic
compounds in the gap.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTS

To avoid skin contact with ethylene oxide, goggles as

well as protective clothing (gloves, boots, suits, aprons)
have to be used. As ethylene oxide permeates easily
through most materials.

Leather articles must be discarded at once when

contaminated with ethylene oxide. Other clothing
contaminated with ethylene oxide must be taken off
immediately and discarded or decontaminated because
the severe and slowly healing damage to the skin
appears only after a induction period of many hours.

Gas masks are permitted only up to certain exposure

limits, and their duration of use is restricted according to
the ethylene oxide concentration.