Systematics and modeling representations of naphtha thermal cracking for olefin production

Thermal cracking or steam pyrolysis of hydrocarbons could convert them into valuable raw materials, which can be used in the petrochemical industry for polymer production. The reaction mechanisms of naphtha cracking are generally accepted as free-radical chain reactions. Unfortunately, the absence of a simple predictive applied model of pyrolysis is an obstacle to the development of practical methods of conversion. In an attempt to overcome this problem, the application of an analytical semi-empirical model (ASEM) of pyrolysis to the hydrocarbons thermal cracking results has been examined. The ASEM was developed at the University of Florida for organizing experimental data on pyrolysis products of coal, biomass, and alternative fuels (CBAF). This model has been adapted using industrial data for the pyrolysis yields of naphtha reported by Arak Petrochemical Company (APC) in Iran. The absence of oxygen in the naphtha feedstock minimizes the functional groups represented in the products and greatly simplifies the analysis. It is found that similar regularities of the product yields emerge from this effort as in CBAF cases. The results suggest that the analytical methodology should be useful for organizing pyrolysis yields of other hydrocarbons. Furthermore, the simplifications suggest that further experimental data would be helpful in the development of improved and more general models of solid feedstock pyrolysis for many thermo-chemical engineering applications.