Techno-economic analysis of an absorption based methanol to olefins recovery section

Pinch analysis showed that the heat integration potential for both separation sections is nearly identical, but the absorption configuration operates at a higher thermodynamic efficiency. The cryogenic separation section has a higher robustness when the amount of light ends in the reactor effluent varies. The capital expenditure of the absorption configuration is up to 14% lower and the operational expenditure is up to 9% lower compared to the cryogenic configuration, depending on the light ends content in the reactor effluent, leading to more favorable economic key performance indicators. The novel absorption configuration is an interesting alternative to the traditional cryogenic configuration for a methanol to olefins separation section.