Steam cracker units are facilities in which a feedstock such as naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethane, propane or butane is thermally cracked through the use of steam in steam cracking furnaces to produce lighter hydrocarbons.

What is a naphtha cracker?

Steam cracker units are facilities in which a feedstock such as naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethane, propane or butane is thermally cracked through the use of steam in steam cracking furnaces to produce lighter hydrocarbons.

What is the process of cracking?

cracking, in petroleum refining, the process by which heavy hydrocarbon molecules are broken up into lighter molecules by means of heat and usually pressure and sometimes catalysts. Cracking is the most important process for the commercial production of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Why is cracking of naphtha important in an oil refinery?

Cracking is important for two main reasons: It helps to match the supply of fractions with the demand for them. The supply is how much of a fraction an oil refinery produces.

Why is steam added to the naphtha feed in the steam cracking process?

During the steam-cracking operation, steam acts as a diluent to lower the hydrocarbon partial pressure in order to suppress or lower the formation of coke deposition by gasification reaction (C + 2H2O → CO2 + 2H2) [8]. Since the SC reaction is highly endothermic, the reaction is carried out at high temperature.

How does a hydrocracker work?

A hydrocracking unit, or hydrocracker, takes gas oil, which is heavier and has a higher boiling range than distillate fuel oil, and cracks the heavy molecules into distillate and gasoline in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst.

How do you produce naphtha?

Shale naphtha is obtained by the distillation of oil produced from bituminous shale by destructive distillation. Petroleum naphtha is a name used primarily in the United States for petroleum distillate containing principally aliphatic hydrocarbons and boiling higher than gasoline and lower than kerosene.

What are the 2 types of cracking methods?

Cracking is primarily of two types – thermal cracking and catalytic cracking. Thermal cracking is further categorised into modern thermal cracking and steam cracking. On the other hand, sub-classifications of catalytic methods of cracking are hydrocracking and fluid catalytic cracking.

What are the two methods of cracking?

There are two different types of cracking we commonly use to split hydrocarbons. These are known as thermal cracking and catalytic cracking.

What can be produced when naphtha is cracked?

Ethylene is produced through steam cracking of hydrocarbon feedstock (for example, ethane, naphtha and gas oils) derived during conventional and unconventional natural gas production and from refinery crude oil processing.

How is propylene produced?

Propylene is produced primarily as a by-product of petroleum refining and of ethylene production by steam cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks (Schoenberg et al., 1982), In refinery production, propylene is formed as a by-product of catalytic cracking (and to a lesser extent thermal cracking) of gas oils.