Catalytic Coating for Reduced Coke Formation in Steam Cracking Reactors

A novel catalytic coating that converts coke to carbon oxides through a reaction with steam has been developed. Several coating formulations were tested in a jet-stirred reactor setup, and the best performing formulation was further evaluated in a pilot plant setup. Application of the coating during steam cracking of ethane at industrially relevant conditions resulted in a reduction of the asymptotic coking rate by 76%. The coating activity remained constant over several coking/decoking cycles. Coupled furnace-reactor run length simulations of an industrial ethane cracking unit were performed and resulted in an increase of the run length by a factor of 6. However, the simulated CO 2 yield is higher than the design value of a typical caustic tower.