- HOME>
- News>
- Fiscal 2006>
- Press Releases
June 15, 2006 |
Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation
|
Commercial start-up of Omega Process facility
|
| |
Early this month, Asahi Kasei Chemicals began operation
of its commercial-scale validation facility using the proprietary Omega
Process for catalytic cracking of olefins.
Together with the company's Alpha Process for aromatics production,
this increases the self-sufficiency of feedstock supply at its Mizushima Works,
optimizing and enhancing the competitiveness of operations.
The Omega Process was developed by Asahi Kasei Chemicals for the production
of ethylene and propylene, using as feedstocks the C4 and C5 raffinates which
occur as by-products of petrochemical plants and refineries.
This is made possible by a breakthrough in catalyst design which results
in a far lower process temperature than that of the conventional thermal
cracking processes.
Advantages of the Omega Process include energy consumption more than 3%
lower than with conventional olefins production technology,
a large reduction in CO2 emission,
and unprecedented selectivity for propylene.
With conventional naphtha cracking,
the propylene to ethylene production ratio is 0.65 at most.
This production ratio with the Omega Process, in contrast, is 4 to 1.
Using the Omega Process in combination with naphtha cracking enables
the overall propylene to ethylene ratio to be increased to 0.8. |
|
|
Back to press release list
page top
