Intro to Plants
MTBE Plant
MTBE plant started commercial operation in April 1991 with the introduction of Snamprojetti technology. This plant uses C4 Raffinate-1 and methanol remaining after extraction of butadiene(1,3BD) in the BD Plant as feedstock to produce MTBE in the MTBE synthesis unit and cracks it to produce high-purity isobutene and butene-1.
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- MTBE Synthesis Unit
- This unit consists of the reaction process that selectively lets the isobutene, contained in C4 Raffinate-1, react with methanol using a catalyst (etherification) to produce MTBE, and the refining unit that fractionates unresponsive C4 Raffinate-1 and high-purity MTBE.
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- Isobutene Manufacturing Unit
- This unit fractionates methanol by cracking the MTBE, produced by catalyst process of the MTBE synthesis unit, and recovers high-purity isobutene.
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- Butene-1 Recovery Unit
- Among the residual C4 Raffinate-2, produced by the MTBE synthesis unit, this unit selectively hydrogenates BD, VA, PD and EA, fractionating high-purity butene-1 in the refining system.
Product uses
| MTBE | Used as high-octane gasoline improver booster. |
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| ISOBUTENE | Used as raw materials for cable insulated coating, automotive parts, paint and adhesives. |
| BUTENE-1 | Used as feedstock for copolymer and Polybutene-1 (raw material for pipes), MEK (Printer ink, adhesive) of the Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) manufacturing unit. |