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MacRobert Award 2002 Finalist Innovene High Productivity Gas Phase Technology
Currently, the global production demand for polyethylene is in excess of 45million tonnes per annum. It is estimated that demand will be approaching 70 million tonnes per annum by 2005, giving a growth rate of around 6% per annum. In response, BP Chemicals Ltd. has developed a revolutionary new way to make polyethylene. Safer and more environmentally friendly than previous manufacturing processes, Innovene High Productivity Technology also doubles the productivity. Innovation One of the limiting factors in the production of polyethylene by gas phase technology is the dissipation of the heat produced by the reaction. In order to achieve this liquid is introduced into the fluidised bed. Earlier forms of gas phase technology used a mixture of gas and liquid in the reactor. However, there is a limit to the amount of liquid that can be held in the gas stream. Once this limit is reached, heat removal from the fluidised bed is restricted and the operation can become unstable. High Productivity Gas Phase Technology uses a different method to introduce the liquid; it is vaporised and then injected into the fluidised bed using specially designed nozzles to distribute it effectively. This injection of liquid allows optimal distribution and vaporisation of the liquid in the fluidised bed and allows catalysts and modifiers to be dispersed with the liquid. The nozzle design was perfected using BP's unique X-ray imaging facility in Sunbury and the process was scaled up to production quantities at Grangemouth in Scotland and Lavera. The X-ray imaging allows the complex fluid-dynamic flow patterns in large-scale test reactors to be captured on video and subsequently analysed. This provides real time moving images of flow patterns within the fluidised bed enabling the injection of liquid from different types of nozzle to be visualised. Commercial Success This technology can give a more than 100% increase in output from a single reactor. It also lowers the investment costs for new reactors by up to 50% and can be retrofitted to existing plants. The Chevron/Phillips Orange Plant used to produce100 kilotonnes of polyethylene per year. After the introduction of the Innovene High Productivity conversion package, the output was increased to 240 kilotonnes per year. There is a 30% reduction in energy consumption using Innovene High Productivity technology. On average, there is reduction of 45kg CO2 produced by using the Innovene High Productivity technology as compared to previous processes. "We have 25 licensees for the Innovene process in 15 countries," says Mike Power, Process Manager Licensing, who is based at Sunbury. "And we commissioned our own new 350 kilotonne a year polyethylene plant in Grangemouth in 2000, which is now up and running. Innovene High Productivity is a huge breakthrough and it demonstrates BP's commitment and ability to offer leading edge technology in one of the world’s most competitive markets."
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Jean-Claude Chinh, Dr David Newton and Mike Power are responsible for the innovation of an improved method of manufacturing polyethylene, the Innovene High Productivity Gas Phase Technology.
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Updated July 2012 |
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