{"id":7799,"date":"2017-05-31T09:39:08","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T17:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/05\/31\/news-1583\/"},"modified":"2017-05-31T09:39:08","modified_gmt":"2017-05-31T17:39:08","slug":"news-1583","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/05\/31\/news-1583\/","title":{"rendered":"From Natural Gas to Plastic Wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Livia Wiley| Date: Mon, 29 May 2017 08:16:40 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plastic Wrap and Why You Should Care Where It Comes From<\/em><\/h3>\n

The other night I was getting steak out of the fridge to season and grill when my daughter asked me what the plastic wrap was made of. I thought, how far do I go back in my explanation – Polyethylene, ethylene, ethane\/naphtha, natural gas liquids? She\u2019s seven, so it didn\u2019t warrant that level of explanation (thankfully). But it got me thinking about how often we use everyday products not thinking of where they come from or how they\u2019re made.<\/p>\n

Plastic wrap, most notably derived from low density polyethylene (LPDE), is one of many ethylene consumer end products. Because of its diverse range of end-uses, ethylene is one of the world\u2019s largest volume petrochemicals. Its demand is sensitive to both economic and energy cycles, and so it is often seen as a barometer to the performance of the petrochemical industry as whole.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a> <\/p>\n

The commodities ethylene market is huge with a global capacity of 150M tons [2016], a worth greater than $156B [2013], and with an expected compound annual growth rate of more than 11% between now and 2025. But despite this aggressive growth, the ethylene market is both cost-driven and extremely price sensitive; ethylene prices peaked nine months ago and have yet to return to their highs. Energy and feedstocks make up 60 \u2013 70% of the costs of chemical production. And while commercial ethylene production has been around for more than 50 years, alternate feedstocks – shale gas in North America and coal in China\u2014are changing the competitive landscape.<\/p>\n

Remaining competitive means being current in the latest technology. It is achieved by using advanced technology to increase production, lower energy and feedstock costs, and improve efficiency (inherent to the process and to the people). At the same time, you must address rapidly changing economics, a retiring workforce, and operating a highly integrated plant. A rigorous process model<\/a> of an ethylene plant involves 33+ distinct process unit areas.<\/p>\n

In addition to lowering capital and operating costs, effectively engineering an ethylene plant can produce safer designs and optimized operations, help identify ways to improve utilization, product quality and plant yield, and empower operators to make better, more informed decisions. You can expect this technology to:<\/p>\n