Technical and economic comparison of propylene production methods through propane dehydrogenation technologies (PDH)

Propylene as a basic product is of particular importance in the petrochemical industry because it produces valuable products. Currently, most of the world's propylene is produced indirectly, and propylene is produced as a by-product that is not economically viable. Among the various processes of direct production of propylene, the PDH process has been considered due to the lower investment volume than other methods and due to the cost of cheap feed (LPG) in the country. Therefore, due to the production of LPG in the country in high capacity and also the restrictions on the export of this product, it is possible to take advantage of the many advantages of LPG feed in the production of propylene in the country through the PDH process. In this study, first, different methods of propylene production were investigated and it was found that direct production of propylene by PDH method is more appropriate. The technologies of PDH method were described and found to be almost the same in terms of fixed costs. IRR sensitivity analysis was performed to the difference between food and product price and fixed cost and it was found that IRR value is more sensitive to the difference between food and product price. Due to the fact that OLEFLEX technology has a lower operating cost and also has more active operating units in the world, it is recommended for Iran to use this technology.