Low Carbon Hydrogen as Enabler for Decarbonization of Ethylene Crackers
Ethylene crackers are a large source of CO2 emissions. A large part of CO2 emissions in crackers (90-95%) is directly from the cracking furnaces. Thus, reducing or eliminating atmospheric CO2 emissions from cracking furnaces is an important step in decarbonization of ethylene crackers. One of the viable and proven options to reduce furnace CO2 emission is via conversion of ethylene cracker fuel gas to low carbon hydrogen. This hydrogen rich fuel gas can be used as fuel in the cracking furnaces, eliminating CO2 emissions from the stack. Blue H2 production routes can convert cracker fuel gas to Hydrogen rich fuel gas, while capturing the CO2 for further utilization and/or storage. The low carbon production schemes can be based on either steam methane reforming or auto-thermal reforming or a combination of both. This is a proven and novel application of Blue H2 technology, utilizing the cracker tail gas while curtailing CO2 emissions.