Propylene Production from Methanol (Methanol-to-Olefins Process)
Propylene Production Costs Report | Issue H | Q3 2024
Report Details |
450 kta United States-based plant | Q3 2024 | 107 pages |
This report presents a cost analysis of a 450 kta (kilo metric ton per annum) United States-based plant. You can add a customized cost analysis, assuming another location (country), when ordering a premium edition of this report.
Report Abstract
This report analyses the economics of Polymer Grade (PG) Propylene production from methanol in the United States. The process examined in this report is similar to UOP/Norsk Hydro (now Ineos) methanol-to-olefins (MTO) process. Polymer grade ethylene is also generated as co-product in the process.
The report provides a comprehensive study of Propylene production and related Propylene production cost, covering three key aspects: a complete description of the Propylene production process examined; an in-depth analysis of the related Propylene plant capital cost (Capex); and an evaluation of the respective Propylene plant operating costs (Opex).
The Propylene production process description includes a block flow diagram (BFD), an overview of the industrial site installations, detailing both the process unit and the necessary infrastructure, process consumption figures and comprehensive process flow diagrams (PFD). The Propylene plant capital cost analysis breaks down the Capex by plant cost (i.e., ISBL, OSBL and Contingency); owner's cost; working capital; and costs incurred during industrial plant commissioning and start-up. The Propylene plant operating costs analysis covers operating expenses, including variable costs like raw materials and utilities, and fixed costs such as maintenance, labor, and depreciation.
Process Schematic

The process under analysis comprises three major sections: (1) Reaction and Regeneration; (2) Quench, Compression and Caustic Wash; and (3) Product Fractionation.
Reaction and Regeneration. Methanol feed is vaporized, mixed with recovered methanol, superheated and sent to the fluidized-bed reactor. In the reactor, methanol is first converted to a dimethylether (DME) intermediate and then converted to olefins with a very high selectivity for ethylene and propylene. During the reaction, coke accumulates on the catalyst, which is circulated to the fluidized-bed regenerator system to recover its activity by combustion with air. After leaving the reactor, the reacted stream exchanges heat with the reaction feed, in order to recover the heat generated by the exothermic reaction.
Quench, Compression and Caustic Wash. The output from the reaction and regeneration is quenched, where most of water and unreacted methanol is removed. The water-methanol stream is sent to the methanol-recovery column, where methanol is recovered and recycled to the reaction. The vapor stream from the quench stage is compressed and sent to a caustic wash column for CO2 removal. The gas stream, free of CO2, is then dried and sent to the product fractionation.
Product Fractionation. The dried stream from caustic wash is sent to the deethanizer column, where ethylene is separated from C3 and larger (C3+) hydrocarbons as the overhead product. The ethylene-rich stream is compressed and fed to the acetylene reactor for selective acetylene hydrogenation to ethane. The acetylene reactor effluent is sent to the demethanizer column, where an ethylene-ethane mixture is separated from a methane-rich stream. The ethylene-ethane mixture is then routed to the C2 splitter to obtain ethylene as the overhead and an ethane-rich stream at the bottom. The C3+ stream from the bottom of the de-ethanizer column is fed to the depropanizer column, for C4+ separation as the bottom product. The propylene-propane mixture is fed to the C3 splitter column. In the C3 splitter, polymer-grade propylene is obtained as the overhead product, while the bottom stream is propane-rich. The C4+ stream is separated in the debutanizer, generating gasoline and mixed C4 hydrocarbons.
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Production Process Information
Process Consumptions
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Plant Capital Cost Summary
Operating Cost Summary
Production Costs Datasheet
Plant Capital Cost Details
Operating Cost Details
Plant Cost Breakdowns
Plant Capacity Assessment
Process Flow Diagrams
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Content Highlights
Plant Capital Cost Summary
Summary outlining the capital cost required for building the Propylene production plant examined
Plant Capital Cost Details
Detailing of fixed capital (ISBL, OSBL & Owner’s Cost), working capital and additional capital requirements
Plant Cost Breakdowns
Breakdown of Propylene process unit (ISBL) costs and infrastructure (OSBL) costs; plant cost breakdown per discipline
Operating Costs Summary
Summary presenting the operating variable costs and the total operating cost of the Propylene production plant studied
Operating Cost Details
Detailing of utilities costs, operating fixed costs and depreciation
Plant Capacity Assessment
Comparative analysis of capital investment and operating costs for different Propylene plant capacities
Production Process Information
Block Flow Diagram, descriptions of process unit (ISBL) and site infrastructure (OSBL)
Process Consumptions
Raw materials and utilities consumption figures, by-products credits, labor requirements
Process Diagrams
Process flow diagrams (PFD), equipment list and industrial site configuration
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