An Overview of Light Olefins Production via Steam Enhanced Catalytic Cracking

Steam thermal cracking is an established technology for the production of light olefins, such as ethylene and propylene. The shift to lighter, ethane-based feeds means that propylene production from steam crackers will be lower than the corresponding ethylene production. Therefore, alternative technologies have to be developed to produce more propylene to make up for the shortfall from steam cracking. This review looks at the steam catalytic cracking technology, which combines both catalytic cracking and steam cracking to maximize the production of light olefins. This review looks at the effect of catalyst and technology applied in fluid catalytic cracking reactors to enhance light olefins production. The influence of reaction conditions and the reaction mechanism are also presented. Graphic Abstract The graphical abstract shows the feed and steam being fed into the FCC unit from which light olefins and gasoline are produced as the desired products.