Steam cracking
Steam cracking is a petrochemical process in which saturated hydrocarbons are broken down into smaller, often unsaturated, hydrocarbons. It is the principal industrial method for producing the lighter alkenes (or commonly olefins), including ethene (or ethylene) and propene (or propylene). Steam cracker units are facilities in which a feedstock such as naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethane, propane or butane is thermally cracked through the use of steam in steam cracking furnaces to produce lighter hydrocarbons. The propane dehydrogenation process may be accomplished through different commercial technologies. The main differences between each of them concerns the catalyst employed, design of the reactor and strategies to achieve higher conversion rates.

Olefins are useful precursors to myriad products. Steam cracking is the core technology that supports the largest scale chemical processes, i.e. ethylene and propylene.
Q1364904
petrochemical
Concept
Q43648
hydrocarbon
Concept
Q81406
alkene
Concept
Q81406
olefin
Concept
Q151313
ethene
Concept
Q151313
ethylene
Concept
Q151324
propene
Concept
Q151324
propylene
Concept
Q52858
ethane
Concept
Q131189
propane
Concept
Q134192
butane
Concept
Q81406
Olefins
Concept
Q2335334
Steam cracking
Concept
Q2335334
Steam cracking
Concept
subclass of
subclass of