Enhancing Ethylene Yields and Energy Efficiency in Industrial Cracking Furnaces via Spatial Heat-Flux Optimization
Abstract
Steam cracking furnaces are conventionally operated by raising the coil outlet temperature (COT) via increased fuel input, yet this approach yields diminishing selectivity gains while accelerating coking. Using a high-fidelity 3D coupled furnace–reactor model consistent with industrial design parameters, we demonstrate that COT is not the primary control lever. Instead, at a fixed total heat input, the spatial distribution of heat flux along the coil axis governs ethylene yields and cracking severity. By aligning the heat-flux profile with the axial endothermicity of the cracking reactions, relative ethylene yield increases by 5.86% while COT decreases by 3.94 K, effectively decoupling yield enhancement from fuel consumption. The causal effect of the heat-flux profile on ethylene yield makes it a more physically rigorous control variable than COT. This shifts the operational paradigm from temperature-driven to spatial heat-flux-driven control, offering a practical retrofit pathway for current industrial-scale cracking furnaces.
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BibTeX
@misc{jia2026enhancing,
title = {{Enhancing Ethylene Yields and Energy Efficiency in Industrial Cracking Furnaces via Spatial Heat-Flux Optimization}},
author = {Zhigang Jia and Xu Zhang and Yanan Duan and Jia Zhigang},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010830/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010830/v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Enhancing Ethylene Yields and Energy Efficiency in Industrial Cracking Furnaces via Spatial Heat-Flux Optimization
AU - Zhigang Jia
AU - Xu Zhang
AU - Yanan Duan
AU - Jia Zhigang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010830/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010830/v1
AB - Steam cracking furnaces are conventionally operated by raising the coil outlet temperature (COT) via increased fuel input, yet this approach yields diminishing selectivity gains while accelerating coking. Using a high-fidelity 3D coupled furnace–reactor model consistent with industrial design parameters, we demonstrate that COT is not the primary control lever. Instead, at a fixed total heat input, the spatial distribution of heat flux along the coil axis governs ethylene yields and cracking severity. By aligning the heat-flux profile with the axial endothermicity of the cracking reactions, relative ethylene yield increases by 5.86% while COT decreases by 3.94 K, effectively decoupling yield enhancement from fuel consumption. The causal effect of the heat-flux profile on ethylene yield makes it a more physically rigorous control variable than COT. This shifts the operational paradigm from temperature-driven to spatial heat-flux-driven control, offering a practical retrofit pathway for current industrial-scale cracking furnaces.
ER -