Recycling in ethylene production: Booster compressor improves energy efficiency under heavy duty operating conditions

In recent years, the Asian market has seen a rapid increase in polyester production, the manufacture of which depends on the use of ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol in particular. However, the production of these two substances is a very energy-intensive process, which is why the chemical industry is increasingly relying on sustainable techniques.

Until 2016, the Taiwanese Oriental Union Chemical Corporation (the OUCC) from Taipei used two dated compressors, which required a lot of maintenance and therefore no longer met the increased requirements of the chemical industry. The OUCC consequently commissioned Mehrer Compression GmbH from Germany with the production of a modern two-stage dry-running compressor for volatile organic compounds. The resulting TVZ 900 is oil-free and water-cooled, has been specially designed to meet the requirements of OUCC and is capable of properly recycling waste gases for use in other production processes. Thanks to its direct-coupled motor, the TVZ 900 is extremely energy efficient, low maintenance and guarantees a system availability of 97 percent.

Before the acquisition of the TVZ 900, the compressor OUCC was using needed increasingly more maintenance to the point that OUCC finally decided that it had to be replaced as quickly as possible, which was why it was important to OUCC to find a company that would be able to supply both a highly energy efficient compressor and to do so quickly. OUCC had been in contact with the compressor supplier Taiwan Pneumtech, who recommended the TVZ 900 manufactured by Mehrer Compression GmbH as highly suitable for its needs. The TVx series, which this model is part of, has been specifically designed for use with process gases such as hydrogen (H₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and ethylene (C₂H₄), which are common in the chemical and petrochemical industry and in R&D systems. The 900 series is one of the largest systems in Mehrer Compression GmbH – a leading and specialist compressor manufacturer based in Baling, Germany – product range.