Naphtha Cracking Thermal cracking is well known and widely accepted technology for olefin production. This technology is also called steam cracking, since steam is added to hydrocacbon before cracking to reduce the parial pressure of hydrocacbon and to produce a better yield performance. In the petrochemical industry, steam cracking is a core technology for producing olefins, although there are alternative routes from off-gas of fluid catalvtic cracking units in oil refineries or by dehydrogenation or prepane or outanes. Thermal cracking reactions are bisically uses to break the C – C bonds of hydrocacbons non-catalytically at high temperature of around 800 – 9000C and at a low pressure of 0.16 – 0.2Mpa in the coils located in the radiant sections of furnaces. They finally produce lower molecular weight olefins. In including radical reactions, whereas gas oil cracking is more complex with more than 3000 reactions. In industrial practie, non-reaced ethane or propane is separated in the cold separation sestion and recycled back to cracking furnaces where ethane and propane are cracked again. Therefore, the ultimate yields of olefins are much higher than those of once-through yields.
