Crude Oil No Longer Needed for Production of Plastics

Each year the world produces about 130 million kilo of ethene, the most important raw material for plastics. This gigantic industry is currently dependent on crude oil. And that is running out. Dutch researcher Tymen Tiemersma might have found a solution for this problem. With his new reactor we can produce ethene from natural gas and, therefore, in the future from biogas as well.

Tiemersma found an apparently very simple solution for one of the biggest problems in producing ethene from natural gas. If you want to produce plastics from natural gas then you first of all need to convert the natural gas into ethene. That can currently be done but one vital problem occurs: the process generates an incredible amount of heat, too much to remove easily. Consequently the conversion of natural gas is far too expensive and consumes a lot of energy. Yet natural gas is not only used for the production of ethene. It is also the raw material for syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. And the production of syngas happens to require a lot of heat. "What would be more logical than combining the two processes?" thought Tymen Tiemersma.