August 2025

Petrochemical Technologies

Ethane cracking in the age of sustainability: Strategies for emissions reduction

IP: 10.3.40.248

Throughout the last decade, using ethane as a pyrolysis feedstock in steam cracking has become a major trend in the petrochemical industry. Ethane cracking is the most cost-effective and energy-efficient pathway for producing ethylene, a key precursor for a wide array of chemicals and plastics. Demand for ethylene continues to surge, driven by its derivatives from diverse end-use applications ranging from packaging to automotive components. Steam crackers are among the most carbon-intensive units in the petrochemical industry, significantly contributing to Scope 1 carbon dioxide (CO₂) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These emissions result primarily from fuel combustion and from cracking naphtha and heavier, fossil fuel-based feedstocks. Ethane cracking is less CO₂-intensive due to its higher ethylene yield, lower energy consumption, reduced byproducts production and consequently lower emissions. This makes ethane an economically and environmentally preferable feedstock in regions where it is abundant (e.g., U.S. shale gas, the Middle East).  

Innovative technology approaches and decarbonization strategies are therefore essential for future sustainability, as they will make the ethane cracker more energy efficient while minimizing CO2 emissions.  

Considering the various international agreements, national policies and industry-specific regulations designed to reduce GHG emissions, the petrochemical sector is compelled to adopt sustainable practices that align with international net-zero targets. This necessitates a comprehensive reevaluation of existing technologies and the exploration of innovative decarbonization approaches. Integrating advanced process technologies like enhanced heat recovery systems with real-time monitoring and control strategies can significantly improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. 

In places with an abundance of green electricity or access to nuclear power, the electrification of cracking heaters represents a transformative opportunity for the ethane cracking process. Conventional fossil fuel-based energy sources could be easily substituted with renewable electricity. Adopting carbon-free fuels like hydrogen (H2) further supports the transition to more sustainable operations. Additionally, implementing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies offers a viable pathway to mitigate emissions from the cracking process, permitting the capture of CO2 before it enters the atmosphere. 

This article explores the technical intricacies of the ethane cracking process, outlining the production mechanism and the various pathways for emissions reduction. By critically analyzing the potential of efficiency improvements, electrification, carbon-free fuel utilization and CCS, industry can better understand how the ethane cracker can evolve in response to regulatory pressures and market demands. In doing so, the authors will highlight the necessary steps to achieve a sustainable and resilient petrochemical industry that meets the challenges of the 21st century.  

Process overview of an ethane cracker. Steam cracking is the most widely used route for producing ethylene from feedstocks derived from crude oil or natural gas. Other processes exist to produce ethylene, including fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), ethane dehydrogenation and oxidative coupling of methane. However, these processes result in marginal ethylene yields, and none are as mature or well-optimized as steam cracking.  

A wide variety of feedstocks—such as ethane, propane, butane, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, gasoil and hydrocracker vacuum gasoil—can be used to produce ethylene through steam cracking. Ethylene yield will vary depending on the feedstock, with ethane cracking providing the highest yield. The optimum cracking condition expressed in terms of coil outlet temperature, coil outlet pressure (COP) and steam-to-hydrocarbon ratio varies depending on the feedstock. For an ethane cracker, the feed ethane is obtained from natural gas or shale gas. 

Depending upon feed supply conditions, the ethane feed from the outside battery limit (OSBL) may first be used as a refrigerant to reduce energy consumption. It is then superheated in the quench water exchanger before being introduced to the pre-heating module in the convection section of the cracking heater (FIG. 1).  

FIG. 1. Typical flow scheme for an ethane cracker. 

After the preheating section, the ethane is mixed with steam and passed through the convection and radiation sections of cracking heaters through multiple coils, where the temperature is elevated to approximately 850°C (1,562°F). Depending on the desired severity of cracking, the cracking temperature, the steam-to-hydrocarbon ratio and the average COP are varied.  

The effluent gas contains H2 and a hydrocarbon mixture of smaller molecules up to C5 and heavies. One of the major components of the effluent gas is ethylene. To increase the energy efficiency of the process, the heat content in effluent gas is recovered in transfer line exchangers (TLEs). The heat is then used to generate super high-pressure (SHP) steam, which drives turbines that power the major compressors within the ethylene plant. Depending on process requirements and the overall steam balance, the steam turbine is designed to remove a portion as high-pressure steam. The remaining steam is condensed at the surface condenser to maximize power delivered by the turbine. 

After generating steam in the TLE, the cracking heater effluent enters the quench tower (QT), where the effluent gas is quenched by direct contact with water. Heavy-product pyrolysis gasoline is condensed in the QT and separated at the bottom. The remaining gaseous components go to the next stage, the charge gas compressor.  

The water used in the QT to quench the high-temperature effluent gas—called quench water (QW)—operates in a closed loop. After quenching effluent gas, the QW leaves the QT at an elevated temperature and then passes through multiple heat exchangers, where it transfers heat to the process streams requiring low heat. The cooled QW is then recycled back to the QT to quench the hot effluent gas from the TLE. This maximizes heat recovery from cracker effluent gas and minimizes energy consumption in the overall process. 

In the charge gas compressor, the process gas mixture is compressed to medium pressure using a three-stage centrifugal compressor. Coolers between each stage keep the process gas temperature within operating limits, which helps increase compression efficiency, minimize fouling tendency and increase the time between major overhauls of compressor internals. The compressor section also includes a caustic tower to remove acid gases, CO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) formed at high temperatures in the cracking process. The spent caustic from the caustic tower is treated in a wet air oxidation system before being sent to the wastewater treatment system located OSBL. 

The process gas from the compressor section is dried using molecular sieves in the charge gas dryer before being sent to the cryogenic section to prevent ice formation at low temperatures. In the cryogenic section, the dry gas is progressively cooled in the cold box by refrigerant at various levels from propylene, ethylene or binary refrigeration systems. The H2 gas is removed from the lowest temperature point in the cold box and purified in a pressure swing absorbing (PSA) system to obtain pure H2 for use in hydrogenation reactors or as carbon-free fuel in furnaces.  

Acetylene compounds in the gas stream are selectively hydrogenated over a catalyst system to ensure final products meet the maximum acetylene specifications required by downstream polymer manufacturers. Selective hydrogenation also increases ethylene yields. 

After achieving the desired temperature in the cryogenic section, the gas mixture is separated into components like methane, ethylene, ethane and C3+ through fractional distillation. The methane-rich stream is sent to a fuel gas system to fuel the cracking heaters. The ethylene/ethane mixture is sent to a super fractionator, where polymer-grade ethylene is produced. Unconverted ethane is mixed with the fresh feed and recycled back to the cracking heaters.  

The C3+ stream is sent to the propylene splitter, which separates the propylene as product from the rest of the C3s and heavier components. The C3s and heavier components are hydrotreated in a C3+ hydrogenation reactor to saturate the olefinic compounds.  

The reactor outlet is then sent to the debutanizer, where C3 and C4 components are separated out and recycled back into the cracking heater. Debutanizer bottoms product, consisting of C5+ components known as pyrolysis gasoline, is sent to OSBL storage. Due to the very low yield of propylene and heavy products in ethane cracking, these components are sometimes not separated but rather removed as one product. 

Refrigeration systems are used to supply various levels of refrigeration requirements in the cryogenic system. Utilities required for the process—such as steam at various pressures, boiler feed water, QW, cooling water and fuel—are fully integrated to improve the plant’s overall efficiency. Exhaust gas from an electric power-producing gas turbine can also be integrated with the cracking heaters to make additional SHP steam. The hot exhaust gas of the gas turbine is sent to the furnace to provide hot combustion air and improve the overall energy efficiency of the process. However, for net-zero, the fuel for both the gas turbine and the furnace must be carbon-free. 

DECARBONIZING THE ETHANE CRACKER 

As the world becomes more aware of the impact of GHG emissions, reducing emissions is an important aspect of the design of any process plant. In the coming years, increased regulations are expected to be implemented globally to limit GHG emissions. It is crucial that GHG-producing industries consider their facilities' carbon footprints and investigate ways to reduce emissions.  

Technology advancements should consider incorporating future-ready elements to achieve emissions targets. In the ethane cracker, the primary source of Scope 1 CO2 emissions is the cracking heaters, where fuel gas (methane) is burned to provide the energy required for cracking. Several technical approaches to reduce CO2 emissions from cracking heaters can be considered, each with its own benefits and level of technical maturity. These include: 

• Efficiency improvements through process enhancement  

• Electrification 

• Use of carbon-free fuel 

• CCS. 

Depending on the approach to achieve the emissions target, the availability of green utilities and the location, a combination of these approaches can be utilized to accomplish the overall CO2 emissions objectives. The key features of the above technologies are discussed below. 

Efficiency improvement through process enhancement. 

Combustion air preheat. Because the cracking furnace is the major emitter of CO2, reducing fuel firing in the furnace will result in a reduction in carbon emissions. Improving thermal efficiency is perhaps the first emissions-reducing solution that comes to mind. However, the thermal efficiency of a modern cracking heater is already as high as 95%. Attempting to increase thermal efficiency would result in a small reduction in CO2 emissions, at a high cost. A different approach is therefore required to reduce the carbon footprint of cracking heaters. 

Different levels of combustion air preheat can be applied in cracking heaters to reduce CO2 emissions. Cracking heaters achieve their high thermal efficiency partly through the recovery of energy by producing steam. Part of this energy recovery can be used to preheat the combustion air entering the furnace. Therefore, the heat energy earlier supplied by fuel gas to heat the air from ambient temperature to the furnace temperature [> 1,000°C (> 1,832°F)] will now partly be supplied by heat recovery in the convection section. Hence, the fuel gas requirement in the furnace will reduce compared to a conventional heater. Simultaneously, the net steam generated from the furnace will be reduced as part of the heat recovery and will be used to preheat the combustion air. Therefore, a steam requirement at the downstream plant must be supplemented through an external source that does not use carbon-containing fuels for its production or electrification.  

In an ethylene plant, SHP steam produced in cracking heaters is used to provide motive force to the steam turbine of the major compressor (charge gas compressor). This steam turbine drive can be converted to an electric motor drive to compensate for the reduced steam. A new source of power will be required for some of the compressors in the ethylene plant. The electricity used to drive the motor must be generated through a zero-carbon or low-carbon source to ensure that the net carbon reduction number is achieved (considering Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprints).  

An external air-combustion preheater provided by the co-author’s company has the potential to reduce the fuel firing and consequent reduction in carbon emissions by 20%–30% compared to a conventional design. The salient features of the external air pre-heater design are:  

• The structural and foundation design, and induced draft (ID) fan design, remain the same as conventional cracking heaters. 

• The external air preheater system fits within the normal plot space for a typical heater. 

• The technology can be applied to both existing and new cracking heaters. 

• The system can optimize the flue gas profile to accommodate a variety of feedstocks. 

• Carbon emissions reductions in the range of 20%–30% can be achieved. 

Gas turbine exhaust (GTE) integration. Like the introduction of preheated air as discussed above, introducing hot GTE gas as a source of combustion air will have the same effect of reducing fuel consumption and carbon footprint. Note that the oxygen content of the hot exhaust is less than the atmospheric value; therefore, the burners must be designed to accommodate increased air flow. 

The co-author’s company has successfully developed a scheme to integrate a gas turbine with cracking heaters. In addition to generating electricity, the turbine provides hot exhaust gas as preheated air into the furnace box for fuel combustion. The integrated scheme increases the reliability and overall efficiency of the ethylene plant.  

In the gas turbine integration scheme, GTE becomes the primary source of combustion air, with a small amount of make-up ambient air mixed in ducts to control the flow and distribution of combustion air to the furnaces. The fuel fired in the furnace is reduced—compared to a normal heater with 100% ambient air—due to the heat content the GTE provides. The SHP steam production is increased due to a larger flue gas flowrate through the convection section. The gas turbine capacity is matched to the furnace capacity such that there is no venting of GTE under normal cracking conditions.  

Ambient air backup (with ambient air intake using the furnace ID fan as the driving force) should be kept in the event of gas turbine tripping and/or during gas turbine maintenance. This option enables furnaces to operate without the gas turbine at design cracking capacity. Therefore, no ethylene production losses occur due to failure or maintenance of the integrated gas turbine. 

The benefits of gas turbine integration include: 

• A reduction in specific energy consumption by about 25% 

• Increased production of SHP that provides the motive force for the compressors  

• Onsite, reliable power generation can supply the needs of the ethylene unit and export electricity to supply other units in the complex. 

• A reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions 

Electrification. Ethane cracking is an endothermic reaction. As a result, a reliable energy supply is essential to power the reaction as well as to separate and purify the cracking products. If the energy required for the reaction is provided by electricity from green sources, the main source of inside battery limits (ISBL) carbon emissions is eliminated. In current scenarios, electricity from the grid has a varying carbon footprint depending on its source (e.g., natural gas-fired power plant, coal-fired power plant, nuclear or renewable sources). 

Governments in various countries are trying to minimize the carbon footprint of grid electricity through multiple policy measures. The renewable content in electricity production is increasing every day, which is expected to help reduce direct emissions from power plants and indirect (Scope 2) emissions at the consumer end. Although obtaining total green electricity remains a costly challenge now, ethane cracker designers are carrying out design modifications to ensure crackers are future-ready for net-zero emissions. 

Electrification of cracking heaters. The use of electrical cracking heaters in an ethane cracking plant can reduce and eliminate direct emissions (Scope 1), as well as provide full heating with no carbon emissions (FIG. 2). As the carbon footprint of available electricity reduces gradually or fully in the near future, Scope 2 emissions will also be reduced or eliminated completely. 

FIG. 2. View of the co-author’s company’s short residence time electrically heated steam cracking furnace^a.  

However, converting a conventional cracking heater into an electric heater poses challenges in terms of scale and material selection. The high endothermicity of the cracking process, high reaction temperature [800°C–900°C (1,472F–1,652°F)] and short residence time (< 0.5 sec) require heat flux at the reactor coil in the range of 50 kW/m2–110 kW/m2. The ideal heating device should be capable of providing the same energy input as a fired heater and be reliable enough to operate continuously over the interval between coil replacements, typically 6 yr–8 yr.  

A typical state-of-the-art 200,000-tpy ethylene heater would consume about 75 MW–80 MW of electricity in the radiant coil alone. Therefore, a global-sized ethylene plant of 1.5 MMtpy would consume about 750 MW of electricity, which is close to the size of a power plant. In addition, the electric heater will not produce any SHP steam, which necessitates the use of an electrical motor as a driver for all compressors and further increases the requirement for electric power for the complex.  

The electrification of compressor and pump drives. Many compressors and pumps in an ethylene plant are designed based on steam turbines using the SHP steam produced in the heaters. Often, this meets the recovery section demand and, in only a few cases, some import or export is considered. Modification of cracking heaters, especially through electrification, will alter the steam balance. Therefore, there is a need to revisit the drive configuration by converting steam turbine drives to electrical motor drives. Moreover, shifting a steam-driven turbine to an electrical motor will reduce steam consumption and thereby reduce Scope 2 carbon emissions, depending on the carbon footprint of the electricity generation source.  

Since industry is shifting towards using more renewable energy for electricity generation, electric drives can be used for new projects or combined with other process intensification and efficiency improvement methods to reduce total CO2 emissions from the facility. For example, the use of combustion air preheating in an existing facility with steam drives would require the conversion of some of the steam turbine drive compressors or pumps to electric motors. Switching to all-electric power (green) reduces carbon emissions to zero. 

Using carbon-free (green) fuel. Most emissions from any steam cracker, including ethane crackers, are from hydrocarbon fuel burning, whether in cracking heaters or for power and steam generation in a captive power plant. Process offgas generated in steam cracking units contains some amount of H2 and substantial amounts of methane, with the composition varying depending on the feedstocks being cracked. One of the methods to eliminate all carbon emissions will be to use a fuel that does not contain any carbon atoms. Recently, the use of green H2 as fuel in fired heaters has drawn significant attention because it produces no CO2. Therefore, if H2 fuel is produced from a renewable source with zero carbon emissions, the H2 fuel is classified as green H2. Using green H2 in a furnace eliminates Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions.  

Ammonia is receiving increased attention as a carbon-free source or H2 carrier. Ammonia produced from green H2 through electrolysis and nitrogen generated in an air separation unit (ASU) using renewable power is classified as green ammonia. Therefore, using green ammonia as fuel will ensure zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions. 

However, burning these carbon-free fuels in a cracking heater will require some significant changes in burner design with respect to the combustion of methane. Considering these differences while designing the furnace components will ensure the smooth operation of furnaces using green fuel.  

Burner design. Due to differences in volumetric heat content and flame speed, a different burner design is needed for H2 fuel than for methane fuel. For raw gas burners, the differences focus on port size to allow sufficient fuel flow. For inspirated burners, the potential of pre-ignition must be considered. The velocity of fuel leaving the burner must exceed the flame speed to ensure that combustion does not begin in the burner throat and instead occurs only in the firebox. Heaters designed for methane gas combustion can be retrofitted with burners suitable for H2 firing when H2 fuel is available.  

Combustion air requirement. H2 combustion releases more heat with less combustion air than methane gas combustion. This results in higher radiant section efficiency and less heat recovery in the convection section of the heater. While this is desirable in grassroots heater designs, it can cause problems in retrofitting this design in an existing ethylene furnace. If excess air is limited to 10%, a deficiency results in available heat in the convection section. However, this can be addressed by increasing excess air, which will decrease radiant efficiency and carry over the required heat into the convection section. The absolute combustion air requirement will still be less than the quantity required for the methane design, so modifications of the ID fan will be unnecessary.  

NOx formation. The higher flame temperature of H2 combustion increases NOx production compared to a methane-fired furnace. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) will be required to meet emissions requirements with H2 fuel firing. New heater designs with natural gas combustion should consider leaving space for future SCR addition when H2 fuel is considered. In select cases, compact SCR developed by the co-author’s company may reduce NOx to levels equal to or below the original emissions. Compact SCR can be retrofitted in an existing heater.  

Combustion air preheat can be combined with H2 firing to reduce fired duty requirements. This will minimize the quantity of imported H2 required to make zero CO2 emissions cracking heaters. 

Green ammonia fuel. Ammonia is one of the largest volume chemicals produced globally, and one of the most distributed chemicals to industrial, agricultural and commercial users. Most of the renewable ammonia activity is focused on producing renewable/green H2, while the ammonia synthesis is a conventional Haber-Bosch synthesis process. Compared to H2, ammonia has a higher molecular weight and volumetric energy density, is easier to transport and store, and has more commercial, industrial and end user experience with pre-existing widespread infrastructure.  

While research and development on the use of ammonia directly in gas turbines and fired heaters are active, the use of ammonia as a fuel in large steam cracking heaters is yet to be demonstrated. The main challenge remaining is the availability of green ammonia as fuel. Another major obstacle in the deployment of ammonia as a fuel is its proficiency in fuel NOx production. Fuel NOx is formed when nitrogen is chemically bonded to the fuel, which is the case for ammonia, through the production of intermediate products such as cyanide, hydrogen cyanide, nitrosyl hydride (HNO) and NHi, and further oxidation. Considerable amounts of thermal NOx can also be generated with high enough flame temperatures, a significant risk to both health and the environment. These emissions can affect drinking water distribution, cause eutrophication and aggravate lung diseases if inhaled. Nitrous oxide (N2O), another prospective product of ammonia combustion at certain operating conditions, has 280 times the 20-yr global warming potential of CO2. Recent studies on ammonia/H2 blends have reported that 240 ppm of N2O emissions have an approximately equal global warming impact of CO2 emitted from a pure methane flame operating at dry low NOx scenarios. 

In addition, the availability and high cost associated with green H2 remain a challenge to adopting green H2 as fuel or as feed to produce green ammonia.  

FIG. 3 details a comparison of relative combustion properties of three common fuels: methane, H2 and ammonia. Selecting the right fuel depends on the combustion properties desired and will inform the design of the burner system.  

FIG. 3. A comparison of relative combustion properties between three common fuels: methane, H2 and ammonia.  

CCS. CCS is the process of capturing and storing CO2. This method of reducing carbon emissions can be effective for ethane cracking furnaces if carbon-containing fuel burning cannot be avoided. The co-author’s company has developed three methods of carbon capture: post-combustion carbon capture, oxyfuel combustion with purification and pre-combustion carbon capture. 

In post-combustion technology, the flue gas from the fired heater is compressed using a blower and cooled against circulating water in a direct contact cooler. The flue gas is then fed to a CO2 absorber that uses an amine-based solvent to capture the CO2 component. A waterwash section is provided at the top of the tower to minimize solvent losses before the flue gas is vented to the atmosphere. The CO2-rich solvent from the CO2 absorber is heated and sent to the solvent stripper, where CO2 is stripped from the solvent using low-pressure steam. The regenerated CO2-lean solvent is cooled and returned to the CO2 absorber. The overhead of the solvent stripper contains the wet CO2, which is compressed to an intermediate pressure, dried with triethylene glycol and compressed to the final battery limit condition. 

In oxyfuel combustion, fuel is combusted with high-purity oxygen from an ASU instead of air, which is commonly done. The use of pure oxygen as a combustion medium significantly reduces the inert nitrogen content in resultant flue gas, as air contains a nitrogen-to-oxygen ratio of 4:1. The elimination of inert nitrogen from flue gas in the oxyfuel combustion process significantly reduces the amount of flue gas that must be processed in the purification unit. This makes oxyfuel combustion an advantageous option, especially for large capacity units, due to its improved economy of scale. The net flue gas is compressed, dried using a molecular sieve dryer and purified using an external refrigeration system. A reject light stream is vented to the atmosphere, which consists of excess oxygen required to ensure the complete burning of fuel, trace inert nitrogen and argon from the ASU, and unrecovered CO2. A liquid CO2 stream is generated and sent to the battery limit condition for transportation and sequestering. 

In pre-combustion carbon capture during the production process of blue H2, the CO2 generated in the autothermal reformer (ATR) and in the water-gas shift (WGS) reactor is not sent to the atmosphere. The CO2 emissions in the ATR can be eliminated by firing blue H2 produced in the process instead of natural gas, which is fired in the conventional process. In the WGS, the effluent is sent to an amine-based carbon capture unit. This unit configuration is the same as the post-combustion carbon capture unit. The vent gas from the CO2 absorber is the blue H2 product. The captured CO2 from the solvent stripper overhead is compressed, dried and sent to the battery limit condition for transportation and sequestration.  

THE NET-ZERO ETHANE CRACKER  

The co-author’s company has developed a net-zero ethane cracker that uses commercially proven technologies to achieve zero CO2 emissions from the ethylene plant. The main design elements of the net-zero ethane cracker include increasing the radiant efficiency of the cracking heaters by preheating the combustion air, using green electrical energy to compensate for reduced SHP steam production in the heaters, and decreasing the carbon content of the fuel fired in the heaters via an enhanced H2 recovery system.    

The net-zero ethane cracker uses only plant-produced H2, emits zero CO2 and is highly reliable. Using an enhanced H2 recovery system with a PSA and membrane technology, the plant-produced H2 can satisfy all cracking heater fuel requirements. Combustion air preheating is a well-proven technology and can be further supplemented with green electrical energy. Reduced SHP steam production from the heaters is compensated for by using green electric power for some compressors. There are no fundamental changes to the process flowsheet. The radiant coil is identical to a conventional cracking heater. The ethylene yield is identical, and the same run length is maintained. A short primary TLE to minimize SHP steam production and a slightly longer secondary TLE to preheat the feed are used. Burners can accept fuels from 100% H2 to natural gas for backup. A slight increase in NOx is expected and is mitigated with an SCR system. Additionally, this concept can be extended to ethylene plants cracking heavier feeds like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and naphtha to reduce CO2 emissions. 

Takeaways. The ethane cracking process stands at the intersection of increasing global demand for ethylene and the urgent need for sustainability within the petrochemicals industry. As detailed in this overview of both the operational intricacies and the challenges of reducing GHG emissions, the traditional methodologies employed in ethane cracking require significant innovation to align with environmental standards being targeted by policymakers. 

The transition toward a more sustainable ethane cracking process is not merely a regulatory obligation: it represents a critical opportunity for the industry to embrace technological advancements that enhance efficiency and reduce carbon footprints. Diverse pathways are available for decarbonization through the integration of an ethane cracker with various process enhancements such as electrification, carbon-free fuels and robust CCS technologies. However, investments in green fuels and green electricity remain a challenge due to high costs. Economic justification will require appropriate policy measures through incentives or emissions penalties. The successful implementation of these strategies hinges on continued innovation and collaboration among industry stakeholders, including researchers, engineers and policymakers. 

Collaboration is essential for pooling resources, sharing best practices and fostering a culture of innovation that addresses both technical and operational challenges. By working together, the ethane cracking sector can leverage innovative research and development to create solutions that not only meet the growing demand for ethylene but also significantly mitigate environmental impacts. 

Moreover, as the landscape of global regulations evolves, proactive engagement with regulatory bodies will be vital. By anticipating future standards and demonstrating a commitment to sustainability, the industry can position itself as a leader in environmental stewardship. 

In conclusion, the path forward for the ethane cracking process is challenged by the dual imperatives of efficiency and sustainability. Through concerted efforts in innovation, collaboration and a steadfast focus on reducing GHG emissions, the petrochemicals industry can ensure its relevance and resilience in an increasingly environmentally conscious world. This commitment will not only serve to meet the immediate demands of the market but will also contribute to a sustainable future for generations to come. 

NOTE  

^a Lummus Technology’s SRT-e™ electric steam cracking furnace  

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