| Summary, etc |
Ethyl benzene is an organic chemical compound which is an aromatic hydrocarbon. It is colorless liquid that smells like gasoline. It occurs naturally in coal tar and petroleum and it is also found in many man-made products, such as paints, inks and many more. It will evaporate rapidly from water, and will be degraded by microbes.<br/> The manufacture of ethyl benzene involves the alkylation of benzene with ethanol to yield a mixture of alkylated benzene and excess benzene. Process using zeolite catalysts offer low benzene-to-ethanol ratios, which reduces the size of equipment, and lowers the production of by-products. The major use of ethyl benzene in the petrochemical industry is an intermediate compound for the production of styrene, which in turn is used for making polystyrene, a commonly used plastic material.<br/> Though demand for styrene is growing globally at about 5% annually, in the US styrene is only growing at 2% at best. Thus, ethyl benzene is poised for only modest growth of 2%. Historically, global EB/SM demand has grown at around 4-5%/year and it is expected to continue at a slightly slower 3.5-4%/year. In Western Europe, long term growth in demand is estimated at 1-2%/year while growth in Eastern Europe is expected to be a healthier 3-4%/year. Consumption is expected to grow the fastest in the Middle East and Asia. The growth in demand will be in China and supported by new EB/SM capacity in the Middle East and northeast Asia. Ethyl benzene?s major shortcoming is that it is essentially a one market segment product-styrene. Moreover, as the styrene is produced with captive EB there is not much noticeable market activity.<br/> There are several new processes for the production of ethyl benzene. All of which are more on the process optimization, catalysts upgrade and technology enhancement. With regards to the selectivity, process yield and low by-products formation, new technologies and new synthesized solid catalysts are made to be used in the production and to get higher selectivity of the products.<br/> Of course, when planning to build new design, the costs for the installment, labor, equipments, raw materials, maintenance, plant location and utility are accounted in designing. Investment is one important economic evaluation, to know how much you will invest to install the said plant. |