Journal of Applied Research in Chemical-Polymer Engineering

Abstract Research subject: Chlorine and its derivatives, due to their unique properties, are used in the production of a wide range of materials in chemical, polymer, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and health industries. In fact, more than half of the marketed products worldwide are directly or indirectly related to the chlorine industry. Given the significance of these chemicals, this study aims to analyze the status of the chlorine chain in Iran’s petrochemical industry and identify its strengths, weaknesses, and investment opportunities.
Research approach: To assess the status of domestic chlorine production, the nominal and actual production capacities of petrochemical companies were collected and analyzed based on official data from the National Petrochemical Company. Using the collected statistics and data, the decrease in the operational rates of petrochemical companies was analyzed. Additionally, the share of end-use applications in the total chlorine consumption in Iran was determined and analyzed using block mass balance of the process units. To identify investment opportunities in the chlorine chain, trade data for chlorine compounds were collected and analyzed based on customs documentation, in order to identify and introduce chemicals with significant import volume or value compared to other substances.
Main results: The results showed that the majority of chlorine in Iran is used for the production of ethylene dichloride/polyvinyl chloride, with this application accounting for over 91% of chlorine consumption in the petrochemical industry. On the other hand, the high cost of replacing mercury-based chlor-alkali units with more environmentally friendly membrane technology and the inability to secure feedstock were identified as the main reasons for the decline in operational capacity for chlorine and polyvinyl chloride production in the country. Using trade statistics, methylene chloride, powder choline chloride, suspension and emulsion polyvinyl chloride, neoprene, and epichlorohydrin were identified as chemicals with high import volume and value, making the evaluation of their production projects important.

Abstract Research Subject: Identifying and evaluating investment opportunities across the entire network of Iranian petrochemical units is of particular importance for developing the petrochemical industry's value chain, maximizing added value, and ensuring the optimal use of oil and gas resources.

Research Approach: The purpose of this research is to create a mathematical model to identify and evaluate investment opportunities by analyzing technical and economic-financial data of process units active in the Iranian petrochemical industry. This tool can process a large volume of information in a limited time and with acceptable accuracy and provide the desired output. Process information of petrochemical complexes, including operational units, production and consumption of materials, technologies used, and prices of raw materials and products, is the main data that form the basis for preparing mathematical models. In addition to process units, environmental variables affecting the system, along with their effect on the model, are also modeled and integrated with the network of process units.

Main Results: By creating a model and performing the simulation process, the various outputs of the system include: technical and economic-financial analysis, estimation of investment costs of process units, sensitivity analysis of the network of process units to technical and economic parameters and variables such as feed and product prices, as well as the operational capacity of process units. For example, to validate the simulator outputs, the actual data of the Amirkabir Petrochemical Complex were compared with the outputs obtained from the simulator, and accordingly, the error rate of the simulator was estimated to be 3.36 percent in the estimation of the production rate of main products and 22 percent in the estimation of the production rate of by-products. Finally, based on the simulator outputs, investment opportunities in the value chain of the Iranian petrochemical industry were identified, evaluated, and validated, and on this basis, the establishment of a methanol-to-olefin (MTO) conversion unit was introduced as a valid investment opportunity in the downstream part of the methanol value chain.