Propylene
chemical compound
Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CH=CH2. It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petroleum-like odor.
Propylene is a product of combustion from forest fires, cigarette smoke, and motor vehicle and aircraft exhaust. It was discovered in 1850 by A. W. von Hoffmann's student John Williams Reynolds as the only gaseous product of thermal decomposition of amyl alcohol to react with chlorine and bromine.
Production
Steam cracking
The dominant technology for producing propylene is steam cracking, using propane as the feedstock. Cracking propane yields a mixture of ethylene, propylene, methane, hydrogen gas, and other related compounds. The yield of propylene is about 15%. The other principal feedstock is naphtha, especially in the Middle East and Asia.
Propylene can be separated by fractional distillation from the hydrocarbon mixtures obtained from cracking and other refining processes; refinery-grade propene is about 50 to 70%.
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