Abstract: Butadiene is a conjugated diene used in the production of polymers and as a chemical intermediate for several specialty products. Butadiene is produced commercially by two methods, i.e. the physical separation from the steam cracking of paraffinic hydrocarbons and the oxidation dehydrogenation of butene. In this paper, thermal pinch technology is used to analyze the two main process units (dealkylation unit and butadiene extraction unit) of the butene oxidative dehydrogenation unit. Based on the analysis and calculation of the thermal pinch point and heat utilization rate of the heat exchange network, some feasible proposals are put forward for the integration of heat exchange network, which can reduce the utility consumption and improve the efficiency of the unit.

Key words: butadiene, oxidative dehydrogenation of butene, pinch point technology, heat exchange network, integration optimization, energy saving