Until now, the gaseous basic chemical ethene has been produced almost exclusively from fossil resources. Based on industrial and biological carbon sources, a new, climate-friendly technology pathway for the production of ethene is now being developed and implemented.

Project goals

With an annual production volume of 150 million tons, the gas ethylene (ethene) is an important building block of the chemical industry. Ethylene is the most widely produced basic organic chemical and is used, for example, in the production of derived products such as polyethylene, ethylene oxide and styrene. To date, ethylene has been produced almost exclusively from crude oil and other fossil raw materials.

For a sustainable, industrial production of ethene, new technology pathways must be developed based on industrial and biogenic carbon sources, i.e. from residual materials or biological origin. As part of the Syngas2Ethen project, such technology pathway is to be transferred from the laboratory to industrial application. In the process both ecological and economic framework conditions are to be evaluated.

In a new approach, ethylene is to be sustainably produced directly from synthesis gas. Synthesis gas is a mixture consisting of carbon monoxide and hydrogen in addition to varying quantities of other gases. In the framework of Syngas2Ethen, catalyst concepts are being further developed and a new process window for the production process is being refined. An accompanying process simulation forms the basis for a comprehensive analysis of the ecological effects of the process and for calculating the techno-economic advantages of the new technology pathway.

The closing of the cycle is achieved by using industrial and biogenic residual materials as sustainable carbon sources for the production of synthesis gas. If the process energy is also provided from regenerative energies, a CO₂-neutral technology pathway can be realized.

In this way, SynGas2Ethene is developing a framework that contributes to the implementation of sustainable chemical value chains and enables the production of important carbon-based platform chemicals from industrial and biogenic carbon sources using renewable energies in the medium term.