Case Studies · Hydrocarbon & Chemical

Ethylene Furnace High Emissivity Coating: 6% Fuel Savings and 9% More Production at Eastman

Ethylene furnace·Eastman Chemical, Texas, USA

Eastman Chemical coated the insulating firebrick and Z-Blok modules of its Texas ethylene furnace with Emisshield ST-series products, with new process tubes installed at the same time. The furnace achieved 6% energy savings and a 9% increase in ethylene production simultaneously, with payback in about 10 months at typical fuel prices.

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−6% fuel
: +9% production
: Payback ~10 months

The Challenge

Eastman wanted to evaluate energy savings and production gains from a high emissivity coating on an ethylene furnace operating at about 1,150°C.

What Was Applied

ST-series products on the IFB and Z-Blok modules, applied with a standard HVLP spray gun. New process tubes were installed concurrently.

Why It Worked

Improved radiative heat transfer from coated IFB and fiber and lower wall temperatures let the furnace crack more feed on less fuel. See Production Increase.

Summary of Results

Metric	Before	After
Fuel consumption	Baseline	−6%
Ethylene production	Baseline	+9%
Payback		~10 months (at US$6/MMBtu)
Heating	Baseline	Improved uniformity, lower wall temperatures

Next step

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Operating an ethylene furnace? Send us the duty, fuel data, and target. We project the result from comparable documented installations.

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