Finnish engineering firms Neste Jacobs and Coolbrook are collaborating on a project to develop a new naphtha cracking technology. Work is based on Coolbrook’s patented RotoDynamicReactor (RDR) technology that is said to give a significantly higher ethylene yield, much lower coke formation, lower energy consumption, less greenhouse gas emissions and smaller plant investment costs.

Coolbrook said its vast knowledge and experience from the rocket and aerospace industry were used to design a new generation reactor for hydrocarbon cracking. A high-speed rotor transforms mechanical energy into high thermal energy inside the reactor, instead of transferring heat from outside, such as in conventional pyrolysis furnaces.

Other partners in the project are the University of Oxford’s Osney Thermo Fluids laboratory, the University of Cambridge’s Whittle laboratory as well as major producers such as Dow Chemical and equipment manufacturers including MANTurbo.

A pilot reactor based on RDR technology will be built to verify olefin yields during the two-year project. Commercial launch of the technology is expected during 2019.

CEO of Coolbrook, Harri Johannesdahl, said significant financial benefits can be gained with RDR technology. “It saves non-renewable resources, decreases radically side-products from ethylene cracking, and simplifies operations of ethylene production,” he said.  Jarmo Suominen, CEO of Neste Jacobs, added that the partners believe the innovation has great export potential.