The process depicted in the Ethane Cracker Process Flow Diagram is a steam-cracking process for producing ethylene from an ethane-propane mixture. Cracking and quenching, compression and drying, and separation are the three main stages of the process. Initially, an ethane-propane mixture is fed into furnaces where it is cracked under high-severity conditions, producing ethylene, propylene, and other byproducts. To prevent further reactions and the formation of undesirable byproducts, the furnace outlet stream is then fed into a water-based quench. This Ethane Cracker Process Flow Diagram also depicts the Ethane Cracker's function. An ethane cracker converts ethane, a component of natural gas found in abundance in the Marcellus shale, into ethylene.
