The original processes for making butadiene from acetylene by the Adol or Reppe routes is no longer used on economic grounds. Butadiene was also produced from ethanol but this process is now obsolete.
The major source of butadiene is as a byproduct in the steam cracking of naphtha and gas oil to make ethylene and propylene. The butadiene is extracted from the C4 cracker stream using extractive distillation where the butadiene is dissolved in an aqueous solution of a solvent and withdrawn from the bottom of a distillation column. In a second column, butadiene is separated from the solvent before final purification.
Other processes include the dehydrogenation of purified n-butene obtained from steam crackers or C4 refinery streams. Oxidative dehydrogenation is said to further improve the conversion and selectivity. In the US, butanes, a component of NGLs, LPGs and butenes, are also dehydrogenated to butadiene.
Butadiene
Price Reports
ICIS pricing gives you access on a weekly or real time basis to the latest price movements and critical market commentary on the Butadiene market. Click below to see a quarterly market overview.
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Butadiene
Uses and Outlook
Butadiene is a versatile raw material used in the production of a wide variety of synthetic rubbers and polymer resins as well as a few chemical intermediates.
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