PROPYLENE

Like ethylene, propylene (propene) is a reactive alkene that can be obtained from refinery gas streams, especially those from cracking processes. The main source of propylene, however, is steam cracking of hydrocarbons, where it is coproduced with ethylene. There is no special process for propylene production except the dehydrogenation of propane.

Propylene can be polymerized alone or copolymerized with other monomers such as ethylene. Many important chemicals are based on propylene such as isopropanol, allyl alcohol, glycerol, and acrylonitrile. U.S. production of proplylene was approximately 27.5 billion lbs in 1997.