Editing Ethylene (section)

==Production==
Global ethylene production was 107 million tonnes in 2005,<ref name="cenews"/> 109 million tonnes in 2006,<ref>Nattrass, L and Higson, A (22 July 2010) [http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/publications/nnfcc-renewable-chemicals-factsheet-ethanol NNFCC Renewable Chemicals Factsheet: Ethanol] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120905034212/http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/publications/nnfcc-renewable-chemicals-factsheet-ethanol |date=2012-09-05 }}. [[National Non-Food Crops Centre]]</ref> 138 million tonnes in 2010, and 141 million tonnes in 2011.<ref>{{cite journal |last=True |first=Warren R. |name-list-style=vanc |journal=[[Oil & Gas Journal]] |year=2012 |volume=110 |issue=7 |url=http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/vol-110/issue-07/special-report-ethylene-report/global-ethylene-capacity.html |title=Global ethylene capacity poised for major expansion |pages=90–95 |access-date=2016-05-06 |archive-date=2016-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604011302/http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/vol-110/issue-07/special-report-ethylene-report/global-ethylene-capacity.html |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2013, ethylene was produced by at least 117 companies in 32 countries. To meet the ever-increasing demand for ethylene, sharp increases in production facilities are added globally, particularly in the [[Mideast]] and in [[China]].<ref name="Ceresana">{{cite web |url=http://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/ethylene/ |title=Market Study: Ethylene (2nd edition), Ceresana, November 2014 |publisher=ceresana.com |access-date=2015-02-03 |archive-date=2015-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307115926/http://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/ethylene/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Production [[greenhouse gas emissions|emits greenhouse gas]], namely significant amounts of carbon dioxide.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mynko |first1=Oleksii |last2=Amghizar |first2=Ismaël |last3=Brown |first3=David J. |last4=Chen |first4=Lin |last5=Marin |first5=Guy B. |last6=de Alvarenga |first6=Rodrigo Freitas |last7=Uslu |first7=Didem Civancik |last8=Dewulf |first8=Jo |last9=Van Geem |first9=Kevin M. |date=2022-08-15 |title=Reducing CO2 emissions of existing ethylene plants: Evaluation of different revamp strategies to reduce global CO2 emission by 100 million tonnes |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652622017334 |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |language=en |volume=362 |pages=132127 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132127 |bibcode=2022JCPro.36232127M |hdl=1854/LU-8760240 |s2cid=248838079 |issn=0959-6526|hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Industrial process===
Ethylene is produced by several methods in the [[petrochemical industry]]. A primary method is [[steam cracking]] (SC) where hydrocarbons and steam are heated to 750–950&nbsp;°C. This process converts large hydrocarbons into smaller ones and introduces unsaturation. When [[ethane]] is the feedstock, ethylene is the product. Ethylene is separated from the resulting mixture by repeated [[compression (physical)|compression]] and [[distillation]].<ref name=Keystone>{{cite book |vauthors=Kniel L, Winter O, Stork K |title=Ethylene, keystone to the petrochemical industry |year=1980 |publisher=M. Dekker |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8247-6914-7 }}</ref> In Europe and Asia, ethylene is obtained mainly from cracking naphtha, gasoil and condensates with the coproduction of propylene, C4 olefins and aromatics (pyrolysis gasoline).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2007/11/05/9075778/ethylene-production-and-manufacturing-process |title=Ethylene Production and Manufacturing Process |website=Icis |access-date=2019-07-29 |archive-date=2019-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729165959/https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2007/11/05/9075778/ethylene-production-and-manufacturing-process |url-status=live }}</ref> Other procedures employed for the production of ethylene include [[Fischer-Tropsch synthesis]] and [[methanol-to-olefin]]s (MTO).<ref>{{cite journal |title=New Trends in Olefin Production |vauthors=Amghizar I, Vandewalle LA, Van Geem KM, Marin GB |doi=10.1016/J.ENG.2017.02.006 |journal=Engineering |year=2017 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=171–178 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2017Engin...3..171A }}</ref>

===Laboratory synthesis===
Although of great value industrially, ethylene is rarely synthesized in the laboratory and is ordinarily purchased.<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Crimmins MT, Kim-Meade AS |chapter=Ethylene |editor=Paquette, L. |title=Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2001 |doi=10.1002/047084289X.re066 |isbn=0471936235}}</ref> It can be produced via dehydration of [[ethanol]] with [[sulfuric acid]] or in the gas phase with [[aluminium oxide]] or [[activated alumina]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Practical Organic Chemistry (preparation 4) |last=Cohen |first=Julius B. |name-list-style=vanc |publisher=Macmillan |year=1930}}</ref>

===Biosynthesis===
Ethylene is produced from [[methionine]] in nature.  The immediate precursor is [[1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid|1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid]].<ref name=Yang_1984>{{cite journal | vauthors = Yang SF, Hoffman NE | title = Ethylene biosynthesis and its regulation in higher plants | journal = Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. | volume = 35 | pages = 155–89 | year = 1984 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.pp.35.060184.001103}}</ref>