Ethylene recycle systems and methods

Abstract

An ethylene recycle method may include: obtaining an overheads stream comprising ethylene in a first gaseous state from an ethylene purification column; heating the overheads stream in a first heat exchanger to produce a heated overheads stream comprising the ethylene in a second gaseous state; compressing the heated overheads stream to yield a compressed ethylene stream comprising the ethylene in a first supercritical state; cooling the compressed ethylene stream to produce a cooled, compressed ethylene stream comprising the ethylene in a first liquid state, wherein the cooling comprises passing the compressed ethylene through the first heat exchanger; reducing the pressure of the cooled, compressed ethylene stream to produce a first recycle stream comprising the ethylene in a second liquid state and optionally a third gaseous state; and introducing the first recycle stream into the ethylene purification column.