Background: Ethylene, propylene, and butylene as light olefins are the most important intermediates in the petrochemical industry worldwide. Methanol to olefins (MTO) process is a new technology based on catalytic cracking to produce ethylene and propylene from methanol.

Aims and Objective: This study aims to simulate the process of producing ethylene from methanol by using Aspen HYSYS software from the initial design to the improved design.

Methods: Ethylene is produced in a two-step reaction. In an equilibrium reactor, the methanol is converted to dimethyl ether by an equilibrium reaction. The conversion of the produced dimethyl ether to ethylene is done in a conversion reactor. Changes have been made to improve the conditions and get closer to the actual process design carried out in the industry. The plug flow reactor has been replaced by the equilibrium reactor, and the distillation column was employed to separate the dimethyl ether produced from the reactor.

Result: The effect of the various parameters on the ethylene production was investigated. Eventually, ethylene is produced with a purity of 95.5 % in the improved design, and thermal integration was performed to minimize energy consumption.

Conclusion: It was finally found according to the exothermic reaction of the dimethyl ether production, thermal integration in the process reduces the energy consumption in the heater and cooler.

背景：乙烯、丙烯和丁烯作为轻质烯烃是全球石油化工行业最重要的中间体。甲醇制烯烃（MTO）工艺是一种基于催化裂化以甲醇为原料生产乙烯和丙烯的新技术。

目的与目的：本研究旨在利用Aspen HYSYS软件模拟甲醇制乙烯过程，从初始设计到改进设计。

方法：乙烯是通过两步反应生产的。在平衡反应器中，甲醇通过平衡反应转化为二甲醚。产生的二甲醚向乙烯的转化在转化反应器中进行。已进行更改以改善条件并更接近行业中进行的实际工艺设计。活塞流反应器已被平衡反应器取代，并采用蒸馏塔分离反应器中产生的二甲醚。

结果：研究了各种参数对乙烯生产的影响。最终，在改进的设计中生产出纯度为 95.5% 的乙烯，并进行了热集成以最大限度地降低能耗。

结论：根据二甲醚生产的放热反应，最终发现，该过程中的热集成降低了加热器和冷却器的能耗。