Method and plant for producing ethylene and/or other olefins by steam cracking

A plant for producing ethylene and/or other olefins by steam cracking, comprising:

• one or more crackers configured for charging with a paraffin-containing feed and for producing a crude gas;
• a crude gas compressor comprising two serial compressor trains;
• a C2 refrigerant compressor;
• a C3 refrigerant compressor;
• and
• a plurality of electrical drives, wherein:
• each of the plurality of electrical drives has at least partially identical power features;
• each electrical drive is fed via frequency converters;
• and
• each of the plurality of electrical drives is of the same construction and is a variable-speed drive;
• wherein:
• the plant is configured to subject the crude gas at least in part to a treatment comprising a compression via the crude gas compressor, a thermal separation using a C2 refrigerant via the C2 refrigerant compressor, and a thermal separation using a C3 refrigerant via the C3 refrigerant compressor;
• at least a portion of the drive power of the two compressor trains of the crude gas compressor, of the C2 refrigerant compressor, and of the C3 refrigerant compressor is provided by respective electrical drives of the plurality of electrical drives;
• and
• each of the serial compressor trains of the crude gas compression, the C2 refrigerant compressor, and the C3 refrigerant compressor are matched to one another in terms of their torque.