Basic petrochemicals

In general, for basic petrochemicals that are not much more expensive than fuel (energy) itself, the energy recovery or use is important. Therefore, exothermic reactions should be executed at the highest temperature and endothermic reaction at the lowest, within the range that the reaction permits. In addition, reactors should not be optimized only for their own performance, but also for the optimum economy of the full synthesis loop or the full technology. 

Natural gas and crude distillates such as naphtha from petroleum refining are used as feedstocks to manufacture a wide range of petrochemicals that are in turn used in the manufacture of consumer goods. Basic petrochemicals are... 

As can be deduced from plant purchases, the PRC is still at the formative stage where emphasis is on producing only the most basic petrochemicals. No plants were purchased for producing dibasic acids (phthalic and maleic anhydrides, etc.) and fluro-carbon or tetrafluoro ethylene or some of the advanced engineering plastics like ABS polyacetals, polycarbonates, polyimides or any other unsaturated polyesters. Another important area of low Chinese activity is thermoplastics for space and defense applications. ... 

Sulfuric acid is number 1 by far, with a volume of over 90 billion lb produced yearly in the U.S. It is way ahead of number 2, nitrogen, which is produced at more than 75 billion lb annually. The highest volume organic chemical is ethylene, the basic petrochemical used to synthesize so many other important organic chemicals. It is the leader of the basic seven organics—ethylene, propylene, the C4 mixture, benzene, toluene, xylene, and methane—from which all other important organic chemicals are derived. Methane does not itself appear in the list because it is not synthesized by a chemical process. However, it is the major constituent in natural gas and is used to make many other chemicals. 

Butadiene is used primarily in the production of synthetic rubbers, including styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), polybutadiene nibber (BR), styrene-butadiene latex (SBL), chloroprene rubber (CR) and nitrile rubber (NR). Important plastics containing butadiene as a monomeric component are shock-resistant polystyrene, a two-phase system consisting of polystyrene and polybutadiene ABS polymers consisting of acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene and a copolymer of methyl methacrylate, butadiene and styrene (MBS), which is used as a modifier for poly(vinyl chloride). It is also used as an intermediate in the production of chloroprene, adiponitrile and other basic petrochemicals. The worldwide use pattern for butadiene in 1981 was as follows (%) SBR + SBL, 56 BR, 22 CR, 6 NR, 4 ABS, 4 hexamethylenediamine, 4 other, 4. The use pattern for butadiene in the United States in 1995 was (%) SBR, 31 BR, 24 SBL, 13 CR, 4 ABS, 5 NR, 2 adiponitrile, 12 and other, 9 (Anon., 1996b). 

The nitration of an aromatic nucleus is probably one of the earliest procedures used to functionalize basic petrochemicals into starting materials for chemically more elaborate structures and has been known since 1834 and was first employed on hn industrial scale in 1847 (eq l)4. 

Chemical producers have entered a period of higher and more volatile feedstock costs, whether they consume natural gas, crude oil derivatives, or basic petrochemical building blocks. 

The importance of stimulating innovation can be seen by looking at the introduction of new polymers. Over the course of the 20th century, the development of fossil fuel-based polymers increased steadily up to the post-war period, stimulated by the abundance and low cost of basic petrochemicals. However, it has declined dramatically since 1960. Innovation in the traditional polymer industry today is mainly related to the application and blending of existing polymers. 

It is certain that world use of natural gas will increase dramatically in the near future as industrialized countries replace coal-fired facilities with cleaner-burning natural gas. In addition, a number of countries remote from major markets are in the process of installing world-scale plants for utilization of natural gas and gas liquids for production of fertilizers, methanol, premium gasoline blending stocks, and other basic petrochemical derivatives that will result in higher-value products from natural gas and gas liquids for which there are no local markets. 

Manoel Carnauba Cortez, Exec. VP-Basic Petrochemicals Marcelo Lyra do Amaral, VP-Institutional Rel. 

Manufacturing-Chemicals Basic Chemicals Basic Petrochemicals Resins... 

Mauricio Abraham Galan Ramirez, Dir.-IT Bus. Processes Jordy Herrera Flores, Dir.-Gas Basic Petrochemicals Carlos Arnoldo Morales Gil, Dir.-Exploration Prod. 

Pemex Gas and Basic Petrochemicals PETROLEOS MEXICANOS (PEMEX)... 

Application A UOP aromatics complex is a combination of process units which are used to convert petroleum naphtha and pyrolysis gasoline into the basic petrochemical intermediates benzene, toluene, paraxylene and/or ortho-xylene. 

A similar situation also risks arising with the progressive production of the vast natural gas fields of eastern Canada. This development, whose effect is still slight today, could give rise in the future to a gradual shift of the production centers of basic petrochemical commodities. 

Butene-1 is the first member of the linear alpha olefins (LAO)family. It is a basic petrochemical and it can be converted to products such as polybutene-1 and butylene oxide. However, the main use of butene-1 is as a co-monomer with ethylene for the polyethylene production (LLDPE and HDPE)which accounts for approximately 80% of the butene-1 market [1]... 

Thus by the end of the twentieth century, the American chemical industry consisted of two multisectored core companies, Du Pont and Dow, as well as a number of specialty chemicals manufacturers still focused on products commercialized in the 1920s or in the 1940s and 1950s. The oil and gas companies produced feedstocks, basic petrochemicals, and commodity chemicals. Except for the German and Swiss companies, which from the start had commercialized pharmaceuticals, the European multisectored chemical companies had also become producers of specialty chemicals. For example, Britain s ICI, after spinning off in 1993 its most profitable division (pharmaceuticals) as a separate enterprise (Zeneca), used the funds generated to acquire Unilever s specialty chemical division. 

In 1956 the Du Pont executive committee decided not to expand its output of basic petrochemicals, olefins, aromatics, and basic polymers, even though it produced these chemicals during the war and had pioneered in the commercializing of polyethylene. The reason for the committee s decision was... 

Only in meeting the demands of World War II, however, did Union Carbide begin to produce basic petrochemicals and polymers in vast amonnts. As the nation s pioneer in petrochemicals, it became a leader in the production of butadiene, styrene, ethylene, and then most successfnlly, polyethyl-... 

As of 1998, Exxon was the third largest U.S. corporation in terms of revenues, in excess of 122 billion. It was incorporated in the state of New Jersey in 1898 and became a distinct entity upon the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust in 1911. In 1997 about 14 billion (10.3% of Exxon s total revenue) was attributed to chemicals, making it the third largest U.S. producer of chemicals. The chemical products include basic petrochemicals, including olefins and aromatics, additives for fuels and lubricants, polyethylene and polypropylene plastics, specialty resins, specialty and commodity solvents, and performance chemicals for oil field operations. 

Indecisiveness on the part of the Mexican government, an unpredictable political climate, as well as a downturn in petrochemicals have caused a lack of interest in purchasing part of the state-owned petrochemicals. Legislation in 1997 allowed private companies to build and operate private enterprises, but such ventures depended on basic petrochemicals produced by PEMEX. 

Over the next few years after the war, ExxonMobil s predecessor companies started to process refinery by-products into many basic petrochemical and numerous derivatives. Since the end of the Second World War, the two companies each already had advanced technologies and expanded business in more than 100 countries. 

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