Chemical process industry leading producers

The small amounts of solid catalysts purchased by the fine-chemical industry means that contact between the catalyst producers and the fine-chemical industry is usually very limited. Often the fine-chemical industry does not wish to inform the catalyst producer about the specific reaction that is to be performed with the catalyst. Although there is much room for the development of better catalysts, there is no commercial incentive to improve the situation. Elucidation of the fundamental principles underlying the activity and selectivity of solid catalysts in the liquid-phase reactions characteristic of many fine-chemical processes might lead to the development of solid catalysts better adapted to specific processes. 

Approximately 2.5 million t of viscose process regenerated ceUulose fibers were produced in 1990 (Table 1). Measured by production capacity in 1990, the leading producers of filament yams in 1990 were the Soviet Union state-owned factories (255,000 t capacity) and Akzo Fibres in Europe (100,000 t). The leading producers of staple fiber and tow were Courtaulds with 180,000 t capacity spUt between the UK and North America Formosa Chemicals and Fibres Co. with 150,000 t in Taiwan Tenzing with 125,000 t in Austria, and a 40% stake in South Pacific Viscose s 37,000 t Indonesian plant and Grasim Industries in India (125,000 t). BASF s U.S. capacity of 50,000 t was acquired by Tenzing in 1992. 

Asahi Chemical Industries (ACl, Japan) are now the leading producers of cuprammonium rayon. In 1990 they made 28,000 t/yr of filament and spunbond nonwoven from cotton ceUulose (65). Their continuing success with a process which has suffered intense competition from the cheaper viscose and synthetic fibers owes much to their developments of high speed spinning technology and of efficient copper recovery systems. Bemberg SpA in Italy, the only other producer of cuprammonium textile fibers, was making about 2000 t of filament yam in 1990. 

Bums and Hazzan demonstrated tlie use of event tree and fault tree analysis in tlie study of a potential accident sequence leading to a toxic vapor release at an industrial chemical process plant. The initiator of tlie accident sequence studied is event P, the failure of a plant programmable automatic controller. Tliis event, in conjunction willi the success or failure of a process water system (a glycol cooling system) mid an operator-manual shutdown of tlie distillation system produced minor, moderate, or major release of toxic material as indicated in Fig. 21.4.1. The symbols W, G, O represent tlie events listed ... 

During the beginning of the nineteenth century, the alkali and acid industries provided the model for other chemical industries. One characteristic of the chemical industry is that development in one area often stimulates development in another area. For example, the lead-chamber method produced enough sulfuric acid to make the acid practical for use in the LeBlanc process. Similarly, the Solvay process used ammonia produced when coke was made for steel production. Certain chemical industries were perceived by royalty and national leaders as critical to their nation s welfare. One of these was the manufacture of gunpowder, also known as blackpowder. Gunpowder is a mixture of approximately... 

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