Chemical Western Europe

Fig. 1.2 Production and consumption of chemicals - Western Europe, 1998 Includes pulp and paper, mining, electronics, textiles and refining Apparent consumption (USD 385 billion) = production (USD 431 billion) - net trade balance (USD 46 billion) Source CEFIC - Facts and Figures, 1999...

Directoy of Chemical Producers—Western Europe, Vol. 2, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., 1990, p. 1225. 

In Western Europe, the CPC producers are equally varied. The following is a partial Hst of the larger companies with total CPC production capacity (10 t) at all sites shown in parentheses Atochem SA (148.5, Prance and Spain), Hoescht AG (102.0, Germany), KaH-Chemie AG (66.0, Germany and Spain), Montefluos SpA (100.0, Italy), and ICI Chemicals and Polymers Ltd. (>113.6, United Kingdom). These producers account for over 80% of the Western European CPC production. 

Worldwide capacity for oxo process chemicals reached 7.0 x 10 metric tons at the start of 1990 (35). Market share for oxo chemicals is divided between Western Europe (36%), the United States (30%), Eastern Europe (12%), Japan (10%), other Asian countries (8%), and South America and Mexico (4%). U.S. 0X0 manufacturers, products, and capacities are given ia Table 2. 

The former Rttgerswerke (now VFT, AG) plant at Castrop-Rauxel produces closely fractionated concentrates of a number of polynuclear hydrocarbons that are further separated and purified to provide the main source of these chemicals for western Europe (16). 

Tetraacetylethylenediarnine (T AFP) perborate activator production has been estimated by industry sources to be 54,000 t to 63,600 t per year as of 1990. The production is located solely in Western Europe where the product is consumed. No estimates of the perborate activator nonanoyloxyben2ene sulfonate production volumes are available because it is captive chemical of the Procter Gamble Co. 

The pattern of commercial production of 1,3-butadiene parallels the overall development of the petrochemical industry. Since its discovery via pyrolysis of various organic materials, butadiene has been manufactured from acetylene as weU as ethanol, both via butanediols (1,3- and 1,4-) as intermediates (see Acetylene-DERIVED chemicals). On a global basis, the importance of these processes has decreased substantially because of the increasing production of butadiene from petroleum sources. China and India stiU convert ethanol to butadiene using the two-step process while Poland and the former USSR use a one-step process (229,230). In the past butadiene also was produced by the dehydrogenation of / -butane and oxydehydrogenation of / -butenes. However, butadiene is now primarily produced as a by-product in the steam cracking of hydrocarbon streams to produce ethylene. Except under market dislocation situations, butadiene is almost exclusively manufactured by this process in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. 

Aqualon Co. and Union Carbide Corp. have manufacturing faciUties in the United States and Western Europe. Hoechst AG in Europe and Euji Chemical Co., Ltd. inJapan are the only other procedures of HEC. 

Benzotrichloride is produced from total side-chain chlorination of toluene or of residual products from benzyl chloride production. In Western Europe, Bayer has the largest capacity (14,000 t/yr), and there are only two significant producers in the United States Occidental Chemical in Niagara EaUs, New York (20,000 t/yr), and Velsicol Chemical (11,000 t/yr). Total capacity in the western world is 68,000 t/yr and production of benzotrichloride in 1988 was estimated at 31,500 t. 

In the U.S. and many parts of Western Europe, 95% destruction of VOC is required, and when toxic chemicals are present the destruction efficiency is raised to 99%. Characterization of the VOC laden stream assists in selecting the appropriate technology to achieve the required destruction efficiency. 

BP CHEMICALS ALPHACAN ATOCHEM OTVD SITA EREMA HERBOLD IFP ATOHAAS COMPIEGNE,UNIVERSITE MICHELIN AUSTRIA EUROPE-GENERAL EUROPEAN COMMUNITY EUROPEAN UNION FRANCE GERMANY WESTERN EUROPE... 

BP CHEMICALS LTD. DSM NV ELF ATOCHEM SA ENICHEM SPA PETROFINA SA BELGIUM EUROPEAN COMMUNITY EUROPEAN UNION FRANCE ITALY NETHERLANDS UK WESTERN EUROPE... 

Only 10 firms account for 75% of agrochemicals sales, while the 15 largest drug companies have a market share of only 33% (Stinson, 1995). About 85% of fine chemicals are manufactured by companies of the triad the United States (28%), Western Europe (39%), and Japan (17%). Italy, with 4.0 million litres reactor capacity and 71 manufacturers, topped the European fine chemicals industry (Layman, 1993). Recently India, China, and Eastern-Central European countries have gained a significant proportion of the market, as a result of the lower direct labour costs and the more relaxed environmental and safety standards. It is fair to state that the high quality of chemists in these countries has also contributed to this development. In 1993, the cost of producing fine chemicals in India was 12% below that in Europe (Layman, 1993). 

The needs of modem medicine require sophisticated measuring devices for a wide range of chemical species in very complex matricies. Due to fundamental breakthroughs in the 1950 s and 1960 s, electrochemical methods have proven to be extremely valuable in meeting such needs. This past success, coupled with the current trend in the United States and western Europe towards cutting medical costs while still maintaining quality of care is largely responsible for the present fast pace of research and development in the area ... 

This review outlines aspects of the various phases of Swiss chemistry from the introduction of alchemy in Western Europe, its transition to chemistry as a science and profession and the more recent practice. Attention is drawn to the large number of Swiss Nobel Laureates in chemistry and the contributions of Swiss physicists to chemical spectroscopy, from the days of Balmer. In all periods, Swiss chemistry has had European dimensions, and links can be traced to most host countries of previous Euroanalysis conferences and indeed to the next, at Lisbon, in AD 2000... 

---