Chemicals industrial activities

Appendix 1.3 - Chemical industry activity (information based on [24])... 

ADDRESS STAKEHOLDER EXPECTATIONS ABOUT CHEMICAL INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES AND PRODUCTS. 

Sulfacid SO2 from chemical industries activated carbon + metal catalyst 80 Fixed bed Water shrinking Industrial operation... 

The purpose of chemical processes is not to make chemicals The purpose is to make money. However, the profit must he made as part of a sustainable industrial activity which retains the capacity of ecosystems to support industrial activity and life. This means that process waste must be taken to its practical and economic minimum. Relying on methods of waste treatment is usually not adequate, since waste treatment processes tend not so much to solve the waste problem but simply to move it from one place to another. Sustainable industrial activity also means that energy consumption must be taken to its practical and economic minimum. Chemical processes also must not present significant short-term or long-term hazards, either to the operating personnel or to the community. 

Chemical processes will in the future need to be designed as part of a sustainable industrial development which retains the capacity of ecosystems to support industrial activity and life. This book therefore places a high emphasis on waste minimization and energy efficiency in the context of good economic performance and good health and safety practices. 

A catalyst is a material that accelerates a reaction rate towards thennodynamic equilibrium conversion without itself being consumed in the reaction. Reactions occur on catalysts at particular sites, called active sites , which may have different electronic and geometric structures than neighbouring sites. Catalytic reactions are at the heart of many chemical industries, and account for a large fraction of worldwide chemical production. Research into fiindamental aspects of catalytic reactions has a strong economic motivating factor a better understanding of the catalytic process... 

Solid Superacids. Most large-scale petrochemical and chemical industrial processes ate preferably done, whenever possible, over soHd catalysts. SoHd acid systems have been developed with considerably higher acidity than those of acidic oxides. Graphite-intercalated AlCl is an effective sohd Friedel-Crafts catalyst but loses catalytic activity because of partial hydrolysis and leaching of the Lewis acid halide from the graphite. Aluminum chloride can also be complexed to sulfonate polystyrene resins but again the stabiUty of the catalyst is limited. 

Sulfur [7704-34-9] S, a nonmetallic element, is the second element of Group 16 (VIA) of the Periodic Table, coming below oxygen and above selenium. In massive elemental form, sulfur is often referred to as brimstone. Sulfur is one of the most important taw materials of the chemical industry. It is of prime importance to the fertilizer industry (see Fertilizers) and its consumption is generally regarded as one of the best measures of a nation s industrial development and economic activity (see Sulfur compounds Sulfurremoval and recovery Sulfuric acid and sulfur trioxide). 

Product Hterature on KYNOL activated carbon fibers and cloths, GUN El Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Japan, 1987 Product Hterature on... 

Silver alone on a support does not give rise to a good catalyst (150). However, addition of minor amounts of promoter enhance the activity and the selectivity of the catalyst, and improve its long-term stabiHty. Excess addition lowers the catalyst performance (151,152). Promoter formulations have been studied extensively in the chemical industry. The most commonly used promoters are alkaline-earth metals, such as calcium or barium, and alkaH metals such as cesium, mbidium, or potassium (153). Using these metals in conjunction with various counter anions, selectivities as high as 82—87% were reported. Precise information on commercial catalyst promoter formulations is proprietary (154—156). 

Carbon tetrachloride zero 0.005 Liver problems increased risk of cancer Discharge from chemical plants and other industrial activities... 

Chemical Industry - has risks comparable to or possibly greater then those of the nuclear power industry, but no risk studies of chemical plants in the U.S. have been published. Great Britain, on the other hand, has been active in this area, e.g., the Canvey Island Study (Section 11.4.1 and Green, 1982). 

The following is a list by major heading of processes in the Chemical Industry. While accidents can occur in any activity, the scope of the chemical process industry is so wide that processes are selected for description based on judged hazard. These are identified by the number of the section in which they are described. Process not identified by a three digit number are excluded on the basis of low perceived accident potential. 

A highly active form of manganese dioxide is available from Beacon Chemical Industries, Inc., 33 Richdale Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 02140. 

The Chemical Industries Association is the UK chemical industty s leading trade and employer organization and embraces all the industty s trade sectors, product types and business activities. 

In terms of the number of scientists and engineers involved, research and development in polymer chemistry is the principal activity of the chemical industry. The initial goal of making synthetic materials that are the equal of natural fibers has been more than met it has been far exceeded. What is also im-... 

Butadiene is a diolefmic hydrocarbon with high potential in the chemical industry. In 1955, it was noticed that the assured future of butadiene (CH2=CH-CH=CH2) lies with synthetic rubber. . . the potential of butadiene is in its chemical versatility. .. its low cost, ready availability, and great activity tempt researchers. 

Alkylamines have a variety of applications in the chemical industry as starting materials for the preparation of insecticides and pharmaceuticals. Labetalol, for instance, a so-called /3-blocker used for the treatment of hi h blood pressure, is prepared by SN2 reaction of an epoxide with a primary amine. The substance marketed for drug use is a mixture of all four possible stereoisomers, but the biological activity derives primarily from the (R,R) isomer. 

A good methanation catalyst is one which is physically strong, is reducible at 300°C (570°F) and has high activity. In order to provide a long life, it must retain these properties in use. Lives of 3-5 years are commonly obtained from charges of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. (ICI) catalyst 11-3, depending on the temperature of operation and the presence of poisons in the synthesis gas, factors which are discussed below. These properties can be obtained by careful attention to the formulation and manufacture of the catalyst. 

The byproduct is a stoichiometric amount of 60 wt % H2S04, which is used in the chemical industry. The wastewater (0.3 m3/100 kg active matter), which contains paraffin, oxidation products of the paraffin, alkanesulfonate, and sulfur dioxide, has a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 1800 mg/L and is readily biodegradable (>95% after 7 days). The sulfur dioxide emission after repeated washing of the off-gas amounts to 0.5 g/100 kg active matter [6]. 

The environmental occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is mainly associated with dispersion of oil products and with various types of combustion. For these chemicals a kind of pre-industrial background exists, due to forest fires or to domestic wood burning. The sediments of the deepest strata were certainly deposited in the nineteenth century, when no significant industrial activities had been initiated. The ratio between PAH concentrations found in the sediments dated to this century, and the deepest ones, vary from 1.7 to 30, increasing from the beginning of the... 

As noted earlier, diverse forms of organomercury are released into the environment as a consequence of human activity. Methyl mercury presents a particular case. As a product of the chemical industry, it may be released directly into the environment, or it may be synthesized in the environment from inorganic mercury which, in turn, is released into the environment as a consequence of both natural processes (e.g., weathering of minerals) and human activity (mining, factory effluents, etc.). 

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