Petrochemical-based chemical industry

Wastewater comprises liquid waste discharged by households, industries and commercial establishments, and is typically collected through sewage pipes in municipal areas. Wastewater also contains chemicals and pathogens that can lead to serious negative impacts on the quality of the environment as well as human health if it is drained directly into major watershed without treatment [4,5]. The use of wastewater as a feedstock in the production of PHA has been proposed as a relevant approach in the shift from a petrochemical-based chemical industry towards a biobased one in order to decrease its manufacturing cost and environmental impact [6]. 

The new generations of zeolites and other microporous materials will start a new era for the petroleum processing, petrochemical, and chemical industries. These developments will also benefit our environment. Regenerable molecular sieves will replace corrosive and difficult-to-dispose-of catalysts. Shape selective processes can also generate less low-value byproducts and thus help us using our available resources more efficiently. Future shape selective catalysts and processes will be based on one or more of the foUowing ... 

Weizmann knew that his fermentation process yielded chemical compounds containing three and four carbon atoms and predicted that the same process could produce the substances on which modem petrochemical industries are based. He often enunciated the need for countries (especially those poor in natural oil) to replace a petroleum-based chemical industry with one based on fermentation. 

Despite the high tonnages of petrochemicals, the chemical industry as a whole consumes rather less than 10% of available petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons as feedstocks, with possibly a further 4-5% as fuel. For comparison, the current consumption of gasoline alone in Western Europe exceeds 120 Mt per annum, while the U.S. figure is over 300 Mt per annum. Hence, prices of individual hydrocarbon feedstocks are largely determined by other forces the most economic feedstock/route combination has frequently changed with time, and may differ in different parts of the world. Furthermore, while a specific route may be preferred for new plants, older plants for which the capital is largely written off may well remain economically viable. Finally, special situations may prompt individual solutions. For example, Rhone-Poulenc in France derive the carbon monoxide for a very modern acetic acid plant, based on Monsanto s methanol carbonylation process, from the partial... 

Distillation and related vapor-liquid processes are by far the most widely used molecular separation processes in the petroleum, natural gas, petrochemical, and chemical industries, as mentioned earlier. It is highly unlikely that adsorption will ever rival distillation in frequency of use, but adsorption will continue to m e inroads into its domain. Adsorption s serious competition for the separations for which it is now used would seem to come chiefly from membrane-based processes, and especially fixed-membrane processes. For example, Monsanto s Prism hollow-fiber-based process has been commercialized in a number of hydrogen-upgrading applications, and a growing number of other applications are being pursued. 

Because of projected nylon-6,6 growth of 4—10% (167) per year in the Far East, several companies have announced plans for that area. A Rhc ne-Poulenc/Oriental Chemical Industry joint venture (Kofran) announced a 1991 startup for a 50,000-t/yr plant in Onsan, South Korea (168,169). Asahi announced plans for a 15,000-t/yr expansion of adipic acid capacity at their Nobeoka complex in late 1989, accompanied by a 60,000-t/yr cyclohexanol plant at Mizushima based on their new cyclohexene hydration technology (170). In early 1990 the Du Pont Company announced plans for a major nylon-6,6 complex for Singapore, including a 90,000-t/yr adipic acid plant due to start up in 1993 (167). Plans or negotiations for other adipic acid capacity in the area include Formosa Plastics (Taiwan) (171) and BASF-Hyundai Petrochemical (South Korea) (167). Adipic acid is a truly worldwide... 

Most commercial processes produce polypropylene by a Hquid-phase slurry process. Hexane or heptane are the most commonly used diluents. However, there are a few examples in which Hquid propylene is used as the diluent. The leading companies involved in propylene processes are Amoco Chemicals (Standard OH, Indiana), El Paso (formerly Dart Industries), Exxon Chemical, Hercules, Hoechst, ICl, Mitsubishi Chemical Industries, Mitsubishi Petrochemical, Mitsui Petrochemical, Mitsui Toatsu, Montedison, Phillips Petroleum, SheU, Solvay, and Sumimoto Chemical. Eastman Kodak has developed and commercialized a Hquid-phase solution process. BASE has developed and commercialized a gas-phase process, and Amoco has developed a vapor-phase polymerization process that has been in commercial operation since early 1980. 

Industrial applications inclnde the production of petrochemicals, fine chemicals and pharmacenticals (particnlarly throngh asymmetric catalysis), hydrometallurgy, and waste-treatment processes. Many life processes are based on metallo-enzyme systems that catalyse redox and acid-base reactions. 

Petrochemical plant. Over 90 % of chemical products are based on natural oil that is mostly "cracked" to give simple products, which are laboriously separated by distillation. Of the 4 billion tons of natural oil consumed worldwide every year, only 7 % is used by the chemical industry. 

Kurus D (2006) Simulation-based optimization model for supply chain planning of commodities in the chemical industry Technical University of Berlin Lababidi HMS, Ahmed MA, Alatiqi IM, Al-Enzi AF (2004) Optimizing the Supply Chain of a Petrochemical Company under Uncertain Operating and Economic Conditions. Industrial Engineering Chemistry Research 43 63-73 Labys WC (1973) Dynamic Commodity Models Specification, Estimation and Simulation, Lexington Books, Lexington... 

Because the petrochemical industry is based on hydrocarbons, especially alkenes, the selective oxidation of hydrocarbons to produce organic oxygenates occupies about 20% of total sales of current chemical industries. This is the second largest market after polymerization, which occupies about a 45% share. Selectively oxidized products, such as epoxides, ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and acids, are widely used to produce plastics, detergents, paints, cosmetics, and so on. Since it was found that supported Au catalysts can effectively catalyze gas-phase propylene epoxidation [121], the catalytic performance of Au catalysts in various selective oxidation reactions has been investigated extensively. In this section we focus mainly on the gas-phase selective oxidation of organic compounds. 

---