Petrochemical raw materials

Fatty amines are nitrogen derivatives of fatty acids, olefins, or alcohols prepared from natural sources, fats and oils, or petrochemical raw materials. Commercially available fatty amines consist of either a mixture of carbon chains or a specific chain length from C The amines are classified as... 

The industrial production of fatty acids on the basis of petrochemical raw materials is of secondary importance in comparison with their preparation from natural materials. Only short-chain or branched or odd-numbered carboxylic acids, for which natural sources don t exist, have to be prepared by different synthetic methods. 

However, it could be expected that the share of the latter group will rise to the same extent as the rising importance of environmental digestibility. It is very possible that in the future the C16/C18 ester sulfonates will partly replace the alkylbenzenesulfonates produced from petrochemical raw material [6,7]. N. R. Smith [8] expects the a-sulfo methyl esters to be an alternative to ethylene-based surfactants. An increase in the production of surfactants based on ethylene is problematic, because in industrial countries ethylene production is occurring at 95% of capacity and more. 

ASs are made up of alkyl chains numbering 12 to 18 carbon atoms which are bound to a sulfate group. ASs are obtained by sulfation of fatty alcohols derived from palm oil, kernel oil and coconut oil, as well as from petrochemical raw materials. 

Propanediol. Both the diol and the dicarboxylic acid components of poly-trimethylene-terephthalate, a high performance polyester fiber with extensive applications in textile apparel and carpeting, are currently manufactured from petrochemical raw materials. 

An important non-fuel use of petroleum is to produce chemical raw materials. The two main classes of petrochemical raw materials are olefins (including ethylene and propylene) and aromatics (including benzene and xylene isomers), both of which are produced in large quantities. Avery important aspect of petrochemicals is their extremely large scale. The olefins are produced by chemical cracking by using steam or catalysts, and the aromatics are produced by catalytic reforming. These... 

Cracked Gas Drying. Ethylene and propylene are two of the most important petrochemical raw materials today. They are manufactured by a thermal cracking of ethane, propane, or naphtha. One of the important separation-purification steps in the production of ethylene and propylene is removal of water before low temperature separation. Although alumina has been the most commonly used desiccant in drying cracked gas in the past, 3A molecular sieve adsorbents have an overall economic advantage 32), and many cracked gas plants are using the 3A molecular sieves today. 

Acetylene-Ethylene Route. A balanced route (8), was developed simultaneously by several companies during the 1950s as cheaper petrochemical raw materials began entering the picture. In this process, the... 

Their inexpensive production from petrochemical raw materials and excellent textile properties alone and in combination with natural fibers guarantee PES fibers universal applicability. Beside technical applications, uses include clothing, especially mixed with wool for suiting and trouser materials and mixed with cotton for shirts, raincoats, trousers, and casual wear. Pure PES fibers, especially in textured form, are employed in the knitwear sector. Polyester has found a wide field of application in the microfiber sector. 

The liquids output represents a combination of transportation and utility fuels as summarized in Table III. All of the naphtha is to be reformed on site to produce a very high aromatic stock. With an exceptional octane blending value, this stream will find ready application as a gasoline component, but perhaps more important, it is also a source of substantial quantities of petrochemical raw materials as noted in Table IV. The potential yield of BTX and phenolics along with the low boiling paraffins should make such a plant an important factor in the future supply picture for these materials. 

In the past, processes for the production of vanillin from lignosulfonates and dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl sulfate were known, but these have been abandoned due to lower production costs with petrochemical raw materials [12]. 

Benzene is by far the most important aromatic petrochemical raw material. During 1999, some 2.8 billion gal were consumed in the United States. This ranks it close to propylene as a chemical building block. Benzene has a broad end-use pattern. Its most important uses are for ethylbenzene (styrene), 55.6 percent cumene (phenol), 22.4 percent cyclohexane... 

Petrochemical raw materials for a multiplicity of plastics, films, fibers,... 

The alkylation of arenes with alkenes such as ethylene and propene are of great commercial interest. Ethylbenzene and isopropylbenzene (cumene), products of the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene with ethylene and propene, respectively, are two of the most important petrochemical raw materials. Roberts and Khalaf have follow the developments made in this vast field up to the early part of this decade. This is evident from the large number of references quoted, most of which describe efforts to evaluate conditions for optimal production in the presence of various catalyst systems. 

However, environmental considerations concerning the COa-emission, the use of renewable resources, and the substitution of petrochemical raw materials are not considered. 

Petrochemical resources (crude oil, natural gases and so on), used intensively in the worldwide chemical industry, are in fact limited resources and in a certain period of time will be depleted. The chemical industry is making big efforts to find alternatives to the petrochemical raw materials. 

Table 9.1 Agrarian raw materials for use in the chemical industry, Germany, 2006. For comparison Petrochemical raw materials 17 Mio. mto. With the permission of Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe, Giilzow source FNR, VCI, meo Consulting Team, Mantau/ University Hamburg, BFH http //www.fnr.de/cms35/Industrielle-Nutzung.l709 + M54721168da5.0.html content3341 (retrieved 18.08.2008).

As it becomes more expensive, perhaps polystyrene will be replaced in some uses by other plastics, such as acrylics or ABS, which previously could not compete pricewise but which have generally superior properties. Along this line, elegant materials such as thermo plastic elastomers may become in great demand. Traditionally, cheaper materials have been grafted, filled, blended, and copolymerized with a variety of other materials to obtain desirable properties. Table 1 shows that some petrochemical raw materials have Increased in price by as much as 165 percent during the past year. 

Price Increases of Some Petrochemical Raw Materials for Plastics... 

Returning to petrochemical raw materials, some figures for a Wulff naphtha cracking operation are as follows (in MJ/mol acetylene) ... 

Braun and Bergmann [19, 20] used DAS and DAM for the syntheses of polyesters, polyethers, polyurethanes, and polycarbonates. They reported that the thermal and mechanical properties of the obtained polyma-s were similar to those of the respective counterparts obtained from usual petrochemical raw materials. 

Below 20 Gases Cl to C4 Heating, cooking, and petrochemical raw material... 

According to reliable forecasts, the world s recoverable conventional oil resources amount to 310 billion tons, while non-conventional oil resources (including extra-heavy oil, oil sands, asphalt and oil shale) total 400-700 billion tons. It is predicted that the output of conventional crude oil will peak in 2030, and by 2060 the production of conventional and non-conventional crude oil will reach 6.54 billion tons. Refineries will face the tough task of upgrading more heavy oils, not only for clean fuels, but also for provision of petrochemical raw materials. 

---