Variations in research and development activities across the chemical industry

3 Variations in research and development activities across the chemical industry 

Both the nature and amount of R D carried out varies significantly across the various sectors of the chemical industry. In sectors which involve large-scale production of basic chemicals and where the chemistry, products and technology change only slowly because the processes are mature, R D expenditure is at the lower end of the range for the chemical industry. Most of this will be devoted to process improvement and effluent treatment. Examples include ammonia, fertilizers and chloralkali production (section 10.5) from the inorganic side, and basic petrochemical intermediates such as ethylene (sections 12.3.1-3) from the organic side. 

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