THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Revised from:

http://chemicalengineering.dal.ca/Files/2_-

_The_Chemical_Industry.ppt

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OUTLINE

1. Structure of the Chemical Industry

2. Raw Materials and Energy

3. Base Chemicals

4. Chemical Processes

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STRUCTURE OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

• Raw materials are converted into products for other industries and consumers.

• Basic raw materials can be divided into:– organic, and– inorganic.

• Inorganic raw materials include:– air, water and– minerals.

• Fossil fuels and biomass belong to the class of organic raw materials.

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Structure of the chemical industry

• About 85% of chemicals are produced from ~ 20 simple chemicals called base chemicals.

• Base chemicals produced from ~ 10 raw materials.• Base chemicals converted to ~ 300 intermediates.• Base chemicals and intermediates classified as

bulk chemicals.• About 30,000 consumer products are produced

from intermediates.

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Structure of the chemical industry

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Where these chemicals go..12 % of the cost of a car

polyurethane seat cushions; neoprene hoses and belts;airbags and nylon seat restraints

10 % of the cost of a houseincluding the cost of important insulation pipeselectrical wiring

10 % of what the average household consumer buys and uses every dayfood productsclothingfootwearhealth and personal care productshousehold cleansershome entertainment equipment.

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W o r ld P r o d u c t io n o f S u l f u r ic A c id

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A s iaU .S .

A f r i c aE u r o p e

F - U S S RL a tin

J a p a nO th e r s

M e x i c oC a n a d a

S h a r e ( p e r c e n t )

From: http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/chem470/Sulfuric_Acid-2008.PPT

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Markets for Sulfuric Acid

The fertilizer market is the largest U.S. single use for sulfuric acid and consumes 50-65 percent of all produced.

Second is the organic chemical industry. Production of plastics and synthetic fibers are examples.

Production of TiO2 consumes large quantities of sulfuric acid. TiO2 is a white pigment used in paints and plastics.

In the metal industry, sulfuric acid is used for pickling ferrous and non-ferrous materials and in the recovery of copper, nickel, and zinc from low-grade ores.

Finally, the petroleum industry uses acid as a catalyst for various reactions.

From: http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/chem470/Sulfuric_Acid-2008.PPT

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Canadian Industry

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Consumer products from raw materials

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Structure of the chemical industry

• Coal, oil and natural gas (NG) are the primary raw materials for production of most bulk chemicals.

• Each stage adds value: Relative value

Crude oil 1Fuel 2Typical petrochemical 10Typical consumer product 50

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Overview of the petrochemical industry

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Structure of the chemical industry

• First step in petrochemical industry is conversion of raw materials into base chemicals.

• Synthesis gas (H2 and CO) through steam reforming of NG ammonia or methanol.

• Lower alkenes through steam cracking of ethane or naphtha: ethene, propene, butadiene.

• Aromatics through steam cracking of ethane or naphtha or the catalytic reforming process: benzene, toluene, xylenes (‘BTX’).

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Structure of the chemical industry

• The second step involves a variety of chemical processes often aimed at introducing various hetero-atoms (O, Cl, S etc.) into the molecule.

• This leads to formation of intermediates such as: acetic acid, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and monomers like acrylonitrile, terephthalic acid etc.

• The third step yields consumer products.• The chemical industry can be conveniently

divided into 7 sectors.

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World chemical market (1989)

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• World output $2.7 trillion– Americas 34%– Asia/Pacific/Africa 32%– Europe 34%

• In 2000, there were 1,200 “establishments” operating in Canada.

• They employed approximately 72,500 employees.

World chemical industry

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• In the USA, 70,000 chemical products in 12,000 plants, 95% in batch operations.

• Top five organic chemicals: ethylene, propylene, ethylene dichloride, methyl-tert-butyl-ether (MTBE), and vinyl chloride.

• Top inorganic chemicals: nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide.

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USA Petroleum IndustryUSA has 163 operating refineries and 15.6 million barrels per day

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USA Chemicals Industry

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RAW MATERIALS AND ENERGY

• Raw materials and energy are closely related.• Indeed, the main raw materials for the chemical

industry are fossil fuels.• These are also the most important sources of

energy.• Major energy source is oil (~40%), Coal (~ 26%),

then NG (~ 21%).• But reserves show a different picture!

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Total world energy consumption

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Fossil fuel reserves (reserves/production) for 1997

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Petrochemical share of world oil

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Energy and the chemical industry

A lot of energy is used in the chemical industry (~ same order as used for feedstock)About 8% of crude oil demand is used as raw material in the chemical industry: the balance is used for fuel production.

1. Fuels for direct heaters and furnaces:– often same as raw material, e.g. in steam reforming of

NG, the NG is used for both feedstock and fuel.– Fuel oil (a product of distillation) is often used to

preheat feed to the crude oil fractionator.

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Energy and the chemical industry

2. Steam:– Usually most important utility system.– Used for process heating, a reactant, & in distillation.– It is used saturated, wet or superheated.– Steam used is replaced by treated make-up water.– Steam used at 3 pressures levels:

Operating Conditions Saturation Pressure (bar)Temp (K) Temp (K)

HP 40 683 523MP 10 493 453LP 3 463 407

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Steam/power generation

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Energy and the chemical industry

3. Electricity:– Can be generated in-plant or purchased from utility.– Reduction of energy costs by generation of power on-

site with steam turbines and process heating with exhaust gases.

– Often economical to drive large compressors with steam.

– Co-generation (electricity and local/district heating).– Integrated coal gasification combined cycle (ICGCC)

power generation ( is 41-43% vs 34-35% for PF / steam turbine).

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BASE CHEMICALS

• Most important base chemicals are the lower alkenes (ethene, propene and butadiene), the aromatics (‘BTX’), NH3 and CH3OH.

• ‘Syngas’ (a mixture of H2 & CO) can be used as a base chemical feedstock (e.g. Fischer-Tropsch).

• Most chemicals can be produced directly or indirectly from these ‘building blocks’.

• Feedstock depends on location & production unit.

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Lower Alkenes from oil

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Lower Alkenes from NG

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Aromatics production

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Ammonia and methanol production

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Business-cash flowchart

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Petroleum Industry Technologies

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Chemicals Industry Technologies

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Levels of development

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Space and time scales