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Unit 5 Basic Chemicals

We can divide the various sectors of the chemical industry into these two types: the higher volume sector and low-volume sector. In the high-volume sector, individual chemicals are typically produced on the tens to hundreds of thousands operate in a continuous manner and are highly automated including computer control. Sectors categorized as high-volume are sulphuric acid, phosphorus containing compounds, nitrogen-containing compounds, chlor-alkali and related compounds, plus petrochemicals and commodity polymers such as polythene. With the exception of the latter, these are key intermediates, or base chemicals, which are feedstock for the production of a wide range of other chemicals, many of which are also required in large quantities.

In contrast, low-volume sectors are largely involved in fine-chemicals manufacture and individual products are produced only on the tens of tons to possibly a few thousand tons scale. However, they have a very high value per unit weight, in contrast to high-volume products. Fine chemicals are usually produced in plants operating in a batch manner and the plants may be multiproduct ones. Thus, low-volume sectors are agrochemicals, dyestuff, pharmaceuticals, and specialty polyesters such as PEEK.

Basic chemicals are the orphans of the chemical industry. They are not glamorous, like drugs, and are something not very profitable (and at the very least the profit comes in unpredictable cycles of boom and bust). They are not seen or used directly by the general public and so their importance is not often understood. Even within the industry their importance is often insufficiently appreciated. Without them, however, the rest of the industry could not exist.

Basic chemicals occupy the middle ground between raw materials (that is, things that are mined, quarried or pumped from the ground) and end-products. One distinguishing feature of basic chemicals is the scale on which they are manufactured: everything from really big to absolutely enormous. Fig.2-1 shows the top 25 chemicals in the USA market by volume in 1993, just to give a feel for the sort of chemicals and volume concerned. Basic chemicals are typically manufactured in plants that produce hundreds of thousands of tons of product per year. A plant that produces 100000 tons per year will produce about 12.5 tones every hour. Another distinguishing and important feature of basic chemicals is their price: most of them are fairly cheap.

The job of the basic chemical industry is to find economical ways of turning raw materials into useful intermediates. There is little leeway for any company to charge premium prices for its products, so the company that makes the products at the cheapest cost will probably be the most profitable. This situation means that companies must always be on their toes looking for new and more economical ways of making and transforming their raw materials.

Many basic chemicals are the products of oil refining, while parts of the industry-the sculpture, nitrogen phosphorus and chloro-alkali industry put elements other than carbon and hydrogen into chemicals. In combination, these products and the basic products of the petrochemical industry can be combined to produce the myriad of important chemicals that feed the rest of the chemical industry.

The basic chemical industry is now facing one of biggest challenges in its history. The main consumers of the industry’s key products-the agriculture industry -has stopped growing and is severely cutting back its demand for fertilizers. western farmers have producing too much food and governments have been cutting its cutting subsidies, with the result that less land is being farmed and less fertilizer used. Environmental concerns about the effects of excessive fertilizer run-off have also reduced demand for fertilizers.

Products such as chlorinated compounds have come under threat from environmentalist. Some will be banned under the Montreal Protocol, but others are not harmful and may survive environmentalist pressure. The industry can no longer rely on long -term growth in demand.

The industry may well see increased consolidation as companies swap plants to achieve better economies of scale or better market position in specific products. This could leave an industry with far fewer players but with a better balance of supply and demand and better profitability. The industry will move more serving the rest of the chemical industry and less to serving the farming industry.

Another threat is the perceived environmental messiness of many large-scale processes. Despite the relative efficiency of many big plants, the industry has a long way to go to achieve the best environmental standards possible. The drive to increased recycling and the ideal of emission-free plants will be a major factor influencing the development of the industry in the next decade.
Technical developments will not stop. There will be increasing emphasis on plants and processes that do not pollute. Companies will compete on efficiency -those able to produce the best quality products at the cheapest price will prosper. This will require companies to keep investing in technical improvements. New ways of bringing basic chemicals together to form useful intermediates will be found.

There is still much to do in the basic chemical industry.

THE END

Unit 5 Basic Chemicals

Unit 5 Basic Chemicals

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