Chemical Industry

CHEMICALS HAVE BEEN made since the dawn of time in the form of medicines, herbal teas, or other natural chemicals. The advent of the Industrial Revolution transformed alchemy, which had been the domain of a secretive few, into the science of chemistry. The Industrial Revolution increased the demand for chemicals enormously. In the textile industry, bleach, caustic soda, dyes, and other chemicals were used in increasing quantities. Now, some kind of chemical production is being made in factories around the globe.

The wars of the 18th and 19th centuries also increased interests in explosives chemistry. Advances in petroleum production also provided an ever-increasing supply of petroleum, which could be refined into a growing list of industrial, agricultural, and consumer goods. Petroleum also became the chief raw material from which chemicals were made. Along with water, air, metals, and minerals chemicals used to produce modern goods now number over 70,000. Today, major companies in the chemical industry are in the United States, Germany, France, England, Canada, Japan, and other countries. However, there are thousands of companies worldwide. Major companies include BASF, Dow, Shell, Bayer, INEOS, Exxon-Mobil, Monsanto, DuPont, Lyondell, Sigma-Aldrich, and Mitsubishi. Among the many other chemical companies in the industry are Abner Hood, Bayer Corp., Chevron Chemical, Dover Chemical, Elan Chemical, Gardex Chemicals, Hitachi Chemical Corporation, Inter-Chemical, J.B. Chemical, Kraft Chemical, Lido Chemical Inc., Musichem, Nasa Chemical Products, Omega Chemical, Pfister Chemical Inc, Quantum Chemical, Reichhold Chemicals, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Tiger Chemical, United Chemical, US Chemicals, VST Chemical, Worthington Biochemical, and Zhu-hai Skyhigh Chemicals.

There are hundreds of thousands of workers laboring in the plants and facilities of the chemical companies. The values of the chemicals they produce globally is well over $2 trillion annually.

Chemical Products and Uses

Inorganic chemical products include ammonia, nitrogen, sodium hydroxide, and sulfuric acid. Organic chemical products include acrylonitrile, phenol, ethylene oxide, and urea. Also produced are ceramics, [Page 184]petrochemical, agrochemical, polymer, elastomers, oleochemicals, explosives, and fragrances.

Of the thousands of chemicals produced by the chemical industry, few are known to pose a carcinogenic threat to humans.

Major users of industrial chemicals include mineral refiners, rubber makers, agricultural suppliers of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, the pharmaceutical industry, explosives, pulp and paper companies, food processors, solvents, sodas, Portland cement, and many other uses. The production of plastics, elastomers, and fibers is the fastest-growing segment of the chemical industry. The pharmaceutical, glass, and food industries are often put into a category that excludes them from the bulk chemical industry.

Chemical engineers design and operate most of the facilities used in the chemical industry. Containers used by the chemical industry include barrels, cylinders, bottles, boxes, railroad tank cars, and tanker trucks. The chemical reactions used by the chemical industry include distillation, precipitation, crystallization, adsorption, filtration, sublimation, and drying.