Although chemicals were made and used throughout history, the birth of the heavy chemical industry (production of chemicals in large quantities for a variety of uses) coincided with the beginnings of theIndustrial Revolution.
One of the first chemicals to be produced in large amounts through industrial processes wassulfuric acid. In 1736 pharmacistJoshua Ward developed a process for its production that involved heating sulfur with saltpeter, allowing the sulfur to oxidize and combine with water. It was the first practical production of sulphuric acid on a large scale.John Roebuck andSamuel Garbett were the first to establish a large-scale factory inPrestonpans, Scotland, in 1749, which used leaden condensing chambers for the manufacture of sulfuric acid.[1][2]
Charles Tennant's St. Rollox Chemical Works in 1831, then the biggest chemical enterprise in the world.
In the early 18th century, cloth was bleached by treating it with staleurine orsour milk and exposing it tosunlight for long periods of time, which created a severe bottleneck in production. Sulfuric acid began to be used as a more efficient agent as well aslime by the middle of the century, but it was the discovery ofbleaching powder byCharles Tennant that spurred the creation of the first great chemical industrial enterprise. His powder was made by reactingchlorine with dryslaked lime and proved to be a cheap and successful product. He opened theSt Rollox Chemical Works, north ofGlasgow, and production went from just 52 tons in 1799 to almost 10,000 tons just five years later.[3]
In Britain, the Leblanc process became popular.[5]William Losh built the first soda works in Britain at theLosh, Wilson and Bell works on theRiver Tyne in 1816, but it remained on a small scale due to largetariffs on salt production until 1824. When these tariffs were repealed, the British soda industry was able to rapidly expand.James Muspratt's chemical works inLiverpool and Charles Tennant's complex nearGlasgow became the largest chemical production centres anywhere. By the 1870s, the British soda output of 200,000 tons annually exceeded that of all other nations in the world combined.
Ernest Solvay, patented an improved industrial method for the manufacture ofsoda ash.
These huge factories began to produce a greater diversity of chemicals as theIndustrial Revolution matured. Originally, large quantities of alkaline waste were vented into the environment from the production of soda, provoking one of thefirst pieces of environmental legislation to be passed in 1863. This provided for close inspection of the factories and imposed heavy fines on those exceeding the limits on pollution. Methods were devised to make useful byproducts from the alkali.
TheSolvay process was developed by theBelgian industrial chemistErnest Solvay in 1861. In 1864, Solvay and his brother Alfred constructed a plant inCharleroi Belgium. In 1874, they expanded into a larger plant inNancy, France. The new process proved more economical and less polluting than the Leblanc method, and its use spread. In the same year,Ludwig Mond visited Solvay to acquire the rights to use his process, and he andJohn Brunner formedBrunner, Mond & Co., and built a Solvay plant atWinnington, England. Mond was instrumental in making the Solvay process a commercial success. He made several refinements between 1873 and 1880 that removed byproducts that could inhibit the production of sodium carbonate in the process.
The late 19th century saw an explosion in both the quantity of production and the variety of chemicals that were manufactured. Large chemical industries arose in Germany and later in the United States.
Production of artificial manufacturedfertilizer foragriculture was pioneered by SirJohn Lawes at his purpose-builtRothamsted Research facility. In the 1840s he established large works nearLondon for the manufacture ofsuperphosphate of lime. Processes for thevulcanization of rubber were patented byCharles Goodyear in the United States andThomas Hancock in England in the 1840s. The first synthetic dye was discovered byWilliam Henry Perkin inLondon. He partly transformedaniline into a crude mixture which, when extracted with alcohol, produced a substance with an intense purple colour. He also developed the first synthetic perfumes. German industry quickly began to dominate the field of synthetic dyes. The three major firmsBASF,Bayer, andHoechst produced several hundred different dyes. By 1913, German industries produced almost 90% of the world's supply of dyestuffs and sold approximately 80% of their production abroad.[7] In the United States,Herbert Henry Dow's use of electrochemistry to produce chemicals frombrine was a commercial success that helped to promote the country's chemical industry.[8]
Thepetrochemical industry can be traced back to the oil works of Scottish chemistJames Young, and CanadianAbraham Pineo Gesner. The first plastic was invented byAlexander Parkes, an Englishmetallurgist. In 1856, he patentedParkesine, acelluloid based onnitrocellulose treated with a variety of solvents.[9] This material, exhibited at the 1862 London International Exhibition, anticipated many of the modern aesthetic and utility uses of plastics. The industrial production ofsoap from vegetable oils was started byWilliam Lever and his brotherJames in 1885 inLancashire based on a modern chemical process invented by William Hough Watson that usedglycerin andvegetable oils.[10]
Polymers and plastics such aspolyethylene,polypropylene,polyvinyl chloride,polyethylene terephthalate,polystyrene andpolycarbonate comprise about 80% of the industry's output worldwide.[11] Chemicals are used in many different consumer goods, and are also used in many different sectors. This includes agriculture manufacturing, construction, and service industries.[11] Major industrial customers include rubber andplastic products,textiles, apparel, petroleum refining,pulp and paper, and primary metals. Chemicals are nearly a $5 trillion global enterprise, and the EU and U.S. chemical companies are the world's largest producers.[12]
Sales of the chemical business can be divided into a few broad categories, including basic chemicals (about 35% – 37% of dollar output), life sciences (30%), specialty chemicals (20% – 25%) and consumer products (about 10%).[13]
New polypropylene plant PP3 in theSlovnaft oil refinery (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Basic chemicals, or "commodity chemicals" are a broad chemical category including polymers, bulk petrochemicals and intermediates, other derivatives and basic industrials,inorganic chemicals, andfertilizers.
Polymers are the largest revenue segment and includes all categories ofplastics and human-made fibers. The major markets for plastics arepackaging, followed by home construction, containers, appliances, pipe, transportation, toys, and games.
The largest-volume polymer product,polyethylene (PE), is used mainly in packaging films and other markets such as milk bottles, containers, and pipe.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), another large-volume product, is principally used to make piping for construction markets as well as siding and, to a much smaller extent, transportation and packaging materials.
Polypropylene (PP), similar in volume to PVC, is used in markets ranging from packaging, appliances, and containers to clothing and carpeting.
Polystyrene (PS), another large-volume plastic, is used principally for appliances and packaging as well as toys and recreation.
The leadinghuman-made fibers includepolyester,nylon, polypropylene, andacrylics, with applications including apparel, home furnishings, and other industrial and consumer use.
Principal raw materials for polymers are bulk petrochemicals like ethylene, propylene and benzene.
Life sciences (about 30% of the dollar output of the chemistry business) include differentiated chemical and biological substances,pharmaceuticals, diagnostics,animal health products,vitamins, andpesticides. While much smaller in volume than other chemical sectors, their products tend to have high prices – over ten dollars per pound – growth rates of 1.5 to 6 timesGDP, and research and development spending at 15 to 25% of sales. Life science products are usually produced with high specifications and are closely scrutinized by government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration. Pesticides, also called "crop protection chemicals", are about 10% of this category and includeherbicides,insecticides, andfungicides.[13]
Specialty chemicals are a category of relatively high-valued, rapidly growing chemicals with diverse end product markets. Typical growth rates are one to three times GDP with prices over a dollar per pound. They are generally characterized by their innovative aspects. Products are sold for what they can do rather than for what chemicals they contain. Products include electronic chemicals,industrial gases, adhesives and sealants as well as coatings, industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals, and catalysts. In 2012, excluding fine chemicals, the $546 billion global specialty chemical market was 33% Paints, Coating and Surface Treatments, 27% Advanced Polymer, 14% Adhesives and Sealants, 13% additives, and 13% pigments and inks.[14]
Speciality chemicals are sold as effect or performance chemicals. Sometimes they are mixtures of formulations, unlike "fine chemicals", which are almost always single-molecule products.
Consumer products include direct product sales of chemicals such assoaps,detergents, andcosmetics. Typical growth rates are 0.8 to 1.0 times GDP.[citation needed]
Consumers rarely come into contact with basic chemicals. Polymers and specialty chemicals are materials that they encounter everywhere daily. Examples are plastics, cleaning materials, cosmetics, paints and coatings, electronics, automobiles and the materials used in home construction.[14] These specialty products are marketed by chemical companies to the downstream manufacturing industries aspesticides,specialty polymers, electronic chemicals,surfactants, construction chemicals, industrial cleaners,flavours andfragrances, specialty coatings, printing inks, water-soluble polymers,food additives,paper chemicals, oil field chemicals, plastic adhesives,adhesives andsealants,cosmetic chemicals,water management chemicals,catalysts, and textile chemicals. Chemical companies rarely supply these products directly to the consumer.
The largest chemical producers today are global companies with international operations and plants in numerous countries. Below is a list of the top 25 chemical companies by chemical sales in 2015. (Note: Chemical sales represent only a portion of total sales for some companies.)
Top chemical companies by chemical sales in 2015.[15]
This is a process diagram of a turbine generator. Engineers working to produce a sustainable process for use in the chemical industry need to know how to design a sustainable process in which the system can withstand or manipulate process-halting conditions such as heat, friction, pressure, emissions, and contaminants.
From the perspective of chemical engineers, the chemical industry involves the use ofchemical processes such aschemical reactions andrefining methods to produce a wide variety of solid, liquid, and gaseous materials. Most of these products serve tomanufacture other items, although a smaller number go directly to consumers.Solvents,pesticides,lye,washing soda, andportland cement provide a few examples of products used by consumers.
The industry includes manufacturers ofinorganic- andorganic-industrial chemicals, ceramic products, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, polymers and rubber (elastomers), oleochemicals (oils, fats, and waxes), explosives, fragrances and flavors. Examples of these products are shown in the Table below.
The processes and products or products are usually tested during and after manufacture by dedicated instruments and on-sitequality controllaboratories to ensure safe operation and to assure that the product will meet requiredspecifications. More organizations within the industry are implementing chemical compliance software to maintain quality products andmanufacturing standards.[16] The products are packaged and delivered by many methods, including pipelines, tank-cars, and tank-trucks (for both solids and liquids), cylinders, drums, bottles, and boxes. Chemical companies often have aresearch-and-development laboratory for developing and testing products and processes. These facilities may include pilot plants and such research facilities may be located at a site separate from the production plant(s).
The petrochemical and commodity chemical manufacturing units are on the whole single product continuous processing plants. Not all petrochemical or commodity chemical materials are made in one single location, but groups of related materials often are to induce industrial symbiosis as well as material, energy and utility efficiency and othereconomies of scale.
Specialty chemical and fine chemical manufacturing are mostly made in discrete batch processes. These manufacturers are often found in similar locations but in many cases, they are to be found in multi-sector business parks.
In the U.S. there are 170 major chemical companies.[17] They operate internationally with more than 2,800 facilities outside the U.S. and 1,700 foreign subsidiaries or affiliates operating. The U.S. chemical output is $750 billion a year. The U.S. industry records large trade surpluses and employs more than a million people in the United States alone. The chemical industry is also the second largest consumer of energy in manufacturing and spends over $5 billion annually on pollution abatement.
In Europe, the chemical, plastics, and rubber sectors are among the largest industrial sectors.[18] Together they generate about 3.2 million jobs in more than 60,000 companies. Since 2000 the chemical sector alone has represented 2/3 of the entire manufacturing trade surplus of the EU.
In 2012, the chemical sector accounted for 12% of the EU manufacturing industry's added value. Europe remains the world's biggest chemical trading region with 43% of the world's exports and 37% of the world's imports, although the latest data shows that Asia is catching up with 34% of the exports and 37% of imports.[19] Even so, Europe still has a trading surplus with all regions of the world except Japan and China where in 2011 there was a chemical trade balance. Europe's trade surplus with the rest of the world today amounts to 41.7 billion Euros.[20]
Over the 20 years between 1991 and 2011, the European Chemical industry saw its sales increase from 295 billion Euros to 539 billion Euros, a picture of constant growth. Despite this, the European industry's share of the world chemical market has fallen from 36% to 20%. This has resulted from the huge increase in production and sales in emerging markets like India and China.[21] The data suggest that 95% of this impact is from China alone. In 2012 the data from the European Chemical Industry Council shows that five European countries account for 71% of the EU's chemicals sales. These are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands.[22]
The chemical industry has seen growth in China, India, Korea, the Middle East, South East Asia, Nigeria and Brazil. The growth is driven by changes in feedstock availability and price, labor and energy costs, differential rates of economic growth and environmental pressures.
Just as companies emerge as the main producers of the chemical industry, we can also look on a more global scale at how industrialized countries rank, with regard to the billions of dollars' worth of production a country or region could export. Though the business of chemistry is worldwide in scope, the bulk of the world's $3.7 trillion chemical output is accounted for by only a handful of industrialized nations. The United States alone produced $689 billion, 18.6 percent of the total world chemical output in 2008.[23]
Global Chemical Shipments by Country/Region (billions of dollars)[23]
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Brandt, E. N. (1997).Growth Company: Dow Chemical's First Century. Michigan State University Press.ISBN0-87013-426-4..online review
Chandler, Alfred D. (2005).Shaping the Industrial Century: The Remarkable Story of the Evolution of the Modern Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries. Harvard University Press.ISBN0-674-01720-X.. chapters 3-6 deal with DuPont, Dow Chemicals, Monsanto, American Cyanamid, Union Carbide, and Allied in US; and European chemical producers, Bayer, Farben, and ICI.
McCoy, Micheal; et al. (July 10, 2006). "Facts & Figures of the Chemical Industry".Chemical & Engineering News.84 (28):35–72.
Shreve, R. Norris; Brink, Joseph A. Jr. (1977).The Chemical Process Industries (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Woytinsky, W. S.; Woytinsky, E. S. (1953).World Population and Production Trends and Outlooks. pp. 1176–1205. Contains many tables and maps on the worldwide chemical industry in 1950.
