ESSA-alger

2020/2021

Second Semester
Project
« Chemical Industry »

Project made by :
Tinakiche ihssene
 What is CHEMICAL
INDUSTRY ?
The chemical
industry comprises
the companies that produce
industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world
economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural
gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than
70,000 different products.
The plastics industry contains some overlap, as some
chemical companies produce plastics as well as
chemicals.
Various professionals are involved in the chemical
industry including chemical engineers, chemists and lab
technicians. As of 2018, the chemical industry comprises
approximately 15% of the US manufacturing economic
sector.
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 the Industrial
Revolution.
Industrial Revolution :
One of the first chemicals to be
produced in large amounts
through industrial processes
was sulfuric acid. In 1736, the
pharmacist «Joshua
Ward» developed a process for its production that
involved heating 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 and Samuel Garbett were the first to establish a
large-scale factory in Prestonpans, Scotland, in 1749,
which used leaden condensing chambers for the
manufacture of sulfuric acid. In the early 18th century,
cloth was bleached by treating it with stale urine or sour
milk and exposing it to sunlight 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
as lime by the middle of the century, but it was the
discovery of bleaching powder by «Charles Tennant» that
spurred the creation of the first great chemical industrial
enterprise. His powder was made by
reacting chlorine with dry slaked lime and proved to be a
cheap and successful product. He opened a factory in St
Rollox, north of Glasgow, and production went from just
52 tons in 1799 to almost 10,000 tons just five years later.

What are the divisions of

chemical industry?
The categories
are industrial inorganic
chemicals; plastics, materials,
and synthetics ; drugs ; soap,
cleaners, and toilet goods ;
paints and allied products ; industrial organic chemicals ;
agricultural chemicals ; and
miscellaneous chemical products.

What do Chemical Industries Produce?

sulfuric and nitric acids and chemicals for fertilizers. As
with petrochemicals, many emerging countries are now
able to produce them They are produced in very large
amounts, some in millions of tonnes a year, and include
chlorine, sodium hydroxide, more cheaply
than companies based in the US and Europe.

Now ! Is industry a chemical?

The chemical industry comprises the companies that
produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world
economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air,
water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000
different products.
Expansion and maturation :
The late 19th century saw an explosion in both the
quantity of production and the variety of chemicals that
were manufactured. Large chemical industries also took
shape in Germany and later in the United
States.Production of artificial
manufactured fertilizer for agriculture was pioneered by
Sir John Lawes at his purpose-built Rothamsted
Research facility. In the 1840s he established large works
near London for the manufacture of superphosphate of
lime. Processes for
the vulcanization of
rubber were patented
by Charles Goodyear in
the United States
and Thomas Hancock in
England in the 1840s.
The first synthetic dye
was discovered by William Henry
Perkinin London. He partly
transformed aniline into a crude
mixture which, when extracted
with alcohol, produced a
substance with an intense purple
colour. He also developed the first synthetic perfumes.
However, it was German industry that quickly began to
dominate the field of synthetic dyes. The three major
firms BASF, Bayer and Hoechst produced several
hundred different dyes, and by 1913, the German industry
produced almost 90 percent of the world supply of
dyestuffs and sold about 80 percent of their production
abroad. In the United States, Herbert Henry Dow's use of
electrochemistry to produce chemicals from brine was a
commercial success that helped to promote the country's
chemical industry.
The petrochemical industry can be traced back to the oil
works of James Young in Scotland and Abraham Pineo
Gesner in Canada. The first plastic was invented
by Alexander Parkes, an English metallurgist. In 1856, he
patented Parkesine, a celluloid based
on nitrocellulose treated with a variety of solvents.This
material, exhibited at the 1862 London International
Exhibition, anticipated many of the modern aesthetic and
utility uses of plastics. The industrial production
of soap from vegetable oils was started by William
Lever and his brother James in 1885 in Lancashire based
on a modern chemical process invented by William Hough
Watson that used glycerin and vegetable oils. By the
1920s, chemical firms consolidated into
large conglomerates; IG Farben in Germany, Rhône-
Poulenc in France and Imperial Chemical Industries in
Britain. Dupont became a major chemicals firm in the
early 20th century in America.
 Polymers and plastics such
as polyethylene, polypropylene,
polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene
terephthalate, polystyrene and
polycarbonate comprise about
80% of the industry’s output
worldwide ,these materials are
often converted to fluoropolymer tubing products and
used by the industry to transport highly corrosive
materials.
Speciality chemicals:
This category covers a wide variety of chemicals
for crop protection, paints and inks, colorants .
It also includes chemicals used by industries as diverse
as textiles, paper and engineering. There has been a
tendency in the US and Europe to focus on this sector
rather than the basic chemicals discussed above because
it is thought that, with active research and development (R
& D), speciality chemicals deliver better and more stable
profitability.
How does the chemical
industry contribute to an
economy?
The chemical industry is a
very important contributor
to the wealth of a country.
For example it contributes
over 1% to the Gross National Product (GNP) of
European countries, which is over 6% of the total GNP
produced by all manufacturing industries. Generally
personnel in the industry are among the most well
rewarded of all manufacturing industries because the
industry has the largest proportion of highly qualified
people and generally it is the most productive.
The chemical industry;how safe
and how environmentally
regulated?
Safety must be at the top of the
chemical industry’s agenda
and for good reason. Many of
its products are potentially
hazardous at some stage during their manufacture and
transport. These chemicals may be solids, liquids or
gases, flammable, explosive, corrosive and/or toxic.
Manufacturing processes frequently involve high
temperatures, high pressures, and reactions which can
be dangerous unless carefully controlled. Because of
this the industry operates within the safety limits
demanded by national and international legislation.
Now, we conclude our Topic by talking about Risks and
injuries of Chemical Industry :
In spite of dealing with hazardous operations, the
chemical industry actually has a lower number of
accidents than industry as a whole. Between 1995 and
2005, across the whole of European manufacture of all
types, there were over 4 injuries for every 1000
employees, twice that sustained in the chemical industry.
US data, recorded as days lost due to accidents, show an
even starker difference; the number of days lost in major
companies in the chemical industry through accidents is
4 times less than in manufacturing generally.

In this figure , Personnel are given

extensive training in the use of
safety clothing and equipment. In
this photograph, maintenance is
being carried out on a reactor used

to produce hydrofluoroalkanes.

Chemical Industry in China

between 2004 and 2018.