Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
IMPORTANT INORGANIC CHEMICALS
1999 UNITED STATES ANNUAL PRODUCTION
Sulfuric acid
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Lime
Ammonia
Phosphoric acid
Chlorine
Sodium hydroxide
Sodium carbonate
Nitric acid
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
BILLIONS OF POUNDS/YEAR
The chemical industry is usually viewed as being primarily associated with
organic
(carbon-containing) chemicals, largely because everyday chemical
industry products such as plastics, synthetic fibers, drugs, etc. are derived
from organic starting materials. But
are the real heart
of the industry. If the production of large volume organic chemicals were
included in the above list, only one, ethylene, would appear (between oxygen
and lime). Four of the above ten are isolated directly or indirectly from the
air we breathe, so inexhaustable supplies of those four are available from
that source. The other six are also based on readily available, inexhaustable
raw materials.
These chemicals have all been produced since the beginning of the
chemical industry by various and sometimes changing processes. When
process changes were made, it was almost always for economic reasons,
that is, to make products at lower cost. It seems unlikely that still lower cost
processes will be developed, but there may be future process changes for
some of these chemicals because of environmental concerns.
inorganic chemicals
