Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Base
chemicals
Commodity
chemicals
Example
products
Feedstocks
Polyethene oxide
Anti-freeze
Polyesters
Polyethene
Polyvinyl chloride
Propandiols
Polypropene
Polybutadiene rubber
Solvents
Styrene-butadiene rubber
Bisphenol A
Polycarbonates
Nylon
Dyes
Polyurethanes
Polyetheneterephthalate
Adhesives
Latex
Paints
Resins
Ethene oxide
1,2-dichloroethane
NAPHTHA
Ethene
Vinyl chloride
Propene oxide
Propan-2-ol
Propene
Butadiene
Ethylbenzene
Styrene
Phenol
Cyclohexane
Aniline
Toluene diisocyanate
Te rephthalic acid
(iso)phthalic acid
Acetic acid
Methyl methacrylate
Formaldehyde
Benzene
Toluene
Xylenes
SYNGAS
Methanol
Figure 4.1
Simplified view of the fossil-derived chemical industry.
Table 4.1
Global annual production (2010) [11] of the seven fossil-derived base chemicals
and their global production from biomass (2012).
Base/bulk
chemical
Predominant
feedstock
Annual production from
fossil sources (t a
−1
) [11, 12]
Annual production
from biomass (t a
−1
)
Ethene
Oil, gas
123 300 000
200 000 [13, 14]
Propene
Oil, gas
74 900 000
Pilot scale [15]
Butadiene
Oil, gas
10 200 000
Pilot scale [16]
Benzene
Oil
40 200 000
>100 [17]
Toluene
Oil
19 800 000
>100 [17]
Xylenes
(o-, m-, p-)
Oil
42 500 000
>100 [17]
Methanol
syngas
49 100 000
340 000 [18]
The majority of all chemical and material products created from the chemical
industry are derived from seven simple building-block molecules (Figure 4.1), the
'base chemicals' (Table 4.1). The base chemicals are derived from fossil resources
(predominately crude oil and natural gas) via distillation, cracking, reforming and
fractionation. All seven base chemicals are produced on a global annual scale in
excess of 10 million tonnes, with ethene produced in excess of 100 million tonnes
[11]. All seven are also available at low cost and therefore economically upgradeable
to an array of other chemicals and materials (Figure 4.1). With the exception of
methanol (MeOH), all are devoid of heteroatoms with only double bonds or
