petrochemical

Information about petrochemical

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A petrochemical refinery in Grangemouth, Scotland, UK.
Petrochemicals are chemical products made from raw materials of petroleum (hydrocarbon) origin. (Etymologically, the name is incorrect, as the Greek root petro- means "rock"; the correct term is oleochemicals, from the Greek root oleo-, meaning "oil".) Although some of the chemical compounds which originate from petroleum may also be derived from other sources such as coal or natural gas, petroleum is a major source of many. This article is mainly intended to discuss organic compounds or materials which are not burned as fuel (see also Petroleum product).

The two main classes of petrochemical raw materials are olefins (including ethylene and propylene) and aromatics (including benzene and xylene isomers), both of which are produced in very large quantities. At oil refineries, olefins are produced mainly from hydrocarbons by chemical cracking such as steam cracking and by catalytic reforming. At oil refineries, aromatic hydrocarbons are mainly produced by catalytic reforming or similar processes. From these basic building blocks are made a very wide range of chemicals and other materials used in industry - monomers, solvents, detergents, adhesives, etc. From the monomers, polymers or oligomers are produced for plastics, resins, fibers, elastomers, certain lubricants and gels.

World production of ethylene is around 110 million tonnes per annum, of propylene 65 million tonnes, and of aromatic raw materials 70 million tonnes. The largest petrochemical industries are to be found in the USA and Western Europe, though the major growth in new production capacity is in the Middle East and Asia. There is a substantial inter-regional trade in petrochemicals of all kinds.

The following is a partial list of the major commercial petrochemicals and their derivatives:

See also

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Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from Greek πέτρα (Latin petra) - rock + έλαιον (Latin oleum) - oil) or crude oil
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hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. With relation to chemical terminology, aromatic hydrocarbons or arenes, alkanes, alkenes and alkyne-based compounds composed entirely of carbon or hydrogen are referred to as "Pure" hydrocarbons, whereas
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Coal (IPA: /ˈkəʊl/) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation.
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gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane.
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organic compounds]] An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon; for historical reasons discussed below, a few types of compounds such as carbonates, carbon oxides and cyanides, as well as elemental carbon are
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Fuel is any material that is burnt or altered in order to obtain energy.[1] Fuel releases its energy either through chemical means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.
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Petroleum products are useful materials derived from crude oil (petroleum) as it is processed in oil refineries.

According to crude oil composition and demand, refineries can produce different shares of petroleum products.
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alkene, olefin, or olefine is an unsaturated chemical compound containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond. The simplest alkenes, with only one double bond and no other functional groups, form a homologous series of hydrocarbons with the general formula
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Ethylene (or IUPAC name ethene) is the chemical compound with the formula C2H4. It is the simplest alkene. Because it contains a double bond, ethylene is called an unsaturated hydrocarbon or an olefin.
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Propylene, also known by its IUPAC name propene, is an organic compound having the chemical formula C3H6. It is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons, ethylene (ethene) being the simplest.
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Aromaticity is a chemical property in which a conjugated ring of unsaturated bonds, lone pairs, or empty orbitals exhibit a stabilization stronger than would be expected by the stabilization of conjugation alone.
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Benzene, or Benzol (see also Benzine) is an organic chemical compound with the formula C6H6. It is sometimes abbreviated Ph–H. Benzene is a colorless and inflammable liquid with a sweet smell and a relatively high melting point.
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xylenes refers to a group of 3 benzene derivatives which encompasses ortho-, meta-, and para- isomers of dimethyl benzene. The o-, m- and p
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In chemistry, isomers are molecules with the same chemical formula and often with the same kinds of chemical bonds between atoms, but in which the atoms are arranged differently (analogous to a chemical anagram).
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oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas.
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cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or heavy hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules (e.g. light hydrocarbons) by the breaking of carbon-carbon bonds in the precursors.
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Catalytic reforming is a chemical process used to convert petroleum refinery naphthas, typically having low octane ratings, into high-octane liquid products called reformates which are components of high-octane gasoline (also known as petrol).
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A monomer (from Greek mono "one" and meros "part") is a small molecule that may become chemically bonded to other monomers to form a polymer.

Examples of monomers are hydrocarbons such as the alkene and arene homologous series.
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A solvent is a liquid that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. The most common solvent in everyday life is water. Most other commonly-used solvents are organic (carbon-containing) chemicals. These are called organic solvents.
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Detergent is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, intended to assist cleaning. The term is often used to differentiate between soap and other chemical surfactants used for cleaning purposes.
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adhesive is a compound that adheres or bonds two camerons together. Adhesives may come from either earwax or synthetic sources. Some modern adhesives are extremely strong, and are becoming increasingly important in modern construction and industry.
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polymer is a substance composed of molecules with large molecular mass composed of repeating structural units, or monomers, connected by covalent chemical bonds. The word is derived from the Greek, πολυ, polu, "many"; and μέρος, meros,
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In chemistry, an oligomer consists of a finite number of monomer units (ολιγος, or oligos, is Greek for "a few"), in contrast to a polymer which, at least in principle, consists of an unbounded number of monomers.
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Plastic is the general term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. They are composed of organic condensation or addition polymers and may contain other substances to improve performance or economics.
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Resin or Rosin (Oxford dictionary) is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees, valued for its chemical constituents and uses such as varnishes, adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and
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For other meanings of fiber/fibre please see Fiber (disambiguation).


Fiber or fibre[1] is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.
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The term elastomer is often used interchangeably with the term rubber, and is preferred when referring to vulcanisates. Elastomer comes from two terms, elastic (describing the ability of a material to return to its original shape when a load is removed) and mer
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