Chemical Industry Processes and Chemical Reactions

Chemical processes are used in the chemical industry to transform raw materials into more specialized products. The place where chemical products are produced is usually called chemical plant. The chemical industry relies on the knowledge and investigation of the chemical properties of different materials.

Chemistry is the study of the matter and the transformations of it. While physics study matter from a more fundamental point of view, chemistry focuses on its composition, behavior, reactions, structure and properties. The study of the chemical reactions that affect matter gave humans the possibility to turn useless materials into more valuable and useful materials, through chemical transformations. Chemistry focuses on atoms, molecules, substances, crystals and other kind of aggregates.

A chemical process is a method in which one or more chemicals or chemical compounds are changed in some way. Let's remember that a chemical is a substance with a constant chemical composition and characteristic properties, that cannot be separated into components by physical separation methods, and without breaking chemical bonds.

The basic reactions used in the chemical industry are: Oxidation, Reduction, Hydrogenation, Dehydrogenation, Hydrolysis, Hydration reaction, Dehydration, Halogenation, Nitrification, Sulfonation, Ammoniation, Alkaline fusion, Alkylation, Dealkylation, Esterification, Polymerization, Polycondensation and Catalysis.

In many cases the reactions are conducted in specialized equipment resistant to corrosion and at elevated temperatures and pressures, with the use of catalysis. The products of these reactions are then separated using a variety of techniques like distillation, precipitation, crystallization, adsorption and filtration.

Distillation is a separation technique that depends on boiling points. It is a physical separation process, not a chemical reaction. It is used to separate crude oil. Water is cleaned up by distillation to remove impurities like salt and other minerals. The air can be also put to distillation to separate it in components like oxygen, nitrogen and argon for their use in industry. The alcohol industry uses distillation to produce beverages with higher alcohol content. The place were alcohol is put to distillation is known as distillery. Fractional distillation is a more specialized process used to obtain specific chemical compounds.

Precipitation is another separation method in which a solid is formatted in a solution or inside another solid during a chemical reaction or by diffusion in a solid. When this reaction occurs using a centrifuge, the solid formed is called pellet. When the reaction occurs in a liquid, the solid formed it is called precipitate.