The Chemical Industry

As chemical companies strive to be more competitive in the world economy, it is essential that their employees, including sales and marketing personnel, as well as administrative support groups understand the basic concepts of the science upon which the industry is based. The authors, who have over 100 years of combined experience in the chemical i

Examines how the chemical industry has been transformed over the past 20 years.

American Synthetic Organic Chemicals Industry: War and Politics, 1910-1930

Discussing the technological supremacy of the chemical industry, including pharmaceuticals, and how it will adopt a leading position to solve some of the largest global challenges humans have even seen, this book details how the industry will address climate change, aging populations, resource scarcity, globality, networks speed, pandemics, and massive growth and demand. Following a detailed introduction to some of the megatrends shaping our world over the forthcoming decades, the book goes on to provide several scenarios of how the world could look by 2050, including 'business as usual' and a 'sustainable' one. Chapter 3 gives a comprehensive overview of the current status, while providing a short historical review of the chemical industry, its origins, achievements and fundamentals. The following chapter reviews the potential impact of each of the selected megatrends on the industry, while Chapter 5 proposes how it could look by 2050. Several features of the chemical industry are presented and discussed, including the industrial relevance from an economical, technological and profitability point of view. The largest chemicals markets in absolute and per capita bases and the areas and countries with largest growth potential for chemicals, pharmaceuticals and feedstock. This chapter also reviews the impact of climate change on the chemical industry from a feedstocks and products point of view and, more specifically, the potential costs in reducing CO2 emissions. A final, concluding chapter summarizes the forthcoming megatrends and potential challenges, opportunities and the outlook for the industry as a whole.

Natural Products in the Chemical Industry is not a conventional textbook, but rather an invitation to join an entertaining journey that takes you into the fascinating world of natural products. This book features diverse compound classes from a number of areas: colourants, fragrances and flavourings, amino acids, pharmaceuticals, hormones, vitamins and agrochemicals. Whether you are a teacher or a scholar, an undergraduate or graduate student, a professional chemist in industry or academia, or someone just interested in natural sciences, this book allows you to be inspired and entertained by facts and information along with enjoyable anecdotes, historical, economic, political, biological and social considerations. Experts in the field can have a pleasurable time cruising through captivating synthesis methods, which enable the generation of complex molecules on industrial scale. This book · deals with the manufacturing of larger quantities of complex molecules (asymmetric and heterocyclic compounds, polycyclic structures, macrocycles and small rings) · displays all reaction schemes in colour, which makes them easy to read · highlights aesthetics and elegance in modern industrial organic chemistry

Fred Aftalion's international perspective of the history of chemistry integrates the story of chemical science with that of chemical industry. This new edition includes events from 1990 to 2000, when major companies began selling off their divisions, seeking to specialize in a particular business. Aftalion explores the pitfalls these companies encountered as well as the successes of "contrarians"--those companies that remained broad and diversified. He uses BASF, Dow, and Bayer as examples of true contrarians.

Written by a global team of top managers and senior McKinsey experts, this expanded and completely revised second edition provides a wide-ranging manual on the subject of value creation in the chemical industry. Drawing on extensive first-hand management experience, several hundred consulting engagements, and in-depth research projects, the authors outline the key ingredients for managing chemical companies successfully. The book addresses in detail key issues of strategy and industry structure, describes best practice in the core functions of the chemical business system, looks at the state of the art in organization and post-merger management, and covers a selection of the most important current topics such as industrial biotechnology, the role of private equity, and the chemical landscape in China. Although mainly directed at executives and managers in the chemical industry, the knowledge contained in this comprehensive overview will also benefit scientists, engineers, investors, students, and anyone else dealing with management issues in this sector.

It’s the new rock and roll. It’s the new black. Sustainability is trendy, and not just among hipsters and pop stars. The uncool chemical sector helped pioneer it, and today, companies inside and outside the sector have embraced it. But what have they embraced? Surely not the Brundtland definition of meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainability describes a change in the chemical industry’s approach to the external world: to regulators, to greens, to neighbors, to investors and to the general public. Displacing the adversarialism of the 1970s-80s, sustainability is a new approach to social/political conflict, and an attempt to rebuild the industry’s long-suffering public image. In practice, it consists of: A ‘stakeholder’ approach to communications and external relations A rebranding of regulatory compliance and risk management, with the emphasis on their benefits to stakeholders Recognition (and even celebration) of the opportunities, not just the costs, of environmental and social protection The core of this book is a survey of the world’s 29 largest chemical companies: how they put sustainability into action (six of the 29 do not), and the six ‘sustainability brands’ they have created. It begins with a history of stakeholders conflict, before looking at various definitions of sustainability – by academics, by the public and by investors. After the survey and analysis, the book covers sustainability and ‘greenwash’ plus the ROI of sustainability, and it gives five recommendations.

This book covers all major areas of operation, pollution control, safety, modernization, diversification, and resource management for cost control in the industrial production of chemicals. The author details the importance of obtaining the right type of raw materials and equipment for maximum plant efficiency and discusses revival of plants that have been idle for long periods. He also presents important issues concerning product quality, energy recovery, safety, pollution control and improving profitability by proper management of resources. The book is ideal for shop floor engineers, middle level management, and owners of small- and medium-scale facilities in many countries as it serves as a guide for keeping the plant operations running in adverse situations, for reducing energy consumption; improving profitability, resource allocation, and workforce planning.

In the twentieth century, dyes, pharmaceuticals, photographic products, explosives, insecticides, fertilizers, synthetic rubber, fuels, and fibers, plastics, and other products have flowed out of the chemical industry and into the consumer economies, war machines, farms, and medical practices of industrial societies. The German chemical industry has been a major site for the development and application of the science-based technologies that gave rise to these products, and has had an important role as exemplar, stimulus, and competitor in the international chemical industry. This volume explores the German chemical industry's scientific and technological dimension, its international connections, and its development after 1945. The authors relate scientific and technological change in the industry to evolving German political and economic circumstances, including two world wars, the rise and fall of National Socialism, the post-war division of Germany, and the emergence of a global economy. This book will be of interest to historians of modern Germany, to historians of science and technology, and to business and economic historians.