Petrochemistry. The most important technological processes for obtaining the most significant products of chemistry and petrochemistry Chemistry, petrochemistry

PETROCHEMISTRY, a field of chemistry that studies the composition, St. Islands and chem. transformation of components of oil and nature. gas, as well as processes for their processing.

Historical reference. The beginning of research on N. is attributed to the last quarter of the 19th century. (about 1880), when prom. oil production in the world (mainly Russia and the USA) has reached 4-5 million tons/year. The works of D. I. Mendeleev, F. F. Beilshtein, V. V. Markovnikov, K. Engler launched studies of the hydrocarbon composition of oils decomp. deposits, Ch. arr. Caucasian, development of instruments and methods for oil analysis, synthesis of model hydrocarbons. In con. 19-beginning 20th century the first work was carried out on the chlorination and hydrochlorination of oil hydrocarbons (Markovnikov), their nitration (M. I. Konovalov, S. S. Nametkin) and liquid-phase oxidation (K. V. Kharichkov, Engler), as well as on catalytic. transformations of high-boiling hydrocarbons (V. N. Ipatiev, N. D. Zelinsky).

First prom. petrochemical the product was isopropyl alcohol, synthesized from thermal waste gases. oil cracking (1920, USA). Mass transition prom. org. synthesis from coal raw materials to oil and gas, which occurred in the 1950s and 60s, stimulated the release of N. into independent. direction scientific research in chemistry.

In scientific and technical. literature the term "N." began to appear in 1934-40, and after 1960 it began to be used to designate a scientific direction and discipline. The previous term "chemistry of oil" from now on is used only in a narrow sense - to designate the direction of N., engaged in the study of the composition and properties of oil.

Main tasks and directions. The main task of N. is the study and development of methods and processes for processing components of oil and natural resources. gas, ch. arr. hydrocarbons, in large-capacity org. products used prem. as a raw material for the last. release on their basis commodity chemical. products with certain consumers. saints (various fuels, lubricating oils, monomers, solvents, surfactants, etc.). To achieve this goal, N. studies the properties of oil hydrocarbons, explores the composition, structure and transformation of mixtures of hydrocarbons and heteroatomic compounds contained in oil, as well as those formed during the processing of oil and natural resources. gas. N. operates predominantly. multicomponent mixtures of hydrocarbons and their function, derivatives, solves the problem of managing the p-tions of such mixtures and carries out the purposeful use of oil components.

The task of exploratory research is the discovery of fundamentally new districts and methods, to-rye in the last. implementation in the form of technology. processes can qualitatively change tech. petrochemical level. production

The specific tasks of applied research and development are determined by the requirements of the petrochemical industry. and the oil refining industry, and are also dictated by the logic of the development of the entire chemical industry. Sciences.

To solve their problems, N. comprehensively uses the methods and achievements of org. and physical chemistry, mathematics, heat engineering, cybernetics and other sciences. In connection with a clearly defined applied focus of research in the development of petrochemical. processes are widely practiced modeling and testing them on pilot plants decomp. scale (see scale transition). Scientific researches in N. develop on a trace. main directions: study of chem. composition of oils, interconversion of oil hydrocarbons, synthesis of func. derivatives of hydrocarbons from oil and gas raw materials.

The study of the chemical composition of oils reveals patterns in the distribution of hydrocarbons, heteroatomic and metal-containing compounds. in oils and their fractions, depending on the field, depth of occurrence and oil production conditions (see. Oil). Knowledge of such patterns makes it possible to create data banks on oils, to recommend the most. diet. ways of processing and use of oil, oil fractions and components. For a deeper study of the composition of oil, existing methods of analysis are intensified and new ones are developed using complex chem. and fiz.-chem. methods of analysis (chromatography, optical spectroscopy, NMR, etc.).

Research into the interconversion of hydrocarbons in oil provides the scientific basis for the processes oil refining-receiving motor fuels, their high-octane components (isoparaffins C 6 -C 9, aromatic hydrocarbons), monomers and intermediates (ethylene, propylene, butylenes, benzene, toluene, isoprene, butadiene, acetylene, xylenes) from other oil components, Ch. arr. unbranched paraffins and naphthenes. For this purpose, the regularities and mechanism of thermic are investigated. and catalytic transformations of individual hydrocarbons and their mixtures, carry out the search, development and application of new and modified. rolledcongestion, study the mutual influence of the components of the reaction. mixtures on the direction of the district during cracking, pyrolysis, dehydrogenation, isomerization, cyclization, etc. Such a study makes it possible to improve existing and develop new oil refining processes in order to deepen it to 75-85%, to obtain high quality. oil products, utilize heteroatomic components of oil. It is also promising to study and use biochemical, plasmachemical, photochemical, new for N.. and other methods of stimulating districts.

Synthesis of func tions. c o o n o d o d o dr o d o v (petrochemical synthesis) - development of scientific foundations for effective direct or low-stage methods for obtaining the most important functions. derivatives (alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, ethers, glycols, amines, nitriles, halogen- and sulfur-containing derivatives) based on hydrocarbons of oil and nature. gas, semi-products and oil refining waste. An example is the creation of new promising processes for the selective synthesis of oxygen-containing compounds. using single-stage p-tions of oxidation decomp. hydrocarbons with oxygen and carbonylation of olefins of carbon oxides.

petrochemical production. The results of scientific research and achievements in the field of N. find practical. application in production pl. large-capacity org. intermediates. The advantage of oil and gas raw materials over other types (coal, shale, peat, vegetable and animal fats, etc.) is that its complex processing makes it possible to simultaneously obtain a wide range of intermediate products for decomp. chem. production

Neftekhim. production begins with the receipt of primary petrochemicals. products, partly supplied by oil refining, for example. straight-run gasoline, highly aromatic gasoline from catalytic installations. reforming and pyrolysis, bottombulk fractions of paraffins and olefins, kerosene, gas oil, fuel oiland liquid and solid paraffins released from them. Based on primary petrochemicals. products (ch. arr. unsaturatedand aromatic. hydrocarbons) secondary products are produced,presented diff. org classes. compounds (alcohols, aldeguides, carboxylic acids, amines, nitriles, etc.); WTO basedretail (and partly primary) - final (commercial) products(see diagram). Liquid, solid or gaseous hydrocarbonsoil and gas (ch. arr. n-alkanes) are raw materials for microbiol.synthesis of feed products (see. microbiological synthesis).

Neftekhim. production is characterized by the release of non-fuel products, a limited and stable range of products (about 50 items), large-scale production. State and development of petrochemical. production decisively affects the pace and scale of chemicalization of all National economy and, first of all, in the production of synthetic. and paintworkmaterials, rubber products, fodder and others. Thanks to this, the development of N. determines the progress of many others. other branches of folkeconomy, where it is realized in the main. profit and raw material savingsand energy from the oil products involved in the use.

Neftekhim. production, as a rule, are flow-continuous, carried out on large unitsunit power, with increased t-pax and pressures and wide use decomp. catalysts. For modern production typical high level automation, the use of computers and analyzers on the flow to control and manage technol. process. For the petrochemical the industry as a whole is also characterized by specialization and centralization of production, developed functions. communications (cooperation) on raw materials and products with oil refining and production of polymers.

Mostly petrochemical. production-material-, capital- and energy-intensive facilities. In terms of crude oil, the output of 1 ton of petrochemical. product requires the cost of 1.5 to 3 tons of it as a raw material and another 1-3 tons as an energy source (in the amount of 2.5 to 6 tons). In this regard, the share of raw materials in the cost is large (65-85%), production costs and profits are relatively low. The urgent task of intensifying and increasing the economic petrochemical efficiency. production is solved at the expense of chemical-technol. (use of new, more selective p-tions and catalysts, optimization of working conditions, attraction of more accessible and cheaper types of raw materials and more effective ways operations, etc.) and organizational and economic. factors (concentration of production and enlargement of aggregates, cooperation and combination of processes, installations and production).

Neftekhim. production is usually accompanied by the formation of by-products that pollute the environment. The solution of environmental issues is achieved by increasing the selectivity of processes, creating low-waste technologies, and complex processing of raw materials and waste.

On the chem. processing is now spent worldwide more than 8% of oil produced. For individual countries, these figures fluctuate and for the USSR amount to approx. 7%, for the USA 12%. In commensurate in tonnage with the total number of oil products spent on petrochemical. goals, used natural. gas. The share of its production coming to the chemical. processing is 12% in the world, 11% in the USSR, and 15% in the USA.

The total output of petrochemicals. products in the world can be. estimated at 300 million tons/year (1987-88). In table. estimated data on world pro-wu naib. large-capacity petrochemical products.

The USSR is a major producer of ethylene, methanol, propylene, phenol, respectively. 3.1, 3.2, 1.42 and 0.5 million tons (1988). For 1980-88 the volume of production of petrochemicals. production in the USSR increased by almost 1.5 times.

VOLUME AND CAPACITY OF THE WORLD PRODUCTION OF SOME PETROCHEMICAL PRODUCTS (1986-88, MMT/YEAR)

Although in the last ten years the world oil production has not been growing (from 3.11 billion tons in 1980 it decreased to 2.6 billion tons in 1983, and then increased to 3.07 billion tons in 1989), the main range of petrochemicals. products will be preserved, and their production volumes will grow by 4-6% per year. In this regard, we should expect a significant (in terms of absolute quantity and percentage) growth in oil consumption for chemical production. processing. To con. 20th century the latter figure can reach 20-25%. In the foreseeable period, oil and gas raw materials will remain a priority in the org. synthesis, but will face competition from more accessible and sometimes cheaper alternative (non-oil) raw materials: coal, shale, biomass, etc.

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Use literature for the article "PETROCHEMISTRY": Handbook of the petrochemist, ed. S. K. Ogorodnikova, vol. 1-2, L., 1978; Sheldon R. A., Chemical products based on synthesis gas, trans. from English, M., 1987; Peraushanu V., Korobya M., Muska G., Production and use of hydrocarbons, trans. from rum., M., 1987; Lebedev N. N., Chemistry and technology of basic organic and petrochemical synthesis, 4th ed., M., 1938; "J. All-Russian Chemical Society named after D. I. Mendeleev", 1989, v. 34, No. 6.

S. M. Loktev.

Page "PETROCHEMISTRY" prepared according to the materials of the chemical encyclopedia.

CORPORATE STRUCTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

The overwhelming majority of enterprises in the Russian chemical and petrochemical industry were created back in the USSR; the structure of the industry was formed during the formation and development of the chemical and petrochemical industry Soviet Union, which was characterized by the creation of large specialized industrial enterprises. Thus, in the Russian chemistry and petrochemistry there is enough a large number of enterprises specialized in the production of a relatively narrow range of products, which, however, occupy a significant share in the total Russian production of this product (Table 1).

This is most clearly manifested in the production of potash and phosphorus fertilizers and some other types of basic chemical products, synthetic rubbers, methanol and other organic synthesis products, basic thermoplastics, car tires, to a somewhat lesser extent - in the production of nitrogen fertilizers, which are produced in Russia by more than a dozen large enterprises.
However, even more significant than the concentration of production in Russian chemistry and petrochemistry is the concentration of capital. The industry is characterized by a situation where the activities of most enterprises are controlled by only a few large companies and financial and industrial groups.
The largest of them have long been well known - this is a petrochemical holding (whatever its further fate), uniting large manufacturers of basic organic synthesis products, plastics, synthetic rubbers, tires, chemical fibers; a group that actually manages assets in the phosphorus industry of the former FIG; a corporation that controls a number of large enterprises in the nitrogen industry. The Tatar petrochemical complex is not a single holding, but includes a number of major petrochemical enterprises, whose activities are strongly influenced by the government of Tatarstan.
Several smaller figures can also be noted: the Bashkir holding is mainly focused on primary oil refining, but its constituent enterprises also produce a wide range of petrochemical products; in 2000-2001 active efforts to form a petrochemical holding were made by the MDM group, which created a mineral and chemical company; the Singapore company AMTEL controls 2 tire plants (Kirov, Krasnoyarsk) and some other assets.
In recent years, the largest Russian oil companies have also become more actively interested in chemistry. This is primarily LUKOIL (a chemical division of the company has been created that controls one of the largest polyethylene producers OOO and a number of other enterprises).
Listing the largest economic entities that have an impact on the Russian chemistry and petrochemistry, it is impossible not to mention OJSC, which occupies a special position. This is primarily due to the fact that natural gas and its products are the raw materials for the production of most types of petrochemical and nitrogen industry products. primary processing. Thus, Gazprom and its dependent companies (such as, for example, Mezhregiongaz) are the main suppliers of raw materials for the nitrogen industry.
Until recently, most of the gas processing was under the control of SIBUR, but this company has always been perceived as heavily dependent on Gazprom. Now Gazprom is the largest shareholder of holdings in the petrochemical industry (SIBUR) and the nitrogen industry (corporation). But, in addition to this, Gazprom, through Mezhregiongaz, controls the largest Russian producers of chemical fibers - and (Balakovo).
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Gazprom, both through its ownership of shares in the capitals of various companies and holdings, and through control over the sources of raw materials, is now the most influential figure in the Russian petrochemical and nitrogen industry.

LARGEST CHEMISTRY AND PETROCHEMISTRY ENTERPRISES

Most Russian chemical and petrochemical companies are rather highly specialized. Relatively high specialization in the industry, which is characterized by a wide range of products, leads to the fact that chemical and petrochemical companies, being among the largest in their sub-sectors, are significantly inferior to the largest Russian companies in terms of production in monetary terms. So, for example, the largest company in the industry took 17th place in the ranking of the largest manufacturing companies in Russia in terms of sales in 2000, and in total only 4 chemical and petrochemical companies were among the 50 largest, of which two are holdings.
For comparison: the top 50 companies in 2000 included 13 oil and gas industry companies; 11 enterprises of ferrous metallurgy; 7 - non-ferrous metallurgy; 7 - mechanical engineering.
If we do not consider holdings, then, by far, the largest enterprise in the Russian chemistry and petrochemistry is OJSC, followed by a group of enterprises that are producers of mineral fertilizers, as well as a Bashkir OJSC and petrochemical enterprises of Tatarstan (Fig. 1).
In terms of size, the leading chemical and petrochemical enterprises are noticeably inferior to the largest oil companies (NK had sales revenue in 2000 - 241.8 billion rubles, OJSC - 156.7 billion rubles), metallurgical plants (OJSC - 59.1 billion rubles, OJSC - 46.4 billion rubles), but are commensurate with the largest companies in the non-ferrous metallurgy (with the exception of the mining and metallurgical complex) and mechanical engineering (with the exception).
Having included holdings and groups of companies in consideration, it can be said that in terms of the scale of activity in Russian chemistry and petrochemistry there are three most powerful groups: Bashneftekhim (sales volume in 2000 - about 38 billion rubles), SIBUR (about 32 billion rubles) , Phosagro (about 20 billion rubles). These groups (with the exception of Bashneftekhim, which is mainly engaged in oil refining), as well as some largest companies have key positions in the Russian production of those types of products, the output of which they provide (Table 2).

DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

In the field of chemistry and petrochemistry, there is a fairly clear trend towards the concentration of capital, which manifests itself in the formation of holdings or financial-industrial groups. And although there are still quite a lot of enterprises in the industry that retain relative independence, the number of companies falling under the influence of one group or another is constantly increasing.
It was during the last three years that the influence in the industry of the group has sharply increased, which has moved from dominance in gas processing to key positions in the production of a number of petrochemical products, gaining control over several dozen enterprises; during the same period, the group was formed in its current form as the largest player in the phosphate fertilizer market, providing more than 60% of their production in Russia; in recent years, the Government of Tatarstan decided to form a republican petrochemical holding at the base, and although it was not possible to include it, influence in the petrochemical industry has noticeably increased; In 2001, the MDM group formed a mineral and chemical company, which announced its intention to actively develop the chemical business.
The most noticeable changes in the corporate structure of the industry can be expected in connection with a possible change in the status of SIBUR and the composition of enterprises controlled by it. It is now quite obvious that Gazprom will be able to acquire full control over SIBUR, whose management tried in 2001 to pursue a too independent policy that did not particularly take into account the interests of the gas concern. However, it is not completely clear which assets will eventually be at the disposal of Gazprom and what exactly it will do with these assets - sell or develop SIBUR's petrochemical business. It seems that if the gas processing plants are sold to oil companies, then the petrochemical assets will still remain in SIBUR, which will acquire a management completely loyal to Gazprom.
Thus, the emergence of new figures in the petrochemical industry based on the division of SIBUR's property is unlikely, but an increase in interest in petrochemicals by oil companies is quite likely.
The scale of the petrochemical business of Russian oil companies and their share in the total output of petrochemical products in Russia is still extremely small, which does not correspond to world practice. According to the Oil&Gas Journal and the Bulletin of Foreign Commercial Information, as of January 1, 1998, oil companies control 48% of the world's production capacity for the production of ethylene, 65% for the production of propylene, 94.5% for xylenes, 76, 5% benzene, 67% methanol, 34.2% butadiene, 29% styrene, 24.4% polystyrene, 20% polypropylene. And, although so far none of the oil companies, except for and, has declared a desire to engage in petrochemistry, the situation may change: further processing of products already manufactured by companies looks quite logical, especially given the acquisition of gas processing plants and the limited growth rate of global oil consumption.
As another likely trend, one can consider the possible formation of a more defined corporate policy and an increase in the level of corporate governance of some of the large enterprises in the industry (such as, for example, Uralkali, Kazanorgsintez, Togliattiazot, etc.). This is due to the fact that the quality of corporate governance, which was almost ignored a few years ago, is gradually beginning to attract the attention of both investors and government agencies (the Federal Commission for the Securities Market of Russia), as well as the issuers of securities themselves. Among chemical and petrochemical companies, the growth in attention to corporate governance has so far been the least noticeable. This was reflected, in particular, in the state of the stock market for chemical and petrochemical companies (which we will briefly consider later).
But while maintaining stability in the Russian economy, it is unlikely that there will be companies in the industry that will want to change their position. For further successful development, the vast majority of chemical and petrochemical enterprises need significant modernization, one of the sources of funds for which may well be the stock market, but the volume and conditions for raising capital in the stock market directly depend on the level of corporate governance.
While capitalization Russian companies is small, and therefore, as a rule, the stock market cannot be seriously considered by them as a possible source of investment, and this reduces incentives for its development and improvement of corporate governance. Indeed, even the leader of the Russian petrochemistry JSC, whose management has taken quite definite steps to increase the market value of shares, has a capitalization slightly exceeding $280 million. At the same time, in accordance with the investment policy of this company for the coming years, approximately reconstruction of ethylene production. And if an open joint stock company, in principle, could use the issue of shares to partially resolve the issues of attracting investments, then such companies as, for example, open joint stock companies or open joint stock companies, in order to attract any significant investment, would have to make a radical change in the distribution of shares among shareholders.
However, the positive changes taking place in the economy and the stock market (trends towards an increase in the credit ratings of Russia and the largest Russian issuers, towards an increase in the capitalization of the Russian stock market), allow us to expect that, while maintaining the direction of these changes, many companies, having made serious efforts to improve corporate governance and the development of their stock markets, are able to increase capitalization so much that they can already consider the stock market as a very real source of possible investments.

STATE OF THE SHARE MARKET OF RUSSIAN CHEMICAL AND PETROCHEMICAL COMPANIES

On this moment shares of a small number of enterprises in the chemical, petrochemical and oil refining industries are included in the number of securities admitted to circulation in the main Russian trading systems RTS and MICEX. As of March 15, 2002, among 370 securities (ordinary and preferred shares) of 233 issuers listed on the RTS, there are 16 securities of 12 chemical and petrochemical enterprises (less than 4.5%), and among those admitted to circulation on MICEX has almost 200 shares of more than 100 issuers, there is only one security (!) (ordinary shares of OJSC, which are almost completely illiquid), representing issuers in the chemical and petrochemical industries.
All chemical and petrochemical enterprises included in the RTS list can be divided into two groups - petrochemical enterprises and chemical industry enterprises. Of these groups, the second group is more numerous, uniting enterprises of various sub-sectors of the chemical industry: pharmaceuticals (), production of organic synthesis products (,), mineral fertilizers (,) and other chemical products.
Such a level of representativeness of chemical and petrochemical enterprises among issuers of securities traded on organized markets does not correspond to the importance of this industry in the Russian economy. This allows us to say that the sector of shares of chemical and petrochemical enterprises is less developed compared to the sectors of shares of enterprises of other industries, which is confirmed by the data on trading in shares of chemical and petrochemical companies (Fig. 2).
Transaction volumes in all listed securities are low. The volume of all transactions with shares of chemical and petrochemical companies in 2001 amounted to 1826 thousand dollars, while transactions with shares of, for example, machine-building companies amounted to 25.9 million dollars, and the total trading volume on the RTS for the year was 4450 .6 mln USD In such a situation, individual transactions affect the distribution of shares of individual issuers in the trading volume. The stock markets of almost all chemical and petrochemical companies are characterized by low liquidity, the existence of significant spreads between purchase and sale prices. Under these conditions, at present, only for three issuers it seems possible to at least approximately estimate the capitalization and the degree of their investment attractiveness (see Table 3).

It seems that in the context of a fairly stable financial position and high export potential of many Russian chemical and petrochemical enterprises, the low degree of development of the share markets of companies in this industry and their relatively low capitalization are largely related to the corporate structure of the industry and low level corporate governance.
Obviously, in conditions when a controlling stake in a company is controlled by a certain group of persons, it actually gets the opportunity to establish the company's development policy and determine all the most important decisions that affect the results of its activities.
Moreover, if this group of persons is a large financial and industrial group that operates in various business areas and manages big amount other companies, it is quite possible that the interests of this group will not coincide with the interests of other shareholders of the company. In such a situation, the only way to reduce risks for investors is to demonstrate on the part of the actual owners of the company (owners of a controlling stake) their intention to respect the rights of minority shareholders, pursue a policy to increase the company's capitalization, and improve the level of corporate governance.
So far, this has not happened, which clearly indicates the unwillingness of the owners to increase the capitalization of companies. But in the future, the situation should change.
For appropriate changes, several em of stable economic development Russia (note that in 1999-2001 it was quite stable), which should lead to an increase in the sovereign rating of Russia (and this could already be observed during last year) and reduce the risk of Russian securities in the eyes of the global investment community, as well as the awareness by top managers of financial and financial-industrial groups of positive changes in the opportunities provided by financial markets.
Given the above, the opportunity to acquire shares of companies in the industry should be considered by potential investors as long-term, high-risk, but potentially high-yield investments.
The main risks are associated with a strong dependence of the future dynamics of share prices on possible changes in the positions of the owners of controlling stakes in issuing companies on the advisability of raising the level of corporate governance and developing the share markets of their companies.

Petrochemistry, petrochemical synthesis - a branch of the chemical industry that produces chemical products from oil, associated and natural gases and their individual components. The share of petrochemicals accounts for over a quarter of all chemical products in the world. The orientation of the economy of developed countries to oil raw materials allowed petrochemistry to make in the middle of the 20th century. a qualitative leap and become one of the most important heavy industries.

Usually, when talking about the history of the emergence of petrochemistry, 1918 is taken as a starting point, when the world's first production of isopropyl alcohol from cracking gases was mastered in the United States. Isopropyl alcohol is still widely used in industry (mainly for the production of acetone). But probably, the main products of petrochemistry were materials that initially did not seem to have the slightest relation to it.

The creation of synthetic rubbers (SC) is described in Art. rubbers and elastomers. Our first SKs were made exclusively from alcohol, which was obtained from food raw materials. Now all rubbers are synthesized from petrochemical raw materials. The rubber obtained from rubber is mainly used for tires for cars, aircraft, and wheeled tractors.

Many other substances are also produced from petroleum raw materials, the manufacturing technology of which was originally based on the chemical processing of food products. Suffice it to think about fatty acids and detergents. Petrochemistry saves not only food, but also significant funds. One of the most important monomers for rubbers, divinyl, is about half as expensive when produced from butane as when it is obtained from edible alcohol.

The first five representatives of the saturated hydrocarbons of the methane series - methane, ethane, propane, butane and pentane - have become the most important petrochemical raw materials, although each of them, including methane, prevailing in the composition natural gas, in oil a little. Saturated hydrocarbons do not enter into addition reactions. Therefore, substitution reactions are extremely important for petrochemistry: chlorination, fluorination, sulfochlorination, nitration, as well as incomplete oxidation.

Drawing (see original)

All these methods of chemical action on saturated hydrocarbons make it possible to obtain more reactive compounds.

Pyrolysis of saturated hydrocarbons can produce ethylene, acetylene and other unsaturated hydrocarbons, on the basis of which many organic compounds. Ethylene is of particular value. It is needed to produce synthetic alcohol, vinyl chloride, styrene, one of the most important plastics - polyethylene, etc., as well as to produce polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and a number of other substances and materials. At the end of the 50s. only 15% of plastics and synthetic resins were produced on the basis of petrochemical raw materials in our country, now - more than 75%.

The petrochemical industry also produces aromatic compounds, organic acids, glycols (dihydric alcohols), raw materials for the production of chemical fibers, and fertilizers. In recent decades, a group of biotechnological industries has been born on the basis of petrochemistry. This is the production of protein-vitamin concentrates by the microbiological dewaxing of oil. The concentrate is a cellular substance of microorganisms that can feed on oil or its individual fractions. After appropriate purification, these concentrates are suitable for fattening farm animals. The refinery in Schwedt (GDR) produces fermosin protein-yeast concentrate, the production technology of which was developed jointly by scientists from the USSR and the GDR. Several large-scale production facilities for microbial protein have been built in the USSR, where highly purified α-paraffins are used as raw materials.

Today, the petrochemical industry provides us with many essential industrial products.