Upstream raw materials for chemical factories

Upstream raw materials for chemical factories

The upstream raw materials of chemical factories mainly refer to the basic raw materials used for the production of various chemical products, with a wide range of sources including petroleum, natural gas, coal, ore, biomass and other resources. According to the properties of raw materials, they can be divided into two categories: organic chemical raw materials and inorganic chemical raw materials.
Main upstream raw material types
Petroleum based raw materials
Petroleum is one of the most important sources of raw materials in the chemical industry, and basic chemical raw materials such as naphtha, ethylene, propylene, and benzene can be obtained through refining. For example:
Propylene can be extracted from petroleum through processes such as steam cracking, catalytic cracking (FCC), and propane dehydrogenation (PDH).
Aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) mainly come from catalytic reforming or cracking processes of petroleum.
Natural gas and coal based raw materials
Natural gas can provide light hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane for the production of ethylene and methanol; Coal is processed through the coal chemical pathway to produce methanol, synthetic ammonia, coal tar, etc., which are further used for the production of olefins (MTO/MTP).
Inorganic mineral raw materials
Including phosphate ore, sulfur, potassium ore, fluorite, raw salt, etc., it is widely used in industries such as phosphorus chemical, fluorine chemical, and fertilizer. For example:
Phosphate rock can react with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid, which in turn produces a series of phosphate products.
Sulfur is a key raw material for the production of sulfuric acid, which is also the basic acid agent for various chemical processes.
New energy and bio based raw materials
With the development of green chemistry, biomass materials such as corn and straw can be fermented to produce biodegradable materials such as bioethanol and polylactic acid (PLA), becoming an emerging source of raw materials.