Industrial Chemicals and Their Useful Properties

The chemical industry has been growing rapidly over the years. Industrial chemicals are being used in almost all sectors of economy, including the service sector, consumer goods sector, construction sector and agriculture too.

Let us have a look at some of the common industrial chemicals used in industries:

• Ammonia: Used as a scrubbing solvent for removing pollutants from the combustion streams of fossil fuels because being released into the atmosphere.
• Sodium Hydroxide: An alkaline substance used in soap and dyes manufacturing. Being a good cleansing agent, it can also be used for neutralizing acids.
• Phosphoric Acid: Mainly used in the production of fertilizer. Also used in the manufacturing of food products and soft drinks.
• Chlorine: Used for manufacturing titanium dioxide and bleaching agents.
• Sodium Carbonate: Used in glass making and in the manufacturing of many cleansing agents. Also known as soda ash, it can be mined from the trona ore, or can be manufactured by reacting sulfuric acid and salt.
• Nitrobenzene: Primarily used for the manufacturing of aniline, used as a rubber additive for preventing oxidation.
• Aluminum Sulfate: Used in wastewater and paper treatment industries as pH buffer.
• Nitric Acid: Most commonly used to react with ammonia to form solid fertilizer ammonium nitrate.
• Urea: Commonly used in the production of fertilizers. Some can also be used in manufacturing of livestock feed.
• Benzene: Benzene is used as a reactant for producing cumene and ethylbenzene. It is also a common organic solvent as a precursor for cyclohexane.
• Vinyl Chloride: Monomer form of PVC or polyvinyl chloride, it is used as a building material.
• Methanol: Used as reactant for the making of methyl tertbutyl ether, acetic acid and formaldehyde.
• Xylene: Primarily used for manufacturing phthalic anhydride, used for making a variety of polymers and plasticizers. Xylene is also used for manufacturing terephthalic acid, the polyester feedstock.
• Terephthalic Acid: Exclusively used in the manufacturing of polyester or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
• Hydrochloric Acid: Mainly used in the production of other chemicals by acting as a catalyst of reactant. Also used in the pickling of steel and also in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Acetic Acid: Primarily used for the manufacturing of vinyl acetate monomer and acetic anhydride.
• Phenol: Used for manufacturing of phenolic resins, caprolacturm and bispenol-A.

Plethora of chemicals form a raw material for usage in different industries and each of these chemicals has its distinct speciality and usage.