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What is a chemical refinery?

What is a chemical refinery? A chemical refinery can be one in which various (usually exotic) chemicals are refined through various processes, including heat, catalyst, agitation and chemical; or it can be one used in the oil industry, typically called a petro-chemical refinery.

Often a chemical plant or refinery will be sited adjacent to a large industrial oil refinery in order to utilize the products of the oil refining process in the chemical refinery. In the chemical side of the operation, numerous petroleum products might be piped or transported to the processing plant where they would be made into such products as plastics or agricultural chemicals.

An example showing what is a chemical refinery would be where the sulfur which is removed from the petroleum distillation process is sent to the process plant where it becomes oleums a precursor of sulfuric acid appropriate for shipping. Sulfuric acid from sulfur removed during the distillation process of gasoline is used in ore extraction, fertilizer production, wastewater process and chemical synthesis.

What is a chemical refinery but a way to economically use even more of the products of crude oil distillation? Sometimes the process works the other way, and the products of the chemical refinery are used in the processes of the oil refinery.

What is a chemical refinery without governmental restrictions? Because of the dangers of handling, spills, environmental impact and health and safety of employees and citizens, chemical refineries can often be highly regulated. Local citizen groups often serve as watchdogs on the chemical refinery and serve as the spearhead to clean up or prevent air and water pollution from the processes of the chemical refinery.

After the initial distillation process in the oil refinery, the chemical processes begin on various parts of the fractional streams. Alkylation is one chemical process whereby octane counts can be transformed. These varying octane counts are appropriate for different grades of fuel with different purposes.

Another common chemical process is dimerization. This is a process where two identical molecules are brought into close conjunction to each other but without other bonds between them. An example is acetic acid.

What is a chemical refinery physically? It's usually a very large plant with pipelines carrying the products of the fractioning tower to other areas where the processes needed to further utilize the petrochemicals can be completed. In the past the processes resulted in the discharge of waste materials into the water, air and ground nearby, but that has largely ceased, at least in the United States. Efforts to clean up sites by legislative action has been partly successful, and more of the large companies which operate chemical refineries are showing signs of responsible care for the planet on which we all live.

A chemical refinery is about purifying and processing chemical substances in order get the most possible use from them and in order to distribute them to end users. The resultant chemicals are used in every type of business and every walk of life for improving the quality of that life.