# [TECH] Chemical Industry
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**The Chemical Industry** converts raw materials into chemicals, plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, and materials — enabled by thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and later quantum chemistry.
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## Overview
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The 19th-century chemical industry began with Leblanc (1791) and Solvay (1861) processes for soda ash, coal-tar dyes (Perkin, 1856), and explosives (Nobel, dynamite 1867). The Haber–Bosch process (1909) for nitrogen fixation — described as the most important chemical reaction in history — enabled synthetic fertilisers that now feed roughly half the global population. Petrochemical cracking (early 20th century) created plastics, synthetic rubber, and fuels.
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Thermodynamic free energy calculations and later quantum chemistry computations enable rational process design.
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## Key Actors
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- **Companies**: BASF (1865), Bayer (1863), DuPont (1802/1912 for chemicals), Dow Chemical (1897), Shell, ExxonMobil
- **Inventors**: Fritz Haber (1868–1934), Carl Bosch (1874–1940), Alfred Nobel (1833–1896)
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## Key Patents
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- Haber, F. & Bosch, C. DE Patent 235,421 (1910) — ammonia synthesis
- Nobel, A. SE Patent (1867) — dynamite
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## Economic Value
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Global chemical industry: **$5.7 trillion/year** revenue (2023, ICIS). Enabled value (pharmaceuticals, agriculture, materials): $30T+/year.
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## Notes
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Chemical industry revenue: ICIS World Chemical Industry Report 2023. Haber–Bosch feeds ~3.5 billion people (Erisman et al., *Nature Geoscience* 2008). Pharmaceuticals alone: $1.5T/year (IQVIA 2023).
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# Parents
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* [SCI] Classical Thermodynamics⏎