# [TECH] Chemical Industry

**The Chemical Industry** converts raw materials into chemicals, plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, and materials — enabled by thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and later quantum chemistry.

## Overview

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.

Thermodynamic free energy calculations and later quantum chemistry computations enable rational process design.

## Key Actors

- **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)

## Key Patents

- Haber, F. & Bosch, C. DE Patent 235,421 (1910) — ammonia synthesis
- Nobel, A. SE Patent (1867) — dynamite

## Economic Value

Global chemical industry: **\$5.7 trillion/year** revenue (2023, ICIS). Enabled value (pharmaceuticals, agriculture, materials): \$30T+/year.

## Notes

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).

## What This Enables
⏎
- **[TECH] Petroleum Refining** — Chemical engineering underpins catalytic cracking, fractional distillation, and reforming in refineries.
- **[SCI] Semiconductor Physics** — Ultra-pure semiconductor crystals require advanced chemical vapour deposition and dopant chemistry.
- **[TECH] Solar Cells (Photovoltaics)** — Thin-film PV cells use advanced materials chemistry (silicon purification, perovskite synthesis, antireflection coatings).
⏎
# Parents

* [SCI] Classical Thermodynamics
* [SCI] Classical Thermodynamics
* [SCI] Statistical Mechanics