Overview and History of Process Industry Fall 2014

Today’s Agenda –Birth, growth and development of the industry –Impact of the industry on the community and the economy –Responses of the industry to global issues –Regulation of the Industry –New terminology

The Process Industry Process Industry Pharmaceuticals Pipeline Chemical RefiningFood/BevPulp/Paper Oilfield Energy Traditional Nuclear Alternative Metals

Terms Exploration Process Process Technology Process Industry Process Unit Refining Feedstock Petrochemicals

Early Uses of Petroleum Egypt - mummification China – heating homes Persia – asphalt street paving Sumatra (Indonesia) - medicine Native Americans - medicine Medicine shows – miracle elixirs

In Search of a Market 1556: Petroleum first named by Georg Bauer Late 1700s s: Industrial revolution, beginning of chemical industry 1792: Natural gas industry born in England – William Murdock 1800s: Demand for manufactured consumer products increases –Growth of paper industry –1879: Light bulb invented 1850: First refinery 1853: Kerosene

The Market Expands 1859: Colonel Edwin Drake drilled First oil well in Titusville, PA, by adapting old steam engine to drill bit 1860: Fifteen refineries producing naphtha, kerosene, heavy oils and tars 1865: First pipeline in Titusville, PA 1869: New products: Vaseline, candle wax, gum 1886: Henry Ford designs first gasoline-powered automobile Early 1900s: Britain and U.S. dominate industry

Chemical Processing 1913: Thermal cracking to produce gasoline 1917: First fractionating column 1920: First gas stations 1936: Catalytic cracking to produce gasoline 1940: Catalytic reforming to increase octane

War, Petroleum, and Chemicals In the 1940’s, WWI and WWII dramatically increase importance of processing industries Industry advances help Allied victories –Synthetic rubber –Plastic –Rayon & Nylon –Higher octane fuels Post WWII Booms –automobile travel –babies - consumer products

The 1950s s 1950s: U.S. and European domination of petroleum business 1950 – now: Nuclear medicine 1954: First nuclear power plant in Russia 1960s: Foreign nationalization 1960’s - 70’s: Plastics manufacturing advances 1970s: Oil glut and Arab Oil Embargo

1980’s - Today 1980’s – 2000’s: Process automation advancements, cogeneration 2000’s – today: Environmentally friendlier / renewable raw materials, recycling, waste minimization, sustainability

End Products………..

Pollution, Accidents – Crisis and Response 1960’s - Warning signs… dying lakes, book Silent Spring “Critical Mass” of chemicals in the environment Growing awareness of ecological damage – DDT & bird egg shells 1984 – Bhopal plant explosion in India 1989 – Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill in Alaska Responses by government and industry

Regulation of the Industry Major Regulatory Agencies EPA –Clean Air Act (1970) –Clean Water Act (1977) OSHA DOT NRC Homeland Security

Today’s Process Industry Impact on Gulf Coast Region Process industries responsible for about 50% of Houston’s economy Employs 60,000 workers Needs 4,800 – 6,000 new hires/year Jobs have become more complex

Current Trends Oil prices (hence petrochemical product prices) very dependent on world events, politics Big Rollover – peak production…. many believe it came in –Hubert Peak Theory of global petroleum production peaking, then declining … but then comes shale production – what else might we be able to recover in future?

Current Trends Consolidations in industry –Mergers and acquisitions –Reduction of duplicate processes –Emphasis on keeping costs low Impact on Process Technicians –Higher expectations, more responsibility –More education and training needed –More proactive work strategies

Trends for the Future 1. Serious foreign competition 2. More use of computers, advanced control simulation, process automation 3. Rapid technological change 4. Partnerships between education and industry 5. More regulation 6. More legal issues 7. More responsibility, higher expectations of workers 8. More education/training 9. Less supervision 10. More smart jobs, 11. Job sharing 12. Sex equity and diversity issues

Review Questions Page 40 – Introduction to Process Technology (Thomas – 2010)