Industrial Processes
Contents
This page is a working list of every important industrial process that shows up in Quizbowl. Focus is given to processes that produce specific compounds or isolate specific elements.
Mostly copied from my old notes for Science Bowl, with a few additions and heavy reformatting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_processes
This page is organized by the compound (or general objective) that each process produces. Within each compound, the list of processes is listed from most modern to most outdated. Obsolete processes will be listed as so in (parentheses).
Elements
Aluminum
Hall-Heroult Process
- produces aluminum by smelting alumina in molten cryolite (Na3AlF6)
Wohler Process (obsolete)
- produces aluminum metal from anhydrous aluminum chloride and potassium
- not to be confused with the Wohler synthesis
Bayer Process
- Produce alumina from bauxite
Deville Process (obsolete)
- Produce alumina from bauxite
Bromine
Dow Process
- electrolytic extraction of bromine from brine
Chlorine
Deacon Process
- produces chlorine gas from the oxidation of hydrogen chloride
- a variety of catalysts, including ruthenium (IV) oxide (RuO2) and copper (II) chloride (CuCl2) are used
- replaced by electrolytic processes
Chloralkali process
Weldon process
Hooker process
Hydrogen
Steam Reforming
- Reaction between methane and water to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas
$$\ce{CH4 + H2O <=> CO + 3 H2}$$
- Produces grey hydrogen when waste carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere
- Produces blue hydrogen when carbon dioxide is (mostly) captured and stored geologically
- Zero carbon ‘green’ hydrogen is produced by thermochemical water splitting, using solar thermal, low- or zero-carbon electricity or waste heat, or electrolysis, using low- or zero-carbon electricity.
Water-Gas Shift Reaction
- Reaction between carbon monoxide and water to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas
$$\ce{CO + H2O <=> CO2 + H2}$$
- Discovered by Italian physicist Felice Fontana in 1780
Magnesium
Pidgeon Process
- Produces magnesium using a silicothermic reduction
- Silicon in the process is usually found bound to iron as a ferrosilicon alloy
$$\ce{Si(s) + 2 MgO(s) => SiO2(s) + 2 Mg(g)}$$
- Thermodynamically unfavorable but can be induced by removing product (Mg vapor), according to Le Chatlier’s principle
- Most common raw material used is dolomite:
$$ \ce{(Ca,Mg)CO3(s) => CaO.MgO(s)+ CO2(g) (dolomite calcining)} \ce{(Fe,Si)(s) + 2 MgO(s) <=> Fe(s) + SiO2(s) + 2 Mg(g)} \ce{CaO + SiO2 > CaSiO3} $$
Nickel
Mond Process
- extracts and purifies nickel
Silver
Patio Process
- extracts silver from ore using a mercury amalgamation
Sulfur
Claus Process
- recovers elemental sulfur from gaseous hydrogen sulfide
- most significant gas desulfurization process
Frasch Process (obsolete)
- extracts sulfur from underground deposits
Titanium
Chloride Process
- separates titanium from its ores
Kroll Process
- produces metallic titanium
- can also be used to produce zirconium
- superseded the Hunter process
Compounds
Ammonia
Haber-Bosch Process
- produces ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen gas
- uses a iron catalyst (magnetite: Fe3O4) with a potassium promotor
- superseded osmium and uranium catalysts
- superseded the Birkeland–Eyde process and Frank–Caro process
Graphite
Acheson Process
- produces silicon carbide and graphite from silicon dioxide and carbon
Heavy Water
Girdler sulfide process
Hydrogen Peroxide
- Almost all hydrogen peroxide is manufactured through the anthraquinone process
Anthraquinone Process
Steps:
- Anthrahydroquinone is generated from anthraquinone via hydrogenation over palladium
- Reacting oxygen gas with anthrahydroquinone generates hydrogen peroxide and regenerates the anthraquinone
Nitric Acid
Ostwald Process
- produces nitric acid from ammonia
- catalysts include: platinum with 10% rhodium, platinum metal on fused silica wool, copper or nickel
Sodium Carbonate
- Also known as soda ash
Solvay Process
- produces sodium carbonate (soda ash)
- superseded the Leblanc process
Leblanc Process (obsolete)
- produces sodium carbonate (soda ash) from sodium chloride and sulfuric acid
- the first step is the Mannheim process
- soda ash is extracted from a mixture called black ash
- the process was very damaging to the environment
- replaced by the Solvay process
Sulfuric Acid
Contact Process
- uses a vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) catalyst (initially, platinum was the catalyst)
- produces sulfur trioxide and oleum as intermediates
Lead Chamber Process (obsolete)
- uses nitrogen oxides as a catalyst
Hydrocarbons
Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC)
- cracking of hydrocarbons, converting high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils into more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases
- the catalyst consists of crystalline zeolite, matrix, binder, and filler
Burton Process (obsolete)
- still used to produce diesel
Organic Compounds
Oxo process
Cumene Process
- produces phenol and acetone from benzene and propylene
Fischer-Tropsch Process
- produces liquid hydrocarbons from a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen
- cobalt, iron, and ruthenium are common catalysts
Raschig Process
- production of hydroxylamine
- most of the product is used in the manufacture of caprolactam, the precursor to Nylon
- Steps 3 and 4 are the key steps
Steps:
- ammonium carbonate solution is prepared by reacting ammonia, carbon dioxide and water
- an alkaline solution of ammonium nitrite is formed by reacting ammonium carbonate solution with nitrogen oxides
- ammonium nitrite is converted to hydroxylamine disulfonate with sulfur dioxide
- hydroxylamine disulfonate is hydrolysed to hydroxylammonium sulfate