Talk:Petrochemical

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As one who has worked in the petrochemicals industry for 28 years, I find the current definition rather strange. Admittedly, the compounds named are chemicals, and they are derived from rocks, however I think that there is a distinction to be made between chemicals and fuels. The agricultural chemicals mentioned are either made by relatively small-scale multi-stage organic synthesis (pesticides and herbicides) or are not organic at all (fertilisers - urea, ammonium nitrate, phosphate and potassium. Is ammonia a petrochemical simply because it is made by the reaction of methane-derived hydrogen and nitrogen?).

I would therefore suggest the following as a short alternative, which could of course be enlarged (though there are already articles on most of the indivdual chemicals):

Petrochemicals are chemical products made from raw materials of petroleum (hydrocarbon) origin.

The two main classes of raw materials are olefins (including ethylene and propylene) and aromatics (including benzene and xylene isomers), both of which are produced in very large quantities, mainly by the steam cracking and catalytic reforming of refinery hydrocarbons. From these basic building blocks are made a very wide range of raw materials used in industry - plastics, resins, fibres, solvents, detergents, etc.

World production of ethylene is around 110 million tonnes per annum, of propylene 65 million tonnes and of aromatic raw materials 70 million tonnes. The largest petrochemical industries are to be found in the USA and Western Europe, though the major growth in new production capacity is in the Middle East and Asia. There is a substantial inter-regional trade in petrochemicals of all kinds.

The above version seems far better than the current definition of petrochemicals, which gives the impression that coal-based chemicals are also petrochemicals. Is there any reason why it hasn't been adopted?

If there are no objections, I propose substituting the above for the current article.

User:Bathrobe 13 April 2006 (not logged in)

• When I read the current article the first thing that came to mind was that most pharmaceuticals are petrochemicals (If one goes back far enough in the production chain, most pharmaceuticals begin in an olefins plant.). As do most specialty chemicals and for that matter, some ethanol added to cheaper hard liquor and the CO2 used for carbonated beverages should all be considered petrochemicals. Perhaps some examples like these are worth mentioning? The examples given seem much more industrial StateOfTheUnion 18:11, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• well, it's 29 years now, but thanks for your confidence in my contribution!

Bearfoot 15:47, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] petrochemical industry

... currently redirects here, but the article doesn't really address either the commercial or engineering aspects, just the chemistry. Is there someplace better that could be pointed, or is our coverage just rather incomplete? Alai 06:22, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

Presently the article says that "petrochemical" is not a correct term since the Greek prefix petro- means "rock", and that petrochemicals come not from rock, but from crude oil. I think that "petrochemical" is derived from the English word petroleum which means "crude oil" from the ground (or from underground). "Petroleum" in turn was derived from petro- meaning "rock" (in effect, meaning from the ground, as opposed to oil from plant or animal sources) and oleum meaning "oil". However, the term "oleochemical" would also be reasonable, meaning chemical from oil. H Padleckas (talk) 20:59, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I think you're right about the likely etymology, Henry, but I think oleochemical wouldn't be right - especially as it already has a (quite different meaning), see oleochemical. And when was the last time someone from BP sat down and said, "We need to build a new oleochemical plant in China"? "Correct" or not, petrochemical is the word used for chemicals from petroleum, see also wiktionary:petrochemical. I think we should remove the remark, which isn't sourced and doesn't have anything useful to add. When someone researches the etymology properly, they can add it in. Walkerma (talk) 06:21, 4 January 2008 (UTC)