3. Sources of raw materials and prime technological cycles

Inputs for the chemical and petrochemical industries have a wide range of components, and the production cycle consists of several consecutive processing phases.

Key products of primary chemistry

Key products of primary chemistry come from the quarried and processed minerals. To produce phosphate fertilizers, e.g., they use phosphorous-containing ores mostly from 17 apatite and 24 phosphorite mines containing over 1 bln. tons of Р2О5. The largest one is the Khibini apatite-nepheline ore deposit in the Murmansk region mined by the company Apatit. For potash fertilizers they need potassium salts from the Upper Kama mine in the Perm region: it has up to 3.8 bln. tons of production reserves.

Ammonia is the raw material for nitrogen fertilizers. It is recovered from natural gas through interaction between gaseous nitrogen and hydrogen. Sodium chloride is used to produce chlorine and hydrate of sodium while limestone is needed to obtain soda ash and hydrate of sodium.

Products of petrochemistry

Petrochemical production relies on multi-phase processing of oil and associated petroleum gas (APG). The full cycle of production from inputs to finished product (plastic goods, tyres, and mechanical rubber goods) has at least 7 technological stages. With every subsequent stage grows the profitability of the end product: in certain cases, the value of the product obtained at the final stages of the technological cycle could be more than 100 times the price of one ton of the input raw material.

Key raw materials in petrochemistry include products of oil refining (primarily virgin gasoline or naphtha) and associated petroleum gas (APG). Oil companies have been significantly reducing their sales to the domestic market recently motivated by excess profits of exports, and the increased reliance on APG is something petrochemical companies need to continue to be viable.

APG is different from methane, a natural gas, in higher concentrations of heavy hydrocarbons and is, as such, an important raw material for petrochemical operations. Processing of APG at gas refineries yields a product called "long distillate of light hydrocarbons" and the net gas similar to natural gas. At gas refineries the long distillate yields liquefied gases (propane, butane and their blend) for household purposes.

Further processing of the long distillate yields almost the entire range of petrochemical goods: rubbers for tyres and mechanical rubber items, plastics and components for high-octane gasoline.

Key petrochemical goods include ethylene, propylene and benzene; source monomers for synthetic rubbers, and inputs for technical carbon. For the diagram showing various types of petrochemical goods, see Fig. 3.1.

Fig. 3.1
Functional diagram of some petrochemical products

^* production of butyl alcohols, etc.