16. Fundamentals of Applied Chemistry
Fundamentals of Applied Chemistry How chemistry turns raw materials into everyday products
16.1 Fundamentals of Applied Chemistry
Applied chemistry is the use of chemical principles and techniques to solve real-world problems and develop new products or processes.
It is simply chemistry in action — using chemical knowledge to solve everyday problems and create useful products.
It bridges pure chemistry and practical applications in fields like medicine, engineering, environmental science, and manufacturing.
- Helps understand the basic chemical properties of materials and produce new materials with well-controlled functions
- Applies theories of chemistry to answer specific questions or solve real-world problems
- Spans a wide range of chemical fields
- Important to solve environmental problems and develops new materials
16.1.2 Chemical industry and its importance
The chemical industry converts raw materials into valuable products like plastics, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, and cleaning agents through chemical processes. It plays a vital role in the global economy, supporting sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing through innovation and large-scale production.
- Mainly companies that produce industrial chemicals
- Convert raw materials into more than 70,000 products
- Convert raw materials into desired products that we use in daily life
Importance:
Types of Chemical Products
- Basic chemicals: e.g., acids (H₂SO₄), bases (NaOH)
- Intermediate chemicals: e.g., polymers, dyes
- Finished products: e.g., medicines, cosmetics
In Nepal, we can see cement and soap/detergent industries among many others.
Do a little deep research on chemical industries in Nepal. List 6 major chemical industries running in the country, along with their location and main products.
16.1.3 Stages in producing a new product
Generally, the following eight stages are involved in developing a new product.
- 💡 Idea generation
Ideas can be generated by one or more of the following ways:- Conducting market research to find out consumers’ needs and wants in national and international markets
- Inviting suggestions from consumers and employees
- Getting feedback from agents or dealers about services offered by competitors
- 🔍 Idea screening
These questions may be asked to screen the idea:- Is the product necessary?
- Can existing plants, machinery, and manpower produce it?
- Can the existing marketing network sell it?
- When will it break even?
- 🗣️ Concept testing
In this stage, the following things are found out:- Whether the consumers understand the new product
- Whether the consumers need the product
- Whether the consumers will accept the product
- 💰 Business analysis
A very important step is detailed business analysis to determine whether the new product is commercially profitable or not:- What will be the cost of the new product?
- Will there be demand for the product?
- Will the demand be seasonal or regular?
- Are there or will there be competitors?
- What will be the total sales?
- What will be the expenses on advertising, sales promotions, etc?
- How much profit will be earned after considering all expenses, including taxes
- 🏭 Product development
At this stage, the company decides to introduce a new product.
Takes all necessary steps to produce and distribute:- The production department makes plans for the production process
- The marketing department plans for marketing and distribution
- The finance department provides finance.
- The advertising department plans for advertising and promotions
- 🧪 Test marketing
It means introducing the product on a small scale. If it is successful, then it is distributed on a large scale. If it fails, the reasons for failure are analysed, necessary changes are made and reintroduced into the market. If it fails again, it is abandoned. - 🚀 Commercialisation
After successful test marketing, the company launches the new product on a large scale. The company has invested a large amount in the product. It produces, markets, and advertises the product in mass media. - 📊 Review of market performance
The company must review the market performance of the new product. They must make necessary changes in their marketing plans and strategies so as not to fail with the product.
16.1.4 Economics of production
Production combines material and immaterial inputs to create goods or services of value to the consumer.
Every company’s basic aim is to earn a profit — the balance between production costs and revenue.
The generation cost mainly involves:
Revenue: money earned from sales
16.1.5 Cash flow in the production cycle
Cash flow is the difference between cash or equivalents being transferred into (inflows) and out of the business (outflows).
Or, it is the movement of money into and out of a business.
The cash flow in the production cycle is the time it takes a company to turn raw materials into cash. It is also known as the conversion cycle.
Different projects might have different cash cycles.
- ⏱️ Short cash cycle = faster recovery of investment ✅
- ⏳ Long cash cycle = financial difficulty ⚠️
The following parameters have to be considered to find the cash flow of the production cycle.
- Purchases
- Operating expenses
- Interest expenses
- Income taxes
- Cash collection or revenues
16.1.6 Running a chemical plant
- Specialized equipment + Units + Technology = Chemical plant
- Main goal: create new material wealth via chemical or biological transformation and/or separation of materials.
- Advancements in technology offer smart techniques like automation, which make it easy to run a chemical plant.
- Temperature change and pressure changes can be measured by instruments directly connected to computers.
- Computer programming can easily control pumps, heaters, etc., to run the plant smoothly.
- Manpower is mainly required only to monitor through the computers, work in the parts where automation is not possible, and operate some of the equipment.
- This greatly reduces the operating cost and ensures safety to a greater extent.
16.1.7 Designing a Chemical Plant
- It is an art of science, especially done by chemical engineers.
- Designed to increase production while minimising the cost.
- Automation with a good margin of safety is another aspect.
- Chemical engineering is an integration of different sciences and engineering, like physics, chemistry, civil, mechanical, computer, etc.
- Required balancing of the number of criteria to ensure maximum efficiency.
- E.g., the rate of production using a reaction can be increased by increasing the temperature, but increasing the temperature increases the cost of energy
- If the exothermic reaction 🔥 is involved, heat energy does not have to be supplied, but high heat hinders the reaction, so the heat evolved can be used by converting it into other forms of energy.
- Similarly, an endothermic reaction ❄️ can be used to cool hot liquids, which can then be used to cool the exothermic part.
16.1.7 Continuous and batch processing
Chemical production can run in two main ways:
| Feature | Continuous Process | Batch Process |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | A single, unbroken flow of product through every step of the process. | A series of steps carried out in a specific batch/order. |
| Quantity produced | Large (massive) output. | Smaller output. |
| Product variety | No variety — identical, standardised product. | Moderate variety — same product, different versions. |
| Order size | Large orders, not repeated often. | Small orders, repeated frequently. |
| Planning & control | More complex; depends on demand. | Simple. |
| Equipment cost | Relatively expensive. | Relatively cheap. |
| Examples | Fertiliser, petroleum refining. | Medicines, speciality chemicals. |
16.1.8 Environmental impact of the chemical industry
Chemical industries have brought several important products to improve health, provide greater safety, and enhance the quality of life. But these can also release harmful chemicals into the environment during the production, use, and disposal of the products.
The impact of chemical industries:
Air pollution
Clean natural air is about 78% N₂, 20.9 O₂, 0.9% Ar, 0.53% H₂O, 0.035% CO₂, and other trace components. Any change in this composition, especially harmful to living beings, is air pollution.
- Main pollutants released into the atmosphere by the industries are CO₂ and CO.
- Generally released during the combustion of fossil fuels
- Main effect: greenhouse effect, global warming, melting of ice in mountains and poles, change in seasonality, over-rainfall, under-rainfall, melting of glaciers and glacier lakes, and flooding, etc.
- CO: toxic
- other pollutants are NO, NO₂, SO₂, SO₃ etc.
- also released during the combustion of impure fossil fuels
- Main effect: acid rain, photochemical smog, respiratory problems, etc.
- Other compounds, like CFCs, cause ozone layer depletion
- Another class of pollutants: volatile organic compounds (VOCs)→ health hazards in humans and other animals.
- In minimising the environmental impact of industrial activity, both directly released pollutants and the release of compounds that have a role in secondary pollution production should be considered.
Water pollution
Chemical industries release reaction by-products, used solvents, and hot water (after being used for cooling the machinery) into seas, rivers, lakes, etc. Common pollutants include heavy metals like Cd, Hg, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cu, etc., highly toxic to aquatic life and humans. Other pollutants are petroleum, pesticides, detergents, fertilisers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), other organic compounds, etc. All of these are harmful to aquatic plants and animals and to humans if they are used.
Soil pollution
Pesticides, herbicides, ammonia, petroleum hydrocarbons, lead, mercury, naphthalene, and plastics from chemical industries can pollute soil when disposed of incorrectly. This often acidifies soil, reducing agricultural productivity and biodiversity. Discarded plastics, cans, and batteries add further damage.
When designing a chemical plant, environmental impact must always be considered and mitigation measures applied. Preventing pollution at the source is the best strategy — but managing unavoidable hazards responsibly is equally important.
1. Chemical industries are useful and harmful to us. Explain.
Chemicals from chemical industries are used to make virtually every man-made product and play an important role in the everyday life of people around the world. Such products provide protection for crops and increase yields, prevent and cure disease, provide insulation to reduce energy use, and provide countless other benefits.
At the same time, the chemical industry generates hazardous waste as a manufacturing by-product, and many products eventually become waste after use — causing pollution. So, the same industry that improves our lives can also harm the environment if not managed responsibly.
Quick Summary of the chapter
- Applied chemistry = practical use of chemistry
- Chemical industry = converts raw materials into products
- Continuous process = large-scale, automated
- Batch process = flexible, small-scale
- Pollution = a major disadvantage of industries
📝 Chapter Quiz
Test your understanding of the fundamentals of applied chemistry.
