Industrial Applications of Chemistry
80 real-world industrial processes powered by chemistry
Activated Carbon Adsorption for Water and Air Purification
Nature's most versatile adsorbent material
Activated carbon is produced by thermal or chemical activation of carbonaceous materials (coconut shell, coal, wood) to create an extremely …
Flue Gas Desulfurization (Wet Limestone Scrubbing)
Removing SO2 from power plant exhaust to prevent acid rain
Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) removes sulfur dioxide from coal-fired power plant exhaust using limestone or lime slurry scrubbing. The wet …
Heavy Metal Precipitation from Industrial Wastewater
Removing toxic metals from wastewater by chemical precipitation
Chemical precipitation is the most widely used method for removing dissolved heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Pb, Cd) from …
Ion Exchange Water Softening and Deionization
Swapping unwanted ions for purified water
Ion exchange (IX) is a reversible chemical process where dissolved ions in water are exchanged for similarly charged ions on …
Municipal Water Chlorination and Disinfection
The public health intervention that saved millions of lives
Water chlorination is the most widely used method for disinfecting municipal drinking water, credited with virtually eliminating waterborne diseases such …
Reverse Osmosis Membrane Desalination
Producing fresh water from the ocean using polymer membrane chemistry
Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination forces seawater or brackish water through semi-permeable thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes at high pressure to …