All Named Industrial Chemical Synthesis Processes

Named industrial chemical synthesis processes are large-scale manufacturing routes, each historically credited to the chemist, engineer, or firm that developed it, that convert cheap bulk feedstocks such as air, water, salt, wood, or natural gas into a single high-volume commodity chemical. The class covers the Haber-Bosch process for ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen, the Solvay process for sodium carbonate from brine and limestone, the Contact process for sulfuric acid, the Ostwald process for nitric acid, the Fischer-Tropsch process for liquid hydrocarbons from syngas, the Chlor-Alkali process for chlorine and caustic soda by electrolysis of brine, the Kraft process for wood pulp, and steam reforming for hydrogen and syngas from natural gas. Each process is defined by a fixed reaction chemistry and a characteristic industrial plant design, runs continuously at enormous scale, and supplies a foundational input that other manufacturing, agriculture, or energy industries depend on; several of these processes, especially Haber-Bosch, are credited with reshaping global food production and industrial capacity in the twentieth century.