Petrochemical industry produces chemicals derived from petroleum or natural gas. They are an essential part of the chemical industry as the demand for synthetic materials grows continually and plays a major part in today's economy and society. Petrochemicals are used to manufacture thousands of different products that people use daily, including plastics, medicines, cosmetics, furniture, appliances, electronics etc. Petrochemical industry plays a major role in the economy and growth. However, with rise in energy demand, petrochemical production has also increased, consequently generating complex waste during onshore and offshore exploration, refining, and production of oil.
Unique Challenges faced by the petroleum and petrochemical industry:
Petrochemicals give us numerous useful products but they can also be dangerous to the health of living beings and the earth’s ecosystem. Most of these chemicals when released can exhibit unfavorable effects on our environment such as air, water and soil pollution. The aromatic compounds present in petrochemicals are important environmental pollutants which may be introduced into the environment through natural oil seeps, industry waste products and emissions, oil storage wastes, tar processing wastes, petrochemical industrial effluents and emissions etc. Petrochemical industry is an important source for the principal greenhouse gasses responsible for global warming. Hence effluent treatment, flue gas treatment and filtration, process catalyst losses are some of the major challenges faced in petrochemical plants.