Modern Petrochemicals Ali El-Shekeil, Professor of Chemistry, Sana'a University, Yemen The modern petrochemical industry is a universal key industry. Petroleum supplied a great starting material that is characterized by cheap price, availability in huge quantities, ease of transport, diversity of products and uses besides the production of many feedstocks for the petrochemical industries. The petrochemical products reached all the applications of the modern citizen to the extent that it seems impossible to imagine living without them. They dominated all aspects of civilized life including building and structure, transportation, textiles and clothing, food, agriculture, industry and the everyday use. They introduced excellent alternatives to some natural materials such as cotton, wool and natural rubber, in massive quantities with extremely low prices and superior specifications. This book is designed to study the chemistry and technology of the primary petrochemicals: ethylene, propylene, butadiene and butenes, benzene, toluene and xylenes, together with methanol. These are the main bricks in the petrochemical industry from which hundreds of intermediate petrochemicals are made. The intermediate petrochemicals can be reacted to give the performance or end use petrochemicals. The book presents a clear concise view of the chemistry of modern petrochemicals, its structure and the interaction between petrochemical industry, oil industry and the overall chemical and technological processes. The modern petrochemical processes are discussed precisely with the emphasis on the technology and economy including data on annual capacities, uses and applications. The author has been successfully teaching this course in petrochemicals at the Faculty of Science, The University of Sana'a, Yemen, since 1980 and providing technical consultation in petroleum and petrochemical industry for the local community and the whole region. Readership: Graduate and undergraduate students in universities and polytechnics studying chemistry, applied chemistry, chemical engineering and related topics. Chemists and chemical engineers in industry worldwide, especially those concerned with the petrochemical and oil industries, together with students and teachers in technical institutes and colleges of chemistry.
About the Author: Professor Dr. Ali El-Shekeil -B.S., Industrial Chemistry, University of Baghdad, 1974, Iraq. -Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA, 1980. -Acadimically, Full Professor since 1989. -Dean and Vice-Dean, Faculty of Science, Sana'a University, Yemen, 1981-1991. -Sana'a University Professor Prize, 2005. -Yemen Presidential Prize for Scientific Research, 2009. -Member of UNEPA Excutive Committee on Persistent Organic Pollutants, EC-POPs, since 2005. -Technical Advisor of the Yemen Petroleum Company since 1980. -Advisor of the Rector of Sanaa University for scientific research 2009-2012. -Scientific Societies: 1) Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, (FRSC) London, 2003. 2) Member of the American Chemical Society, 1980-1988. 3) Member and Secretary of the Yemen Affiliation of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, IUPAC, 1987 to 91. -Member of Academic Council, Sana'a University, 1995 to 2005. -Supervised 11 Ph. D. Dissertations. 11 M. S. Theses. -40+ International Scientific Conferences: USA, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, USSR, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, The Netherlands, Jordan, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Swizerland, Morocco, Iraq, Qatar, and Yemen. -Published 25+ books; many in simplification of science and technology for children. -Published 100+ Papers in some famous international scientific refereed journals. -Scientific studies: 1) 25 in oil industry. 2) 20 environmental studies. 3) 8 alternative and renewable energy studies. 4) 10 published studies (papers) in Chemical Industries in the Islamic Civilization. -Simplifid Science and Technology for Children, 10 books, 600+ A4 pages: Oil, Solar Energy, Alternative Energies, Nuclear Energy, Plastics, Chemical Industries, Water, Environmental Pollution, Metals and Alloys and The Universe. -Refereed for almost all journals in Polymer Chemistry, specifically electrically conducting polymers and many organic chemistry journals. -The best researcher in Yemen for a serries of consequetive years according to Science Direct and Scoopus.