The processes that turn chemistry into industry
Haber-Bosch, chlor-alkali electrolysis, nuclear fission, photovoltaics: the key processes that convert periodic-table elements into goods, energy and global commodities.
A process is more than a single reaction. It is a chain of physical and chemical transformations engineered to produce at scale, reproducibly and economically. Each process below has its history, its inventors, a key equation and specific operating conditions.
Haber-Bosch process
Industrial synthesis of ammonia (NH₃) from atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen under high pressure with an iron catalyst. Without it, only about 4 billion humans could be fed.
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
The most widely deployed nuclear reactor design in the world (~70 % of the fleet). Primary-loop water, pressurized to 155 bar to stay liquid at 320 °C, carries fission heat from UO₂ fuel to a steam generator that feeds the turbine.
Bayer process
Refining of pure alumina (Al₂O₃) from bauxite ore by selective dissolution in hot concentrated caustic soda. The mandatory step upstream of Hall-Héroult electrolysis — no Bayer, no aluminium metal.
Hall-Héroult process
Electrolysis at 950-980 °C of alumina dissolved in molten cryolite (Na₃AlF₆) to produce aluminium metal. Universal since 1886 — it alone consumes ~3 % of world electricity.
Solvay process
Production of sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃, 'Solvay soda') from brine (NaCl) and limestone (CaCO₃), with ammonia as a recycled intermediate. Has dominated soda ash production since 1865.
Contact process
Production of sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) by catalytic oxidation of SO₂ to SO₃ over a vanadium pentoxide catalyst, followed by absorption in concentrated acid. ~270 Mt/year — the world's most-produced acid.
Ostwald process
Catalytic oxidation of ammonia (from Haber-Bosch) on a platinum-rhodium gauze to produce nitric acid. Coupled with Haber-Bosch, it's the backbone of the fertilizer and explosives industry.
Chlor-alkali process
Electrolysis of brine (NaCl) into chlorine (Cl₂), caustic soda (NaOH) and hydrogen (H₂) in a single process. Cornerstone of mineral chemistry — world production ~85 Mt Cl₂/year and ~80 Mt NaOH/year.
Frank-Caro process
First industrial process for atmospheric nitrogen fixation (1898). Converts calcium carbide CaC₂ into calcium cyanamide CaCN₂ by direct reaction with N₂. Supplanted by Haber-Bosch from the 1920s onward but supplied Germany's agricultural nitrogen during World War I.
Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)
Direct-cycle nuclear reactor: core water boils at 285 °C / 70 bar to produce the steam that drives the turbine directly, without a secondary loop. ~70 reactors in service (~25 % of the world fleet), mainly in the United States, Japan and Sweden.