Importance of Catalysis

A large fraction of chemical, refinery, and pollution-control processes involve catalysis. Its importance can be demonstrated by referring to the catalyst market. In 1993 the worldwide catalyst usage was $8.7 billion, comprising $3.1 billion for chemicals, $3 billion for environmental applications, $1.8 billion for petroleum refining, and $0.8 billion for industrial biocatalysts (Schilling, 1994; Thayer, 1994). The total market for chemical catalysts is expected to grow by approximately 20% between 1997 and 2003, primarily through growths in environmental and polymer applications (McCoy, 1999). For the U.S., the total catalyst demand was $2.4 billion in 1995 and is expected to rise to $2.9 billion by the year 2000 (Shelley, 1997).While these figures are impressive, the economic importance of catalysis is even greater when considered in terms of the volume and value of goods produced through catalytic processes. Catalysis is critical in the production of 30of the top 50commodity chemicals produced in the U.S., and many of the remaining ones are produced from chemical feedstocks based on catalytic processes. In broader terms, nearly 90% of all U.S. chemical manufacturing processes involve catalysis (Schilling, 1994). Although difficult to estimate, approximately $200–$1000 (Hegedus and Pereira, 1990; Cusumano, 1991) worth of products are manufactured for every $1 worth of catalyst consumed. The value of U.S. goods produced using catalytic processes is estimated to be between 17% and 30% of the U.S. gross national product (Schilling, 1994). In addition, there is the societal benefit of environmental protection, since emission control catalysts are a significant sector of the market (McCoy, 1999).