《化学工程与工艺专业英语》翻译整理.pdf

Unit 1 Chemical Industry 化学工业l.Origins of the Chemical IndustryAlthough the use of chemicals dates back to the ancient civilizations,the evolution of what we know as the modern chemical industry started much more recently.It may be considered to have begun during the Industrial R evolution,about 1800,and developed to provide chemicals roe use by other industries.Examples are alkali for soapmaking,bleaching powder for cotton,and silica and sodium carbonate for glassmaking.It will be noted that these are all inorganic chemicals.The organic chemicals industry started in the 1860s with the exploitation of William Henry Perkin(s discovery if the first synthetic dyestuffmauve.At the start of the twentieth century the emphasis on research on the applied aspects of chemistry in Germany had paid off handsomely,and by 1914 had resulted in the German chemical industry having 75%of the world market in chemicals.This was based on the discovery of new dyestuffs plus the development of both the contact process for sulphuric acid and the Haber process for ammonia.The later required a major technological breakthrough that of being able to carry out chemical reactions under conditions of very high pressure for the first time.The experience gained with this was to stand Germany in good stead,particularly with the rapidly increased demand for nitrogen-based compounds(ammonium salts for fertilizers and nitric acid for explosives manufacture)with the outbreak of world war I in 1914.This initiated profound changes which continued during the inter-war years(1918-1939).1.化学工业的起源尽管化学品的运用可以追溯到古代文明时代，我们所谓的现代化学工业的发展却是特别 近代(才起先的)。可以认为它起源于工业革命其间，大约在1800年，并发展成为为其它工 业部门供应化学原料的产业。比如制肥皂所用的碱，棉布生产所用的漂白粉，玻璃制造业所 用的硅及Na2c03.我们会留意到全部这些都是无机物。有机化学工业的起先是在十九世纪六 十年头以William Henry Perkin发觉第一种合成染料一苯胺紫并加以开发利用为标记的。20 世纪初，德国花费大量资金用于好用化学方面的重点探讨，到1914年，德国的化学工业在 世界化学产品市场上占有75%的份额。这要归因于新染料的发觉以及硫酸的接触法生产和氨 的哈伯生产工艺的发展。而后者须要较大的技术突破使得化学反应第一次可以在特别高的压 力条件下进行。这方面所取得的成果对德国很有帮助。特殊是由于1914年第一次世界大仗 的爆发，对以氮为基础的化合物的需求飞速增长。这种深刻的变更始终持续到战后(1918-1939)oSince 1940 the chemical industry has grown at a remarkable rate,although this has slowed significantly in recent years.The lions share of this growth has been in the organic chemicals sector due to the development and growth of the petrochemicals area since 1950s.The explosives growth in petrochemicals in the 1960s and 1970s was largely due to the enormous increase in demand for synthetic polymers such as polyethylene,polypropylene,nylon,polyesters and epoxy resins.1940年以来，化学工业始终以引人注目的速度飞速发展。尽管这种发展的速度近年来已 大大减慢。化学工业的发展由于1950年以来石油化学领域的探讨和开发大部分在有机化学 方面取得。石油化工在60年头和70年头的迅猛发展主要是由于人们对于合成高聚物如聚乙 烯、聚丙烯、尼龙、聚脂和环氧树脂的需求巨大增加。The chemical industry today is a very diverse sector of manufacturing industry,within which it plays a central role.It makes thousands of different chemicals which the general public only usually encounter as end or consumer products.These products are purchased because they have the required properties which make them suitable for some particular application,e.g.a non-stick coating for pans or a weedkiller.Thus chemicals are ultimately sold for the effects that they produce.今日的化学工业已经是制造业中有着很多分支的部门，并且在制造业中起着核心的作用。它生产了数千种不同的化学产品，而人们通常只接触到终端产品或消费品。这些产品被购买 是因为他们具有某些性质适合(人们)的一些特殊的用途，例如，用于盆的不粘涂层或一种 杀虫剂。这些化学产品归根究竟是由于它们能产生的作用而被购买的。2.Definition of the Chemical IndustryAt the turn of the century there would have been little difficulty in defining what constituted the chemical industry since only a very limited range of products was manufactured and these were clearly chemicals,e.g.,alkali,sulphuric acid.At present,however,many intermediates to products produced,from raw materials like crude oil through(in some cases)many intermediates to products which may be used directly as consumer goods,or readily converted into them.The difficulty cones in deciding at which point in this sequence the particular operation ceases to be part of the chemical industrys sphere of activities.To consider a specific example to illustrate this dilemma,emulsion paints may contain poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(vinyl acetate).Clearly,synthesis of vinyl chloride(or acetate)and its polymerization are chemical activities.However,if formulation and mixing of the paint,including the polymer,is carried out by a branch of the multinational chemical company which manufactured the ingredients,is this still part of the chemical industry of does it mow belong in the decorating industry?2.化学工业的定义在本世纪初，要定义什么是化学工业是不太困难的，因为那时所生产的化学品是很有限 的，而且是特别清晰的化学品，例如，烧碱，硫酸。然而现在有数千种化学产品被生产，从 一些原料物质像用于制备很多的半成品的石油，到可以干脆作为消费品或很简洁转化为消费 品的商品。困难在于如何确定在一些特殊的生产过程中哪一个环节不再属于化学工业的活动 范畴。举一个特殊的例子来描述一下这种逆境。乳剂漆含有聚氯乙烯/聚醋酸乙烯。明显，氯 乙烯(或醋酸乙烯)的合成以及聚合是化学活动。然而，假如这种漆，包括高聚物，它的配 制和混合是由一家制造配料的跨国化学公司完成的话，那它仍旧是属于化学工业呢还是应当 归属于装饰工业中去呢？It is therefore apparent that,because of its diversity of operations and close links in many areas with other industries,there is no simple definition of the chemical industry.Instead each official body which collects and publishes statistics on manufacturing industry will have its definition as to which operations are classified as the chemical industry.It is important to bear this in mind when comparing statistical information which is derived from several sources.因此，很明显，由于化学工业经营的种类很多并在很多领域与其它工业有亲密的联系，所以不能对它下一个简洁的定义。相反的每一个收集和出版制造工业统计数据的官方机构都 会对如何届定哪一类操作为化学工业有自己的定义。当比较来自不同途径的统计资料时，记 住这点是很重要的。3.The Need for Chemical IndustryThe chemical industry is concerned with converting raw materials,such as crude oil,firstly into chemical intermediates and then into a tremendous variety of other chemicals.These are then used to produce consumer products,which make our lives more comfortable or,in some cases such as pharmaceutical produces,help to maintain our well-being or even life itself.At each stage of these operations value is added to the produce and provided this added exceeds the raw material plus processing costs then a profit will be made on the operation.It is the aim of chemical industry to achieve this.3.对化学工业的须要化学工业涉及到原材料的转化，如石油首先转化为化学中间体，然后转化为数量众多的 其它化学产品。这些产品再被用来生产消费品，这些消费品可以使我们的生活更为舒适或者 作药物维持人类的健康或生命。在生产过程的每一个阶段，都有价值加到产品上面，只要这 些附加的价值超过原材料和加工成本之和，这个加工就产生了利润。而这正是化学工业要达 到的目的。It may seem strange in textbook this one to pose the question“do we need a chemical industry?However trying to answer this question will provide(i)an indication of the range of the chemical industrys activities,(ii)its influence on our lives in everyday terms,and(iii)how great is societys need for a chemical industry.Our approach in answering the question will be to consider the industrys contribution to meeting and satisfying our major needs.What are these?Clearly food(and drink)and health are paramount.Other which we shall consider in their turn are clothing and(briefly)shelter,leisure and transport.在这样的一本教科书中提出：“我们须要化学工业吗？”这样一个问题是不是有点惊奇呢？然而，先回答下面几个问题将给我们供应一些信息：(工)化学工业的活动范围，(2)化学工 业对我们日常生活的影响，(3)社会对化学工业的需求有多大。在回答这些问题的时候我们 的思路将要考虑化学工业在满足和改善我们的主要需求方面所做的贡献。是些什么需求呢？很明显，食物和健康是放在第一位的。其它我们要考虑的按依次是衣物、居处、休闲和旅行。(1)Food.The chemical industry makes a major contribution to food production in at least three ways.Firstly,by making available large quantities of artificial fertilizers which are used to replace the elements(mainly nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium)which are removed as nutrients by the growing crops during modern intensive farming.Secondly,by manufacturing crop protection chemicals,i.e.,pesticides,which markedly reduce the proportion of the crops consumed by pests.Thirdly,by producing veterinary products which protect livestock from disease or cure their infections.(1)食物。化学工业对粮食生产所做的巨大贡献至少有三个方面。第一，供应大量可以获 得的肥料以补充由于密集耕作被农作物生长时所带走的养分成分。(主要是氮、磷和钾)。其 次，生产农作物爱护产品，如杀虫剂，它可以显著削减害虫所消耗的粮食数量。第三，生产 兽药爱护家禽免遭疾病或其它感染的侵害。(2)Health.We are all aware of the major contribution which the pharmaceutical sector of the industry has made to help keep us all healthy,e.g.by curing bacterial infections with antibiotics,and even extending life itself,e.g.E-blockers to lower blood pressure.(2)健康。我们都很了解化学工业中制药这一块在维护我们的身体健康甚至延长寿命方 面所做出的巨大贡献，例如，用抗生素治疗细菌感染，用小抗血栓降低血压。(3)Clothing.The improvement in properties of modern synthetic fibers over the traditional clothing materials(e.g.cotton and wool)has been quite remarkable.Thus shirts,dresses and suits made from polyesters like Terylene and polyamides like Nylon are crease-resistant,machine-washable,and drip-dry or non-iron.They are also cheaper than natural materials.衣物。在传统的衣服面料上，现代合成纤维性质的改善也是特别显著的。用聚脂如涤纶 或聚酰胺如尼龙所制作的T恤、上衣、衬衫抗皱、可机洗，晒干自挺或免烫，也比自然面料 便宜。Parallel developments in the discovery of modern synthetic dyes and the technology to“bond them to the fiber has resulted in a tremendous increase in the variety of colors available to the fashion designer.Indeed they now span almost every color and hue of the visible spectrum.Indeed if a suitable shade is not available,structural modification of an existing dye to achieve this can readily be carried out,provided there is a satisfactory market for the product.与此同时，现代合成染料开发和染色技术的改善使得时装设计师们有大量的色调可以利 用。的确他们几乎利用了可见光谱中全部的色调和色素。事实上假如某种颜色没有现成的，只要这种产品确有市场，就可以很简洁地通过对现有的色调进行结构调整而获得。Other major advances in this sphere have been in color-fastness,i.e.,resistance to the dye being washed out when the garment is cleaned.这一领域中另一些重要进展是不褪色，即在洗涤衣物时染料不会被洗掉。(4)Shelter,leisure and transport.In terms of shelter the contribution of modern synthetic polymers has been substantial.Plastics are tending to replace traditional building materials like wood because they are lighter,maintenance-free(i.e.they are resistant to weathering and do not need painting).Other polymers,e.g.urea-formaldehyde and polyurethanes,are important insulating materials for reducing heat losses and hence reducing energy usage.(4)居处，休闲和旅游。讲到居处方面现代合成高聚物的贡献是巨大的。塑料正在取代 像木材一类的传统建筑材料，因为它们更轻，免维护(即它们可以反抗风化，不需油漆)。另 一些高聚物，比如，胭甲醛和聚胭，是特别重要的绝缘材料可以削减热量损失因而削减能量 损耗。Plastics and polymers have made a considerable impact on leisure activities with applications ranging from all-weather artificial surfaces for athletic tracks,football pitches and tennis courts to nylon strings for racquets and items like golf balls and footballs made entirely from synthetic materials.塑料和高聚物的应用对休闲活动有很重要的影响，从体育跑道的全天候人造篷顶，足球 和网球的经纬线，到球拍的尼龙线还有高尔夫球的元件，还有制造足球的合成材料。Likewise the chemical industrys contribution to transport over the years has led to major improvements.Thus development of improved additives like anti-oxidants and viscosity index improves for engine oil has enabled routine servicing intervals to increase from 3000 to 6000 to 12000 miles.R esearch and development work has also resulted in improved lubricating oils and greases,and better brake fluids.Yet again the contribution of polymers and plastics has been very striking with the proportion of the total automobile derived from these materialsdashboard,steering wheel,seat padding and covering etc.now exceeding 40%.多年来化学工业对旅游方面所作的贡献也有很大的提高。一些添加剂如抗氧化剂的开发 和发动机油粘度指数改进使汽车日产修理期限从3000英里延长到6000英里再到12000英 里。研发工作还改进了润滑油和油脂的性能，并得到了更好的刹车油。塑料和高聚物对整个 汽车业的贡献的比例是惊人的，源于这些材料一挡板，轮胎，坐垫和涂层等等一超过40%。So it is quite apparent even from a brief look at the chemical industrys contribution to meeting our major needs that life in the world would be very different without the products of the industry.Indeed the level of a countrys development may be judged by the production level and sophistication of its chemical industry.很明显简洁地看一下化学工业在满足我们的主要需求方面所做的贡献就可以知道，没有 化工产品人类社会的生活将会多么困难。事实上，一个国家的发展水平可以通过其化学工业 的生产水平和精细程度来加以推断。4.R esearch and Development(R&D)in Chemical IndustriesOne of the main reasons for the rapid growth of the chemical industry in the developed world has been its great commitment to,and investment in research and development(R&D).A typical figure is 5%of sales income,with this figure being almost doubled for the most research intensive sector,pharmaceuticals.It is important to emphasize that we are quoting percentages here not of profits but of sales income,i.e.the total money received,which has to pay for raw materials,overheads,staff salaries,etc.as well.In the past this tremendous investment has paid off well,leading to many useful and valuable products being introduced to the market.Examples include synthetic polymers like nylons and polyesters,and drugs and pesticides.Although the number of new products introduced to the market has declined significantly in recent years,and in times of recession the research department is usually one of the first to suffer cutbacks,the commitment to R&D remains at a very high level.4.化学工业的探讨和开发。发达国家化学工业飞速发展的一个重要缘由就是它在探讨和开发方面的投入和投资。通 常是销售收入的5%,而探讨密集型分支如制药，投入则加倍。要强调这里我们所提出的百分 数不是指利润而是指销售收入，也就是说全部回收的钱，其中包括要付出原材料费，企业管 理费，员工工资等等。过去这笔巨大的投资支付得很好，使得很多有用的和有价值的产品被 投放市场，包括一些合成高聚物如尼龙和聚脂，药品和杀虫剂。尽管近年来进入市场的新产 品大为削减，而且在衰退时期探讨部门通常是最先被裁减的部门，在探讨和开发方面的投资 仍旧保持在较高的水平。The chemical industry is a very high technology industry which takes full advantage of the latest advances in electronics and engineering.Computers are very widely used for all sorts of applications,from automatic control of chemical plants,to molecular modeling of structures of new compounds,to the control of analytical instruments in the laboratory.化学工业是高技术工业，它须要利用电子学和工程学的最新成果。计算机被广泛应用，从化工厂的自动限制，到新化合物结构的分子模拟，再到试验室分析仪器的限制。Individual manufacturing plants have capacities ranging from just a few tones per year in the fine chemicals area to the real giants in the fertilizer and petrochemical sectors which range up to 500,000 tonnes.The latter requires enormous capital investment,since a single plant of this size can now cost$520 million!This,coupled with the widespread use of automatic control equipment,helps to explain why the chemical industry is capital-rather than labor-intensive.一个制造厂的生产量很不一样，精细化工领域每年只有几吨，而巨型企业如化肥厂和石 油化工厂有可能高达500,000吨。后者须要巨大的资金投入，因为一个这样规模的工厂要花 费2亿5千万美元，再加上自动限制设备的普遍应用，就不难说明为什么化工厂是资金密集 型企业而不是劳动力密集型企业。The major chemical companies are truly multinational and operate their sales and marketing activities in most of the countries of the world,and they also have manufacturing units in a number of countries.This international outlook for operations,or globalization,is a growing trend within the chemical industry,with companies expanding their activities either by erecting manufacturing units in other countries or by taking over companies which are already operating there.大部分化学公司是真正的跨国公司，他们在世界上的很多国家进行销售和开发市场，他们在很多国家 都有制造厂。这种国际间的合作理念，或全球一体化，是化学工业中发展的趋势。大公司通过在别的国家 建立制造厂或者是收购已有的工厂进行扩张Unit 2 Research and Development 探讨和开发R esearch and development,or R&D as it is commonly referred to,is an activity which is carried out by all sectors of manufacturing industry but its extent varies considerably,as we will see shortly.Let us first understand,or at least get a feel for,what the terms mean.Although the distinction between research and development is not always clear-cut,and there is often considerable overlap,we will attempt to separate them.In simple terms research can be thought of as the activity which produces new ideas and knowledge whereas development is putting those ideas into practice as new process and products.To illustrate this with an example,predicting the structure of a new molecule which would have a specific biological activ