Catalysis is the backbone of many industrial processes that use chemical reactions to turn raw materials into useful products.
Optimizing catalytic effects requires a thorough understanding of a wide range of chemical phenomena and is a highly specialized science.
At its heart, a catalyst is a way to save energy. And applying catalysts on a grand scale could save the world a lot of energy.
The biggest consumers of catalysts in Iran are in the petrochemical and refining industries. These industries are increasing productions along the lines of the governments economic directives.
The sectors became even more significant after the re-imposition of US sanctions on the oil industry in 2018. Since then, the government has been taking serious measures to expand the industries and move toward self-sufficiency.
Somewhere around 700 million dollars worth of catalysts are domestically consumed annually by refineries and petrochemical plants.
Statistics show the domestic market of catalysts is worth well over 700 million dollars. Of this market, only 10 percent of the demand is met by domestic companies.
The total domestic demand is around 29,000 tonnes of catalysts for the petrochemical and refinery industries alone.
Currently there are 18 active companies in the field of catalyst production. Also, there are over 40 types of catalysts in the world, and Iran has been able to indigenize around 16 of these so far.
Producing catalysts inside the country would make a huge difference in the profitability of the petrochemical plants.