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.