However, most petrochemical reactors are catalytic, and are responsible for most of industrial chemical production in the world, with extremely high-volume examples such as sulfuric acid, ammonia, reformate/BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) and alkylate gasoline blending stock.
Gas flares have potentially harmful effects on the health and livelihood of the communities in their vicinity, as they release a variety of poisonous chemicals including nitrogen dioxides, sulphur dioxide, volatile organic compounds like benzene, toluene, xylene and hydrogen sulfide, as well as carcinogens like benzapyrene and dioxins.
China's Environmental Protection Ministry on January 9, 2009, allowed the construction in Gulei of a two-plant chemical project : a Tenglong (腾龙)(DAC - Dragon Aromatics Co.) company factory to produce p- (meaning para-) xylene, and a Xianglu (翔鹭) company factory to use said p-xylene to produce Polyethylene terephthalate.
m-Xylene is commonly produced in BTX processes, and separated as needed from the other aromatic hydrocarbons.
Nephrolepis obliterata has the added benefit of reducing indoor air pollution, particularly formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene.
Parylene development started in 1947, when Michael Szwarc discovered the polymer as one of the thermal decomposition products of a common solvent p-xylene at a temperatures exceeding 1000 °C.