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Whats the difference between chemical processes and chemical reactions? Ive heard that the chemical industries only uses chemical processes to produce new substances, but isnt that also what happens when a chemical reaction occurs? I couldn't find a lot on this topic online except for the wikipedia aricles that only made me more confused.

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According to IUPAC:

Chemical reaction

A process that results in the interconversion of chemical species. Chemical reactions may be elementary reactions or stepwise reactions (It should be noted that this definition includes experimentally observable interconversions of conformers.) Detectable chemical reactions normally involve sets of molecular entities as indicated by this definition, but it is often conceptually convenient to use the term also for changes involving single molecular entities (i.e. 'microscopic chemical events').

A chemical reaction is a kind of process in which interconversion of chemical species takes place. Because of this, we can say that a chemical reaction is a chemical process.

Chemical process can be a broad term, which describe any process that is commonly studied by chemists because they are closely related to chemical reactions. It is somewhat diffuse, as boundaries of the field of chemistry.

Industries use a variety of procedures to obtain substances. Chemical processes/reactions take place. If your interest is realising what is done in industries, do not get stuck in these subtleties. Most of the times they are not intentionally distinguished, and their usage is customary in the field.

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While a reaction is a kind of process in the broader sense of that word, in the chemical industry the term process usually refers to an engineered system for producing a chemical product, including one or more reactions, the equipment, the feedstocks, the separation methods, etc. An example of how a process is not the same as a reaction is that a given substance may be produced from the same precursors using either a batch process or a continuous flow process.

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  • $\begingroup$ In other words, the chemical industry uses the term "process" primarily to refer an engineering process. $\endgroup$
    – sondra.kinsey
    Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 14:38

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