摘要
The main mission of the process industries is to process resourc-es and energies into a form that can be utilized in other industriesand throughout society. In this sense, process industries cover a vastterritory, encompassing the chemical/biochemical, material, mining,metallurgical, power, food, and even pharmaceutical industries; inaddition, they are closely related to mechanical, civil, electrical, andelectronic industries, as well as to emerging fields such as biotech-nology, nanotechnology, and information technologies.
