Formaldehyde

Production

Industrially, formaldehyde is produced by the catalytic oxidation of methanol. The most commonly used catalysts are silver metal or a mixture of an iron oxide with molybdenum and vanadium. In the more commonly used iron oxide system (Formox process), methanol and oxygen react at 250°C to produce formaldehyde according to the chemical equation

Related Topics:
Silver - Iron oxide - Molybdenum - Chemical equation

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:CH3OH + ½ O2 → H2CO + H2O

Related Topics:
CH₃OH - O₂ - H₂O

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The silver-based catalyst is usually operated at a higher temperature, about 650 °C. On it, two chemical reactions simultaneously produce formaldehyde: the one shown above, and the dehydrogenation reaction

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:CH3OH → H2CO + H2

Related Topics:
CH₃OH - H₂

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Further oxidation of the formaldehyde product during its production usually gives formic acid that is found in formaldehyde solution, found in ppm values.

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On a smaller scale, formalin can be produced using a whole range of other methods including conversion from ethanol instead of the normally-fed methanol feedstock. Such methods however are of less commercial importance.

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