Chemical manufacturing, chemicals used methane

Chemical Processing. The use of oxygen in large-volume chemical and petrochemical manufacture is weU-estabHshed as a result of advantages 3) and 4). Most oxidation reactions are catalytic many begin with a feedstock initially made catalyticaHy from methane or natural gas. 

The cracked gas plant, on the other hand, would likely produce a C4 olefinic mixture for alkylation or chemical manufacture, a propylene product for the same purposes, a propane cut for fuel, and a C2 fraction which is fed to chemical manufacture, or combined with hydrogen and methane used for hydrogen manufacture. 

The United Kingdom has, at present, the largest petroleum chemicals industry outside America. It is based wholly on imported liquid fractions and directed very largely to manufacture and use of olefins. The position in France is similar, but in Italy, with new natural gas discoveries and no coal, manufacture of chemicals from methane is of equal importance. Canada can hardly be termed the most recent entrant to this field, as she participated in the manufacture of synthetic rubber from petroleum during and since the second world war. The postwar developments so far have, however, been on the European pattern. 

Methane - A colorless, odorless, tasteless gas composed of one molecule of Carbon and four of hydrogen, which is highly flammable. It is the main constituent of "natural gas" that is formed naturally by methanogenic, anaerobic bacteria or can be manufactured, and which is used as a fuel and for manufacturing chemicals. 

Natural gas, which is mostly methane, is widely used as a fuel. In the chemical industry, methane is used heavily as a raw material for making important products that include acetylene, ammonia, ethanol, and methanol its chlorination also yields carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, methyl chloride, and methylene chloride. It is used to produce carbon black for use in the manufacture of rubber products and printing inks. The burning of high-purity methane is used to make carbon black of special quality for electronic devices. Natural gas has seen limited use as a motor fuel handled as a compressed gas in high pressure cylinders or liquid dewars. 

A good methanation catalyst is one which is physically strong, is reducible at 300°C (570°F) and has high activity. In order to provide a long life, it must retain these properties in use. Lives of 3-5 years are commonly obtained from charges of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. (ICI) catalyst 11-3, depending on the temperature of operation and the presence of poisons in the synthesis gas, factors which are discussed below. These properties can be obtained by careful attention to the formulation and manufacture of the catalyst. 

However, if you link the hydroxyl group with the methane molecule rather than the ethane, you get the potentially toxic chemical called methyl alcohol, or wood spirit. Similarly, if you add what s called an aldehyde group (-CHO) instead of the hydroxyl group, you will get one of a variety of chemicals called aldehydes, of which a common one is the gas formaldehyde (HCHO), widely used in the manufacture of plastics and glues. This gas can be an irritant and potentially dangerous if inhaled. 

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