Formaldehyde manufacture

Exothermic chemical reactions, 25 299-301 catalytic converter, 10 45 formaldehyde manufacture by, 12 115 temperature-dependent enthalpy changes for, 25 303-305 Exothermic polymerization, 10 709 Exotic radioactive decays, 21 305-306 Expandable polystyrene (EPS),... 

Formaldehyde manufacture, 12 113-117. See also Formaldehyde production by exothermic reaction, 12 115 metal oxide catalyst, 12 115-117 methanol process for, 12 113 new processes for, 12 117 silver catalyst, 12 113-115 Formaldehyde plant... 

Metalorganic superconductors, 23 851 Metal oxide catalyst formaldehyde manufacture, 12 115-117 Metal oxide catalysts, 10 81 Metal oxide electrodes, silylating agents and, 22 700... 

Methanol conversion, in formaldehyde manufacture, 12 115 Methanol converters, 16 308 Methanol-formaldehyde-water solutions, 12 109... 

Formaldehyde Manufacturing, fiber board, Very high... 

Table 12.3 summarizes the uses of formaldehyde. Two important thermosetting plastics, urea- and phenol-copolymers, take nearly one half the formaldehyde manufactured. Urea-formaldehyde resins are used in particleboard, phenol-formaldehyde resins in plywood. 1,4-Butanediol is made for some polyesters and is an example of acetylene chemistry that has not yet been replaced. Tetrahydrofiiran (THF) is a common solvent that is made by dehydration of 1,4-butanediol. 

The silver process is the older one and is still used in many formaldehyde manufacturing plants today. Yields of about 90 mol. % are reported, and combustion to carbon dioxide and water is the main side reaction. 

J. T. White reported at the Washington State University Symposium on Particleboard in 1973 that 18.7 percent of the formaldehyde manufactured in the U. S. A. went into wood binders likewise, 8.9 percent of the urea chemical produced in the U. S. A. went into wood binders. 

FIGURE 1 Formaldehyde manufacture using a silver catalyst. 

FIGURE 2 Formaldehyde manufacture using a metal oxide catalyst... 

Table 1.27 summarizes (he average eccmomic data concerning formaldehyde manufacturing processes using silver and iron molybdenum catalysts. They refer to the late technologies and a capacity of 67,500 t/year of 37 per cent weight formalin. 

In 1933, ICI purchased an interest in urea-formaldehyde manufacturer Croydon Mouldrite Limited, forerunner of ICI (Plastics) Ltd. (1938). ICI took up research into urea-formaldehyde polymers at Billingham (and phenol-formaldehyde products at its dyestuffs division). 

Delrin n. Poly(oxymethylene) (from formaldehyde). Manufactured by DuPont, USA. 

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