PRODUCTION OF 50,000

METHANOL/YEAR

LECTURER’S NAME: DR REMANUL ISLAM

NAME STUDENT ID

FATIN NUR ASHIRA BT MOHD ASHRAF 55218117068

NORADILA AYU BT RAZAK

FARAHIYAH SAKINAH BT AMAN

FARID IQMAL BIN SAMSUDIN

WAN AMIRSYAM BIN HELMI

1.0 TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENTS PAGE NUM

1.0 TABLE OF CONTENT

2.0 HISTORY

3.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4.0 INTRODUCTION
HISTORY

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Egyptians used a mixture of

substances in their embalming process. The mixture included methanol,
which they obtained from the pyrolysis of wood. However, Pure methanol,
was first isolated in 1661 by Robert Boyle. He discovered methanol when
he produced it via the distillation of buxus (boxwood). It later became
known as "pyroxylic spirit". In 1834, the French chemists determined its
elemental composition. Their names were Jean-Baptiste
Dumas and Eugene Peligot.

The French chemists also introduced the word "methylène" to

organic chemistry. They formed it from Greek methy, which means
alcoholic liquid, and hȳlē, which means woodland or forest. "Methylène"
designated a "radical" that was about 14% hydrogen by weight and
contained one carbon atom. This would be CH2, but at the time carbon
was thought to have an atomic weight only six times that of hydrogen, so
they gave the formula as CH. They then called wood alcohol. The term
"methyl" was derived in about 1840 by back-formation from "methylene",
and was then applied to describe "methyl alcohol". This was shortened to
"methanol" in 1892 by the International Conference on Chemical
Nomenclature. The suffix -yl used in organic chemistry to form names
of carbon groups, was extracted from the word "methyl".

In 1923, the German chemists Alwin Mittasch and Mathias Pier,

working for Badische-Anilin & Soda-Fabrik (BASF), developed a means
to convert synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
and hydrogen) into methanol. US patent 1,569,775 was applied for on 4
Sep 1924 and issued on 12 January 1926; the process used
a chromium and manganese oxide catalyst with extremely vigorous
conditions—pressures ranging from 50 to 220 atm, and temperatures up
to 450 °C. Modern methanol production has been made more efficient
through use of catalysts (commonly copper) capable of operating at lower
pressures. The modern low-pressure methanol (LPM) was developed by
ICI in the late 1960s US 3326956 with the technology now owned by
Johnson Matthey, which is a leading licensor of methanol technology.

During World War II, methanol was used as a fuel in several

German military rocket designs, under the name M-Stoff, and in a roughly
50/50 mixture with hydrazine, known as C-Stoff.

The use of methanol as a motor fuel received attention during the

oil crises of the 1970s. By the mid-1990s, over 20,000 methanol "flexible
fuel vehicles" capable of operating on methanol or gasoline were
introduced in the U.S. In addition, low levels of methanol were blended in
gasoline fuels sold in Europe during much of the 1980s and early-1990s.
Automakers stopped building methanol FFVs by the late-1990s, switching
their attention to ethanol-fueled vehicles. While the methanol FFV
program was a technical success, rising methanol pricing in the mid- to
late-1990s during a period of slumping gasoline pump prices diminished
the interest in methanol fuels.

In the 1960s-1980's methanol emerged as the precursor to acetic

acid and acetic anhydride. The processes included the Monsanto acetic
acid synthesis, Cativa process, and Tennessee Eastman acetic
anhydride process.

In the early 1970s, a process was developed by Mobil for producing

gasoline fuel for vehicles.

INTRODUCTION
 Methanol (CH3OH), also called methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, or wood
spirit, the simplest of a long series of organic compounds called alcohols, consisting
of a methyl group (CH3) linked with a hydroxy group (OH). Methanol was formerly
produced by the destructive distillation of wood. The modern method of preparing
methanol is based on the direct combination of carbon monoxide gas and hydrogen in
the presence of a catalyst. Increasingly, syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon
monoxide derived from biomass, is used for methanol production.

Pure methanol is an important material in chemical synthesis. Its derivatives

are used in great quantities for building up a vast number of compounds, among them
many important syntheticdyestuffs, resins, pharmaceuticals, and perfumes. Large
quantities are converted to dimethylaniline for dyestuffs and to formaldehyde for
synthetic resins. It is also used in automotive antifreezes, in rocket fuels, and as a
general solvent. Methanol is also a high-octane, clean-burning fuel that is a potentially
important substitute for gasoline in automotive vehicles. The methanol derived from
wood is used chiefly for rendering industrial ethyl alcohol unfit to drink.

Methanol is a colourless liquid that boils at 64.96 °C (148.93 °F) and solidifies
at −93.9 °C (−137 °F). It forms explosive mixtures with air and burns with a
nonluminous flame. It is completely miscible in water. Methanol has an odour that is
similar to ethyl alcohol, the intoxicant of alcoholic beverages, but is a dangerous
poison; many cases of blindness or death have been caused by drinking mixtures
containing it.

The annual production of methanol exceeds 40 million tons and

continues to grow by 4% per year. Methanol has traditionally been used as feed
for production of a range of chemicals including acetic acid and formaldehyde.
In recent years methanol has also been used for other markets such as
production of DME (Di-methyl-ether) and olefins by the so-called methanol-to-
olefins process (MTO) or as blendstock for motor fuels.

The production of methanol from coal is increasing in locations where

natural gas is not available or expensive such as in China. However, most
methanol is produced from natural gas. Several new plants have been
constructed in areas where natural gas is available and cheap such as in the
Middle East. There is little doubt that (cheap) natural gas will remain the
predominant feed for methanol production for many years to come.

METHANOL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY