Metal Oxide Process Formaldehyde Plant

Metal Oxide Process Formaldehyde Plant
Metal Oxide Process Formaldehyde Plant
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Description of Formaldehyde Manufacturing Process

The metal oxide process is a formaldehyde manufacturing process that uses iron molybdate as the catalyst. Helipont offers two reactor heat carrier types: a heat transfer oil and a molten salt.

Flow chart
Main Formaldehyde Manufacturing Equipment
  • Methanol pre-evaporator
  • Absorption tower
Advantages
  • Less formaldehyde consumption
  • Longer catalyst work period
  • Formaldehyde concentration can reach 50%, while methanol content is less than 0.5%.
Formaldehyde Production Process
  • Send compressed air to the methanol pre-evaporator.
  • Send gaseous methanol and air through the reactor that contains the catalyst for a reaction.
  • Condense the formaldehyde gas from the reactor into a formaldehyde liquid.

Annotation: For more information on our production processes, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Raw material specification
Type Index
Formaldehyde,Wt% 37-57
Based on 37%,
Methanol,Wt% < 0.8
Formic acid,Wt% < 0.03
Consumption
Methanol 93%
Methanol,kg/MT* 425
Electricity (IBL),kW/MT* 72
CW - 10 deg C rise,m3/MT* 50
Steam consumed,kg/MT* 0 (Net. prod.)
Steam output,kg/MT 800undefined(1.2~2.0Mpa)
Comparison of two process

Compare the metal oxide process and silver catalyst process on the economic front (assume 100,000 tons).

  • Equipment: The metal oxide process requires a larger upfront investment in order to produce the same 55% formaldehyde solution.
  • Steam output: metal oxide process, 800 kg/MT(2.0Mpa), while silver catalyst process 550 kg/MT(0.6Mpa). Assuming the steam unit price is $22/ton, metal oxide processes save $550,000/year.
  • Methanol consumption: metal oxide processes save 20kg/TPA of methanol. Assuming the unit price of methanol is $430/t, metal oxide processes save $860,000/year.
  • Service life of the metal oxide processing equipment is more than 50 years, which is almost 3 times longer than equipment used in the silver catalyst process. This means that using the metal oxide process saves up to $15,000/year in operation costs.
  • Catalyst cost: The metal oxide process costs $260,000/year, while silver regeneration costs $20,000/year. Thus, the silver regeneration process costs $240,000 less per year
  • Power consumption cost: metal oxide processes are higher than a silver catalyst process by about $440,000/year. (metal oxide process 70kwh/t, silver catalyst process 26kwh/t, electricity unit price $0.1/kwh)
  • Using the metal oxide process saves about $740,000/year.

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