Formox process

The Formox process produces formaldehyde. Formox is a registered trademark owned by Johnson Matthey.[1] The process was originally invented jointly by Swedish chemical company Perstorp and Reichhold Chemicals .[2]

Industrially, formaldehyde is produced by catalytic oxidation of methanol. The most commonly used catalysts are silver metal or a mixture of an iron oxide with molybdenum and/or vanadium. In the recently more commonly used Formox process using iron oxide and molybdenum and/or vanadium, methanol and oxygen react at 300-400°C to produce formaldehyde according to the chemical equation:

CH3OH + ½ O2 → H2CO + H2O.

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:

CH3OH → H2CO + H2

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

References
  1. "Formaldehyde - Johnson Matthey". www.formox.com.
  2. Comyns, Alan E. (2014-02-21). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Named Processes in Chemical Technology. CRC Press. ISBN 9781466567771.
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