What is methanol? In what areas can it be applied?

Methanol (methanol, canhmethanol,CH3OH) is the most simple saturated mono-alcohol structure, CAS No. 67-56-1, 170082-17-4, molecular weight 32.04, boiling point 64.7℃. Also known as "wood alcohol" or "wood essence". It's a colorless, alcohol-smelling volatile liquid. The lowest dose of human oral poisoning is about 100mg/kg body weight, 0.3 ~ 1g/kg oral intake can be lethal. It is used to manufacture formaldehyde and pesticide, and used as extractant of organic matter and denaturant of alcohol. It is usually made by reacting carbon monoxide with hydrogen.

1. Methanol is an extremely important organic chemical raw material, which is widely used in chemical industry, medicine, light industry, textile and transportation industries, and its derivative products have broad development prospects.

2. Methanol application can be divided into two major application fields, namely mtbe and chemical application. mtbe used to be the main driver of the rapid growth of methanol demand. The main application field of methanol is the production of formaldehyde, which can be used to produce adhesives, mainly used in the wood processing industry, followed by the treatment agent for molding plastics, coatings, textiles and paper, etc., among which the adhesives used in wood processing account for about 80% of the total consumption.

3. Another main use of methanol is the production of acetic acid. Acetic acid consumption accounts for about 7% of the global methanol demand, which can produce vinyl acetate, acetate fiber and acetate, and its demand is closely related to the demand for coatings, adhesives and textiles. The main consumption fields of acetic acid in China are vinyl acetate/polyvinyl alcohol, acetate, acetic anhydride, terephthalic acid (pta), chloroacetic acid, etc. Acetic acid consumption accounts for about 7% of global methanol demand, and its demand is closely related to demand for coatings, adhesives and textiles, among others.

4, methanol is also used to produce methyl methacrylate, methyl methacrylate accounts for about 2%-3% of global methanol demand, mainly used to produce acrylic sheets, surface coatings and molding resins. Methanol is not only an important chemical raw material, but also an energy and vehicle fuel with excellent performance. The reaction of methanol with isobutylene yields mtbe, which is a high octane unleaded gasoline additive and can also be used as a solvent. Since the first set of 100kt/a unit was put into operation in 1973, it has become the world's second largest methanol consumer after formaldehyde. Methyl tert-amyl ether (tame) is also an important oxygen additive in gasoline.

5, methanol and dimethyl ether according to a certain proportion of the preparation of the new liquid fuel called alcohol ether fuel. Its combustion efficiency and thermal efficiency are higher than that of liquefied gas. In the process of seeking alternative fuel of gasoline, alcohol-ether fuel has great application potential. Methanol can also be used directly as a vehicle fuel.