Main-Product

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol amongst other names, is a chemical and the simplest alcohol, with the formula CH₃OH (a methyl group linked to a Hydroxyl Group, often abbreviated MeOH). It is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable liquid with a distinctive alcoholic odour similar to that of ethanol. A polar solvent, methanol acquired the name wood alcohol because it was once produced chiefly by the destructive distillation of wood.^[1]

Methanol is an important primary chemical product, used as a chemical feedstock for production of a range of important industrial chemicals, primarily acetic acid, formaldehyde, methyl methacrylate and methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE). Methanol is also used directly as a fuel or in fuel blends (e.g. in M85 consisting of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline). As fuel, methanol can be used to fire rapid-start utility peak-shaving combustion turbines; to substitute for or blend with gasoline to power vehicles; to be converted to gasoline via the methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) process; or to be converted to dimethyl ether (DME) to power diesel engines.^[2]

Commercially, methanol is available in three grades of purity: fuel grade, "A" grade, generally used as a solvent, and "AA" or chemical grade. Chemical grade has the highest purity with a methanol content exceeding 99.85% and is the standard generally observed by the industry for methanol production.^[3] 

Today, methanol is mainly produced industrially from syngas by hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.^[1],[2]

References

1. Wikipedia, Methanol.
2. NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY, 10.3 Syngas Conversion to Methanol.
3. Brian Williams, last updated on 5^th Aug 2023, Methanol Economy, Production via Syn Gas.

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