Methanol, also known as Methyl Alcohol (CH3OH), is manufactured from synthesis gas, produced from steam reformed natural gas and carbon dioxide. Methanol is synthesized under pressure in a catalytic pro-cess and the crude Methanol is purified to chemical grade by distillation. Natural gas is the feedstock used in most of the world's production units.
Methanol is a versatile feedstock for the chemicals industry. The largest scale applications in terms of volume are processing into formaldehyde, which is further treated to form resins, glues and various plastics and for the production of acetic acid which is essentially used for the production of polyester fibres and PET plastics. In recent years, the significance of methanol as an energy source has constantly increased. In petrol, metha-nol increases the octane number either in the form of a direct additive or as a component of MTBE (methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether), improving combustion qualities and reducing emissions.
Packaging
- Bulk in rail tank cars
- Bulk in road tank trucks