Uses of Methanol

Methanol has many important uses as a chemical, a fuel, and a building block. Approximately 50% of methanol production is oxidized to formaldehyde. As a methylating agent, it is used with many organic acids to produce the methyl esters such as methyl acrylate, methylmethacrylate, methyl acetate, and methyl terephthalate. Methanol is also used to produce dimethyl carbonate and methyl-t-butyl ether, an important gasoline additive. It is also used to produce synthetic gasoline using a shape selective catalyst (MTG process). Olefins from methanol may be a future route for ethylene and propylene in competition with steam cracking of hydrocarbons. The use of methanol in fuel cells is being investigated. Fuel cells are theoretically capable of converting the free energy of oxidation of a fuel into electrical work. In one type of fuel cells, the cathode is made of vanadium which catalyzes the reduction of oxygen, while the anode is iron (III) which oxidizes methane to CO₂ and iron (II) is formed in aqueous H₂SO₄. The benefits of low emission may be offest by the high cost. The following describes the major chemicals based on methanol.