Trioxymethylene has a wide range of applications. Polyoxymethylene and polymethoxydimethylether are important downstream products.
Triformaldehyde, also known as trioxane, has the chemical formula C3H6O3. It is a cyclic trimer of formaldehyde. It is stable in nature, has a white crystalline appearance, has a special smell, and is easy to burn. It is flammable when exposed to high heat, open flames, and oxidants, and will decompose and emit emissions. It emits toxic formaldehyde gas, is easily soluble in water, soluble in alcohols, ethers, acetone, chloroform and other organic solvents, and is slightly soluble in petroleum ether.
Paraformaldehyde is an important organic synthetic monomer and chemical intermediate. Engineering plastic polyoxymethylene (POM) is its important downstream market, and the demand for diesel additive polymethoxydimethylether (DMMn) is increasing. Paraformaldehyde can also be used to prepare formaldehyde, used as a catalyst to synthesize epoxy resin and bisphenol A, and can also be used as a stabilizer, inhibitor, disinfectant, depilator, etc. In addition, parformaldehyde can be used as a bactericide and insecticide in the pesticide field, and as a pulp drying agent and dental pulp deactivation agent in the medical field. Paraformaldehyde can be used in a wide range of applications.
The main preparation method of parformaldehyde is to use methanol as the raw material, first oxidize it to obtain formaldehyde, then use sulfuric acid as the catalyst, obtain the crude product through polymerization reaction, and then refine it to obtain the finished product. In addition, methylal can also be used as raw material to prepare formaldehyde through catalytic oxidation, and then react to obtain trimerformaldehyde.
From a downstream perspective, polyformaldehyde is one of the five major general engineering plastics and can be widely used in electronics, home appliances, automobiles, machinery, medical, construction and other fields. my country is a major producer of polyformaldehyde; in order to improve the quality of diesel and reduce its pollutant emissions In terms of quantity, polymethoxydimethylether (DMMn), as an internationally recognized oxygen-containing component of environmentally friendly fuel, has become an important diesel additive. my country’s annual diesel output is about 160 million tons. Looking at these two major application markets alone, the demand for trimerformaldehyde is large, among which the demand proportion in the field of polymethoxydimethylether is rising.
According to the“Parformaldehyde Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report 2022-2026” released by the Industrial Research Center, my country The main manufacturers of paraformaldehyde include Yunnan Yuntianhua, Shandong Chenxin New Energy, Kaifeng Longyu Chemical, Shanghai Blue Star Chemical, Shenhua Ningxia Coal, Shandong Xuchen Chemical, etc. The Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences is my country’s leading paraformaldehyde technology research institution. Shandong Chenxin New Energy has adopted the technology of the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics to build a paraformaldehyde production unit. The product is used to prepare polymethoxydimethyl ether DMM3-8.
Industry analysts said that in the parformaldehyde industry, there are two major types of companies, one is parformaldehyde manufacturers , the products are mainly supplied for export. The first category is the supporting production capacity of trimerformaldehyde established by the company to realize the independent supply of raw materials for the production of polyformaldehyde and polymethoxydimethyl ether. In my country, the second type of paraformaldehyde companies are the mainstream. For example, Yuntianhua owns both paraformaldehyde and polyformaldehyde production lines. The paraformaldehyde produced by Chenxin New Energy is used to synthesize polymethoxydimethyl ether. This type of enterprise has a complete upstream and downstream layout of the industrial chain, and has stronger risk resistance and competitiveness.