Formaldehyde facility

The raw material used in the industrial production of formaldehyde is methanol, or methyl alcohol. The methanol is evaporated and mixed with air. This gas mixture goes to a reactor.
In the reactor, methanol vapor reacts with oxygen from the air to form formaldehyde. The gas that comes out of the reactor consists mainly of nitrogen and formaldehyde. Sometimes the gas also contains a quantity of unconverted methanol. This gaseous mixture is led to an absorber, where the formaldehyde gas dissolves in water.