Question

The industrial preparation of methanol from water gas

Answer 1

On industrial scale methanol is prepared from a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gaseous mixture is subjected to 200 atmospheres and then passed over heated catalyst mixture of ZnO and Cr2O3 kept at 400O C to 450O C. This reaction results the formation of methanol vapours which are then condensed to liquid state.

 

                                    CO + 2H2 CH3-OH