*Article* **Performance Comparison of Industrially Produced Formaldehyde Using Two Di** ff**erent Catalysts**

**Kamran Shakeel 1, Muqaddam Javaid 1, Yusra Muazzam 1, Salman Raza Naqvi 1,\*, Syed Ali Ammar Taqvi 2,3, Fahim Uddin 2, Muhammad Taqi Mehran 1, Umair Sikander 1 and M. Bilal Khan Niazi 1**


Received: 25 September 2019; Accepted: 21 October 2019; Published: 12 May 2020

**Abstract:** Formaldehyde is an important industrial chemical that is a strong-smelling and colorless gas. It is used in a number of processes such as making household products and building materials, glues and adhesives, resins, certain insulation materials, etc. Formaldehyde can be produced industrially using air and methanol as raw materials in the presence of metal oxide catalyst or silver-based catalyst. The operating conditions and requirements of the process depend on the type of catalyst used. Therefore, a comparative study of both processes was conducted, and the results were compared. It was observed that the silver-based catalyst process has a compact plant size since the amount of air required is halved as compared to the metal oxide process. Thus, it appears that the silver-based catalyst process is more suitable for small-scale production due to its compact size and reduced utility cost.

**Keywords:** Formox Perstorp; formalin; fixed catalytic bed reactor; silver catalyst; metal oxide catalyst
