How is acetic acid made?

How is acetic acid made? Understand the process of acetic acid production

acetic acid is an important chemical raw material, widely used in food, medicine, plastics, textiles, dyes and other industries. In industrial production, there are two main methods for the preparation of acetic acid: the traditional acetic acid fermentation method and the modern synthesis method. We will analyze these two preparation methods in detail to help you better understand the whole process of acetic acid production.

1. Acetic acid fermentation production method

Acetic acid fermentation is the earliest method for the preparation of acetic acid, usually using acetic acid bacteria for fermentation. This method is mostly used for small-scale production and mainly relies on the oxidative decomposition of organic matter. In general, the fermentation process will use alcohol containing raw materials, such as glucose, corn syrup and so on.

During the fermentation process, acetic acid bacteria (such as bacteria of the genus Acetobacter) convert the alcohol in the raw material to acetic acid. The reaction is a biocatalytic process involving the supply of oxygen and the metabolism of bacteria. By properly controlling the temperature, pH value and air flow, the fermentation of acetic acid bacteria can be carried out under the best conditions.

Although the cost of fermentation is low, its production efficiency is low and it takes a long time to complete. Therefore, this method is mainly used in small-scale production, especially in some small factories or household acetic acid production.

2. Acetic acid synthesis method

Compared with the traditional fermentation method, the synthetic method is more used to produce acetic acid in modern industry. There are usually two methods for the synthesis of acetic acid: the coalification method and the methene method.

2.1 coalification method

The coalification method is a technology that produces syngas (mainly CO and H2) through coal gasification, and then obtains acetic acid through catalytic reaction. This method is mainly used in some large-scale plants to form acetic acid by reacting synthesis gas with a catalyst under high temperature and high pressure conditions.

The reaction of the process is: [ CO H2O \longrightarrow CH3COOH ]

this method has high production efficiency, can produce acetic acid on a large scale, and has relatively little demand for raw materials.

2.2 Methene Method

The methene method is a method of obtaining acetic acid by reacting methene with carbon monoxide. The advantage of this method is that it can be carried out at a lower reaction temperature and pressure, the reaction efficiency is high, and the by-product is less. This method is mainly used in the petrochemical industry.

Methylene method usually uses palladium catalyst to carry out the reaction, the basic steps of the reaction include the reaction of methylene and carbon monoxide to produce acetic acid, and then through separation and purification to obtain high purity acetic acid.

3. Acetic acid modern production advantage

Modern acetic acid production methods (especially the methene method) have significant advantages over traditional fermentation methods. They enable high yields, short production cycles, and high product purity. Due to their catalytic efficiency and optimization of reaction conditions, these synthesis methods greatly reduce production costs. Therefore, the current production of acetic acid is basically a synthetic method, especially large-scale industrial production.

4. Acetic acid production of environmental impact

Although the synthesis method of acetic acid is more efficient, its production process often involves high temperature and high pressure conditions, and will produce some waste gas and waste water. Therefore, modern acetic acid production plants need to strictly control emissions to reduce environmental impact. For example, in coalification production, it is necessary to recover or reduce carbon dioxide emissions to meet environmental protection requirements.

Modern acetic acid production process has greatly improved the efficiency and environmental protection through technological improvement, but it is still necessary to take certain environmental protection measures in the production process to ensure sustainable development.

Conclusion: acetic acid is how to make?

The production methods of acetic acid mainly include traditional fermentation method and modern synthesis method. Fermentation is suitable for small-scale production, while synthetic methods, such as coalification and methene, are suitable for large-scale industrial production. With the progress of science and technology, modern synthesis methods have gradually become the mainstream, and have the advantages of high efficiency, low cost and high purity. With the improvement of environmental protection requirements, the future acetic acid production technology may pay more attention to environmental protection and sustainable development.

If you are interested in the details of acetic acid production, or want to know more about the application of acetic acid in industry, please continue to pay attention to our related articles!