Polyoxymethylene Production Process - Cost Analysis - POM E11A

Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of Polyacetal Resins (also known as Polyoxymethylene, POM) production from acetic anhydride and formaldehyde. The process examined is similar to the one owned by DuPont. In this process, starting formaldehyde (37wt% solution) is concentrated to a purity higher than 99.9wt% by means of two distillation steps and a treatment step. High purity formaldehyde is then polymerized in an inert cyclohexane medium. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): (1) "Acetal Resins", Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 5th edition (2) US Patent 2768994, issued to Du Pont in 1956 Keywords: Acetyl resin, polyoxymethylene (POM) resins, polymer of formaldehyde, DuPont, polyformaldehyde