Rate of change

摘要

ONE hundred years ago BASF began to manufacture ammonia by using an iron catalyst to fix atmospheric nitrogen. This was the now famous Haber Bosch process. The hydrogen for the process came from syngas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxides) and was produced by reacting steam with coke. Ten years later, the first large-scale methanol plant developed by Pier started up using syngas as a feedstock and a chromium oxide/zinc oxide catalyst developed by Mittasch. Before this, methanol had only been available in limited quantities from the destructive distillation of wood. This new technology led to the development of many new products and processes using methanol as a feedstock including: MDF; perspex; MTBE for petrol; laminated timber; PET plastic bottles; adhesives; disinfectants; aerosols; thermoplastics; and fibres, to name just a few.