Enzymatic Production of Formaldehyde and

Hydrogen Peroxide from Methanol

Background

The process uses the enzyme, methanol oxidase, to convert alcohol and oxygen to

formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. The goal is to produce 50,000 tonne/y of 50 wt%

hydrogen peroxide and 60,000 tonne/y of formalin (37 wt% formaldehyde in water) using

an enzymatic process. Formaldehyde, methanol, and hydrogen peroxide are considered

carcinogenic and/or hazardous materials. In light of this, a process design was made that

minimizes the waste and emissions generated.

Currently, many hollow fiber membrane (HFM) technologies are emerging into

existing markets, allowing for more cost-effective separations and reactions. HFMs are

becoming more useful in the chemical industry. With the recent growth in the areas of

biochemical and environmental technologies, many potential future markets are available

for the use of HFMs.

The enzyme, methanol oxidase, catalyzes the reaction in the continuous-stirred

tank fermentor. HFMs were used in an ultrafiltration unit off of the continuous-stirred

tank fermentor to recover the enzyme for recycle.

Process Description

The BFD (Figure 1) and four PFDs (Figures 2-5) show a process to produce

formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. Methanol (fresh and recycled) at 49.3°C and

11.49 bar mixes with water (fresh and recycled) at 203.4°C and 11.49 bar. Together they

enter heat exchanger, E-101, at 139°C and 11.49 bar and leave at 50°C and 11.15 bar.

Oxygen (fresh and recycled) is sparged through the liquid mixture of methanol and
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oxygen. The oxygen must first diffuse into the water before it can be reacted. The

enzyme, methanol oxidase, catalyzes the reaction. The reaction is a function of the

enzyme concentration. The reactor has a conversion of oxygen of 74.5%.

The reaction must proceed at -22°C! To reach this temperature, a cooling jacket

was added to the reactor. Refrigerant-134a (R-134a) flows through the cooling jacket.

R-134a is sent through two compressors in series (C-201 A/B, no intercooling) to obtain

a pressure of 8 bar. R-134a condenses and subcools to 35°C in E-201. It is then flashed

to 0.75 bar, which lowers the temperature of the liquid R-134a to -28°C. The liquid R-

134a is sent through the cooling jacket and then is recycled back through the same

process. This refrigeration loop is illustrated in Figure 4.

The unreacted oxygen, taken from the top of the reactor, is compressed from 8 bar

to 11.15 bar in compressor C-101 and is recycled back to Stream 3. The ultrafiltration

unit recovers excess enzyme from the outlet of the reactor. The enzyme is sent back to

the reactor for reuse. Stream 6, composed of formaldehyde, methanol, water, hydrogen

peroxide, and oxygen, is sent to V-101 at -22°C and 11.15 bar.

Stream 6 is flashed to remove most of the oxygen along with trace amounts of the

other products. The top, Stream 7, is sent to the incinerator. The bottom, Stream 8, is

sent to T-101. This vacuum distillation column separates almost pure hydrogen peroxide

as the bottom product, Stream 10, at 85°C and 0.35 bar. The top, Stream 9, is sent to V-

103 at 66.6°C and 0.29 bar. Again, this flash unit separates out the oxygen leaving a

negligible amount of oxygen behind in Stream 12.

Stream 12 is pumped to 1.22 bar in P-103 before it enters T-102. This tower

removes mostly methanol with some water and small amounts of formaldehyde in Stream
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13. P-106 A/B pumps Stream 13 up to 11.15 bar where it is recycled back to the reactor.

The bottom, Stream 14, consists mainly of formaldehyde and water at 112.9°C and 1.53

bar. P-105 pumps Stream 14 up to 20 bar before entering T-103.

In T-103, water is separated from formaldehyde to produce a 37% by weight

formaldehyde in water solution, Stream 15. This stream is at 207.4°C and 19.97 bar. The

bottom of this tower, Stream 16, is mostly water at 239.7°C and 20.36 bar. It is split and

some of the water is mixed with Stream 10 to produce the desired 50% by weight

hydrogen peroxide in water in Stream 19. This stream is at 179.4°C and 20.36 bar.

Unit 300 provides the steam used in the distillation columns and flash vessels.

The steam produced in this unit is at 20 bar. The condensate return from the process was

pumped and then sent to H-301. The steam is sent to E-103, E-105, V-101, V-103, and

V-103 at 240°C and 20 bar.

Necessary Information and Simulation Hints

Formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide is produced by the following reaction

Methanol Oxidase
CH3OH + O2 → CH2O + H2O2

The enzyme, methanol oxidase, is stable for up to 2 days (1). But, when

operating under cryogenic conditions, the enzyme can last for as long as 50 days (2).

The kinetic expression is of the Michaelis-Menten form

Vmax [CA]
rA = 
Km + [CA]
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The maximum rate of reaction, Vmax, for this enzyme is a function of enzyme

concentration, [Eo], according to the following equation

Vmax = TO [Eo]

where TO is the turnover number, 220 mole per minute per mole of active sites (1). The

turnover number is the maximum amount of products that can be produced per active site

on the enzyme (3). Vmax was calculated to be 0.3137 mM/min.

The Michaelis-Menten constant, Km, is dependent on enzyme concentration.

However, in this case, the enzyme is at such a high concentration that oxygen becomes

rate-limiting (1),

Km = 0.4 mM

Since, the enzyme is used to catalyze the reaction in the liquid phase, the oxygen

must be dissolved into the liquid before it can react. Therefore, the relative rates of

reaction and diffusion are important. By using the following equation (4)

k1 D AB
Φ=
(k C )2

where k1 is the reaction rate constant, DAB is the diffusivity of oxygen in water, kC is the

mass transfer coefficient for a bubble in water, and Φ is the ratio of the rate of reaction to

the rate of diffusion, it was estimated that

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Φ = 0.056

This means that the oxygen diffuses approximately 20 times faster than it reacts.

Therefore, we can assume that water in the reaction vessel is fully saturated with oxygen.

Thermodynamic models in most simulators do not accurately predict the VLE

involving water, methanol, hydrogen peroxide, and formaldehyde. K-values were input

based on data for the water-formaldehyde-methanol system (5) and the water-hydrogen

peroxide system (6).

References:

1. Hoiberg, D., et al., “Conversion of Alcohols to Aldehydes and Hydrogen Peroxide by

Substrate and Product Tolerant Methanol Oxidases,” U.S. Patent #4,920,055, 1990.

2. Hattfield, G.W., “Enzymatic Process for Manufacturing Formaldehyde and Hydrogen

Peroxide,” U.S. Patent #5,234,827, 1993.

3. Richardson, J.F., and Peacock, D.G., Chemical Engineering Volume 3, 3rd Edition,
Pergamon Press, New York, NY, 1994.

4. Cussler, E.L., Diffusion, Mass Transfer Fluid Systems, 2nd Edition, Cambridge, New
York, 1997, Ch.16.

5. Gmehling, J., U. Onken, and W. Arlt, Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Data Collection,

Chemistry Data Series (Aqueous-Organic Systems – Supplement 1), Vol. 1, Part 1a,
DECHEMA, 1981, pp. 474-475.

6. Giguère, P. A. and O. Maass, “Vapor Pressures and Boiling Points of Binary

Mixtures of Hydrogen Peroxide and Water,” Canadian Journal of Research, 18B,
181-193, 1940.
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Equipment Descriptions

R-101 A/B Continuously Stirred Fermentor

UF-101 A/B Ultrafiltration Enzyme Recovery

E-101 Reactor Feed Cooler

C-101 Oxygen Recycle Compressor

CJ-101 Reactor Cooling Jacket

V-101 O2 Flash Unit

T-101 H2O2 Vacuum Distillation

E-102 H2O2 Condenser

V-102 H2O2 Reflux Drum

P-101 A/B H2O2 Reflux Pumps

VU-101 Vacuum Unit

E-103 H2O2 Reboiler

P-102 A/B H2O2 Bottoms Pump

V-103 O2 Flash Unit

P-103 A/B Product Pumps

T-102 Methanol Distillation Tower

E-104 Methanol Condenser

V-104 Methanol Reflux Drum

P-104 A/B Methanol Reflux Pumps

E-105 Methanol Reboiler

P-105 A/B Methanol Bottoms Pump

P-106 A/B Methanol Recycle Pumps

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T-103 Formalin Distillation Tower

E-106 Formalin Condenser

V-105 Formalin Reflux Drum

P-107 A/B Formalin Reflux Pumps

C-201 A/B Refrigerant Compressor

E-201 Refrigerant Cooler

V-201 Refrigerant Flash

H-301 Steam Package Boiler

P-301 Steam Loop Pump

 Stream No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Temperature (oC) 49.3 203.4 38.9 50.0 90.2 -22.0 68.0 68.0 66.6 84.9

Pressure (bar) 11.49 11.49 11.15 11.15 11.15 11.15 0.35 0.35 0.29 0.35

Vapor Mole Fraction 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0

Total Flow (kg/h) 8,300.4 44,962.0 3,993.6 53,262.4 1,001.6 56,221.0 58.8 56,160.2 53,037.1 3,121.1

Total Flow (kmol/h) 278.9 2,497.0 124.8 2,775.9 31.3 2,868.4 2.5 2,865.9 2,774.1 91.8

Component
Flowrates
(kmol/h)
Formaldehyde -- -- -- -- -- 93.0 0.1 92.9 92.9 --

Methanol 234.3 -- -- 234.3 0.1 141.2 0.4 140.8 140.8 --

Water 44.6 2,496.0 -- 2,540.6 -- 2,540.6 1.3 2,539.3 2,539.3 --

Hydrogen Peroxide -- 1.0 -- 1.0 -- 93.0 0.1 92.9 1.1 91.8

Oxygen -- -- 124.8 -- 31.2 0.6 0.6 ** -- --

 Stream No. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Temperature (oC) 68.1 68.1 64.8 112.9 207.4 239.7 239.7 239.7 179.4

Pressure (bar) 0.29 0.29 1.22 1.53 19.97 20.36 20.36 20.36 20.36

Vapor Mole Fraction 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Flow (kg/h) 1.0 53,036.0 4,942.5 48,092.1 7,502.4 62,198.7 37,465.1 21,609.0 6,249.2

Total Flow (kmol/h) 0.04 2,774.0 173.9 2,600.1 345.9 3,454.0 2,080.6 1,200.0 265.2

Component Flowrates
(kmol/h)

Formaldehyde ** 92.9 0.4 92.5 92.5 -- -- -- --

Methanol 0.01 140.7 128.9 11.8 11.8 -- -- -- --

Water 0.03 2,539.3 44.6 2,494.7 241.6 3,452.4 2,079.6 1,199.4 173.4

Hydrogen Peroxide -- 1.1 -- 1.1 -- 1.6 1.0 0.6 91.8

Oxygen ** -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --