Methane, acetylene is used in a variety of reactions of industrial importance

In the list of hydrocarbons, methane and acetylene play an important role in the most diverse areas of the chemical industry. Initially, methane did not represent any practical interest. He was called both marsh and mine gas in the place where he was most often found in nature. As a rule, this compound caused a lot of trouble because of its physical and chemical properties. Without color and without a smell of methane could cause a man and a slight malaise, and even a serious poisoning. But especially a lot of trouble brought gas its ability in a mixture with air to form a flammable cocktail with great destructive abilities.

Despite the fact that methane found many ways to use, the production of this substance by industrial means has no value. The matter is that these compounds are not only often found in nature, but it is also a co-product in various technological processes of the modern chemical industry.

The spit in 1860 was able to carry out a reaction, which later received important industrial significance. But in those days the process, which allows the chemical transition of methane-acetylene, did not receive any special enthusiasm. The fact is that in order to meet the need for acetylene, a carbide method of obtaining it was sufficient.

The modern chemical industry has found many ways to use acetylene. This gas cutting, and its use in bright chemical lamps, and the use of a variety of chemicals in the production. Acetylene is in demand in obtaining a wide variety of explosive compounds and acetic acid, ethyl alcohol and solvents, rubber and aromatic hydrocarbons. The manifestation of the achievements of the twentieth century was the use of acetylene in the production of polymers.

It was a good time to remember the chemical transformation of methane-acetylene. Electric cracking and thermo-oxidative cracking are the names of modern technological processes that result in the production of acetylene from methane. In the first case, the methane gas flows through the electrodes at a temperature of 1600 ° C and rapidly cools. The second method of methane-acetylene conversion, incomplete oxidation, is favored by the release of heat from the partial combustion of acetylene.

In the production chain of methane, acetylene, acetic aldehyde, the last element appeared due to the hydration reaction of acetylene, which was later called the reaction of Kucherov. Industrial use of acetic aldehyde found in the production of acetic acid, aldehyde polymers, butadiene, a number of organic substances.

But the substance itself is unsafe, acetaldehyde is quite toxic even when exposed to the skin. Acts as a serious air pollutant, which gets into the combustion, for example, when smoking or from automobile exhausts. A huge amount of it is formed during the heat treatment of various polymers and plastics.

The next chain of methane, acetylene, benzene, chlorobenzene is additional evidence of the active use in the modern chemical industry of bog or mine gas. We are already familiar with the reactions of obtaining acetylene from it. It remains only to trimerize this gas, passing C2H2 over activated carbon at a temperature of 400 degrees Celsius. The benzene obtained by industrial process goes to the production of ethylbenzene, cumene, cyclohexane and nitrobenzene. About three percent of this substance is consumed for the production of linear alkylbenzenes. And only one percent of benzene is spent on the synthesis of chlorobenzene. For this, the reaction of its chlorination is used. The conditions for its implementation is a temperature of 80-85 ° C and the presence of iron or ferric chloride.