DuPont is the primary producer in North America of non-mercury sodium methylate for the biodiesel industry. To meet growing sodium methylate market demand, DuPont continues to add capacity for sodium methylate production. Our production will continue to be strategically located to reduce freight costs to customers. In addition, we are working to optimize output from existing assets to meet industry needs.
Conventional sodium methylate manufacturing processes typically employ mercury-sodium amalgam in the electrolysis process, potentially contaminating suppliers' grades with trace quantities of mercury. In contrast, the unique manufacturing process for DuPont™ Sodium Methylate in the U.S. incorporates innovative technology that virtually eliminates traces of mercury and enhances product purity.
Sodium methylate produced by DuPont is distinguished from other product offerings in the maket because DuPont directly reacts metallic sodium with pure methanol. Competitive product sodium methylate is typically produced from mercury amalgam (Na-Hg) from caustic-chlorine producers using mercury-electrode cell units, resulting in trace amounts of mercury in commercial grade sodium methylate. DuPont™ Sodium Methylate purity is characterized by being essentially (Hg) mercury free with typically 5 ppb.
Sodium methylate solution provides the safety and ease of handling that are an advantage over solid forms of this product, which have been difficult and costly to use. The improved safety and handling characteristics of commercial sodium methylate solution compared with on-site mixing of dry methylate and methanol offer an important alternative which should be evaluated in your process.
In addition, sodium methylate is commercially used in the food processing, petrochemical, plastics, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries as an intermediary for a variety of products. It can be used in a wide variety of organic syntheses as a catalyst, condensation medium, reduction agent, and for ring closure, methylation, and acetylation. It is also utilized in transesterification reactions to produce coatings for plastics, textiles, and glass or metals. Certain adhesives also require use of sodium methylate -based additives, such as polyvinyl acetate (PVA). Producers of flavors and fragrances also often require sodium methylates as a useful intermediate in their product syntheses.
Sodium services a variety of industries in a number of different uses. The chemical industry uses it in sodium methylate, herbicides, dyes, nylons, rubber and fragrances. Pharmaceutical uses include vitamins and ibuprofen. In metal manufacture, sodium is used in tantalum, titanium, silicon and refining metallic lead and grain refining.
Following is a list of many of those uses in various settings.
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