DEHYDRATION OF WATER CONTAINING SOURCE OF FORMALDEHYDE AND A METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN ETHYLENICALLY UNSATURATED CARBOXYLIC ESTER

摘要

The present invention provides a method for dehydration of a water containing source of formaldehyde having an excellent dehydration performance and a method for producing (meth)acrylic acid alkyl ester using a dehydrated source of formaldehyde. The present invention provides a method for dehydration of a water containing source of formaldehyde wherein water is separated from the water containing source of formaldehyde containing formaldehyde and water using a zeolite membrane wherein the water containing source of formaldehyde comprises a separation enhancer having a relative static permittivity of between 2.5 and 20 and wherein the water containing source of formaldehyde further contains methanol. The invention extends to a method for producing (meth)acrylic acid alkyl ester by reaction with carboxylic acid ester using a dehydrated source of formaldehyde obtained by a dehydration wherein water is separated from the water containing source of formaldehyde containing formaldehyde and water using a zeolite membrane.