PROCESS FOR PREPARING FORMIC ACID BY REACTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE WITH HYDROGEN

摘要

A process is proposed for preparing formic acid by reaction of carbon dioxide (1) with hydrogen (2) in a hydrogenation reactor (I) in the presence of a catalyst containing an element from group 8, 9 or 10 of the Periodic Table, of a tertiary amine containing at least 12 carbon atoms per molecule, and of a polar solvent comprising one or more monoalcohols selected from methanol, ethanol, propanols and butanols, to form formic acid/amine adducts as intermediates, which are subsequently cleaved thermally, the workup of the outputs (3) from the hydrogenation reactor (I) being performed with addition of water, and this increasing the partition coefficient of the catalyst between the upper phase (4) and the lower phase.