Andrussow process
The Andrussow process is the dominant industrial process for the production of hydrogen cyanide. It involves the reaction of methane, ammonia, and oxygen. The process is catalyzed by a platinum-rhodium alloy.
Hydrogen cyanide is highly valued for the production or acrylonitrile and adiponitrile, as well as alkali metal salts such as potassium cyanide.
Process details
This reaction is very exothermic. The change of enthalpy of formation|enthalpy] of this reaction is equal to -481.06 kJ. The heat provided by the main reaction serves as a catalyst for other side reactions.These side reactions can be minimized by only short exposures to the catalyst of the order of 0.0003 s.