The thermal decomposition of HCOONa in presence of NaOH

Abstract

Abstract The run of the thermal decomposition of sodium formate in sodium formate - sodium hydroxide system has been examined thermoanalytically. It has been found that sodium hydroxide being the reagent quantitatively reacting with sodium formate, keeps as the catalyst of the reaction of the thermal decomposition of sodium formate to sodium oxalate and that the selectivity of its catalytic action decreases if the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere increases. The solid products of the thermal decomposition of sodium formate there are sodium carbonate and sodium oxalate: As the last-mentioned product usually is the desirable one the selectivity related to sodium oxalate is the well-founded characterization of the process where nf2 is the number of sodium formate moles reacting according to the reaction (2), nof is the initial (and urder nonisothermal conditions also total) number of solium formate moles. Let's characterize the composition of the mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium formate by