Like Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde is a very important raw material in industrial chemistry. Despite its high volatility, Acetaldehyde is produced as pure liquid, yet favourably as close as possible to the place of consumption. An important method of manufacture is the catalytic conversion of gaseous Ethanol.

Analogously to the Formaldehyde process, the MEISSNER process for the production of Acetaldehyde works with a Silver Catalyst for conversion of the Ethanol. The intermediate absorption of the generated Acetaldehyde in water is followed by a  separation of the Acetaldehyde from the raw product by means of a first distillation step. The recovery of the unconverted Ethanol in a further distillation step enables very favourable raw material consumption figures to be achieved.