Manufacture of aluminium chloride

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ALUMINUM CHLORIDE, WHICH COMPRISES MAINTAINING A BED CONSISTING SUBSTANTIALLY OF ALUMINIUM PARTICLES IN A FLUIDISED CONDITION IN A AN INERT GAS UPWARDLY THROUGH THE BED, AND SEPARATELY INFLUIDISATION ZONE HAVING ZONE BOUNDING WALLS BY PASSING TRODUCING INTO THE FLUIDISED ALUMINIUM PARTICLES SO PRODUCED A CHLORINATING GAS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF CHLORINE AND A MIXTURE OF CHLORINE AND AN INERT GAS, THE CHLORINATING GAS BEING INTRODUCED AT AN INTERMEDIATE ZONE IN THE FLUIDISED BED WHICH IS REMOTE FROM SAID ZONE BOUNDING WALLS AT A LINEAR VELOCITY EQUAL TO AT LEAST 10 TIMES THE LINEAR VELOCITY AT WHICH THE INERT FLUIDISING GAS IS INTRODUCED, THE TEMPERATURE WITHIN THE FLUIDISED BED BEING MAINTAINED WITHIN THE RANGE OF FROM 100 TO 600* C., THE TOTAL RATE OF INTRODUCTION OF INERT GAS INTO THE FLUIDISED BED BEING AT LEAST TWICE THE RATE OF INTRODUCTION OF CHLORINE INTO THE FLUIDISED BED ON A VOLUME BASIS.