Removal of chlorine from nitrogen or hydrogen chloride by reaction with a hydrocarbon

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR REMOVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE CHLORINE CONTENT OF A GAS STREAM CONTAINING FROM 0.77% TO ABOUT 5% BY WEIGHT OF CHLORINE TO PRODUCE A GAS STREAM HAVING A CHLORINE CONTENT OF AT MOST 0.1% BY WEIGHT WHEREIN SAID GAS IS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF NITROGEN AND HYDROGEN CHLORIDE WHICH COMPRISES CONTINUOUSLY COUNTERCURRENTLY CONTACTING SAID GAS CONTAINING CHLORINE WITH A HYDROCARBON MIXTURE CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF HYDROCARBONS CONTAINING AT LEAST 15 AND NOT MORE THAN 45 CARABON ATOMS PER MOLECULE IN THE LIQUID STATE IN A CONTACT ZONE AT TEMPERATURE OF 110* TO 150*C. TO EFFECT PARTIAL CHLORINATION OF SAID HYDROCARBON MIXTURE, RECYCLING PARTIALLY-CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON MIXTURE TO SAID CONTACT ZONE IN A RECYCLE RATIO OF AT LEAST 10:1 PRODUCE A CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON MIXTURER HAVING A CHLORINE OF AT MOST 0.1% AND A PARTIAL-CHLORINATED HYAND SEPARATELY RECOVERING A GAS HAVING CONTENT OF CHLORINE OF AT LEAST 0.1% AND A PARTIALY-CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON MIXTURE CONTAINING NOT MORE THAN ABOUT 5% BY WEIGHT OF CHLORINE, SAID RECYCLING PARTIALLY-CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON MIXTURE BEING INTRODUCED INTO SAID CONTACT ZONE AT A POINT BELOW THE POINT OF INTRODUCTION OF SAID FIRST-NAMED HYDROCARBON MIXTURE BUT ABOVE THE POINT OF INTRODUCTION INTO SAID CONTACT ZONE OF SAID GAS CONTAINING CHLORINE, THE RESIDENCE TIME IN THE PORTION OF SAID CONTACT ZONE BELOW THE POINT OF INTRODUCTION OF THE RECYCLING PARTIALLY-CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON MIXTURE BEING FROM ABOUT 1 TO ABOUT 20 MINUTES.