Low temperature melt chlorination process

Claim 2

A process in accordance with claim 1 wherein the regenerating system comprises a combination of an oxygen-containing gas and hydrogen chloride.

Claim 3

A process in accordance with claim 3 wherein the by-product water is removed from the melt in a zone separate from the reaction zone.

Claim 4

A process in accordance with claim 1 wherein the chlorination reaction and regeneration of the melt are carried out in the same zone.

Claim 5

A process in accordance with claim 2 wherein the regeneration of the melt is carried out in a zone separate from the chlorination reaction.

Claim 6

A continuous chlorination process for the production of tetrachloroethane which comprises chlorinating a material selected from the group consisting of ethylene, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride and mixtures thereof to produce a chlorinated product which contains at least 50 mole percent of tetrachloroethane, at a temperature within the range of from 125* C.-225* C. by means of a melt consisting essentially of iron chloride, copper chloride, alkali metal chloride and water by dispersing the material to be chlorinated in the melt, the melt being the continuous phase, whereby said material is chlorinated by the melt; withdrawing a gaseous effluent from the reaction zone which contains unreacted starting material and the resulting chlorinated hydrocarbon products and recovering the chlorinated hydrocarbon products from the effluent as the products of the process; and regenerating the melt with a regenerating system selected from the group consisting of a chlorine-containing gas, a combination of an oxygen-containing gas and hydrogen chloride, and mixtures whereof, wherein: a. the alkali metal chloride is selected from the group consisting of LiCl, a LiCl/KCl mixture, a LiCl/NaCl mixture, a LiCl/RbCl mixture, a LiCl/CsCl mixture and mixtures thereof, provided that the alkali metal chloride comprises at least 30 mole percent LiCl; b. The mole ratio of iron chloride to copper chloride is from about 10:1 to about 5:1; c. the mole ratio of lithium chloride to combined moles of iron chloride and copper chloride is from about 0.7:1 to about 1.3: 1; d. the water is present in an amount within the range of 0.5- 3 percent based on the weight of the melt; and e. at least 75 percent of the iron chloride is maintained as ferric chloride and all of the copper chloride is maintained as cupric chloride.

Claim 7

A process in accordance with claim 7 wherein the regenerating system comprises a chlorine-containing gas.

Claim 8

A process in accordance with claim 7 wherein the regenerating system comprises a combination of an oxygen-containing gas and hydrogen chloride.

Claim 9

A process in accordance with claim 9 wherein the by-product water is removed from the melt in a zone separate from the reaction zone.

Claim 10

A process in accordance with claim 9 wherein the chlorination reaction and regeneration of the melt are carried out in the same zone.

Claim 11

A process in accordance with claim 9 wherein the regeneration of the melt is carried out in a zone separate from the chlorination reaction.

Claim 12

A process in accordance with claim 9 which is carried out under pressure within the range of 1 atmosphere to 10 atmospheres.