Process for the removal of vinyl chloride from gas streams

Claim 1

In the process for the removal of vinyl chloride from gas streams wherein the gas streams are contacted with activated carbon until the surface of the carbon is saturated with vinyl chloride, vinyl chloride is desorbed from the carbon, and the carbon is regenerated and recycled, the improvements that consist essentially of the steps of a. passing a gas stream that contains from 10 ppm to 100 mole percent of vinyl chloride through a bed of activated carbon, said carbon being selected from the group consisting of coconut shell-derived activated carbon and petroleum-derived activated carbon and having an iodine number of at least 1100 milligrams per gram and a total surface area of at least 1150 square meters per gram, until the gas stream leaving the bed of vinyl chloride-saturated carbon contains more than 10 ppm of vinyl chloride; b. passing steam at 100°C. to 150°C. through the bed of vinyl chloride-saturated activated carbon until at least 99% by weight of the vinyl chloride has been desorbed from the carbon and the carbon is saturated with water; c. directing the steam leaving the carbon bed to a vinyl chloride recovery system; d. passing a stream of inert gas at 90° to 150°C. through the bed of water-saturated activated carbon until the hot carbon contains less than 1% of water; e. passing a stream of inert gas at a temperature below 30°C. through the hot carbon until the carbon has been cooled to a temperature below 30°C.; and f. repeating Steps (a) to (e).