GB1006261A - Manufacture of chlorine - Google Patents

Abstract

In a cyclic process for making chlorine and ammonia from ammonium chloride, in which ammonium chloride, as solid or vapour, is heated in a first stage with a mixture of oxychlorides of the rare earths whose oxides constitute technical ceric oxide, which is fully defined in the Specification, to yield ammonia and the chlorides of the rare earths, and the latter are heated in a second stage in contact with oxygen to give chlorine and regenerate the oxychlorides of the rare earths, there is present with the chlorides an oxychlorides of the rare earths a minor proportion of a chloride of copper, which may be added to the reaction system in the form of cupric chloride. Preferably the gramme-atom ratio of copper to cerium is at least 1 to 24, but not more than 1 to 4. To suppress loss of copper chloride by volatilization, sodium and/or potassium chloride may be present with the copper chloride in the reaction system. The rare earth chlorides and oxychlorides and copper chloride, and sodium and/or potassium chlorides if present, may conveniently be impregnated on a support of inert, porous granules, for example of silica, and the resultant reaction mass may be used as a fixed bed or column, or in a fluidized or moving bed. Specification 15140/07 is referred to.