TH29153A - A process for the production of mixtures of ethylene and mixtures containing ethylene? - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an efficient method for the production of ethylene or a mixture of ethylene and vinyl chloride by the reaction of ethane with chlorine, in which some 1,2-dichloroethane (EDC) may also be produced. The method is characterized by a minimum conversion of ethane per cycle through the reactor of approximately 50%, and a total molar yield of ethylene and vinyl chloride of at least approximately 80% relative to the ethane consumed. Thus, according to this invention, a method is provided for the preparation of ethylene or a mixture of ethylene and vinyl chloride by the reaction of ethane with chlorine consisting of, for example, (a) supplying a stream of ethane feed gas and a stream of chlorine feed gas; (b) heating only the said stream of ethane or both the said streams of ethane and chlorine; and (c) thoroughly mixing the said ethane and chlorine feed gases within approximately 1 second and at a molar ratio of (d) The aforementioned preheating is sufficient to allow the resulting mixture to reach a temperature above the free radical temperature for chlorine; and (e) the aforementioned ethane and chlorine in the aforementioned mixture are allowed to react so that the resulting mixture is heated to a temperature between approximately 600°C and approximately 800°C, in which case at least approximately 80% of the reacted ethane is settled as a molecular aggregate of vinyl chloride.

Claims (19)

1. A procedure for preparing ethylene or a mixture of ethylene and vinyl chloride by the reaction of ethane with chlorine, such as (a) providing a stream of ethane feed gas and a stream of chlorine feed gas; (b) preheating only the said stream of ethane or both the said streams of ethane and chlorine; (c) thoroughly mixing the said ethane and chlorine feed gases within approximately 1 second and at a molar ratio of ethane to chlorine of at least approximately 0.9 to 1.0; (d) the preheating is sufficient to bring the resulting mixture to a temperature above the free radical temperature for chlorine; and (e) allowing the said ethane and chlorine in the said mixture to react so that the resulting mixture is heated to a temperature between approximately 600°C and approximately 800°C, by which a combined molar flotation of ethylene and vinyl chloride is obtained. At least 80% of the ethane is lost through this reaction. 2. The process under claim 1, in which preheating is described above can bring the resulting mixture to a temperature between approximately 215°C and approximately 400°C, and which transfers heat to the reacting mixture so that the reacting mixture is to a temperature between approximately 600°C and approximately 800°C. 3. The process under claim 1, where preheating is described, can bring the resulting mixture to a temperature between approximately 400°C and approximately 550°C, and the reaction band for ethane with chlorine is well insulated to retain heat, thus allowing the reaction to be carried out mostly adiabatic, resulting in a reaction mixture at a temperature between approximately 600°C and approximately 800°C. 4. The process under claim 1, in which preheating is described above can bring the resulting mixture to a temperature between approximately 400°C and approximately 550°C, and transfer heat to the reacting mixture so that the reacting mixture is then heated to a temperature between approximately 600°C and approximately 800°C. 5. The process under claim 3, which involves a molar ratio of ethanol to chlorine between approximately 1.1 to 1.0 and approximately 2.0 to 1.0, and in the reaction mixture, the temperature is between approximately 650°C and approximately 750°C. 6. The process under claim 3, which involves an ethanol-to-chlorine ratio between approximately 1.3 to 1.0 and approximately 1.6 to 1.0, and in the aforementioned reaction mixture, the temperature is between approximately 650°C and approximately 750°C. 7. The procedure under claim 1 in which the aforementioned mixture is allowed to undergo a reaction in the reaction band and the aforementioned substance has a constant time in the reaction band of at least approximately 0.5 seconds. 8. The procedure under claim 7, which has a fixed time of approximately 1 to approximately 10 seconds, as mentioned above. 9. The procedure under claim 7, which has a fixed time of approximately 4 to approximately 6 seconds, as mentioned. 10. The procedure under claim 1, which includes examples of catalysts supporting the aforementioned ethanol-chlorine reaction. 11. The procedures under claim 1, which include, for example, diluents in the aforementioned mixtures. 12. The procedure under claim 11, in which the aforementioned diluent is an inert diluent. 13. The procedure under claim 11, in which the aforementioned diluent is ethane. 14. The procedure under claim 1 involves thoroughly mixing the ethane and chlorine feed gases as described, by placing chlorine at various locations to mix with the ethane stream. 15. The process pursuant to claim 1, in which ethane and chlorine, as mentioned, are to be reacted in an inert reaction band made of selected materials from quartz, silicon carbide, alumina, and graphite. 16. The procedure under claim 1, which includes examples of how this ethylene and the hydrogen chloride produced from the reaction of ethane with chlorine are reacted with an oxygen source to produce chloroethane. 17. The process pursuant to claim 16, which includes, for example, heating the aforementioned dichloroethane to produce vinyl chloride. 18. The process under claim 1, which accomplishes the mixing of the aforementioned ethane and chlorine, involves loading the streams of the aforementioned ethane and chlorine into the mixing band at approximately 90° angles to each other, predominantly. 19. A procedure under claim 1 which successfully mixes the aforementioned ethane and chlorine by increasing the velocity of the chlorine stream to a higher velocity than the velocity of the ethane stream. (Clause 19, page 3, figure 1)