Published September 1975
This report is a supplement to Process Economics Program (PEP) Report No. 5, dated May 1965; Report 5A, dated February 1967; and Interim Report No. 5B1, dated October 1970. It covers patents and other technical information received at SRI since the issuance of the previous reports. In addition, all relevant patents issued to companies licensing vinyl chloride monomer processes are reviewed in this report.
Except for the chlorination of ethylene directly to vinyl chloride, no new processes having promise of commercial utility have appeared since the previous reports. Patents on the chlorination of ethylene directly to vinyl chloride indicate that this reaction can be carried out with high selectivity. However, to be generally applicable, such a process should be accompanied by a satisfactory process for oxychlorinating ethylene directly to vinyl chloride. Although progress has been made in this direction, no such process has yet been developed.
The availability and cost of hydrocarbon feedstocks for vinyl chloride manufacture have become much more uncertain than in the past. The current report therefore includes a comparison of the economics of processes starting from crude oil and from ethane with the economics of the conventional chlorination-oxychlorination.
Other PEP Related Reports:
