Removal of (hydro)haloalkene impurities from product streams

1. A process for removing at least one (hydro)haloalkene impurity that comprises at least one (hydro)halopropene from a product stream containing that impurity and at least one desired compound, which process is conducted at a temperature of from −20° C. to 100° C. and comprises adsorbing the impurity by contacting the product stream with a solid adsorbent comprising pores having openings which have a size across their largest dimension in the range of from greater than 7 Å to about 10 Å.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one desired compound comprises at least one hydrofluorocarbon.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one (hydro)haloalkene impurity comprises at least one (hydro)halopropene and at least one other (hydro)haloalkene.

4. A process as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the at least one other (hydro)haloalkene is 1-chloro-2,2-difluoroethylene.

5. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one (hydro)halopropene comprises at least one of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene and 3,3,3-trifluoropropene.

6. A process as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the product stream comprises 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane.

7. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one (hydro)halopropene comprises at least one compound selected from the group consisting of perfluoropropene, 1,1,3,3,3-pentafluoropropene and 2-chloro-1,1,3,3,3-pentafluoropropene.

8. A process as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the product stream comprises 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane.

9. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adsorbent comprises pores in which the openings to the pores have a size across their largest dimension in the range of from greater than 7 Å to less than 10 Å.

10. A process as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the adsorbent comprises pores in which the openings to the pores have a size across their largest dimension in the range of from greater than 7 Å to 9 Å.

11. A process as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the adsorbent comprises pores in which the openings to the pores have a size across their largest dimension in the range of from greater than 7 Å to 8 Å.

12. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adsorbent is a molecular sieve.

13. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adsorbent is a zeolite.

14. A process as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the zeolite is selected from the group consisting of zeolite-Beta and zeolite-Y.

15. A process as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the cations contained in the zeolite molecular sieve are selected from the group consisting of potassium, sodium, hydrogen and calcium.

16. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adsorbent is an activated carbon.

17. A process for removing at least one (hydro)halopropene impurity that comprises 2,3,3,3,-tetrafluoropropene from a product stream containing that impurity and at least one desired compound, which process comprises adsorbing the impurity by contacting the product stream at a temperature of from −20 to 100° C. with a solid adsorbent comprising pores having openings which have a size across their largest dimension in the range of from about 7 Å to about 10 Å.

18. A process for removing at least one (hydro)halopropene impurity selected from the group consisting of perfluoropropene, 1,1,3,3,3-pentafluoropropene and 2-chloro-1,1,3,3,3-pentafluoropropene from a product stream containing that impurity and at least one desired compound, which process comprises adsorbing the impurity by contacting the product stream at a temperature of from −20 to 100°C. with a solid adsorbent comprising pores having openings which have a size across their largest dimension in the range of from about 7 Å to about 10 Å.