PROCESS AND SYSTEM FOR PRODUCTION OF DICHLORINE
The present disclosure provides a process and a system for producing dichlorine (Cl 2 ).
1 . A process for producing dichlorine (Cl 2 ), comprising:
reacting a rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst having no support with HCl at a first temperature during a chlorination stage of the process to form rare-earth metal chloride and H 2 O;
removing unreacted HCl from the rare-earth metal chloride;
removing H 2 O from the rare-earth metal chloride; and
reacting the rare-earth metal chloride with O 2 at a second temperature greater than the first temperature, wherein the second temperature is in a range of 500° C. to 827° C. during an oxidation stage of the process to form Cl 2 and the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst.
2 . The process of claim 1 , where the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst is LaOCl and the rare-earth metal chloride is LaCl 3 .
3 . The process of claim 1 , where removing H 2 O from the rare-earth metal chloride includes purging the rare-earth metal chloride with an inert gas to remove the H 2 O.
4 . The process of claim 1 , including passing the HCl over the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst in the chlorination stage and passing the O 2 over the rare-earth metal chloride in the oxidation stage.
5 . The process of claim 4 , including conveying the rare-earth metal chloride from the chlorination stage to the oxidation stage; and
conveying the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst from the oxidation stage to the chlorination stage.
6 . The process of claim 1 , including maintaining the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst and the rare-earth metal chloride in a solid non-liquid state.
7 . The process of claim 1 , including removing substantially all H 2 O from the rare-earth metal chloride, and where reacting the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst with HCl includes supplying HCl having up to 80 weight percent water.
8 . The process of claim 1 , where reacting the rare-earth metal chloride with O 2 forms Cl 2 having less than 0.1 weight percent water.
9 . The process of claim 1 , where the rare-earth metal chloride do not include copper or ruthenium.
10 . The process of claim 1 , where unreacted HCl is removed from rare-earth metal chloride prior reacting the rare-earth metal chloride with the O 2 .
11 . The process of claim 10 , including removing all unreacted HCl from the rare-earth metal chloride such that no HCl is present when reacting the rare-earth metal chloride with O 2 .
12 . The process of claim 1 , where the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride catalyst does not include copper or ruthenium.
13 . The process of claim 1 , including reacting the rare-earth metal oxy-chloride having no support with the HCl at the first temperature during the chlorination stage of the process to form the rare-earth metal chloride and the H 2 O.