A process for producing tetrachloroethylene comprising passing a gas stream of ethylene over a catalyst composition of cupric chloride and an inert material at a temperature in the range of 400 to 525.degree. C. and at a flow rate of less than 5 cc of gas stream per minute per gram of cupric chloride. 6 Claims, No Drawings
This invention relates to a process of removing chlorine (Cl.sub.2) and hydrogen chloride (HCl) from a combustion gas, such as a combustion gas formed from incinerating chlorine-containing organic materials, which comprises: (1) Lowering the temperature of the combustion gas below the melting point of cupric chloride or mixture thereof with other salts; (2) Contacting the cooled combustion gas of step (1), in the presence of oxygen, with copper of lower than a divalent oxidation state, such as a cuprous compound or its equivalent in a quantity sufficient to absorb chlorine and hydrogen chloride present in gas, thereby converting the cuprous compound to cupric chloride (in order to absorb substantially all HCl and Cl.sub.2 it is desirable to employ a stoichiometric excess of cuprous compound); (3) Contacting cupric chloride with a reducing agent, thereby converting the cupric chloride to cuprous chloride or an equivalent compound of lower than divalent oxidation state and the reducing agent to a chlorinated product. The products formed from the reducing agent in step (3) can be removed; and cuprous chloride formed in step (3) can be reused in step (2).
