Methyl chloride via oxyhydrochlorination of methane. Quarterly technical progress report No. 17, October 1995--December 1995

Continuous progress is being made toward the contract objectives in our attempt to produce {open_quotes}Methyl Chloride via Oxyhydrochlorination of Methane.{close_quotes} Specifically, gains have been achieved in Task 1.0 Catalyst Development and Separation Unit Operation Development and Task 5.0 Evaluation of Packed Bed Technology. Task 4.0 PDU Startup has been completed. A recent patent by Asahi Glass Company (JP 06340560) claims significant improvement in the OHC process through the use of a zirconia-alumina, support compared to the prior art of silica or alumina supports. A zirconia-alumina. support has been synthesized and impregnated with Cu/La/Li. This catalyst will be screened to test the claims of the competing patent. A new catalyst evaluation system is being sought to expand the capabilities of the OHC catalyst research. A ROTOBERTY reactor will allow proper evaluation of catalysts through measurement of intrinsic kinetics. It will also allow the present tube reactor to be converted for use in catalyst lifetime studies. The PDU brought chemical feeds on and produced methyl chloride completing Task 4.0 PDU Startup. In order to accomplish this, however, the stripper column had to be replaced with new PFA-lined materials. With this new equipment in place, the PDU ran at 30 psig between 285{degrees}C and 325{degrees}C forming a product stream containing as much as 3% methyl chloride. This analysis was performed by GC due to clouding of the FTIR windows almost immediately upon the introduction of chemical feeds to the unit. These are the initial stages of Task 5.0 Evaluation of Packed Bed Technology