Methyl chloride via oxyhydrochlorination of methane. Quarterly technical progress report No. 10, January 1944--March 1994

In work related to the design and construction of the Process Development Unit (PDU) this quarter involved further detail design and a real start to the construction activities. Status updates are given below for each discipline in the Task 2.0 and 3.0 headings. This work is progressing well. with the caveat of several small slips in the scheduling. On the catalyst development front this quarter was extremely productive. Many catalyst screening experiments were completed and they showed that control of the reaction exotherm is going to be quite challenging under PDU conditions. The presence of much more efficient reactor design and the ability to maintain closer to isothermal conditions is expected to give a significant advantage in actual PDU operation. A major concern at the moment is the cost of La in the catalyst being used. An action plan to remedy this is being put together