Vinyl chloride world production

Although a small fraction of the world s vinyl chloride capacity is stiU based on acetylene or mixed actylene—ethylene feedstocks, nearly all production is conducted by the balanced process based on ethylene and chlorine (75). The reactions for each of the component processes are shown in equations 1—3 and the overall reaction is given by equation 4 ... 

Reaction of coke with calcium oxide gives calcium carbide, which on treatment with water produces acetylene. This was for many years an important starting point for the production of acrylonitrile, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate and other vinyl monomers. Furthermore, during World War II, Reppe developed routes for many other monomers although these were not viable under normal economic conditions. 

In 2002, the world production of polymers (not including synthetic libers and rubbers) was ca. 190 million metric tons. Of these, the combined production of poly(ethylene terephthalate), low- and high-density polyethyelene, polypropylene, poly(vinyl chloride), polystyrene, and polyurethane was 152.3 milhon metric tons [1]. These synthetic, petroleum-based polymers are used, inter alia, as engineering plastics, for packing, in the construction-, car-, truck- and food-industry. They are chemically very stable, and can be processed by injection molding, and by extrusion from the melt in a variety of forms. These attractive features, however, are associated with two main problems ... 

U.S. consumption pattern 1999, 3 619t U.S. producers, 3 610t vapor-phase nitration of, 17 257 vinyl chloride reactions with, 25 632 world production by country, 3 611-612t Benzene-based catalyst technology, 15 500 Benzene-based fixed-bed process technology, 15 505-506 Benzene chlorination process, of phenol manufacture, 18 751 m-Benzenedisulfonic acid, 3 602 p-Benzenedisulfonic acid, 3 602 Benzene feedstock, 23 329 Benzene hexachloride, 3 602 Benzene manufacture, toluene in, 25 180-181... 

The chemical uses for ethylene prior to World War II were limited, for the most part, to ethylene glycol and ethyl alcohol. After the war, the demand for styrene and polyethylene took off, stimulating ethylene production and olefin plant construction. Todays list of chemical applications for ethylene reads like the WTiat s What of petrochemicals polyethylene, ethylbenzene (a precursor to styrene), ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, ethyl alcohol, vinyl acetate, alpha olefins, and linear alcohols are some of the more commercial derivatives of ethylene. The consumer products derived from these chemicals are found everywhere, from soap to construction materials to plastic products to synthetic motor oils. 

World-wide consumption of PVC [poly(vinyl chloride)] has increased dramatically in the past few years. It has now exceeded 8 billion lbs annually. The production of VCM (vinyl chloride monomer) has also been expanded to meet the PVC demand. Future trends for VCM and PVC pro-ductions for the next five years can be forecast on the basis of the raw materials sources, the different process techniques in manufacturing VCM and PVC, and their relative economics, technical merits, and limitations. VCM will be produced principally through the ethylene route by fluid-bed oxyhydrochlorination of ethylene and thermal cracking of ethylene dichloride. PVC will be produced by various processes resulting in more specialized PVC varieties tailored for specific end markets and new processing technologies. 

Phillips catalysts for linear polyethylene and polypropylene and the graft copolymerizations for impact polystyrene and ABS are even younger and have not yet spread into the less industrialized countries of world. The production of polyolefins, poly (vinyl chloride), and styrene resins on a worldwide basis as well as of all synthetic polymers is shown in Figure 3. A comparison of the U.S. production in Figure 1 and in Figure 3 demonstrates the effect of age and dissemination of technology. It shows that relatively more poly (vinyl chloride) but less polyolefins and styrene resins are produced worldwide than in this country. 

Most vinyl acetate is converted into polyvinyl acetate (PVA) which is used in the manufacture of dispersions for paints and binders and as a raw material for paints. It is also copolymerized with vinyl chloride and ethylene and to a lesser extent with acrylic esters. A substantial proportion of vinyl acetate is converted into polyvinyl alcohol by saponification or transesterification of polyvinyl acetate. The main applications for polyvinyl alcohol are either as raw material for adhesives or for fibres. It is also employed in textile finishing and paper glueing, and as a dispersion agent (protective colloid). The world production capacity of PVA was 4.35 Mt/a in 2005, of which 2.1 Mt were converted into polyvinyl alcohol. 

Ethylene dichloride (EDC) is used to manufacture vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), which is one of the largest commodity chemicals produced in the world. EDC may be produced by the direct chlorination of ethylene or oxychlorination of ethylene in the presence of oxygen and hydrogen chloride. Pyrolysis of EDC produces VCM and an equal amount of hydrogen chloride as a co-product. This hydrogen chloride produced in the pyrolysis reactor is utilized by the oxychlorination process as one of the reactants. Therefore, the component processes of direct chlorination, EDC pyrolysis and oxychlorination are combined to develop a balanced process for the production of VCM with no net consumption or production of hydrogen chloride ... 

Fatty acid epoxides have numerous uses. In particular, oils and fats of vegetable and animal origin represent the greatest proportion of current consumption of renewable raw materials in the chemical industry, providing applications that cannot be met by petrochemicals [64]. Polyether polyols produced from methyl oleate by the Prileshajev epoxidation (using peracetic acid) are an example. Epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) is a mixture of the glycerol esters of epoxidized linoleic, linolenic, and oleic acids. It is used as a plasticizer and stabilizer for poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) [1] and as a stabilizer for PVC resins to improve flexibility, elasticity, and toughness [65]. The ESBO market is second to that of epoxy resins and its world wide production... 

Imitation" or substitute products made from poly(vinyl chloride) did not have much commercial acceptance after World War I, probably due to the poor quality of war-manufactured goods. 

Out of the many chlorinated derivatives, vinyl chloride has been a focus of interest since its carcinogenic effects were discovered. Approximately 6% of its world production is assumed to escape into the atmosphere. Vinyl chloride is used for the production of different plastics and methylchloro-form, and it is added to mixtures for the production of special packing materials. Until recently it has been used as a medium in aerosol sprays. The imission concentrations in the vicinity of production sources (0 to 8 km) are generally below 2.6 ng m. In the literature, there are only few data about its atmospheric reactions. It is very probable that it participates in photooxidation reactions in the presence of nitrogen oxides. Carbon monoxide formaldehyde, formic acid and HCl are products of its photooxidation. 

Vinyl chloride plants have become increasingly larger as demand for the product has escalated over the past 60 years. Today, a VCM plant of a billion pounds per year is considered a world-scale plant. The economics of air-based and oxygen-based oxychlorinations are shown in Table 13 and Table 14, respectively, for an oxychlorination plant of 810 million pounds per year of EDC which corresponds to a balanced process to produce approximately 1 billion pounds per year of vinyl chloride. Slightly more EDC is required per pound of vinyl chloride than shown in Figure 18 (0.81 versus... 

Poly(vinyl chloride) is one of the largest volume thermoplastics in the world. It is chemically inert and versatile, ranging from soft to rigid products that are available at economic costs. PVC is available in essentially two grades — rigid and flexible. 

In 1993, the total world production of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was about 19 million tons. Of this, emulsion polymerization (E-PVC) accounted for 5%... 

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