Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
ee20319be03c44b9a35b2d8af81251a4
Materials
Associated ID
34a21d00-3253-4d50-8067-0c9957e9ba10
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Vinyl chloride can be used as an extraction agent, refrigerant, solvent, and in plastic manufacturing and organic synthesis. This dataset includes major raw and auxiliary materials, energy inputs, atmospheric emissions, water discharges, and waste from the production process. Infrastructure such as production equipment and facility construction is not included within the system boundary of the dataset. The life cycle inventory data were sourced from literature and optimized based on the best available information from 2022. The following emissions data were substituted with Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data instead of data collected by the EDC/VCM data collector: vinyl chloride, dichloroethane, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (chloroform), methyl chloride, and dichloroethane. Vinyl Association provided data on EDC/VCM production volumes in 2015, as well as estimated percentages of each emission source from EDC/VCM production and PVC production; dioxin quantities are calculated in terms of toxicity equivalence (TEQ); vinyl chloride is produced by chlorination of ethylene in the liquid phase, with a process including catalytic reaction (ethylene, hydrogen chloride, and oxygen react over a catalyst to produce dichloroethane and water), high-temperature cracking (dichloroethane undergoes pyrolysis at high temperatures to produce vinyl chloride and hydrogen chloride), and hydrogen chloride recovery processes.
Activity Description
Vinyl chloride is produced by chlorinating ethylene in the liquid phase. The process includes catalytic reaction (ethylene, hydrogen chloride, and oxygen react in the presence of a catalyst to produce dichloroethane and water), high-temperature pyrolysis (dichloroethane undergoes pyrolysis at high temperature to generate vinyl chloride and hydrogen chloride), and hydrogen chloride recovery.
Process Description
Vinyl chloride is an organic compound with the chemical formula C2H2Cl2, existing as cis and trans isomers. However, a mixture of these isomers is generally used. It is a colorless, transparent liquid that is insoluble in water but soluble in most organic solvents such as ethanol and diethyl ether. It can be used as an extractant, refrigerant, and also as a solvent in the production of plastics and organic synthesis.
Time period
2019
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
Ethylene is chlorinated in the liquid phase, typically using ferric chloride as a catalyst to drive the reaction, producing vinyl chloride. Direct chlorination is an exothermic reaction requiring temperature control through heat removal. The crude product from the reactor is purified by distillation to obtain ethylene dichloride. Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is almost exclusively produced via thermal cracking (dehydrochlorination) of ethylene dichloride, which is fed into a cracker unit. Hydrogen chloride (HCl) is separated from VCM by fractionation under non-cryogenic conditions. The HCl generated in this process is recycled back to the oxychlorination reaction, and any unreacted ethylene dichloride is separated from impurities.