Patent ID: 6137017
Filing Date: 2000-10-24
Classification: C07C

Abstract:
A process for the production of methyl alcohol from natural gas which gas contains inerts in excess of 0.1 percent by volume, comprising the following steps:reacting methyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, oxygen and perchloroethylene in a catalytic reactor to give reaction products comprising methyl alcohol and hexachloroethane,separating the methyl alcohol from the hexachloroethane,reacting the isolated hexachloroethane with said natural gas in multiple thermal chlorination reactors comprising at least first and second thermal chlorination reactors, to produce methyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, perchloroethylene and unreacted natural gas, said reactors being arranged in a cross-flow reactor system such that the natural gas is fed to the first reactor, and further such that a purge stream from said first reactor is fed to the second reactor, and so on until the last reactor, which is vented to the atmosphere by feeding a purge stream from said last reactor to the catalytic reactor,separating methyl chloride, hydrogen chloride and perchloroethylene from unreacted natural gas in the exit streams from each of the respective thermal chlorination reactors, recycling the resulting natural gas streams back to the respective thermal reactors, andreturning the separated methyl chloride, hydrogen chloride and perchloroethylene to the catalytic reactor.