Patent ID: 7678343

Claim:
A method for selectively reacting reagents in a gas phase exothermic reaction for the selective chlorination and/or oxychlorination of alkenes or alkanes comprising reacting said reagents in a tubular fixed bed reactor comprising a metallic monolith having channels with walls carrying a catalytically active phase or an intermediate layer carrying a catalytically active phase, wherein said catalytically active phase catalyses the selective chlorination and/or oxychlorination of alkenes or alkanes, and wherein the metallic monolith has a flat temperature profile in the tubular reactor whereby heat of reaction in said exothermic reaction is removed by the metallic monolith thereby reducing hot spots, said metallic monolith having: i) a surface area per unit volume of at least 6 cm 2 /cm 3 , ii) a cell density of between 8 cells/cm 2 and 100 cells/cm 2 , and iii) a length of between 30 cm to 1 m.