Vinyl Chloride Monomer / Ethylene Dichloride (VCM/EDC) Plants for Sale

Vinyl chloride is an organochloride with the formula H₂C=CHCl that is also called vinyl chloride monomer, VCM or chloroethene. This colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Nearly all production of VCM is based on ethylene, which is first reacted with chlorine to make ethylene dichloride (EDC). There are two routes commonly used to make EDC: direct chlorination using pure chlorine and ethylene, and oxychlorination in which the ethylene reacts with chlorine in hydrogen chloride. The EDC is then converted to VCM by thermal cracking and the hydrogen chloride by-product can be recycled to an oxychlorination plant to make more EDC. Many EDC/VCM complexes use an integrated chlorination-oxychlorination process which proceeds in three stages: the chlorination of ethylene in the liquid or vapour phase to make EDC; the thermal cracking of EDC to form VCM and hydrogen chloride; and the oxychlorination of ethylene with recycled hydrogen chloride to make more EDC.