Production process vinyl chloride plant

At Botlek we produce vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). The production takes place in two stages. During the first stage, ethene and chlorine are mixed to produce ethylene dichloride (EDC). This is direct chlorination. After purification, the EDC is ready for the second stage of the production process: cracking.

Cracking takes place in ovens: at high temperature, more than half of the EDC molecules break (crack) thus producing vinyl chloride, hydrogen chloride (HCl) and a number of by-products. Distillation then results in pure vinyl chloride. The EDC is not cracked in the process and, after purification, returns for the next passage.

By making use of a parallel process to make EDC, the HCl that was produced by cracking EDC can be sent back into the process. We call this oxychlorination. In this way, HCl from other companies in the region can be recycled.
Waste gases containing chlorinated hydrocarbons are burned while waste water is treated in the central water purification installation at Botlek.