Process for preparing phosgene

A continuous process for preparing phosgene, comprising

• (i) providing a gas stream G1 comprising carbon monoxide (CO) and chlorine (Cl2);
• (ii) passing the gas stream G1 into a reaction zone Z1, bringing the gas stream G1 into contact with a catalyst C1 comprised in said reaction zone Z1, obtaining a gas stream GP comprising phosgene and one or more of carbon monoxide and chlorine, and removing the gas stream GP from said reaction zone Z1;
• (iii) dividing the gas stream GP, obtaining at least two gas streams comprising a gas stream G2 and a gas stream GR, G2 and GR having the same chemical composition as GP,
• wherein the ratio of the mass flow f(GR) of the gas stream GR relative to the mass flow f(G2) of the gas stream G2, f(GR):f(G2), is in the range of from 0.1:1 to 20:1;
• wherein during standard operation mode of the continuous process, providing the gas stream G1 according to (i) comprises
• preparing G1 as a mixture comprising at least two gas streams, said at least two streams comprising the gas stream GR and j gas streams G0(k) with k=1, . . . j, wherein the j gas streams G0(k) in total comprise carbon monoxide (CO) and chlorine (Cl2) and wherein j is in the range of from 1 to 3.