Process for the chlorination of ethane

A process for the chlorination of ethane using hydrogen chloride as the source of chlorine and avoiding net production of hydrogen chloride, said process consisting essentially of steps operated in tandem;

• first, subjecting chlorinated ethylene consisting essentially of perchloroethylene to oxychlorination with hydrogen chloride and oxygen in the presence of an oxychlorination catalyst to give reaction products consisting essentially of hexachloroethane and water;
• second, isolating said hexachloroethane from the reaction products of the first step and reacting it with ethane feedstock in the vapor phase to produce chlorinated ethanes, chlorinated ethylenes including perchloroethylene, and hydrogen chloride;
• and third, isolating perchloroethylene and hydrogen chloride from hydrocarbon products of the second step and recycling the hydrogen chloride and perchloroethylene thus isolated to the first step whereby chlorination is accomplished using regenerated hexachloroethane, the process is operated with total utilization of hydrogen chloride, and net production of hydrogen chloride is avoided.