Abstract: An improvement of a method for purifying 1,2-dichloroethane by passing through a distillation column a crude 1,2-dichloroethane produced by oxychlorination of ethylene with at least one of a crude 1,2-dichloroethane produced by direct chlorination of ethylene and a crude uncracked 1,2-dichloroethane recovered in thermal cracking of 1,2-dichloroethane, the improvement which comprises feeding the oxychlorination-produced 1,2-dichloroethane to an upper plate of the distillation column which is above a plate of the column to which at least one of the direct chlorination-produced 1,2-dichloroethane and the uncracked 1,2-dichloroethane is fed, and recovering 1,2-dichloroethane as a bottom product. The purification method is very useful in the production of vinyl chloride by thermal cracking of 1,2-dichloroethane since carbon tetrachloride effective as a thermal cracking catalyst is recovered in concentrations stabilized within the range of .+-.500 p.p.m.

Abstract: An improvement of a method for purifying 1,2-dichloroethane by passing through a distillation column a crude 1,2-dichloroethane produced by oxychlorination of ethylene with at least one of a crude 1,2-dichloroethane produced by direct chlorination of ethylene and a crude uncracked 1,2-dichloroethane recovered in thermal cracking of 1,2-dichloroethane, the improvement which comprises feeding the oxychlorination-produced 1,2-dichloroethane to an upper plate of the distillation column than a plate of the column to which at least one of the direct chlorination-produced 1,2-dichloroethane and the uncracked 1,2-dichloroethane is fed, and recovering 1,2-dichloroethane as a bottom product.