Green production of PVC from laboratory to industrialization: State-of-the-art review of heterogeneous non-mercury catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination

Abstract This review gives a summary on heterogeneous non-mercury catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination process. First, various catalysts are classified and their performances are compared. Next, studies on catalytic performance by theoretical characterizations and molecule level simulations are introduced. Then, efforts for industrial scaling up and corresponding long-term plant trial results are presented to show enormous potential of state-of-the-art catalysts. Finally, the crucial engineering issues for future industrialization process including kinetic study, reactor design & simulation and material recycling process are proposed. Based on promising achievements, we believe that extensive industrial application of non-mercury catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination will soon become reality.