A process for producing vinyl chloride monomer from ethylene and ethane having
input of significant quantities of both ethane and ethylene in input streams to
the affiliated reactor where hydrogen chloride in the reactor effluent is only
partially recovered from the reactor effluent in the first unit operation after
the ethane/ethylene-to-vinyl reaction step or stage. Steps are presented of oxydehydro-chlorination
catalytic reaction of ethane, ethylene, hydrogen chloride, oxygen, and chlorine;
cooling and condensing the reactor effluent stream; and separating the condensed
raw product stream into vinyl chloride monomer and a reactor recycle stream.