Chlorine-Advanced Commercial Chlor-Alkali Technology

Published December 2012

Chlorine and caustic soda represent one of the largest volume chemical segments. Worldwide chlorine demand was 61 million tons in 2011; caustic soda demand was 73 million tons. The chlor-alkali industry has undergone a major worldwide capacity expansion in recent years. Much of this capacity growth has been due to Chinese efforts to reach self-sufficiency.

Chlorine is produced electrochemically from sodium chloride. In this report, we examine two technologies to produce chlorine. The diaphragm cell is the older technology and is no longer competitive on a new construction basis with the latest membrane cells. New construction has used the membrane cell process. This technology is more electrically efficient and has lower capital and operating costs.