Abstract: To develop a catalyst to substitute mercuric chloride for hydrochlorination of acetylene, a series of Bi-Cu/C catalysts was prepared by equivalent-volume impregnation and characterized by XRD, SEM and BET. Under the reaction conditions of 170 ℃, C2H2 gas hourly space velocity of 30 h-1, feed volume ratio V(HCl)/V(C2H2)=1.05, the catalytic performance of Bi-Cu/C catalysts was investigated in a fixed bed reactor at atmospheric pressure. The results show that the active components of Bi-Cu /C catalyst is highly dispersed on the surface of the carrier; after 20 h reaction, the activity of the best BiCl3-CuCl2/C catalyst is above 70%, the selectivity is higher than 99%. After PO43- modification, the activity and stability is significantly improved, the acetylene conversion rate is close to 98%, which achieves the activity of mercuric chloride for hydrochlorination of acetylene. Although the stability is not as good as mercuric chloride catalyst, it provides an experimental basis for further research and development of non-mercury catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination.

Key words: Bi-Cu /C catalyst, acetylene, hydrochlorination, vinyl chloride