PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF PURE TETRA-FLUOR ETHYLENE

Pure tetrafluoroethylene is produced from a gas formed in the pyrolysis of a fluorocarbon compound having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, which may contain a hydrogen and a chlorine atom. After separating off hydrogen chloride or hydrogen fluoride and, if necessary, water, the pyrolysis gas is conducted under pressure and distilled in a plurality of columns, in which in the first column the low boiling components, preferably at a reflux ratio of 6 to 15 kg per kg of tetrafluoroethylene produced, and in the second column tetrafluoroethylene, preferably at a reflux ratio of 3 to 5 kg per kg of tetrafluoroethylene produced, are distilled off. 0.6 to 2 kg of difluoromonochloromethane are fed into the second column per kg of tetrafluoroethylene produced as distillation aid. The new process makes it possible to prepare pure tetrafluoroethylene at comparatively reduced energy and apparatus costs.