How is chlorine handled in the PVC manufacturing process?
Nowadays chlorine is usually produced and used on the same industrial site. It is thus less and less often stored or transported. In Western Europe, chlorine transport declined from 15% in 1995 to less than 10% in 2005 of which more than 75% was shipped by rail. However, since some chlorine is also used by industry to make a large range of products, some quantities have still to be transported. Stringent safety measures are taken for the transport of chlorine and in particular specially-designed steel containers, ranging from cylinders carrying a few kilograms of chlorine to road and rail tank wagons containing several tonnes. In Europe, the Regulations concerning the International Transport of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID), were recently upgraded for chlorine rail tankers. A Europe-wide chlorine transport emergency system is in place which provides expert technical assistance where needed. It has to be underlined that chlorine was transported throughout Europe for almost 50 years with
