Chloride process

The chloride process is used to separate titanium from its ores. In this process, the feedstock is chlorinated at 1000 °C with carbon and chlorine gas, giving titanium tetrachloride. Typical is the conversion starting from the ore ilmenite:^[1]

2 FeTiO₃ + 7 Cl₂ + 6 C → 2 TiCl₄ + 2 FeCl₃ + 6 CO

The process is a variant of a carbothermic reaction, which exploits the reducing power of carbon.

Other impurities are converted to the respective chlorides as well but they are less volatile than TiCl₄. The titanium tetrachloride is purified by distillation. It can be subsequently oxidized in an oxygen flame or plasma to give the pure titanium dioxide.^[2] Alternatively, via the Kroll process, the purified titanium tetrachloride can be reduced with magnesium to give titanium metal.

References

1. ^ Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0080379419. 
2. ^ "The TiO2 Process". Ti-Cons. http://www.ti-cons.com/Ti-Cons/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=7&lang=en. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 

External links

• "Chloride Process". KRONOS Worldwide, Inc.. http://www.kronos.de/khome.nsf/ChlorideProcess?OpenPage. Retrieved 2007-09-05. 
• "The Chloride Process from Ti-Cons". Ti-Cons Jendro, Weiland und Partner. http://www.ti-cons.com/Ti-Cons/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=10&lang=en. Retrieved 2010-06-16.