The
chloride process is used to purify
titanium dioxideTitanium dioxide, also known as titanium oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula TiO
2. When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6, or CI 77891...
from minerals containing at least 90% titanium dioxide. In this process, the feedstock is heated at 900 °C with
carbonCarbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
and
chlorineChlorine Chlorine Chlorine ( , from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' (khlôros, meaning 'pale green'), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17 (formerly VII, VIIa, or VIIb). As the chloride ion, which is part of common salt and...
gas, giving
titanium tetrachlorideTitanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
:
- 2 FeTiO3 + 7 Cl2 + 6 C → 2 TiCl4 + 2 FeCl3 + 6 CO
Other impurities are converted to the respective chlorides as well.
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The
chloride process is used to purify
titanium dioxideTitanium dioxide, also known as titanium oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula TiO
2. When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6, or CI 77891...
from minerals containing at least 90% titanium dioxide. In this process, the feedstock is heated at 900 °C with
carbonCarbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
and
chlorineChlorine Chlorine Chlorine ( , from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' (khlôros, meaning 'pale green'), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17 (formerly VII, VIIa, or VIIb). As the chloride ion, which is part of common salt and...
gas, giving
titanium tetrachlorideTitanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
:
- 2 FeTiO3 + 7 Cl2 + 6 C → 2 TiCl4 + 2 FeCl3 + 6 CO
Other impurities are converted to the respective chlorides as well. The
titanium tetrachlorideTitanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl
4. It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. TiCl
4 is an unusual example of a metal halide that is highly volatile...
is purified by
distillationDistillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
, and oxidized in a pure
oxygenOxygen Oxygen Oxygen (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter) is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O...
flame or plasma to give the pure TiO
2.
The
Kroll processThe Kroll process is a pyrometallurgical industrial process used to produce metallic titanium. It was invented by William J. Kroll in Luxembourg. After moving to the United States, Kroll further developed the method for the production of zirconium...
is a related technique. Instead of oxidizing the distilled titanium tetrachloride with oxygen, it is reduced with
magnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole...
to give
titaniumTitanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Sometimes called the “space age metal”, it has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color.Titanium can be alloyed with iron, aluminium, vanadium, molybdenum, among other...
metal.