Production of Titanium Dioxide Directly from Titanium Ore through Selective Chlorination Using Titanium Tetrachloride

Abstract

For the production of high-grade titanium dioxide (TiO₂) directly from titanium ore (Ti ore), a fundamental study on the development of a novel carbo-selective-chlorination method using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl₄) as a chlorinating agent was carried out. In order to selectively remove iron directly from low-grade Ti ore (mainly FeTiO₃), Ti ore and carbon powder were set in a gas-tight quartz tube that was then placed in a horizontal furnace to react with TiCl₄ at 1100 K. In the experiments, various types of Ti ores produced in different countries were reacted with TiCl₄ for durations from 4 to 6 h. Under certain conditions, the iron in the titanium ore was removed as iron chloride (FeCl₂), and 98% TiO₂ was obtained after the experiments. The effectiveness of TiCl₄ as a chlorinating agent for the carbo-selective-chlorination of iron oxide was verified in this study. Thus, it was demonstrated that the carbo-selective-chlorination is feasible for the selective removal of iron directly from low-grade titanium ore containing 51% TiO₂ to produce high-grade TiO₂ feed in a single step.