Production of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) from titanium ores: A review

Titanium (Ti) is the ninth most abundant element on earth. The titanium mineral ores are widely distributed in different parts of the world. The two main ores of titanium include rutile (TiO2) and ilmenite (FeO.TiO2). It is aimed to provide the readers with an insight to the main processes currently employed to extract and recover titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) from different titanium ores. Due to the crucial importance of TiCl4 catalyst in the synthesis and polymerization of polyolefins, the present work examines the literature and developments made in the processing of ilmenite and rutile ores for the extraction of TiCl4. The attention has been paid to the chlorination processes and the main parameters affecting the recovery of TiCl4. Different approaches developed to date are reviewed. Different processes, reaction mechanisms and conditions as well as the kinetic models developed for extraction and purification of TiCl4 in fluidized bed reactors are also reviewed. A literature survey on the combined fluidized bed reactor systems developed for achieving a high-grade synthetic rutile via selective chlorination of low-grade titanium ores having high metal oxides content such as magnesium oxide (MgO) and calcium oxide (CaO) is also reported. Different strategies adopted to avoid agglomeration process during the extraction process are discussed too.