PRODUCTION OF TITANIUM CHLORIDE BY CHLORINATION OF ILMENITE WITH CARBON-TETRACHLORIDE

The chlorination of a Venezuelan ilmenite ore with carbon tetrachloride was investigated in an experimental reactor with the principal objective of assessing the feasibility of a process alternative to the traditional route, which employs gaseous chlorine and coke. The experimental tests were performed at temperatures in the range 620-700 degrees C and at two different partial pressures of carbon tetrachloride on a concentrate that was obtained by selective screening and magnetic separation. The concentrate contained about 91 wt% ilmenite. Chlorination provided high extraction yields with recoveries of impurity-free titanium tetrachloride of nearly 90%. The qualitative trend of the observed kinetic curves was interpreted by postulating a series-parallel kinetic mechanism based on the preferential chlorination of iron as the first stage. Simple kinetic modelling provided an estimate of the apparent activation energy of the process.