Topic summary
Chloride process
The chloride process is used to separate titanium from its ores. The goal of the process is to win high purity titanium dioxide from ores such as ilmenite (FeTiO3) and rutile (TiO2). The strategy exploits the volatility of TiCl4, which is readily purified and converted to the dioxide. Millions of tons of TiO2 are produced annually by this process, mainly for use as white pigments. As of 2017, the chloride process is used alongside the older sulfate process, which relies on hot sulfuric acid to extract iron and other impurities from ores.