TiO2 – Titandioxid

TiO2

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a simple inorganic compound produced as a pure white powder. More than 50 % of the titanium dioxide is used in paints, varnishes and lacquer. It also is used in coatings, paper and plastics industries with total worldwide sales of around 4.5 million tons per year.

Manufacture takes place by either the sulfate process or the chloride process and the main raw materials include ilmenite (FeO/TiO2), naturally occurring rutile, or titanium slag. In essence the process converts the impure TiO2 feedstock into an easy to purify intermediate, separates out the impurities then converts back to pure TiO2 (see figure 1).

Because of significant environmental and cost issues associated with the sulfate process, most new manufacturing plants are based on the chloride process. The quantity of waste materials is thus reduced compared to the older sulfate process. However, the chloride process is more difficult to operate. The extreme corrosiveness of the high temperature chlorine (900 – 1000°C) employed in the process contributes to the difficulty.

For this kind of acidic and corrosive media, Tantaline valves offer a corrosion resistance beyond nickel alloys (Hastelloy), titanium (Ti) and zirconium (Zr).