Titanium Oxide (TiO₂) Pigment Production Process Analysis

Measuring Titanium Tetrachloride in TiO₂ Pigment Production

Known in the paint industry as the "whitest white," titanium dioxide is a pigment used worldwide. In the chloride production method, titanium ore is converted to TiCl₄, from which metallic chloride impurities are discarded. Oxidation of purified TiCl₄ yeilds bright, finish-ready TiO₂.

There are 2 critical points of analysis in this production process:

(1) The incoming stream of TiCl₄ needs to be pure to yeild high quality TiO₂. This requires verification that the TiCl₄ feed is free of incident vanadium.

(2) The waste/recycle gas stream should be free of TiCl₄ if the process is running efficiently. The presence of TiCl₄ at this stage indicates incomplete hydrolysis and waste of valuable raw materials.

The OMA TiCl₄ and Vanadium Analyzer is the ideal instrument for both analysis points, as TiCl₄ and vanadium each have distinct, strong absorbance curves in the UV wavelength range. Dispersive analysis is absolutely necessary; collateral data is needed to differentiate the absorbance of TiCl₄ from the absorbance of chlorine in the gas stream.

Measuring Vanadium in TiO₂ Pigment Production