Process for in-situ formation of chlorides of silicon and aluminum in the preparation of titanium dioxide

1. A process for producing titanium dioxide, comprising:

a) reacting an alloy comprising silicon and aluminum having a melting point of about 482° C. to about 660° C., with chlorine gas at a temperature above 190° C. to form chlorides of silicon and aluminum;

(b) adding titanium tetrachloride to the chlorides of silicon and aluminum of step (a);

(c) oxidizing the chlorides of silicon and aluminum and titanium tetrachloride of step (b); and

(d) forming titanium dioxide.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein titanium tetrachloride is present in step (a).

3. The process of claim 1 wherein chlorides of silicon and aluminum are silicon tetrachloride and aluminum trichloride.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the alloy comprising silicon and aluminum has a melting point of about 620° C. to about 660° C.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the alloy comprising silicon and aluminum comprises about 4% to about 22% silicon.

6. The process of claim 4 wherein the alloy comprising silicon and aluminum comprises about 6% to about 18% silicon.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein the temperature is about 300° C. to about 600° C.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein the alloy comprising silicon and aluminum is alloy 4004.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the alloy comprising silicon and aluminum is alloy 4008.

10. The process of claim 1 wherein the reaction in step (a) occurs in a reactor selected from the group consisting of a fluidized bed reactor, spouting bed reactor, packed bed reactor, and a plug flow reactor.

11. The process of claim 10 wherein the reactor comprises materials selected from the group consisting of silica sand, glass beads, ceramic beads, and TiO 2 particles.

12. The process of claim 10 wherein the reaction in step (a) occurs in the presence of nucleating salts.

13. The process of claim 12 wherein the nucleating salts are selected from the group consisting of potassium chloride, rubidium chloride, and cesium chloride.

14. The process of claim 1 wherein the amount of alloy comprising silicon and aluminum is about 0.1% to about 5% by weight, based on the total amount of all reactants in step (a) and step (b).

15. The process of claim 14 wherein the amount of alloy comprising silicon and aluminum is about 0.2% to about 1.5% by weight, based on the total amount of all reactants in step (a) and step (b).

16. The process of claim 1 wherein the amount of chlorine is about 0.4% to about 20% by weight, based on the total amount of all reactants in step (a) and step (b).

17. The process of claim 16 wherein the amount of chlorine is about 2% to about 5% by weight, based on the total amount of all reactants in step (a) and step (b).

18. The process of claim 1 wherein the amount of titanium tetrachloride is about 75% to about 99.5% by weight, based on the total amount of all reactants in step (a) and step (b).

19. The process of claim 18 wherein the amount of titanium tetrachloride is about 93% to about 98% by weight, based on the total amount of all reactants in step (a) and step (b).

20. The process of claim 1 wherein the titanium dioxide comprises a treatment of silicon dioxide and aluminum oxide.