China titanium dioxide development analysis

December 13, 2023

Titanium dioxide is a chemical product that develops rapidly in the world today and is widely used in many fields.
At present, the production and demand of titanium dioxide in the world is basically the same, and the production areas are mainly concentrated in North America and Western Europe, of which the United States is the world's largest producer.
China's titanium resources account for about one-fifth of the world's total reserves, but titanium dioxide production accounts for only 3% to 5% of the world's total production, indicating that China's titanium dioxide industry is still lagging behind. It is both necessary and possible to develop the titanium dioxide industry in China.
Titanium dioxide is a white powder, has a good light scattering ability, and therefore good whiteness, high coloring power, strong hiding power, and has a high chemical stability and good weather resistance. Titanium dioxide is a very polar powder. If air or water is adsorbed on the surface, the dispersibility in water is reduced. Commonly used treatment agents are hydrated alumina and hydrated silica.
The coating industry is the main user of titanium dioxide, especially rutile titanium dioxide, which is consumed by the paint industry. With the development of China's automobile industry and construction industry, the coating industry not only needs more titanium dioxide in quantity, but also has higher requirements for varieties and quality.
Coatings made of titanium dioxide, colorful, high hiding power, strong coloring, dosage, many varieties, the physical stability of the media can play a protective role, and can enhance the mechanical strength and adhesion of paint film, to prevent cracks Prevent ultraviolet light and moisture penetration and extend the life of the paint film.
The enamel prepared with titanium dioxide has strong transparency, light weight, strong impact resistance, good mechanical properties, vivid colors, and no pollution.
The plastics industry is the second largest user of titanium dioxide. The addition of titanium dioxide in plastic can improve the heat resistance, light resistance and weather resistance of plastic products, improve the physical and chemical properties of plastic products, enhance the mechanical strength of the products and prolong their service life.
Titanium dioxide in the rubber industry both as a colorant, but also with reinforcing, anti-aging, filling effect. Titanium dioxide is added to white and color rubber products. Under sunlight exposure, it is resistant to sunlight, no cracking, no discoloration, and high stretch rate and acid and alkali resistance. Titanium dioxide for rubber is mainly used for automobile tires and rubber shoes, rubber flooring, gloves, sports equipment, etc., and is generally based on anatase type. However, when used in the production of automobile tires, a certain amount of rutile-type products are often added to enhance their ozone resistance and UV resistance.
Titanium dioxide is an indispensable white pigment in advanced inks. The ink containing titanium dioxide is durable without discoloration, has good surface wetting and is easy to disperse. The titanium dioxide used in the ink industry is rutile and anatase.
The paper industry is the third largest user of titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide is used as a paper filler and is mainly used in fine paper and thin paper. Adding titanium dioxide to the paper can make the paper have good whiteness, good gloss, high strength, thinness and smoothness, and it does not penetrate during printing, and its quality is light. Titanium dioxide for papermaking generally uses anatase titanium dioxide that has not been surface-treated. It can act as an optical brightener and increase the whiteness of the paper. However, laminates require the use of surface-treated rutile titanium dioxide to meet the light and heat resistance requirements.
Textile and chemical fiber industry is another important application field of titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide for chemical fiber is mainly used as matting agent. Anatase is generally used because anatase is softer than rutile. Titanium dioxide for chemical fiber generally does not need surface treatment, but some special varieties need to be surface treated in order to reduce the photochemical effect of titanium dioxide and avoid degradation of the fiber under the photocatalytic action of titanium dioxide.
Titanium dioxide production methods are sulfuric acid and chlorination.
Sulfuric acid method Sulfuric acid method is the titanium iron powder and concentrated sulfuric acid acid hydrolysis reaction of production of titanium sulphate, hydrolyzed to generate metatitanic acid, and then calcined, crushed to obtain titanium dioxide products. This method can produce anatase and rutile titanium dioxide. The advantage of the sulfuric acid method is that it can use ilmenite and sulfuric acid, which are easily available at low prices, as the raw material. The technology is mature, the equipment is simple, and the anti-corrosion material is easy to solve. The disadvantages are the long process, which can only be based on intermittent operation, wet operation, high consumption of sulfuric acid, water, waste and by-products, and environmental pollution.
Chlorination chlorination method is to mix rutile or high-titanium slag powder with coke and then high-temperature chlorination to produce titanium tetrachloride. After high-temperature oxidation, it is filtered, washed, dried and crushed to get titanium dioxide product. Chlorination can only produce rutile products. The advantage of the chlorination process is that the process is short, the production capacity is easy to expand, the degree of continuous automation is high, the energy consumption is relatively low, and the “three wastes” are small, and high-quality products can be obtained. The disadvantages are large investment, complex equipment structure, high material requirements, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, difficulty in maintaining the device, and difficulty in research and development.
The research, development, production and application of titanium dioxide in foreign countries started earlier. Since the 1970s, titanium dioxide production technology has matured. In the 1980s, especially in the 1990s, the sulfuric acid method was increasingly restricted as environmental protection requirements became stricter. Newly-developed industrial companies in developed countries almost all use the chlorination process.
The titanium dioxide industry in China started late. In 1955, the domestic research began on the titanium dioxide production by the sulfuric acid method. In 1958, an anatase titanium dioxide powder was used for the coating. In 1967, the rutile titanium dioxide technology was initially mastered. Domestic chlorination studies began in 1967, but little progress has been made for a number of reasons.
At present, the gap between domestic and developed countries is as follows: First, backward production technology. China is still dominated by the sulfuric acid method. Process technology, equipment, self-control monitoring, "three wastes" treatment, and product quality are quite different from those of foreign countries. The second is the small scale of production. The average size of foreign installations is 60,000 tons per year, while our country is only 4,000 tons per year, and many companies only have a few hundred tons. The small scale of production and high energy consumption result in poor product quality. The third is raw materials of low grade. Most foreign countries use high-grade raw materials, while China basically uses ilmenite directly. The low quality of mineral resources affects product quality. Fourth, poor product quality. Foreign countries mainly focus on rutile titanium dioxide with good optical properties, hiding power, tinting strength, and weather resistance, and various special titanium dioxide products. In China, anatase is the main type, most of which are not surface-treated, and there are few special products, and the products have disadvantages such as poor whiteness, low coloring power, and poor grindability.

Industry insiders propose the following suggestions for the current status of China's titanium dioxide industry: First, develop high-end and highly-specific products, and develop in the direction of serialization, standardization, and specialization to meet the quality requirements of different industries. The second is to transform the existing sulfuric acid process titanium dioxide production process, equipment, expand production scale, increase variety, improve quality, reduce energy consumption, and comprehensive utilization of by-products. The third is to actively seek cooperation with foreign companies to promote the development of China's titanium dioxide industry.

Silicon Dioxide B 126