INTRODUCTION
The chloride process is regarded as the prevailing development trend for titanium dioxide production technology today. Using rutile titanium feedstock as the primary raw material, this process manufactures high-performance titanium dioxide via core procedures including chlorination and oxidation. The chloride process features a relatively short production flow and enables continuous, automated manufacturing.
ADVANTAGE
1. Premium quality & superior weather resistance
Manufactured via high-temperature gas-phase oxidation with low impurities. It features high whiteness, good gloss, uniform particle size, UV resistance and anti-chalking capacity. Suited for automotive coatings, high-end exterior coatings, PV films, premium color masterbatches and food-contact materials.
2. Low three-waste discharge with prominent environmental strengths
Wastewater and solid residue output is roughly 1/10 of the sulfate process. By-product hydrogen chloride can be recycled in closed loop to cut environmental operation costs.
3. Continuous automated production for large-scale plants
Highly automated continuous workflow, short production cycle and large single-line capacity, achieving optimized unit labor and energy consumption.
4. Immune to sulfur and sulfuric acid price fluctuations
No sulfuric acid consumption. Raw material cost trend is independent of sulfur market, delivering better cost performance versus sulfate-process producers in 2026.
5. High product consistency
Gas-phase synthesis ensures narrow particle size distribution and minor batch differences. It is the preferred option for high-end industries and high value-added export orders
DISADVANTAGE
1.Strict raw material requirements & high fixed costs
The process requires high-purity rutile ore or synthetic rutile. High-quality global ore resources are concentrated, leading to heavy import reliance. Raw material prices are far higher than ilmenite.
2. Huge capital expenditure & formidable technical barriers
Operations involve high temperature and highly corrosive chlorine systems, requiring special corrosion-resistant alloy equipment. Core chlorination and oxidation reactor technologies were long monopolized overseas, with late domestic breakthroughs. Capital outlay for a single plant is 3–5 times that of the sulfate process, putting it out of reach for SMEs.
3. Rutile-only production; anatase grades unavailable
This process inherently only produces rutile titanium dioxide. It cannot serve low-end markets such as paper making and interior coatings, limiting application coverage.
4. Elevated safety risks
Chlorine and titanium tetrachloride - highly toxic and strongly corrosive media - are used throughout production. Stringent standards are mandatory for explosion protection and leak prevention, pushing up safety operation costs.
5. Poor capacity flexibility & lengthy capacity expansion cycles
Highly customized equipment results in far longer timelines for capacity expansion and technical revamps compared with the sulfate process, slowing new supply release in the industry.
