Production of titanium tetrachloride

Claim 1

A CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR PREPARING TITANIUM TETRACHLORIDE BY CHLORINATING A TITANIFEROUS SLAG MATERIAL CONTAINING SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF ALKALI AND ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUND IMPURITIES YIELDING SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF MOLTEN SOLUBLE CHLORIDE SALTS OF LOW VOLATILITY AT THE TEMPERATURES OF CHLORINATION, COMPRISING REACTING SAID SLAG MATERIAL AT AN ELEVATED TEMPERATURE IN A REACTION ZONE IN FINELY DIVIDED CONDITION AND AS A FLUIDIZED SOLIDS BED SUSPENSION WITH A GASEOUS CHLORINATING AGENT IN THE PRESENCE OF A CARBONACEOUS REDUCING AGENT, DURING THE REACTION MAINTAINING IN SAID BED AN AMOUNT OF SOLUBLE ALKALI AND ALKALINE EARTH METAL CHLORIDE SALTS NOT EXCEEDING 7% BY WEIGHT OF THE TOTAL BED BY WITHDRAWING A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THE FLUIDIZED, SUSPENDED SOLIDS CONTAINING SAID SALTS AND SUBJECTING SAID REMOVED PORTION TO LEACHING IN AN AQUEOUS MEDIUM TO REMOVE ITS SOLUBLE CHLORIDE SALTS CONTENT, DRYING THE LEACHED PRODUCT TO FORM A SOLID, CHLORIDE-FREED RESIDUE, RETURNING SAID RESIDUE TO SAID REACTION ZONE, AND REMOVING THE TITANIUM TETRACHLORIDE PRODUCT FROM THE GASEOUS CHLORINATION PRODUCT FORMED IN THE REACTION.