Recovering chlorine from the chlorination of titaniferous material

In a process for chlorination of titaniferous material with chlorine gas with the resulting generation of a feed vapor laden with titanium tetrachloride and ferric chloride, the improvement which comprises:

• contacting said feed vapor with sodium chloride in a complexing zone under conditions for converting said ferric chloride therein into liquid ferric chloride salt complex while permitting said titanium tetrachloride to remain as vapor residue;
• withdrawing said liquid salt complex from said complexing zone;
• atomizing withdrawn salt complex;
• intimately mixing the resulting atomizate with molecular oxygen in a substantially empty salt complex oxidation zone at temperature between about 400.degree. and about 750.degree. C. for average residence time of about 0.5 to 20 seconds, thereby converting said atomized salt complex into recovered chlorine gas, solid iron oxide and sodium chloride byproduct;
• withdrawing said byproduct from said salt complex oxidizing zone;
• withdrawing a stream of recovered chlorine gas from said salt complex oxidizing zone;
• and
• contacting said withdrawn stream of recovered chlorine gas with sodium chloride in a complexing zone under conditions for converting the ferric chloride therein into liquid ferric chloride salt complex while permitting chlorine gas to remain as a gas residue, and removing said gas residue from said complexing zone.