Process for the selective production of a plurality of individual pure halides and/or halide mixtures from a mixture of solid oxides

A process for the selective production of individual pure halides and/or mixtures of halides from a mixture of solid oxides, either without or with only one single reducing halogenation stage using the known series of halide-forming affinities, characterised by the following features:

• (a) the comminuted mixture of solid oxides is loaded into the front end of a unit having as many zones as the number of halides or halide mixtures to be produced, and is passed through it;
• (b) into the rear end of the unit is fed a halide of an element with a lower halide-forming affinity than that of the lowest halide-forming affinity of those to be produced, whereby the quantity of halide supplied is equivalent to the total halogen content of the halides to be extracted from the units;
• (c) the halide fed into the rear end of the unit and the solid oxide or mixture of oxides arriving there are converted by oxygen-halogen exchange to a solid oxide and a gaseous halide or mixture of halides;
• (d) the solid oxide formed in the rear end of the unit is separated from the halide or mixture of halides and is removed from the unit;
• (e) the gaseous halide or mixture of halides formed in the rear end of the unit is brought in contact in counter-current flow with the solid oxide mixture further to the front of the unit whereby again through an oxygen-halogen exchange an individual gaseous halide or mixture of halides is formed in each zone of the unit;
• and
• (f) fractions of the gaseous halides or mixtures of halides formed in the individual zones are separated from the solid oxides and extracted from the unit in quantities such that the extracted amount of halide of each element is equivalent to the amount of oxide mixture loaded into the front end of the unit.