Abstract: Manufacturing methods of titanium dioxide are sulfuric acid process and chloride process.Which one is better,it has been a subject of debate.By using the method of chemical thermodynamics,theoretical energy consumption of the two methods was calculated.Results showed that theoretical energy consumption of chloride process was lower than that of sulfuric acid process,so chloride process had advantages of energy-saving.Comparing the comprehensive energy consumption of the two with ilmenite as ground state,results indicating chloride process still had the advantages of energy-saving.Using ilmenite as ground state,the products of sulfuric acid process were titanium dioxide and by-product FeSO⁴•7H²O,and the products of chloride process were titanium dioxide and by-product crude iron.Comparing the output value of energy consumption per ten-thousand-yuan,chloride process was still better than sulfuric acid process in the advantages of energy-saving.But selecting which manufacturing method,the energy consumption is just one aspect,and it must consider the other aspects such as investment,source of technology,operation cost,and product quality.

Key words: titanium dioxide, sulfuric acid process, chloride process, energy consumption comparison