Title page
Contents
Acknowledgements 5
Key findings 6
Context and introduction 8
Introduction 8
Titanium extraction from mineral ores 8
Titanium mining and world production 9
Production of titanium dioxide 12
Processing of ilmenite 12
Overview 12
The sulfate process 13
The chloride process 13
The Becher process 13
Patent landscape 14
Patent activity 14
Titanium sources, processing and final products 14
Geographical coverage and key players 17
Production of titanium metal 21
Processing 21
Overview 21
Processes 21
The Kroll process 21
The Hunter and Armstrong processes 22
Patent landscape 22
Patent activity 22
Titanium source, process and product 22
Geographical coverage and key players 24
Industrial applications of titanium dioxide and titanium 28
Overview 28
Patent landscape 28
Ceramics 28
Electrodes for batteries 32
Medical technology 35
Cosmetics 38
Coatings 42
Water treatment 45
Perspectives 48
Annex: Methodology and search strategy 49
Production of titanium dioxide 49
Production of titanium metal 50
Industrial applications of titanium dioxide and titanium 51
Glossary 54
References 55
Figure 1. Estimated world production of titanium concentrate by mineral source in metrictons, 2015-2019 8
Figure 2. Worldwide mining of the titanium-containing minerals ilmenite and rutile in thousand tonnes of TiO₂ equivalent by country, 2020 9
Figure 3. Production capacity (in thousand tonnes) of titanium dioxide by country, 2020 9
Figure 4. Production capacity of titanium metal by country, 2020 10
Figure 5. Percentage contribution by country to the mining of titanium-containing ores, TiO₂ production and Ti production (estimated based on production capacity), 2020 10
Figure 6. Different processes leading to titanium dioxide from ilmenite ore 12
Figure 7. Relevant patent families describing titanium dioxide production from ilmenite, 2002-2021 14
Figure 8. Categorization of relevant patents according to the titanium source used and the final titanium product 15
Figure 9. Categorization of relevant patents according to the process used and the final titanium product 16
Figure 10. Relevant patent families by jurisdiction of first priority 17
Figure 11. Relevant patent families by jurisdiction in which at least one family member is granted 17
Figure 12. Industrial key players in the production of titanium dioxide 18
Figure 13. Industrial key players in titanium dioxide production and the processes described in their patents 19
Figure 14. Academic and public institutions having significant patent activity in titanium dioxide production 20
Figure 15. Different forms of titanium 21
Figure 16. Number of relevant patent families based on first priority year, 2002-2021 22
Figure 17. Titanium metal production according to titanium source 23
Figure 18. Titanium metal production according to titanium final product 23
Figure 19. Patent families categorized according to reducing agent 24
Figure 20. Relevant patent families by country of first priority 24
Figure 21. Number of relevant patent families by country, where at least one family member is granted 25
Figure 22. Industrial and academic key players in the production of titanium metal 26
Figure 23. Industrial key players in the production of titanium metal categorized according to the reducing agent used 27
Figure 24. Patent families in ceramics based on first priority year, 2012-2021 29
Figure 25. Classification of patent families related to ceramics according to their application area 29
Figure 26. Patent families related to ceramics by jurisdiction of first priority 30
Figure 27. Patent families related to ceramics by jurisdiction, where at least one family member is granted 30
Figure 28. Industrial and academic key players in the field of titanium use for ceramics 31
Figure 29. Patent families related to titanium-based electrodes and batteries based on first priority year, 2012-2021 32
Figure 30. Patents related to electrodes for batteries according to their chemical composition or special application 33
Figure 31. Patent families related to titanium-based electrodes and batteries by country of first priority 33
Figure 32. Patent families on titanium-based electrodes and batteries by jurisdiction, where at least one family member is granted 34
Figure 33. Industrial and academic key players in the field of titanium use for electrodes and batteries 34
Figure 34. Number of patent families related to titanium use for medical devices based on first priority year, 2012-2021 35
Figure 35. Patent families on medical technology domain according to the specific product 36
Figure 36. Number of patent families on titanium use for medical technology by jurisdiction of first priority 36
Figure 37. Patent families on titanium use for medical technology by country where at least one family member is granted 37
Figure 38. Industrial and academic key players in the field of titanium use for medical technology 37
Figure 39. Number of patent families on titanium-based cosmetics, 2012-2021 38
Figure 40. Patents in the cosmetics field according to their principal IPC code, reflecting their chemical composition 39
Figure 41. Patent families on titanium-based cosmetics by jurisdiction of first priority 40
Figure 42. Number of patent families related to titanium cosmetics by country, where at least one family member is granted 40
Figure 43. Industrial and academic key players in the field of titanium use for cosmetics 41
Figure 44. Number of patent families related to titanium-based coatings based on first priority year, 2012-2021 42
Figure 45. Patent families in the field of coatings according to their principal IPC code 43
Figure 46. Patent families on titanium coatings by jurisdiction of first priority 43
Figure 47. Patent families on titanium coatings by jurisdiction where at least one family member is granted 44
Figure 48. Academic and industrial key players in the field of titanium coatings 44
Figure 49. Patent families related to titanium use in water treatment, 2012-2021 45
Figure 50. Classification of patent families in the field of water treatment according to their principal IPC code, reflecting the water treatment process 46
Figure 51. Number of patent families related to titanium use for water treatment by jurisdiction of first priority 46
Figure 52. Number of patent families related to titanium use for water treatment by country, where at least one family member is granted 46
Figure 53. Industrial and academic key players in the field of titanium use for water treatment 47
Annex Tables
Table 1. Search queries used to build dataset for titanium dioxide production from ilmenite 49
Table 2. Search queries used to build dataset for titanium metal production from ilmenite 50
Table 3. Search queries used to build dataset for titanium dioxide production from ilmenite 51
Table 4. Pools of patent families according to technology and principal IPC, number of documents, temporal variation and pool selection 52
Table 5. Selected pools of patent families, their technology and IPC classification, the number of patent and their temporal evolution 53