Titanium Titanium - Ti General Information Discovery Titanium was discovered by the Rev. W. Gregor in 1791 in Creed, Cornwall, and named by M.H. Klaproth in 1795 in Berlin. Appearance Titanium is a hard, lustrous, silvery metal. Source Titanium is the ninth most abundant element on earth. It is almost always present in igneous rocks and the sediments derived from them. It occurs in the minerals rutile, ilmenite, and sphene, and is present in titanates and many iron ores.
Titanium is produced commercially by reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium.
The major use of this element is as titanium oxide. This is produced commercially by either the Sulphate Process or the Chloride Process, both of which prepare titanium oxide from the mineral ilmenite. Uses Titanium is as strong as steel but much lighter. It is therefore important as an alloying agent with many metals including aluminium, molybdenum and iron. Titanium also has potential use in desalination plants which convert sea water to fresh water.