The first step in upgrading the ilmenite to a pure tio2 product is smelting the ilmenite to produce a tio2 rich slag of 8090% tio2 content. Process mechanisms in ilmenite smelting 654 december 2004 the journal of the south african institute of mining and metallurgy figure 1liquidus diagram for the tio2fetio3ti2o3 system excluding magneli phases. Influence of various reductants on the ilmenite smelting technology pieter andries strydom research report submitted to the faculty of engineering and the built environment, university of the witwatersrand johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the degree of master of science in engineering 20. Modelling of an ilmenitesmelting dc arc furnace process. Pdf process mechanisms in ilmenite smelting researchgate. Ep2976438b1 process and plant for producing titanium slag.
Panzhihua ilmenite, located in sichuan province of southwest china, is the largest ilmenite reserve in the world, with an estimated reserve of 870 million tons. Us6733561b2 production of high titania slag from ilmenite. This deposit accounts for more than 90% of the total titanium resource of china and over 35% of the world. These ilmenite bearing rocks are often gabbro, norite, or anorthosite.
Reduction of titanium from ilmenite and rutile by carbon proceeds first with the reduction of iron. This information is summarized, focusing on the basic. Pdf while some of the practical details of ilmenite smelting are not well. The smelter, just outside empangeni, consists of two 36 mw dc arc furnaces that were commissioned in 2003. The structure is composed of alternating layers of cations and oxygens. The method is characterized in that it comprises the steps. Pig iron ilmenite route international iron metallics. The process of production of rutile concentrate for coating welding electrodes by caking titanium slag with soda ash and sequential leaching the cake in water and a hydrochloric acid solution was studied. Halterelectric smelting of alluvial ilmenite concentrate from valley co. Tio2 is an excellent opacifier and used as a white pigment in paint, paper and plastics. Electro smelting of ilmenite for production of tio 2 slag potential of india as a global player 827 in reduction of a portion of the ti to ti 2o3, which is less soluble in sulfuric acid and hence such slags are not suitable for the sulfate process pigment production. The ilmenite smelting process is conducted within a crucible of solidified, hightitaniumcontent slags known as the freeze lining contained within the furnace refractory walls. The smelting reduction of an ilmenite concentrate with carbon in molten pig iron was examined at 1450c and 1600c, respectively. As thick tabular crystals, with dominant base, to rhombohedral, to 25 cm.
An overview of the namakwa sands ilmenite smelting operations. The countrywise world production of ilmenite in the year 2005 is shown in fi g. Estimation of tio 2 feona 2 o slag viscosity through. A shining future ahead pdf, euro pacific canada, p. The dc furnace for ilmenite smelting is now an established process technology with five furnaces in operation. Installing continuous expansion measurement to replace the manual. Interactions between freeze lining and slag bath in ilmenite. Thesis phd metallurgical engineeringuniversity of pretoria, 2005.
The first furnace started up in 1995, the most recent one. Ilmenite by itself is not a profitable iron ore as the titanium inhibits the smelting process. Ilmenite, also known as manaccanite, is a titaniumiron oxide mineral with the idealized formula. Among them the rutile and titanium concentrates contain more tio2, and the. Solid state and smelting reduction of panzhihua ilmenite. Ilmenite smelting plant tekla global bim awards 2014. Pyrometallurgy, furnace, ilmenite, smelting, ticor. Along with the increasing demand for the tio2 pigment, the ilmenite smelting process has also become significant because it can utilize both. During ilmenite smelting, the iron content of the oxide is lowered by reduction to. Ilmenite electric smelting furnaces have to operate with a freeze lining in order to prevent rapid sidewall refractory wear. Ilmenite, also known as manaccanite, is a titaniumiron oxide mineral with the idealized formula fetio 3. Ilmenite, hematite and corundum all have similar structures and belong to a more or less informal group called the hematite group with a general formula of a 2 o 3. The metal in the smelter is significantly colder than the slag. When mined it will drop a titanium shard and an iron shard which can be smelted and then used as a crafting ingredient for things such as tools, machines, and armor.
Outotec delivers an ilmenite smelting plant for cristal global to the economic city of jazan in saudi arabia. It may also be mined using silk touch to give you a ilmenite ore block which can be smelted directly into a titanium ingot. A method of preparing a prereduced ilmenite ore for smelting, wherein metal oxides contained in the ore are selectively reduced in solidstate reactions over titanium oxide, the method including the step of prereducing carbonbased pellets of the ore. These campaigns varied in length from one week to six weeks, with the majority being of the order of two weeks. Pig iron production ilmenite route producers of titanium dioxide slag in canada, south africa, and norway smelt ilmenite, a weakly magnetic ore of titanium dioxide and iron oxide fetio 3 in electric furnaces at temperatures ranging from 1650 1700 c, using either coal or another carbonaceous material as reductant. Mar 01, 2006 modelling of an ilmenite smelting dc arc furnace process modelling of an ilmenite smelting dc arc furnace process zietsman, johan h pistorius, p. Ilmenite ore is an ore that can be found only on asteroids. The molten bath of the furnace forms the anode and one or more electrodes in the roof of the furnace forms the cathode. An overview on the production of pigment grade titania from. Smelting of ilmenite with carbon usually leads to the formation of fetic alloy with a. This sodium titanate product, containing 70 to 80 wtpct tio2, 15 to 20 wtpct na2o, and less than 1 wtpct iron, can be used as a feed material in place of ilmenite for preparing titania pigment by the sulfate process. Pistorius department of materials science and metallurgical engineering, university of pretoria, pretoria while some of the practical details of ilmenite smelting are not well documented, there is a substantial body of literature on the principles of ilmenite smelting, and the behaviour of solidified titania slag.
Mar 01, 2009 a typical ilmenite smelting dc furnace is shown in figure 1. The volumes of co gas evolved from the reaction were recorded and the data were transformed into reduction degrees. The namakwa sands smelter, situated near the saldanha bay harbour, commenced smelting operations in 1994, when a 25 mw dcarc furnace was commissioned. In respect to its chemical and petrographic characterisitics in an ilmenite smelting operation nirvashnie bagirathi a research report submitted to the faculty of engineering and the built environment, of the university of the witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of science in engineering.
In this study, an ilmenite concentrate supplied by panzhihua iron and steel group co. Solid state and smelting reduction of ilmenite is an important process of upgrading ilmenite to high titania feedstock. Estimation of tio 2 feona 2 o slag viscosity through molecular. Ilmenite smelted by oxygenenriched topblown smelting reduction. This study focused on the dynamic behaviour of the freeze lining and slag bath, and the interactions between these components in an ilmenite smelting furnace process. Fundamental aspects of hightemperature metallurgical processing. A cromium and magnesiumrich variety of ilmenite, containing up to 8. Based on thermodynamic calculations, conducting the smelting process at a higher temperature was recommended to achieve a larger amount of feo reduction, i. Such alloys with high carbon content may be used for deoxidation and alloying of carbon steels. In ilmenite smelting, the iron content of the oxide is also lowered by reduction to. While it is essential to maintain the freeze lining, it is also important not to allow the temperature of the slag to drop below its liquidus temperature.
Wo2016120529a1 method for producing titanium oxide. The objectives of these campaigns included the following. Nov 22, 2019 the addition of na2o as a flux enhanced the ilmenite smelting process by not only lowering the liquidus temperature but also slowing the drastic viscosity increase. Three different concentrates of ilmenite, which were widely differing in chemical compositions and geological histories, were studied to assess the suitability of the reactor configuration for ilmenite smelting. Major mineral sands based ilmenite mining operations include. Electro smelting of ilmenite for production of tio 2 slag potential of india as a global player 825 the worlds production of ilmenite was 10. Production of titanium dioxide concentrate from slag of. A process is provided for the production of titania rich slag from ilmenite. The invention relates to a method for producing titanium oxidecontaining slag and pig iron from ilmenite. Pistorius synopsis while some of the practical details of ilmenite smelting are not well documented, there is a substantial body of literature on the principles of ilmenite smelting, and the behaviour of solidified titania slag. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed. The ilmenite is fed together with carbonaceous reductant, and in the absence of fluxes, to the molten bath of a d.
Outotecs delivery contains general and detailed design, process technology with equipment, construction site supervision, earthmoving works, process equipment installation, constructing the plant and commissioning as a turnkey delivery. The federal bureau of mines developed a smelting leaching procedure for preparing sodium titanate from domestic ilmenite. Influence of temperature on reaction mechanism of ilmenite. Article pdf available in journal south african institute of mining and. From a commercial perspective, ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium. This causes ilmenite and similartemperature minerals, such as magnetite, to accumulate in a layer at the bottom of the magma chamber. Recent developments in processing ilmenite for titanium. Electro smelting of ilmenite for production of tio.
Testing of different feedstocks for ilmenite smelting. Fundamentals of freeze lining behaviour in ilmenite smelting. Ilmenite also crystallizes in veins and cavities and sometimes occurs as wellformed crystals in pegmatites. Smelting of ilmenite with carbon usually leads to the formation of fetic alloy with a high carbon content 35% to 40% ti. Research on the titaniferous slag smelting process.
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