The becher process currently produces a large quantity of worthless mixed phase iron oxides. The phase changes in the course of reduction followed the same sequence in both hydrogen and inert gases. Iron and carbon products iluka extracts and produces activated carbon and iron concentrate during processing of mineral sands. It is recognised that ilmenite is becoming increasingly important due to the rapid depletion of natural rutile.
Dry magnetic separation of ilmenite before electrostatic separation the deposit for case study 1 was a typical aeolian reworked mineral sand deposit with a heavy mineral assemblage of ilmenite, rutile, zircon, sillimanite, monazite, magnetite and other minor. The production of synthetic rutile and byproduct iron. A number of reports are also available on the solid state reduction of iron oxide content of ilmenite to the metallic state616. Rutile is used in the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment. Packaging and handling ins talled capacity 42,000 tpa inp ut synthetic rutile, charcoal and hydrochloric acid from caustic soda plant. Synthetic rutile tio2 is manufactured through the upgrading of ilmenite ore to remove impurities mostly iron and yield a feedstock for production of titanium tetrachloride through the chloride process.
The austpac erms and ears processes for the manufacture of. Production of nanosized synthetic rutile from ilmenite concentrate. A discussion of magnetic separation techniques for. Ilmenite ore is roasted at temperatures in the range of 800c to 1,000c to selectively magnetise the ilmenite fraction so that gangue minerals may be easily removed. Producing titanium alloys directly from synthetic rutile may negate the use of master alloy additions to ti in the future. Synthetic rutile production from murray basin ilmenite by. Sr is used as feed stock for the production of titanium dioxide pigment via chlorinationoxidation process, and titanium metal via magnesiothermic reduction process, or directly used as welding electrode covering 1,2. Ilmenite, also known as manaccanite, is a titaniumiron oxide mineral with the idealized formula fetio 3. Many processes are commercially used or proposed to upgrade ilmenite to synthetic. The only other gemquality member of this group that gets faceted rarely is cassiterite. Pdf ilmenite occurs in black sand at the mouth of great rivers as in india, or as massive deposits like in quebec province in canada. Pdf preparation of synthetic rutile and metaldoped. It has also has been classified as a human carcinogen.
Nearby modern beach deposits were mined in the past. Undeveloped resources are known in georgia, tennessee and the carolinas. Preparation of synthetic rutile from reduced ilmenite. Both anatase and rutile forms of titanium dioxide can be produced by the sulfate process, whereas the chloride process yields the rutile form. Material can be packed and handled in hdpe bags or in bulk for transportation and marketing. As a metal, titanium is well known for corrosion resistance and for its high strengthtoweight ratio. Pdf reductive leaching of ilmenite ore in hydrochloric. The becher process is an industrial process used to produce rutile, a form of titanium dioxide, from the ore ilmenite. A new process under development by the bureau of mines for producing synthetic rutile from ilmenite is described. The process was carried out in presence of oxalic and ascorbic acids.
Level 12 currency house 23 hunter street sydney nsw 2000 a paper presented at the murray basin mineral sands conference, 2123 april 1999, mildura, victoria, australia, and published in aig bulletin no 26. The synthetic rutile and metaldoped lifepo4 are prepared from the hightitanium residue and ironrich lixivium, which are obtained from the ilmenite by a mechanical activation and leaching process. This investigation identified that ionexchange chromatography can efficiently remove iron from the leaching of ilmenite by hcl. In the past 35 years, an increasing percentage of the pigments have been produced via the chloride method, which requires rutile.
Ilmenite is used in its natural form and also to manufacture titanium slag and synthetic rutile products as we will see later, section 2. Influence of ascorbate and oxalic acid for the removal of. The austpac erms and ears processes for the manufacture. Direct reduction of synthetic rutile using the ffc process. There are several processes for the production of synthetic rutile from ilmenite and some of them were. Pdf a new process to upgrade ilmenite to synthetic.
Stirring effect within the vessel was achieved by placing a magnetic spin bar. Acid leaching of ilmenite into synthetic rutile industrial. The details of the preparation of synthetic rutile from ilmenite mineral samples are given below. Characterization of ilmenite from kerala coastline, india. The becher process, like other beneficiation processes, aims to. India produces ilmenite and rutile from beach deposits near quilon and mana. About 5% of the ilmenite mined is used to produce titanium metal. The ilmenite was first reduced to convert the iron oxides to metal and then treated at temperatures over 100 deg c in highpressure carbon monoxide co to convert the iron to the pentacarbonyl. Pdf production of synthetic rutile from ilmenite via anion.
The two main routes to upgrade ilmenite to chlorination feedstock are ilmenite smelting, and the synthetic rutile route. In common with many minerals, ilmenite contains very low levels of naturally occurring radioactive elements of the. Introduction since its publication in 2000 1, the ffc process, named after its inventors, fray, farthing and chen, has generated a substantial amount of interest. Springs, produce ilmenite, a leucoxene rutile mixture, and rutile, with zircon, staurolite and monazite as co products. Ilmenite is processed into synthetic rutile and used as a feedstock in the production of titanium pigment. Optimization of ilmenite dissolution by synergistic effect of. Pdf reductive leaching of ilmenite ore in hydrochloric acid. Synthetic rutile t io2 is manufactured through the upgrading of ilmenite ore to remove impurities mostly iron and yield a feedstock for production of titanium. Although natural rutile contains a high amount of tio 2 with low level of impurities, the mineral is becoming scarce and thus more costly. It is competitive with the chloride process and the sulfate process, which achieve similar net conversions. Production of synthetic rutile from ilmenite via anionexchange. Ilmenite from irel, chatrapur, orissa and its thermally activated products such as metallised ilmenite and titania rich slag were characterised to find out their suitability for the production of synthetic rutile sr 12 rrl bhubaneswar has been working on thermal plasma processing of ilmenite pdf plasma furnace processing of ilmenite with. Pdf preparation of synthetic rutile and metaldoped lifepo. Rutile also lends its name to the rutile mineral group.
It is competitive with the chloride process and the sulfate process, which achieve similar net conversions with the idealized formula fetio 3, ilmenite contains 5565% titanium dioxide, the rest being iron oxide. Laboratory tests show that phosphorus pentoxide flux additions to oxidized slag enhance conversion to rutile by forming a. Find out about natural rutile, synthetic rutile, ilmenite and the various uses for titanium dioxide products. Identification and description of mineral processing. Ilmenite market global industry analysis,growth,trends and. A catalytic ilmenite reduction procedure is described which provides a magnetic fraction consisting of the iron and titanium values of the ilmenite ores and a nonmagnetic gangue. Rutile tio2 c 20012005 mineral data publishing, version 1 crystal data. Xray fluorescence analysis of the nanosized rutile which forms by rapid hydrolysis of dissolved titanium indicates that the powder contains 91. As thick tabular crystals, with dominant base, to rhombohedral, to 25 cm. The study investigates the use of a process route comprising oxidative.
Chlorination of reduced ilmenite concentrates and synthetic rutile free download as pdf file. Titanium dioxide can be prepared at a high level of purity. In common with many minerals, ilmenite contains very low levels of naturally occurring radioactive elements of the uranium and thorium series. Rutilated quartz pieces can make stunning jewelry stones as well as display specimens. Ilmenite fetio 3 is one of the titanium mineral resources ranking second after rutile tio 2 in titanium industries 1 2 3. Crystals prismatic, elongated and striated k 001, to 25 cm, showing 110, 010, terminated by 101 or 111, many others. It can be produced from the titanium ore ilmenite through the becher process. Attempts are also underway to produce tio2 pigment directly from ilmenite. Microwave acid leaching of beneficiated ilmenite for the production of syntehtic rutile heating were controlled and monitored by a sensor provided in the digester. Reductive leaching of ilmenite ore in hydrochloric acid for preparation of synthetic rutile article pdf available in hydrometallurgy 7312. From a commercial perspective, ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium. Rutile value, price, and jewelry information international.
Ilmenite is the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing inks, fabrics, plastics, paper, sunscreen, food and cosmetics. Of these minerals, only ilmenite, leucoxene, and rutile have significant economic importance. Ilmenite is currently being mined in annual quantities eight times larger than rutile. Upgrading ilmenite into a highgrade synthetic rutile. Article views are the countercompliant sum of full text article downloads since november 2008 both pdf and html across all institutions and individuals. A new process to upgrade ilmenite to synthetic rutile. Microwave acid leaching of beneficiated ilmenite for the. Synthesis of high purity rutile nanoparticles from mediumgrade. Titanium occurs primarily in the minerals anatase, brookite, ilmenite, leucoxene, perovskite, rutile, and sphene. Ilmenite sand contains a small amount of free quartz, and precautions should be taken to avoid inhaling the dust. Ilmenite concentrates have relatively low titanium content usually about 50% titanium dioxide compared to about 96% in the case of rutile but.
Pdf production of synthetic rutile from ilmenite via. Rutile formation is based on oxidation and fluxing of titania slag produced by electric furnacing of ilmenite. Rotating magnets driven by motors generated a rotating magnetic field below the microwave cavity. Conversion of ilmenite to synthetic rutile increases the titanium dioxide concentration in the mineral. As needle inclusions, rutile crystals occur in a wide variety of gem materials, such as quartz and agate sagenite. Sonochemical, acid leaching, nanosize, tio2, ilmenite. The ilmenite was first reduced to convert the iron oxides to metal and then treated at temperatures over 100 deg c in highpressure carbon monoxide co to. Us5885324a method for the production of synthetic rutile.
Today, the highgrade sources of titanium minerals such as rutile are diminishing. A study has been carried out on the becher and summit processes with the aim of understanding the mechanism and critical parameters required for the production of a range of pure iron oxide pigments, as well as high quality synthetic rutile from reduced ilmenite. Highgrade synthetic rutile has been produced in the laboratory from domestic ilmenite concentrates by a new carbonyl process. Pdf production of synthetic rutile from ilmenite via anionexchange. Ilmenite containing up to 33% fe2o3 in solidsolution in the rhombohedral series fe2o3fetio3. This has caused the need to produce a synthetic rutile of more. The magnetic fraction, after solubilization of the reduced iron, provides beneficiated rutiletype titania product with purity ranges from 80 to 95% depending on the grade of ilmenite starting material. Preparation of nanosized synthetic rutile from ilmenite. Synthetic rutile production from murray basin ilmenite by the austpac erms process ernest alan walpole austpac resources n.
The chemical composition of synthetic rutile is similar to that of natural rutile, but differs in physical form. In the ilmenite chemical processing, it has been reported that 77% of the initial thorium activity end up in the iron oxide waste and 18% will go into synthetic rutile 12. Rutile tio2 c 20012005 mineral data publishing, version 1. Synthetic rutile is the fastest growing application segment for ilmenite and this trend is anticipated to continue for the next six years. The synthetic rutile is then treated by chlorine to prepare ticl 4 from which tio 2. Titanium dioxide chemical and technical assessment first. The principal raw materials for manufacturing titanium dioxide include ilmenite feotio2, naturally occurring rutile, or titanium slag. Synthetic rutile can be made in a variety of colors by doping. Pdf a new process to upgrade ilmenite to synthetic rutile. More than 30 of the ilmenite concentrate was converted to nanosized rutile the nanosized rutile contained 91 1 tio 2 1 3 fe 2 o 3 6 3 sio 2 and trace amounts of impurities such as cao mgo and al 2 o 3 the xrd trace of the calcined product confirmed the formation of rutile phase. Very pure synthetic rutile is transparent and almost colorless, being slightly yellow, in large pieces.
In australia most rutile is produced from ilmenite as it naturally occurs in accessible high concentrations and in a form which allows the ready extraction of the rutile. This has caused the need to produce a synthetic rutile of more than 90% tio 2 content and large amounts of an 85% tio 2 slag from. Studies on the upgrading of indian ilmenites to synthetic. Production of nanosized synthetic rutile from ilmenite. Ilmenite, synthetic rutile, roasting, magnetic separation, hcl leaching. A cromium and magnesiumrich variety of ilmenite, containing up to 8. The details of the preparation of synthetic rutile from ilmenite mineral samples are. Pseudorutile was converted to ilmenite and titania. The chemical composition of synthetic rutile is similar to.
Preparation of synthetic rutile from reduced ilmenite through. The main titaniumcontaining minerals are rutile, ilmenite and leucoxene. Most of the remaining ilmenite is used to make titanium dioxide, an inert, white, highly reflective material. Leaching of the alkali roasted product was undertaken for the removal of iron and alkali to produce synthetic rutile. The mineral ilmenite nominally fetio3 is a huge resource of rutile tio2, which can be used directly as pigment or for the manufacture of weldingrod coatings. Pdf this investigation identified that ionexchange chromatography can efficiently remove iron from the leaching of ilmenite by hcl. Optimization of ilmenite dissolution by synergistic effect. Essenc i 1 department of geological sciences, university of michigan, ann arbor, mi 481091063, usa. This report presents a newly developed process called the magpie process, which enables the production of highgrade synthetic rutile over 95% tio2 from low grade ilmenite 1012% tio2. In this method, high grade ilmenite is decomposed in autoclaves by 20% hcl at 120c and 200 kpa. Therefore, they are found in even higher levels in the synthetic rutile product. Some ilmenite is also used to produce synthetic rutile, a form of titanium dioxide used to produce white, highly reflective pigments. Synthetic rutile can be produced from naturally occurring ilmenite which is a complex oxide with iron. Studies on the upgrading of indian ilmenites to synthetic rutile.
Synthetic rutile is produced by solidstate reactions. Synthetic rutile sr is a chemically modified ilmenite, which has most of the non titanium components removed. In this paper, the preparation of nanosized synthetic rutile by reductive hydrochloric acid leaching of mechanically activated ilmenite concentrate fetio 3 is discussed. Iron removing from titanium slag for synthetic rutile.