Up-grading of natural ilmenite ore by combining oxidation and acid leaching

Takehito Hiraki; Yuichi Maruyama; Yuta Suzuki; Satoshi Itoh; Tetsuya Nagasaka

doi:10.1007/s12613-018-1620-9

Volume 25 Issue 7

Jul. 2018

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Article Navigation > International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials > 2018 > 25(7): 729-736

Takehito Hiraki, Yuichi Maruyama, Yuta Suzuki, Satoshi Itoh, and Tetsuya Nagasaka, Up-grading of natural ilmenite ore by combining oxidation and acid leaching, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 25(2018), No. 7, pp. 729-736. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-018-1620-9

Cite this article as:

Takehito Hiraki, Yuichi Maruyama, Yuta Suzuki, Satoshi Itoh, and Tetsuya Nagasaka, Up-grading of natural ilmenite ore by combining oxidation and acid leaching, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 25(2018), No. 7, pp. 729-736. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-018-1620-9

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Research Article

Up-grading of natural ilmenite ore by combining oxidation and acid leaching

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Corresponding author:
Takehito Hiraki E-mail: hiraki@material.tohoku.ac.jp
Received: 10 December 2017; Revised: 1 March 2018; Accepted: 2 March 2018

Abstract

Abstract

Rutile (TiO₂) is heavily used in pigments and colorants, and the most abundant source of rutile is ilmenite. Upon oxidation of ilmenite, rutile can be formed with modest energy consumption; furthermore, after leaching, only a few byproducts are formed. Unfortunately, one drawback is the necessarily long oxidative process of typically used methods. In this study, we show that a fluidized bed reactor can be used to oxidize ilmenite ore to rapidly form rutile and pseudobrookite (Fe₂TiO₅) phases. Ilmenite was oxidized with 5vol% O₂ in Ar at temperatures of 1173 K or 1223 K and subsequently leached using a diluted H₂SO₄ solution to dissolve the pseudobrookite phase. The effects of acid concentration, temperature, and cooling rate after oxidation were investigated. We show that the ilmenite was rapidly oxidized to form rutile and pseudobrookite phases at 1173 and 1223 K in a 5vol% O₂/95vol% Ar environment within 40 min. The final maximum rutile yield was 84.2mol% after leaching in (1 + 1) H₂SO₄ solution at 393 K for 12 h.
- ilmenite;
- oxidation;
- fluidized bed reactor;
- acid leaching;
- rutile;
- pseudobrookite

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References

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