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Production of titanium compounds and metal by sustainable Methods

a technology of titanium compounds and metals, applied in the direction of magnesium halide, furnace details, furnaces, etc., can solve the problem of not being considered as a sustainable process, and achieve the effect of low carbon dioxide footprint, low cost and low cos

Inactive Publication Date: 2014-10-16
NEELAMEGGHAM INDRA
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a sustainable process for making high purity titanium dioxide (TiO2) using a sulfur dioxide chlorination process. The process involves selectively removing iron oxides from titanium oxides minerals using chlorine in a two-step process. The first step involves converting all the iron oxides to ferrous chloride solution, while the second step involves converting the titanium dioxide to titanium chloride. The process also produces a low carbon dioxide footprint. The invention also includes methods for making low cost sulfuric acid and titanium metal. The high purity TiO2 can be used as a pigment or for direct reduction to titanium metal. The process is controlled to minimize the formation of ferric chloride vapors and other impurities. The recovered sulfur dioxide can be recycled and used as a reductant in the titanium metal production process. The invention is a sustainable process that reduces waste and improves the efficiency of the titanium dioxide production process.

Problems solved by technology

But cannot be considered as a sustainable process as the co-produced ferrous sulfate or ‘copperas’ is allowed to pile up as a waste.

Method used

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  • Production of titanium compounds and metal by sustainable Methods
  • Production of titanium compounds and metal by sustainable Methods

Examples

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example 2

[0024]In one embodiment of the present invention, it is converted to pure titanium tetrachloride in a third stage sulfo-chlorination reactor using one mole of sulfur per mole of titanium dioxide, and two moles of chlorine per mole of upgraded titanium dioxide. The titanium tetrachloride from the third reactor would have its own off-gas system to recover condensed TiCl4 and send the sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid recovery plant. This makes a low carbon dioxide foot print and ‘a sustainable’ TiCl4

TiO2+S+2Cl2==TiCl4[v]+SO2 [g]  [C]

TiCl4[v][condensing scrubber→]TiCl4[1]  [D]

SO2[g]→Sulfuric acid  [E]

Reaction of chlorination TiO2 is endothermic, added heat if necessary is supplied by co-burning sulfur with oxygen which produces sulfur dioxide which is another product handled by the process.

example 3

[0025]In another embodiment of the present invention, the second stage pure titanium dioxide is converted to titanium metal by reaction with magnesium metal in a specially designed reactor where the temperature is controlled—in producing initially a mixture of titanium powder and magnesium oxide. The temperature is controlled in the 400 to 900° C. range and preferably around 500 to 600° C.

[0026]The mixture of titanium powder and magnesium oxide is first processed by slurrying in water, followed by flotation of magnesium hydroxide to a froth stream in flotation equipment such as a flotation column, while leaving the titanium powder to the heavier tail stream. The heavier tail stream titanium powder is analyzed for its purity from inclusions, and unremoved magnesium and titanium oxides. Following such analysis sufficient amount of a suitable acid is added avoiding dissolution of titanium powder. Then the powder is filtered, filter cake dried with heated gas inert to the powder—thus ma...

example 4

[0027]The process shown in example 3 is carried out using calcium instead of magnesium providing similar products.

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Abstract

A unique production of titanium compounds and metal by sustainable methods using iron-titanium oxide starting material such as ilmenite, leucoxene, or rutile is described. Here the iron-titanium oxide compound is prepared by converting the iron portion of the compound to ferrous chloride at low temperatures by using close to stoichiometric amounts of sulfur and chlorine required for all the iron oxides and the other non-titanium oxides. The ferrous chloride thus formed is removed recovering a marketable product of ferrous chloride and the ‘sustainable’ titanium oxide starting material by additional process steps. This can be converted to ‘sustainable’ titanium metal, or titanium tetra-chloride by process shown herein for further conversions to titanium dioxide pigment by present chloride process or supplied to existing titanium sponge producers, benefitting them in having a ‘sustainable process’.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]During the past seventy years titanium metal has been carried out using Kroll reduction of titanium tetra-chloride [TiCl4] using magnesium [Mg] metal at about 900° C. Large quantity production of each batch of about 8 tons of titanium sponge takes a cycle time of about four days. The titanium tetra-chloride production is done from naturally occurring high titanium oxide rutile [˜92-94% TiO2], or high TiO2 containing slag called synthetic rutile[82-88% TiO2] processed from ilmenite [FeTiO3] or other iron-titanium oxide raw material containing between 45 to 60% TiO2. Conversion of iron-titanium oxide has been typically carried out by a carbo-thermic process emitting CO2, and consumes energy which is mostly from fossil fuel source . Prior to carrying out the magnesium reduction, the titanium oxide is chlorinated using coke and chlorine at 800 to 1400° C. depending on the process. Additional steps purify undesirable impurities from TiCl4. This step also emits CO2. Since ...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): C22B3/00C22B34/12
CPCC22B34/12C22B3/00C22B34/1209C22B34/1268
Inventor NEELAMEGGHAM, RAMASWAMIDAVIS, BRIAN R.
Owner NEELAMEGGHAM INDRA
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