TiRON – A New Process for the Production of High-Grade Feedstock for TiO2 Pigment Manufacture

摘要

In the chloride process to manufacture TiO_2 pigment, feedstocks containing higher TiO_2 contents (high-grade ores or HGOs) are favoured in order to minimise production of undesirable by-products. Most of today’s HGOs are produced through the smelting or reduction and leaching of ilmenite, processes which consume signifi cant energy and/or produce large volumes of non-titanium materials that may have to be landfi lled. In order to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of its TiO_2 business, the DuPont Company, working with Kobe Steel Ltd, has developed an innovative process called TiRON for making HGO. Using a rotary hearth furnace, the process reduces ilmenite to a high TiO_2 slag and metallic iron granules. The TiO_2 slag is suitable for TiO_2 pigment manufacture, and the iron is suitable for steel making. TiRON can process sand or rock ilmenite of varying compositions and particle sizes. Fossil fuel instead of electricity supplies the energy for the reduction. Dusts and off-spec materials are recycled. These process attributes, together with capital requirements estimated to be signifi cantly lower, give TiRON substantial economic, environmental, and process fl exibility advantages over conventional ilmenite upgrading processes. TiRON has been demonstrated at the semi-works scale, and preparations are being made to bring it to the pilot scale.