Flotation behaviour of Ti_2CO from simulated carbon-thermal reduced titanium ores by oleic acid

摘要

Extraction of titanium from its ores by carbon-thermai reduction followed with hydrometallurgical treatment is a traditional process that is costly due to the huge consumption of acid for the complete dissolving of oxide slag. In this work, a new proposal was put forward to separate the slag by flotation process. The feasibility of selective separation of titanium oxycarbide (Ti_2CO) by flotation process from the MO_x (M = Ca, Mg, Si, Al) was investigated by using the simulated slag with single and mixed components. The flotation products were analysed by X-ray diffraction, chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrum. It was found that in the case of single Ti_2CO or its mixing sample with MO_x, the Ti_2CO will float up effectively at the pH range of 1-5 to separate from the slag with oleic acid as the main floating reagent, and the results are beneficial to the design of a new process for titanium extraction from the complex ore at much lower cost.