Carboaluminothermic Production of Ferrotitanium from Ilmenite Through Thermal Plasma

摘要

Ilmenite is the prime mineral used for the production of titania-rich slag and ferrotitanium alloy throughout the globe. In the current research, a 30 kW DC extended arc plasma reactor is employed for the aluminothermic reduction of ilmenite into ferrotitanium. For low-temperature operation, flux is added targeting low melting slag where CaO/Al2O3 ratio is varied from 0.8 to 1.6. Further, to lower down the Al consumption, carboaluminothermic reduction tests are carried out in stages without interruption. The effect of stage-wise reductant addition and CaO/Al2O3 ratio on ferrotitanium yield and titanium recovery is studied, corroborated to the slag chemistry. FeTi26 alloy is obtained through the carboaluminothermic smelting route with 25% excess stoichiometric Al in charge composition. The formation of calcium titanate and calcium aluminates governs slag chemistry and reduction kinetics.