Study on photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by TiO2 synthesiszed from titanium slag using a new decomposition agent

This paper describes a novel process for the synthesis of TiO2 from titanium slag, which is realized via roasting titanium slag with KHSO4, acid leaching and hydrolysis. The results showed that the optimum conditions were a mass ratio of KHSO4 to titanium slag of 6, a temperature of 600 oC for 1,5 hours. Besides, this study investigated the possibility of synthesized TiO2 for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue.

Migration and Enrichment Behaviors of Ca and Mg Elements during Cooling and Crystallization of Boron-Bearing Titanium Slag Melt

Synthetic rutile was prepared from titanium slag melt with low energy consumption and a small amount of additive (B2O3) in our previous work. The modification mechanism of titanium slag was not clear enough. The migration and enrichment behaviors of Ca and Mg elements during cooling and crystallization of boron-bearing titanium slag melt were characterized by XRF, FESEM, EMPA, and XPS. Results show that when additive (B2O3) is added, Ti elements are migrated and enriched in the area to generate rutile, while Ca, Mg, and B elements are migrated and enriched in another area to generate borate. With the additive (B2O3) amount increased, Ca and Mg element migration is complete and more thorough. Additive (B2O3) promotes rutile formation and inhibits the formation of anosovite during cooling and crystallization of titanium slag melt. With the additive (B2O3) amount increasing from 0% to 6%, the proportion of Ti3+ in the modified titanium slag reduces from 9.15% to 0%, and the proportion of Ti4+ increases from 90.85% to 100% under the same cooling and crystallization condition. The result will lay the foundation for the efficient preparation of synthetic rutile by adding B2O3 to the titanium slag melt.

Design and Construction of a Laboratory-Scale Direct-Current Electric Arc Furnace for Metallurgical and High-Titanium Slag Smelting Studies

A novel direct-current electric arc furnace (DC-EAF) was designed and constructed in this study for experimentally investigating high-titanium slag smelting, with an emphasis on addressing the issues of incomplete separation of metal and slag as well as poor insulation effects. The mechanical components (crucible, electrode, furnace lining, etc.) were designed and developed, and an embedded crucible design was adopted to promote metal-slag separation. The lining and bottom thicknesses of the furnace were determined via calculation using the heat balance equations, which improved the thermal insulation. To monitor the DC-EAF electrical parameters, suitable software was developed. For evaluating the performance of the furnace, a series of tests were run to determine the optimal coke addition under the conditions of constant temperature (1607 °C) and melting time (90 min). The results demonstrated that for 12 kg of titanium-containing metallized pellets, 4% coke was the most effective for enrichment of TiO2 in the high-titanium slag, with the TiO2 content reaching 93.34%. Moreover, the DC-EAF met the design requirements pertaining to lining thickness and facilitated metal-slag separation, showing satisfactory performance during experiments.

Fluorammonium method of titanium slag processing

Titanium dioxide is the most common titanium-containing product on the world market, and the demand for it is increasing. The global consumption of TiO2 is 7 – 7.5 million tons annually. Titanium dioxide is mainly obtained from ilmenite and rutile concentrates. The largest producers are China, USA, Germany, UK, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. In addition to the natural resources of titan, there are man-made sources. This type of resource includes titanium-containing slags obtained as a result of pyrometallurgical processing of ores and concentrates containing titanium dioxide. These slags, in addition to titanium dioxide, contain silicon in the form of dioxide, silicates or aluminosilicates, whose chemical processing is difficult due to their high melting point (more than 2000 °C) and the chemical stability of these compounds in mineral acids (sulfuric, nitric, hydrochloric). Processing of such raw materials is carried out by “classical” chlorine and sulfuric acid methods. The use of fluorides in industry is realized in the production of aluminum, zirconium, uranium, beryllium, niobium, etc., which indicates the possibility of using fluoride methods for titanium slags processing. The article discusses a method for producing titanium dioxide based on the use of ammonium hydrodifluoride NH4HF2 , which has a high reactivity to a number of chemically resistant oxides (oxides of silicon, titanium, aluminum, etc.). The fluoroammonium method for processing titanium slag using NH4HF2 involves slag decomposition of in NH4HF2 melt followed by silicon admixture sublimation. Cleaning from iron, aluminum and other impurities is carried out using a solution of NH4HF2. Further precipitation of titanium with treatment of the precipitate by AlCl3 and ZnCl2 solutions followed by calcination allows to obtain a rutile modification of titanium dioxide.