Factors controlling pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical and electrometallurgical processes of titanium ores into titanium dioxide and titanium metal: A review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/Abstract
Ilmenite has become the leading titanium feedstock/ore material in the global mineral market. Processing and upgrading are required to extract/refine titanium dioxide (TiO2) from titanium ores. This study intends to review the pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and electrometallurgical processes, and the significance of mechanical activation in titanium ore upgrading. Mechanical grinding enhances process efficiency and product quality. It also reduces time and energy consumption by dropping temperature and pressure conditions. Pyrometallurgy employs high-temperature treatment methods to produce TiO2 and elemental iron. Pyrometallurgy produces well crystallised TiO2. High energy consumption and the extensive time requirement can be identified as the disadvantages of pyrometallurgy. Hydrometallurgy uses aqueous solutions such as acids (e.g. HCl and H2SO4) and alkaline solutions (e.g. NaOH and KOH) to leach ferrous and enhance TiO2 content. Acid and/or alkaline leaching produces high purity TiO2. High cost, a requirement of high-grade feed material, and toxic waste generation are the main drawbacks of the hydrometallurgical process. Apart from hydro- and pyro-metallurgical techniques, electrometallurgy is also used to upgrade titanium ores. Electrowinning and solvent extraction are the generally used electrometallurgical processes. However, waste generation and complexity are the major drawbacks of electrometallurgy. Bioleaching via mechanically activated pyrometallurgical process can be identified as an alternative method. The requirement of higher processing times is the major demerit for bioleaching. Therefore, mechanically activated titanium ore can be used in a finely tuned combined metallurgical process to overcome challenges/drawbacks in these techniques.
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