Jeya Ephraim

ABSTRACT The leaching of sodium (Na+) and Fe2 +,3 +, ions from the soda-ash roasted ilmenite (FeO-TiO2) or anatase minerals has been examined as a chemical method for beneficiating titani-ferous minerals for the production of pigment grade TiO2. In the leaching step, the roles of catalytic aeration, dilute concentrations of organic liquids (methanol) in the range of 0.5% (v/v) in 1.5% (w/v) ammonium chloride are explained. The results of leaching experiments are also compared in the presence of inorganic acid with that of ammonium salt and acetic acid for retaining the particle size. The role of pH in the removal of sodium and iron ion is also explained based on Eh-pH diagram. The paper also explains the selective separation of rare earth oxides during the processing of synthetic rutile. The data obtained at each step of processing is explained and interpreted on the basis of results obtained through XRD, SEM and EDX. Rare earth oxides are separated unattacked by the processing steps.

ABSTRACT Production of titanium is challenging and expensive due to the energy energy-intensive and time-consuming processes used at present. Current commercial production method reduces titanium tetrachloride with magnesium or sodium to produce titanium metal. Several researchers have attempted electro-deposition of titanium from ionic solutions but have faced difficulties in eliminating multivalent titanium ions and highly reactive dendrite products. In this paper, we report, for the first time, the solid–solid phase transformation of titanium dioxide with calcium metal, under suitable conditions, to form solid titanium metal powder (>98% pure) without any oxygen impurity. On phase characterisation, it was found that homogeneous α-titanium was produced. The paper also includes the results and interpretations obtained using quantitative analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX) and phase diagram. The process is simple, green, rapid and cheap compared to the existing methods.

Investigations carried out to accelerate the rusting of reduced ilmenite show that the addition of small quantities of carbonyl compounds such as glyoxal, glucose and sucrose with NH4Cl considerably increases the efficiency of the reaction and the reaction rate resulting in ...

In a new process for the production of synthetic rutile, aeration rusting is the major step where metallic iron is converted to iron oxide in the presence of catalysts such as NH4Cl and air. An electrochemical investigation to understand the anodic dissolution of reduced ilmenite (RI) has been carried out using a reduced ilmenite carbon paste (CP) electrode at 30