Thermal plasma processing of ilmenite: a review

Abstract

The use of thermal plasma in material processing industries is becoming an increasingly active and attractive field for the development of new technology. The potential applications of thermal plasma processing technology cover a wide range of activities such as the extraction of metals and the refining/alloying of metals/alloys/minerals. This review describes the current status of ilmenite processing using thermal plasma technology. A comprehensive analysis of available scientific and technical literature on ilmenite processing is presented, including technological features and production of titania slag. The principles of thermal plasma generation and technologies available are outlined, together with potential applications for plasma vitrified products. Regulatory, economic, sociopolitical and industrial drivers are promoting adoption of advanced thermal conversion techniques such as thermal plasma processing, and these are expected to become increasingly commercially viable in the future.

Keywords

THERMAL PLASMA PLASMA PROCESSING ILMENITE TITANIA SLAG SYNTHETIC RUTILE

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Gomez

, Amutha Rani

, Cheeseman

C. R.

, Deegan

, Wise

and Boccaccini

A. R.

: ‘Thermal plasma technology for the treatment of wastes: a critical review’, J. Hazard Mater., 2009, 161, 614–626.

Apelian

: ‘Thermal plasma applications in materials and metallurgical processing’, (ed. El-Kaddah

), 3–12; 1992, Warrendale, PA, TMS-AIME.

Ganvin

W. H.

: ‘Novel reactors for plasma applications’, Chem. Eng. Sci., 1990, 45, 2453–2460.

MacRae

D. R.

: ‘Plasma arc process systems, reactors, and applications’, Plasma Chem. Plasma Process., 1989, 9, 85S–117S.

Rykalin

N. N.

: ‘Thermal plasma in extractive metallurgy’, Pure Appl. Chem., 1980, 52, 1801–1815.

Waldie

: ‘Review of recent work on the processing of powders in high temperature plasmas’, Chem. Eng., 1972, 3, 92–96.

Young

R. M.

and fender

E. P

: ‘Generation and behavior of fine particles in thermal plasma — a review’, Plasma Chem. Plasma Process., 1985, 5, 1–35.

Vogt

G. J.

and Newkirk

L. R.

: ‘Thermal plasma chemical synthesis of powders’,Proc. Electrochem. Soc., 1986, 164–177.

Yoshida

: ‘Combustion and plasma synthesis of high temperature materials’, (eds. Munir

Z. A.

and Holt

J. B.

), 328–339; 1990, New York, NY, VCH Publishers.

10.

Becker

A. J.

, Meyer

T. N.

, Smith

E. N.

and Edd

J. E.

: ‘Plasma processing and synthesis of materials’ (ed. Apelian

and Szekely

), 335–346; 1987, Pittsburgh, PA, MRS.

11.

Kong

R. C.

and Lan

Y. C.

: ‘Plasma synthesis of ceramic powders’, Pure Appl. Chem., 1990, 62, 1809–1816.

12.

Donaldson

D. A.

, Apa

R. R.

, Eddy

T. L.

and Flinn

J. E.

: ‘Heat transfer in thermal plasma processing’, HTD, Vol. 161, 41-51; 1991, New York, NY, ASME.

13.

fender

E. P.

: ‘Gaseous electronics’, (ed. Hirsh

and Oskam

), Vol. 1, 291–398; 1978, New York, Academic Press.

14.

Reed

T. B.

: ‘Induction-coupled plasma torch’, J. Appl. Phys., 1961, 32, 821–824.

15.

Dembovsky

: ‘Plasma metallurgy — the principles’; 1985, New York, NY, Elsevier.

16.

Fanchais

and Baronnet

J. M.

: ‘State of the art of plasma chemical synthesis of homogeneous and heterogeneous products’, Pure Appl. Chem., 1980, 52, 1669–1705.

17.

Boulos

M. I.

: ‘Tile inductively coupled RF plasma’, Pure Appl. Chem., 1985, 57, 1321–1352.

18.

Szekel

and Westhof

R. C.

: ‘Thermal plasma applications in materials and metallurgical processing’, (ed. El-Kaddah

); 1992, Warrendale, PA, TMS-AIME.

19.

Feinman

(ed.): ‘Plasma technology in metallurgical processing’, 55-72; 1987, Warrendale, PA, ISS-AIME.

20.

Plasma processing of materials report, NMAB-415, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, USA, 1985.

21.

Roman

W. C.

: ‘Plasma processing and synthesis of materials’, (ed. Szekely

and Apelian

), MRS-30, 61–75; 1984, New York, Elsevier.

22.

‘Electroslag remelting and plasma arc melting’, Publication NMAB-324, National Research Council, Washington, DC, USA, 1976.

23.

Schlienger

M. E.

and Schlienger

M. P.

: Proc. Conf. on ‘Processing materials for properties’, (ed. Henein

and Oki

), 1069–1072; 1993, Warrendale, PA, TMS.

24.

Evans

A. W.

, Wynne

R. G.

and Marynowski

C. W.

: ‘Silicon carbide’, British patent no. 1 093 443, 1967.

25.

Salinger

R. M.

: ‘Preparation of silicon carbide from methylchlor-osilanes in a plasma torch’, Ind Eng. Chem. Prod Res. Dev., 1972, 11, 230–231.

26.

Taylor

P. R.

and Pirzada

S. A.

: ‘Thermal plasma processing of materials: a review’, Adv. Perform. Mater., 1994, 1, 35–50.

27.

Bonizzoni

and Vassallo

: ‘Plasma physics and technology: industrial applications’, Vaccum, 2002, 64, 327–336.

28.

Mukherjee

T. K.

: ‘Scope of value addition on Indian ilmenite through electrosmelting’, Proc. Extractive Metallurgy in New Millennium, Jamshedpur, India, December 1999, NML, pp. 147-161.

29.

Swinden

D. J.

and Jones

D. G.

: ‘Arc-furnace smelting of Western Australian beach sand ilmenite’, Trans. Inst. Min. Metall. C, 1978, 87C, C83—C87.

30.

Nafziger

R. H.

: ‘Electric furnace smelting and refining of prereduced titaniferous materials’, Trans. Inst. Min. Metall. C, 1978, 87C, 120.

31.

Doan

: ‘Sustainable developments in the TiO2 industry: challenges and opportunities’, Proc. TiO2 Intertech Conf., February 2003, Miami, FL, USA. Peter Doan, Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium, at TiO2 2003 Intertech Conference, Montreal, Canada (5th Feb. 2003).

32.

Hamblyn

S. M. L.

: ‘Plasma technology and its application to extractive metallurgy’, Miner. Set Eng., 1977, 9, (3), 151–176.

33.

Stenkvist

S. E.

and Bowman

: ‘High-power, graphite-cathode DC arc plasma properties and practical applications for steelmak-ing and ferroalloys processing’, Chapter 8B, ‘Plasma technology in metallurgical processing’, 103-109; 1987, Warrendale, PA, The Iron and Steel Society of AIME.

34.

Curr

T. R.

, Barcza

N. A.

, Maske

U. K.

and Mooney

J. F.

: ‘The design and operation of transferred-arc plasma systems for pyrometallurgical applications’, Proc. 6th Int. Symp. on ‘Plasma chemistry’, Montreal, QC, Canada, July 1983, IUPAC, Vol. 1, 175–180.

35.

Samal

: ‘Preparation and characterisation of metallized ilmenite using energy efficient thermal plasma processes’, PhD thesis, 2008. Advanced Materials Department, Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (formerly called RRL, Bhubaneswar).

36.

Pistorius

P. C.

and Coetzee

: ‘Physicochemical aspects of titania slag production and solidification’, Metall Mater. Trans. B, 2003, 34B, 581–588.

37.

Meihack

W. F. A. T.

, Curr

T. R.

, Barcza

N. A.

and Jones

R. T.

: ‘The effect of feed pre-treatment on the efficiency of a plasma-arc furnace’, Proc. 8th Int. Symp. on ‘Plasma chemistry’ (ISPC-8), Tokyo, Japan, September 1987, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Vol. 3, 1892–1899.

38.

Barcza

N. A.

, Curr

T. R

and Jones

R. T.

: ‘Metallurgy of open-bath plasma processes’, Pure Appl. Chem., 1990, 62, (9), 1761–1772.

39.

Barcza

N. A.

, Curr

T. R.

and Maske

U. K.

: ‘The application of thermal plasma technology to large-scale pyrometallurgical pro-cesses’, Proc. Extraction Metallurgy ‘85 Symp., London, UK, June 1985, Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 709–740.

40.

Barcza

N. A.

: ‘The development of large-scale thermal-plasma systems’, J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., 1986, 86, (8), 317–333.

41.

de Beer

J. A.

: Personal communication, November 1992.

42.

Bester

J. A.

, de Beer

J. A.

and Rohwer

H. E.

: ‘Metallic zirconium production by hydrogen reduction of Zrat in a transferred arc France, September 1992, 8 pages.

43.

Cousins

C. L.

: Personal communication, November 1992.

44.

Usco: ‘Seeking salvation in direct reduction’, Met. Bull. Month, May 1984, 28-3 1.

45.

Blom

P. W. E

: Personal communication, November 1992.

46.

McRae

L. B.

, Barcza

N. A.

and Curr

T. R.

: ‘The application of transferred-arc plasma to the melting of metal fines’, Proc. Mintek 50th Int. Conf. on ‘Mineral science and technology’, (ed. Haughton

L. F.

), Vol. 2, 827–836; 1985, Randburg, Council for Mineral Technology.

47.

Strohmeier

and Bachmayer

: ‘Melting of kiln-based DRI in large UHP-arc furnaces at Iscor Ltd’, Proc. 5th SL/RN Kiln Operators’ Conf., Vanderbijl Park, South Africa, 21-14 April, 1985, 20pp.

48.

Schoukens

A. F. S.

, Nelson

L. R.

and Barcza

N. A.

: ‘Plasma-arc treatment of steel-plant dust and zinc-containing slag – theoretical and practical considerations’, ‘Recycling lead and zinc: the challenge of the 1990's’, 361–370; 1991, London, International Lead and Zinc Study Group.

49.

Slatter

, Barcza

N. A.

, Curr

T. R.

, Maske

U. K.

and McRae

L. B.

: ‘Technology for the production of new grades and types of ferro-alloys using thermal plasma’, INFACON 86, Proc. 4th Int. Ferro-alloys Congress, (ed. Finardi

, Nascimento

J. A.

and Homem de Melo

F. D.

), 191–204; 1986, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Associacao Brasileira dos roduitores de Ferro-Ligas-Abrafe.

50.

Anon.: ‘World first – the DC plasma arc furnace’, SA Mech. Eng., 1989, 39, 223–229.

51.

U. Hu¨ tter: ‘Refractories and conductive bottom design for DC-arc furnaces, system ABB’, Radex-Rundschau, 1992, 2/3, 83–95.

52.

Schoukens

A. F. S.

and Curr

T. R.

: ‘The production of manganese ferroalloys in transferred-arc plasma systems’, Proc. 42nd Electric Furnace Conf., Warrendale, PA, USA, 1985, The Iron and Steel Society, AIME, 161–171.

53.

Mu¨ller

H. G.

, Koch

, Dosaj

V. D.

and Wellbeloved

: ‘Examples of plasma potential for industrial application’, ISPC-9 Workshop on ‘Industrial plasma applications’, Pugnochiuso, Italy, September 1989, IUPAC, Vol. 2, 50–59.

54.

Schoukens

A. F. S.

: ‘A plasma-arc process for the production of magnesium’, Proc. Extraction Metallurgy ’89, London, UK, July 1989, The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 209–223.

55.

Zones

R. T.

, Barcza

N. A

and Curr

T. R.

: ‘Plasma developments in Africa’, available at: http://www.mintek.ac.za

56.

MacPherson

R. D.

: ‘Mineral processing at Richards BayMinerals’, Proc. 12th CMMI Congress, (ed. Glen

H. W.

), Vol. 2, 835–840; 1982, Johannesburg, The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

57.

Skillen

: ‘Mineral sands: crash of the Ti-tans’, Ind. Miner., August 1992, 19–3 3.

58.

Brent

A. D.

: ‘The smelting of ilmenite in a d. c. transferred-arc plasma furnace with a molten anode configuration’, Report no. M304, Mintek, Randburg, 1987.

59.

Brent

A. D.

, McRae

L. B.

and Lagendijk

: ‘The production of ferrotitanium in a DC transferred-arc plasma furnace’, Proc. 5th Int. Iron and Steel Cong., Washington, DC, USA, 6-9 April 1986, TMS-AIME, 14 pp.

60.

Robinson

: SA's developing titanium industry, Engineering News Mining, 25 September 1992.

61.

Tommey

: ‘12.1-bn shot in arm for Cape west coast’,The Star, Johannesburg, 20 November 1992, 18.

62.

Valentine

: ‘Anglo American gaan voort met at Namakwa Sands project’,Beeld, Johannesburg, 20 November 1992, Si.

63.

Erasmus

L. J.

: ‘The application of plasma-arc technology for the production of calcium carbide’, Proc. 49th Electric Furnace Conf., Toronto, Canada, November 1991, The Iron and Steel Society, AIME, 293–298.

64.

Jones

R. T.

: ‘Computer simulation of pyrometallurgical processes’, APCOM 87, Proc. 28th Int. Symp. on ‘The Application of mathematics and computers in the minerals industries’, Johannesburg, South Africa, October 1987, The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Vol. 2, 265–279.

65.

Curr

T. R.

, Barcza

N. A.

, Maske

U. K.

and Mooney

F. J.

: ‘The design and operation of transferred-arc plasma systems for pyrometallurgical applications’, Proc. 6th Int. Symp. on ‘Plasma chemistry’, (ed. Boulous

I. M.

and Munz

J. R.

), Vol. 1, 175; 1983, Montreal, IUPAC, 1983.

66.

Barcza

N. A.

, Curr

T. R.

and Maske

U. K.

67.

Barcza

N. A.

: J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., 1986, 86, (8), 317.

68.

Ojebuobon

F. K.

and Martins

G. P.

: ‘Thermal plasma technology in the extractive metallurgy of titanium in refractory metals, extraction, processing and applications’, 101; 1990, Warrendale, PA, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

69.

Kaddah

E. L.

and Warronales

P. A.

: ‘Thermal plasma applications in materials and metallurgical processing’; 1992, Warrendale, PA, TMS.

70.

Miller

H. O.

, Koch

, Dosaj

and Wellbeloved

: ‘Examples of plasma potential for industrial application’, ISPC-9, Workshop on ‘Industrial plasma applications’, Pugnochiuso, Italy, September 1989, IUPAC, 209.

71.

Mukherjee

P. S.

: ‘Plasma smelting studies of solid waste effluent from dichromate plant’, Proc. Int. Symp. on ‘Recycling waste management and clean technology’, San Siberian, Spain, 1999, 175–181.

72.

Mukherjee

P. S.

, Chaudhury

S. K.

, Misra

V. N.

and Mohandas

P. N.

: ‘Melt separation of titania rich slag and pig iron from pre-reduced ilmenite using thermal plasma’, Trans. Indian Inst. Met., 2002, 55, (6), 543–550.

73.

‘Process for preparation of high grade synthetic rutile and pig iron’, USA PA no. 6396195.dt.23.10.2001.

74.

Mukherjee

P. S.

, Samal

and Mukherjee

T. K.

: ‘In-flight thermal plasma processing of pre-reduced oscom ilmenite of varying degree of metallization’, Trans. Indian Inst. Met., 2006, 59, (3), 353–358.

75.

Mukherjee

P. S.

, Samal

and Mukherjee

T. K.

: ‘Effect of processing parameters on production of TiO2 rich slag & iron from metallized ilmenite in a moving bed reactor’, Trans. Inst. Min. Metall C, 2006, 115C, (4), 224–228.

76.

Samal

, Mukherjee

P. S.

, Rao

K. K.

, Chattopadhyay

and Mukherjee

T. K.

: ‘Statistical modelling studies on leachability of titania rich slag obtained from plasma melt separation of metallized Ilmenite’, Chem. Eng. Res. Des., 2008, 86, 187–191.

77.

Samal

, Rao

K. K.

and Mukherjee

P. S.

: ‘Optimization of titanium dioxide rich slag production using statistics based experimental designs in a moving bed plasma reactor’, Trans. Inst. Min. Metall. C, 2009, 118C, (1), 2–9.

78.

Samal

, Mohapatra

B. K.

, Chatterjee

S. K.

and Mukherjee

P. S.

: ‘Integrated XRD, EPMA and XRF study of ilmenite and titania slag used in pigment production’, J. Alloys Compd, 2009, 474, 484–489.