Carbothermic Reduction of Ilmenite Concentrate with Sodium Carbonate Additive to Produce Iron Granules and High Titania Containing Slag

Abstract

The influences of heating pattern and sodium carbonate addition on the carbothermic reduction of ilmenite concentrate have been experimentally studied. The experiments were carried out using isothermal–gradient temperature technique between 1000 °C and 1500 °C with different temperature profiles for a total reduction time between 110 and 160 min. The sodium carbonate was varied between 0 to 60 wt%. It was found that the temperature profile and sodium carbonate addition play an important role on the separation between metallic iron granule and titania rich slag. The optimum condition was achieved at initial and final reduction temperatures of 1300 °C and 1500 °C, respectively, with sodium carbonate addition of 30 wt%. At the optimum condition, the iron recovery was 97.1% and the solidified slag contained titanium pentoxide (Ti3O5), anatase (TiO2), and sodium titanium dioxide.