Development of a Safe and Environmentally Friendly Sulfate Process for the Production of Titanium Oxide

The current research was aimed at developing a safe and more environmentally friendly sulfate process for the production of titanium oxide. In this process, to leach titanium from ilmenite by relatively dilute sulfuric acid (50 wt %), a two-step leaching scheme using a series of stirred tank reactor (STR) and vertical stirred media reactors (SMRs) was devised for carrying out the chemical reaction and particle activation, respectively. The proposed modified sulfate process (MSP) efficiency was 76.5%. The amount of sulfuric acid discarded (100 wt %) from the hydrolysis step per ton of TiO 2 was about 100 kg, while this is about 1000 kg in the conventional sulfate process. About 600 kg of quick lime per ton of TiO 2 is also saved in the waste acid neutralization section, which ultimately reduces the production of scrap gypsum by about 1700 kg/ton TiO 2 . The cost balance indicated that processing by the MSP brings about 185 US $/ton TiO 2 profit.