Microstructural characterization of condensed phases in the Ti-Cl2-Fe2O3 system.

G. G. FOUGA; A. E. BOHÉ; D. M. PASQUEVICH

Madrid, Spain.

Simposio; Rewas 04´. Global Symposium on Recycling Waste Treatment and Clean Technology.; 2004

TMS-Mineral-Metals –Materials e INASMET-European Commission, INPL-Nancy France and The Minning and Materials Processing of Japan

The increasing demand for rutile to make titanium tetrachloride addressed to titanium pigments and metal production has also led to considerable research to develop suitable methods for using ilmenite instead of rutile for producing synthetic rutile from natural ilmenite. Among other methods proposed, the chlorination of ilmenite has been the subject of several investigations. Chlorination process is based upon the iron selective chlorination, leaving the titanium oxide unreacted. The ilmenite chlorination process can be performed using different chlorinating agents and can involve several pretreatments. During the chlorination of ilmenite several reactions may take place. One of most important interactions is the reaction between TiCl4 and Fe2O3. In this work, this reaction was studied in a sealed reactor at various temperatures and atmospheres. The starting materials (Fe2O3, Ti, Cl2) were placed in different zones in a closed quartz capsule. The Fe2O3 powder was placed in a quartz crucible and Ti sheet in an alumina crucible. Finally, chlorine gas was introduced into the capsule at the corresponding pressure. We studied the influence of the atmosphere upon the reaction products during thermal treatments, in the presence of carbon as reductor agent. Different Fe Ti compounds were obtained under varying temperature conditions, Cl2 pressure and relative amounts of solid reactives. Such compounds were characterized using XRD, SEM, and EDS techniques.