IMPROVED SYNTHETIC RUTILE PROCESS B

摘要

A process for recovering titanium as synthetic rutile from a titaniferous ore, for example a secondary ilmenite, includes the steps of treating the ore in a reducing atmosphere at elevated temperature above 1075°C in the presence of a carbonaceous reductant whereby to convert the ilmenite to reduced ilmenite in which iron oxides in the ilmenite have been reduced to metallic iron, and separating out the metallic iron so as to obtain a synthetic rutile product., The carbonaceous reductant comprises a coal selected for a moisture content below 40%, a volatiles content greater than 30%, ash content below 10%, and a gasification reactivity that results in an increased rate of reduction of iron oxides and titanium species effective to achieve a TiO2 content of 90% or greater in the synthetic rutile product.