Thermal treatment of quartz–leucoxene concentrate

Quartz–leucoxene concentrate is a high-value titanium-bearing material huge reserves of which are in possession of the Russian Federation. This article describes assessment of influence exerted by thermal treatment (oil roasting) on phase transformations of quartz–leucoxene. It is found that quartz–leucoxene loses in roasting around 14.2% of its mass owing to removal of moisture and due to pyrolytic decomposition of oil (hydrocarbon) component. The composition of the exit gases changes subject to the conditions of thermal treatment (inert atmosphere or oxygen environment). In the oxygen environment, the gas phase is mostly contributed by the water steam and carbon dioxide, while in the inert atmosphere, in the analogous conditions, the hydrocarbon fractions are mostly removed. Thermal treatment of quartz–leucoxene in the inert atmosphere initiates formation of carbon residue which can enter a reaction of carbothermal reduction of oxide components in a range of high temperatures (1300 °С). It is hypothesized on possible internal phase transformations among micro amounts of oxidic impurities (iron oxides, calcium oxides, etc.) with generation of small amounts of phases of sphene, ilmenite and pseudobrookite in a high temperature range (above 1300 °С). The thermogravimetric analysis finds out that in a temperature range up to 900 °С, the most common in quartz–leucoxene roasting, the titanium compounds undergo no phase transformation, while the silicon compounds experience totally reversible transformations, which means that roasting aimed to remove oil products has no material effect on the chemical activity of the most valuable component of titanium. On the ground of the experimental results, the temperature range was adjusted for roasting quartz–leucoxene concentrate to minimize energy input of the process and to reduce its carbon footprint. The upper roasting limit sufficient to remove oil phase completely was set as the temperature of 575 °С.

Kuzin E. N., Mokrushin I. G., Kruchinina N. E. Thermal treatment of quartz–leucoxene concentrate. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2023;(2):30-42. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/ 0236_1493_2023_2_0_30.

E.N. Kuzin¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, e-mail: Kuzin.e.n@muctr.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2579-3900,
I.G. Mokrushin, Cand. Sci. (Chem.), Assistant Professor, Perm State National Research University, 614068, Perm, Russia, e-mail: mig@psu.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4095-8366,
N.E. Kruchinina¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Head of Chair, e-mail: krutchinina.n.e@muctr.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-7597-1993,
¹ D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, 125480, Moscow, Russia.

E.N. Kuzin, e-mail: Kuzin.e.n@muctr.ru.

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