Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite Concentrate
The aluminothermic process is used for producing ferrotitanium alloy (FeTi) from an ilmenite concentrate. In this study, based on thermodynamic calculations and experiments, we investigated the effects of adding varying amounts of exothermal agent (NaClO<sub>3</sub>), slag-forming agent...
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MDPI AG
2020-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/10/11/1493 |
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| author | Ji-Hyuk Choi Hankwon Chang Taegong Ryu Chul-Woo Nam Byung-Su Kim |
| author_facet | Ji-Hyuk Choi Hankwon Chang Taegong Ryu Chul-Woo Nam Byung-Su Kim |
| author_sort | Ji-Hyuk Choi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aluminothermic process is used for producing ferrotitanium alloy (FeTi) from an ilmenite concentrate. In this study, based on thermodynamic calculations and experiments, we investigated the effects of adding varying amounts of exothermal agent (NaClO<sub>3</sub>), slag-forming agent (CaO), and reducing agent (Al) on the recovery ratio of Ti in the aluminothermic process. The thermodynamic calculations suggested that the exothermal agent plays a crucial role in producing the FeTi alloy from the ilmenite concentrate and the maximum Ti grade in the FeTi alloy was approximately 30 wt %. Experimentally, it was verified that the FeTi alloy obtained under the optimum mixing conditions contained 30.2–30.8 wt % Ti, 1.1–1.3 wt % Si, 9.5–11.2 wt % Al, and 56.9–58.0 wt % Fe, along with trace impurities and small amounts of gases such as oxygen (0.35–0.66 wt %) and nitrogen (0.01–0.02 wt %). At the optimum mixing conditions, the recovery ratio of Ti into the obtained FeTi alloy phase was 60.6–68.9%. These results matched closely with the thermodynamic calculations. Therefore, the thermodynamic calculations performed herein are expected to significantly contribute toward the development of new processes and improvement in conventional processes for producing various ferroalloys including the FeTi alloy through the aluminothermic process. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:59:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9ed2150bd2c4bc7aeb884a086b5bccc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4701 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:59:09Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-b9ed2150bd2c4bc7aeb884a086b5bccc2023-11-20T20:19:04ZengMDPI AGMetals2075-47012020-11-011011149310.3390/met10111493Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite ConcentrateJi-Hyuk Choi0Hankwon Chang1Taegong Ryu2Chul-Woo Nam3Byung-Su Kim4Mineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon 34132, KoreaMineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon 34132, KoreaMineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon 34132, KoreaMineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon 34132, KoreaMineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon 34132, KoreaThe aluminothermic process is used for producing ferrotitanium alloy (FeTi) from an ilmenite concentrate. In this study, based on thermodynamic calculations and experiments, we investigated the effects of adding varying amounts of exothermal agent (NaClO<sub>3</sub>), slag-forming agent (CaO), and reducing agent (Al) on the recovery ratio of Ti in the aluminothermic process. The thermodynamic calculations suggested that the exothermal agent plays a crucial role in producing the FeTi alloy from the ilmenite concentrate and the maximum Ti grade in the FeTi alloy was approximately 30 wt %. Experimentally, it was verified that the FeTi alloy obtained under the optimum mixing conditions contained 30.2–30.8 wt % Ti, 1.1–1.3 wt % Si, 9.5–11.2 wt % Al, and 56.9–58.0 wt % Fe, along with trace impurities and small amounts of gases such as oxygen (0.35–0.66 wt %) and nitrogen (0.01–0.02 wt %). At the optimum mixing conditions, the recovery ratio of Ti into the obtained FeTi alloy phase was 60.6–68.9%. These results matched closely with the thermodynamic calculations. Therefore, the thermodynamic calculations performed herein are expected to significantly contribute toward the development of new processes and improvement in conventional processes for producing various ferroalloys including the FeTi alloy through the aluminothermic process.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/10/11/1493aluminothermic processrecoveryilmeniteferrotitanium |
| spellingShingle | Ji-Hyuk Choi Hankwon Chang Taegong Ryu Chul-Woo Nam Byung-Su Kim Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite Concentrate Metals aluminothermic process recovery ilmenite ferrotitanium |
| title | Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite Concentrate |
| title_full | Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite Concentrate |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite Concentrate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite Concentrate |
| title_short | Investigating the Aluminothermic Process for Producing Ferrotitanium Alloy from Ilmenite Concentrate |
| title_sort | investigating the aluminothermic process for producing ferrotitanium alloy from ilmenite concentrate |
| topic | aluminothermic process recovery ilmenite ferrotitanium |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/10/11/1493 |
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