The latest progress of titanium mineral processing technology in China

May 30, 2022

Vanadium-titanium magnetite is an important mineral resource. Due to the strong magnetism of vanadium-titanium magnetite, magnetic separation methods are mainly used in various countries, and it is generally recognized by all countries around the world. At this stage, the selection of fine-grained ilmenite has attracted more and more attention from manufacturers. Strong magnetic levitation is an effective method for recovering fine-grained ilmenite. For the selection of coarse-grained ilmenite, the method of reselection, tail throwing and reselection is generally used. In recent years, new progress has been made in improving the efficiency of reselection and developing and using new equipment.

Researchers have long conducted research on the recovery and comprehensive utilization of Panzhihua's fine-grained ilmenite. Based on the results obtained from experimental research, it is proposed that the coarse-grained ilmenite adopts a combined resection-strong magnetic separation process to take advantage of the gravity and magnetism differences between ilmenite and gangue minerals to strengthen the original process, and the TiO2 recovery rate is increased by more than 10%, and the concentrate grade is about 30%. The fine-grained grade adopts the strong magnetic-flotation process to obtain a concentrate yield of 29.21%, a concentrate grade of 47.31%, and a recovery rate of 59.74%. In order to recover Pangang fine-grained ilmenite (-0.045mm), a high-gradient magnetic separator was used to conduct a magnetic-floating process test for the recovery of fine-grained ilmenite. The results show that when the feed ore contains 11.033% TiO2, a good index of 44.46% grade and 45.76% recovery rate can be obtained. The surface field strength of the belt-type strong magnetic machine developed by Guangzhou Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals can reach 1T, which is used in the tail-throwing operation of the raw ore of Pangang Titanium Smelting Plant. The recovery rate of the operation is 80%, and the tail-throwing rate is more than 35%. The researchers used a magnetic separation column to sort the titanium-containing magnetite from the Panzhihua Mine. The results show that the grade, yield and recovery rate of the concentrate that is not pre-magnetized by the magnetic separation column after the pre-magnetization of ilmenite are significantly improved. Pangang Titanium Concentrator adopts the GL-2C spiral concentrator developed by Guangzhou Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals to replace the original FLX-600mm cast iron spiral concentrator. Good results have been achieved. Under the condition that the concentrate grade is similar, the recovery rate of fine-grained ilmenite has increased by 15%. Shaker is widely used in ilmenite mineral processing, especially in some small mines, qualified concentrates are obtained by using shaker. The shaker process was used for ore samples in Kunming, and the ilmenite concentrate grade reached 48.82% after iron removal, with a recovery rate of more than 76%.As the final check operation for the production of titanium concentrates, electric separation has been widely used. Pangang Titanium Selection Plant uses the YD-3 high-voltage separator developed by Changsha Institute to select and reselect crude concentrates. When the raw ore contains TiO2 of 28.86%, the final concentrate grade is 47.74%, the tailings grade is 10.63%, and the operating recovery rate is 84.18%. The sorting index.

There are many studies on ilmenite flotation agents. The commonly used collectors of ilmenite are fatty acids, and oleic acid and its salts are mostly used in foreign countries. In recent years, some people have studied the use of isohydroximic acid, styrene phosphonic acid and salicylic acid as ilmenite flotation collectors. When two or more agents are combined to take advantage of the synergistic effects of the agents, the sorting effect is often better than any of them. In recent years, the use of mixed agents to flotation ilmenite has become the main direction of research. The researchers conducted experimental research on the fine particle size of -0.045mm in the selected titanium raw materials of Pangang Titanium Industry Company, and developed an R-2 collector suitable for this type of complex ore. The results of industrial tests show that with a feed grade of 21%, the final titanium concentrate grade reaches more than 47.5%, and the flotation recovery rate is nearly 70%. The flotation test of Pangang coarse-grained ilmenite was carried out. The test used ZY collector to conduct experimental research on materials with a content of -0.074mm of 22.19% and 6.18%. The results showed that: ZY collector has strong recovery performance and strong selectivity, and can recover +0.154mm granular ilmenite that is usually considered unrecoverable by flotation, and the industrial application effect is good. A new type of ilmenite flotation collector RST was used to treat Pangang fine-grained ilmenite. The test results show that for raw ore with a TiO2 mass fraction of 19.75%, after desulfurization, RST is used as the collector, oxalic acid is used as an inhibitor, and sulfuric acid is used to adjust the pH. After one rough selection and four selected closed-circuit processes, the titanium concentrate grade reaches 48.28% and the TiO2 recovery rate is 79.9%; At the same time, it is also proposed to use a new type of collector for Panzhihua fine-grained ilmenite flotation, and industrial tests have obtained a good index of 48% concentrate grade and 75% recovery rate. The researchers proposed to use a new type ofX flotation collector, and the test results showed that the new type ofX collector had strong harvesting performance and good selectivity.The ore feed grade TiO2 is 17.80%, and the concentrate grade TiO2 is 47.42%, and the operating recovery rate is 73.28%. Good indicators can be obtained. Researchers reported that styrene phosphonic acid was mixed with turpentine oil in a 4:1 ratio to flotation Panzhihua fine-grained ilmenite. The effect was better, and the concentrate grade was obtained at 47.22% and the recovery rate was 74.58%. Indicators. Using F968 combination agent to flotation Panzhihua ilmenite, full-grain flotation (-0.15mm) can be achieved. F968 treats the magnetic separation tailings, and after one rough sweep and four selections, the test indicators are: the TiO2 grade of the raw ore is 11.03%, the TiO2 grade of the concentrate is 48.45%, and the recovery rate of the flotation operation is 80%.

The personnel of the research institute conducted in-depth research on the problem that the inhibition of flotation of native fine-grained ilmenite makes the collector consume more, which is detrimental to reducing the cost of mineral processing. Studies have shown that H2SO4 and Pb2+ ions have a good activation effect on ilmenite. With H2SO4 as the pH regulator, Pb2+ ion as the ilmenite activator, and compound fatty acid soap as the collector, a good separation of ilmenite and gangue minerals is achieved without adding any inhibitors. The results of micro-particle flotation at Panzhihua Titanium Smelting Plant were: the ore feed grade was 21.96%, the concentrate grade was 47.82%, and the recovery rate was 63.25%.

In view of the complex rutile embedding relationship in the tailings of a certain selection plant, the researchers explored the use of high-efficiency collector ZP—01 and a new process of re-magnetic separation-reselection combination of graded flotation concentrate using conventional mineral processing technology to effectively recover the titanium resources in it. Experimental studies have shown that the use of high-efficiency collector ZP—01 and the new process of re-magnetic separation and reselection of graded flotation concentrate can obtain a good index of rutile concentrate grade of 81.06%, so that the problem of comprehensive recovery of titanium resources in tailings can be better solved.

After studying the surface bonding mechanism of styrene phosphonic acid and ilmenite, the researchers believe that the effect of the collector and ilmenite is to generate quaternary ring chelates or insoluble compounds through the oxygen in the phosphonic acid group and the lattice cations with uncompensated or weakly compensated bonds on the surface of the ilmenite. Microwave energy is used to pretreatment ilmenite. Research on its mechanism shows that microwave energy accelerates the oxidation of ferrous ions on the surface of ilmenite to trivalent iron ions, strengthens the adsorption of oleate ions on its surface, and greatly improves the flotation recovery rate of ilmenite. The use of ROB collector to flotation Panzhihua ilmenite, the mechanism of action shows that ROB can act on the surface of ilmenite through electrical adsorption and chemical adsorption, especially in acidic media, the electrical adsorption effect is obvious; the changes in the electrical properties of the mineral surface before and after the adsorption of the agent show that the adsorption of ROB is an important factor affecting the floatability of minerals. The electronic binding energy of ROB to Fe, Ti and O on the surface of ilmenite has changed significantly. ROB may be chemically bonded with iron and titanium particles on the surface of the mineral with O as the bonding atom.

Researchers have studied the floatability of composite perovskites, ilmenites and rutile. In the process of flotation of these three minerals, the pH value, the pretreatment of the slurry before flotation, and the type of collector have a great impact on their flotation. At the same time, the effect of modified ester collectors was also studied. It is pointed out that fatty alcohol sulfate-modified phosphates can flotation perovskite well; petroleum sulfonate-modified phosphates can flotation ilmenite well; a mixture of phosphates and succinamates is the most effective for flotation of rutile. It has been pointed out that the use of electric mineral processing machine (EMP) simulation layer can improve the extraction of rutile and zircon from heavy mineral sediments. The EMP process was developed when the current method of separating rutile and zircon using electrostatic technology is not always effective. The EMP process was used for testing. It has been proved that this process is more effective and reduces the sorting steps.

The researchers conducted comprehensive utilization research on the iron tailings selected in Montenegro and achieved good results. The ore of Black Mountain iron tailings is complex in nature and has a high content of chlorite, which makes sorting difficult. Using the strong magnetic separation-coarse concentrate re-grinding—flotation process and the titanium flotation series of agents independently developed by Guangzhou Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, the titanium concentrate grade TiO2 46.5% was finally obtained, and the recovery rate of relatively strong magnetic coarse separation was greater than 50%. Industrial test results. Through the study of the properties of Panzhihua fine-grained (-19µm) materials, a method for recovering ilmenite is proposed. The test results show that the use of strong magnetic-flotation process can recover Panzhihua fine-grained ilmenite. The comprehensive utilization of secondary resources generated by Pangang in the process of mining, mineral processing and ironmaking is discussed. It is proposed to adopt a coarse-grained tail-throwing method for ore storage with an iron grade of less than 26% produced in mining to reduce the cost of grinding, and to use a magnetic separation process to recover iron from steelmaking slag, fine-grained titanium from the magnetic tail, and vanadium from molten iron.