Titanium is an important metal with good plasticity and high specific strength. It is of great significance in many fields. The main source of titanium resources is ilmenite. Therefore, the development and utilization of ilmenite are very important. The beneficiation methods of ilmenite ore mainly include gravity separation, magnetic separation, flotation, combined beneficiation, and so on.
Ilmenite Beneficiation Methods
1. Ilmenite gravity separation method
The gravity separation method is to remove the gangue minerals in the ore through jigging, spiral chute, shaking table, and other equipment after the ilmenite is crushed. It is mainly suitable for coarse-grained ilmenite.
2. Magnetic separation of ilmenite
Because ilmenite has weak magnetism, ilmenite can be separated from non-magnetic minerals by magnetic separation. If the magnetic field strength is not enough during magnetic separation, part of the ilmenite minerals will be discarded, resulting in a decline in resource utilization efficiency. Therefore, in the process of magnetic separation of ilmenite, the magnetic field strength is a very critical factor.
Ilmenite mostly exists in the ore deposit in the form of a complex solid solution, and it is easy to produce ilmenite lamellae with a higher magnetic susceptibility coefficient, which increases the magnetization difference with gangue and is easy to be separated by magnetic separation. Some ilmenite placers contain a lot of impurities and sludge. After the primary grinding, this kind of ore can be separated by weak magnetic separation to separate iron ore, and then use strong magnetic separation to separate titanium ore to improve the recovery of ore utilization rate.
3. Ilmenite flotation method
Flotation is a commonly used separation method for ilmenite, which can be divided into conventional flotation, flocculation flotation, agglomeration flotation and carrier flotation.
4. Ilmenite joint selection method
Magnetic separation + flotation method, gravity separation + flotation method, magnetic separation + gravity separation method, gravity separation magnetic separation flotation electric separation method.
Ilmenite Flotation Methods
1. Conventional flotation method
Conventional ilmenite beneficiation methods generally use oleic acid, oxidized paraffin soap, tall oil, etc. as ilmenite collectors. The combination and proportion of collectors can be carried out according to the different mineral compositions. For example, some ores contain both ilmenite and titanium common pyroxene. These two minerals have similar buoyancy, and new collectors can be used to improve ore grade.
2. Flocculation flotation method
Ilmenite flocculation flotation can also be divided into selective flocculation flotation and hydrophobic flocculation flotation, mainly for ilmenite with fine particle size. The selective flocculation flotation method is to first condense one kind of mineral in the slurry containing two or more kinds of minerals and then gradually separate them. The hydrophobic flocculation flotation method is to use the mutual hydrophobic effect of hydrophobic ore particles to make them agglomerate and then separate.
3. Reunion flotation method
The ilmenite agglomeration flotation method uses the collector adsorbed on the surface of the ilmenite to make the ilmenite particles hydrophobic, and the capillary gravity of the bridge fluid makes the ore particles agglomerate, to realize the ilmenite flotation. finer ilmenite. When using this flotation method, it is necessary to pay attention to the use of collectors and the intensity of stirring. These two factors have a direct impact on the recovery of ilmenite.
Ilmenite Joint Beneficiation Method
1. Ilmenite combined beneficiation method
Ilmenite often contains a variety of minerals and impurities, such as rutile, zirconite, etc. To improve the grade and recovery rate of minerals and realize the comprehensive utilization of minerals, the combined beneficiation method has a better effect than the single beneficiation method. Currently commonly used ilmenite combined beneficiation methods include magnetic separation + flotation, gravity separation + flotation, magnetic separation + gravity separation, and gravity separation – magnetic separation – flotation – electric separation.
2. Magnetic separation + flotation
This kind of beneficiation method is to carry out magnetic separation on the ilmenite ore first, throw away some useless gangue minerals, and then carry out flotation on the magnetic separation concentrate to improve the ore grade and recovery rate of the ilmenite concentrate.
3. Gravity election + flotation
The gravity separation + flotation method has a good beneficiation effect for ilmenite whose raw ore grade is less than 6%, and can also separate sulfur in ilmenite to improve the utilization rate of ilmenite resources.
4. Magnetic separation + gravity separation
The combination of magnetic separation and gravity separation can reduce the production cost of ilmenite beneficiation, improve the concentrate grade and recovery rate of ilmenite, and effectively increase production efficiency.
5. Gravity separation – magnetic separation – flotation – electric separation
If the ilmenite gangue minerals contain titanopyroxene, plagioclase, sulfide minerals, etc., the plagioclase can be removed by gravity separation first, then the flotation method can be used for desulfurization, and the titanopyroxene can be removed by electro separation. Improving the grade and utilization rate of ilmenite is a better solution for low-grade ilmenite.
The above is the beneficiation method of ilmenite. In actual production, due to the complex composition of ilmenite, it is not possible to simply rely on experience to determine the process flow. It is recommended to analyze the mineral composition and properties of the ore through mineral processing tests and formulate a scientific and reasonable mineral processing plan based on the test results.