Synthetic rutile refers to a titanium-rich raw material produced by separating most of the iron components in ilmenite using chemical processing methods. It is similar in composition and structural properties to natural rutile, with TiO2 content fluctuating within the range of 87%-96% depending on the processing technology, making it a high-quality substitute for rutile.
Details
Synthetic Rutile
Synthetic rutile refers to a titanium-rich raw material produced by separating most of the iron components in ilmenite using chemical processing methods. It is similar in composition and structural properties to natural rutile, with TiO2 content fluctuating within the range of 87%-96% depending on the processing technology, making it a high-quality substitute for rutile.
Details
Zircon sand
Zircon sand is a mineral mainly composed of zirconium, silicon, and oxygen crystallized from magma during the formation of igneous rocks. It can also be found in veins and metamorphic rocks, often coexisting with ilmenite, rutile, monazite, xenotime, and other minerals in coastal sands, and can be obtained through mineral selection processes such as water selection, electric selection, and magnetic separation. Its theoretical composition is 67.1% of ZrO2: and 32.9% of SiO2. The most industrially valuable zircon deposits are placer deposits, with 98% of zircon being a byproduct of titanium placers. Pure zircon sand is colorless and transparent crystals, and due to impurities, may exhibit purple-red, yellow-brown, light yellow, light red, green, gray, and colorless adamantine luster. It has a Morse hardness of 7.5 to 8 and a specific gravity of 4.4 to 4.8, a brittle solid with shell-like fracture. Zircon sand has a refractive index of 1.93-2.01 and a melting point of 2340-2550℃. It is heat-resistant and vibration-resistant, with good stability and strong corrosion resistance to slag.
Details
Rutile
Rutile is a pure natural TiO2 mineral generally containing more than 95% TiO2. It features high temperature resistance, low temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, high strength, small specific gravity, and other excellent properties. It is an important mineral raw material for refining titanium with a relatively small reserve in the earth's crust. As the current global reserve of natural rutile depletes, its production declines year by year. Rutile belongs to the tetragonal crystal system, which often has intact tetragonal columnar or acicular crystal form and aggregates in the form of granular or dense masses. Its color is generally dark red, maroon, yellow, or orange, with iron-rich rutile being black. Rutile streaks are yellow to light brown. It has a diamond-like luster, and iron-rich rutile has a semi-metallic luster. Rutile is brittle, with a hardness of 6-6.5 and a density of 4.2-4.3 g/cm3.
Details
Reduced ilmenite
Reduced ilmenite is a dark gray mineral powder, which plays a role in arc stabilization due to its main component being TiO2. Therefore, it can improve the process performance of welding rods. In addition, reduced ilmenite contains nearly 30% elemental iron, which can significantly improve the deposition efficiency of welding materials. It is obtained by preparing ilmenite, reducing agent, and desulfurizing agent into raw materials, adding them to the rotary kiln, and heating them to 1050-1180°C for reduction under a reducing atmosphere maintained at 0-4 mm water column pressure, followed by cooling, sieving, magnetic separation, winnowing, and blending. It has a relative density of 4.0-5.0 and a hardness of 5-5.5. It is iron black or steel gray, with streaks of steel gray or black; when containing hematite inclusions, it appears brown or maroon with a metallic to semi-metallic luster. Reduced ilmenite is opaque with no cleavage.
Details
Iron oxide red
The main component of iron oxide red is iron(III) oxide. In the presence of impurity carbon, iron metal will react with moisture and oxygen in the environment and rust, producing iron(III) oxide, which is also known as iron oxide red. There are two types of iron oxide red preparation methods: wet and dry. The wet process produces fine crystals with soft particles, which are easy to grind and can be used as pigments. The dry process produces large crystals with hard particles, which are suitable for making magnetic materials, polishing materials, and grinding materials.
Details
Coal-based activated carbon
Coal-based activated carbon is produced from high-quality coal through the process of carbonization, cooling, activation, and washing. It is generally a black irregular-shaped activated carbon, with an iodine adsorption value of 550-700 mg/g, a ≤5% water content, and a methylene blue adsorption value above 6. It possesses a well-developed pore structure and large specific surface area, featuring good adsorption performance, high mechanical strength, easy for repeated regeneration, and low cost.
DetailsSynthetic rutile refers to a titanium-rich raw material produced by separating most of the iron components in ilmenite using chemical processing methods. It is similar in composition and structural properties to natural rutile, with TiO2 content fluctuating within the range of 87%-96% depending on the processing technology, making it a high-quality substitute for rutile.
Synthetic rutile is the core new material for upgrading downstream industries, and the vigorous development of downstream industries will bring strong demand for synthetic rutile Chloride pigment and titanium sponge are both core downstream products of synthetic rutile;
It not only has the excellent performance of titanium dioxide, but also has better temperature resistance and covering power, making it the "king of pigments" and the core material for downstream industrial upgrading. With the cancellation of pandemic prevention and control measures and the rapid recovery of the macroeconomy, it is expected that the compound annual growth rate of China's paint industry will reach as high as 13.6% from 2023 to 2028;
Titanium materials are widely used downstream, with equipment upgrading driving an incremental demand. At present, titanium materials are mainly used in aviation as titanium alloys, mostly for aircraft fuselage (structural components, fasteners, etc.) and jet engines. Titanium used in China's aerospace industry accounts for about 20% of the total titanium material consumption, far lower than the over 70% consumption in countries such as the United States and Russia. The demand for equipment upgrading in the aerospace industry will generate a large demand for high-end titanium materials;
TiO2 in synthetic rutile undergoes crystal transformation during both reduction and oxidation calcination processes, mostly from anatase to rutile. TiO2 with a rutile crystal structure is more advantageous for improving the welding performance of welding materials, such as resistance to high welding currents and reducing spatter during welding. On the other hand, as the grade of natural rutile decreases, the proportion of leucoxene increases, which means that the content of the rutile-type crystal structure TiO2 in the product decreases compared to the total TiO2 content. This is also the reason synthetic rutile produced by reduction-rust process can replace natural rutile of a higher grade of TiO2 in the production of ordinary welding materials;
