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Titanium is an important metal, with good plasticity and high specific strength, which has great significance in multiple fields. The main source of titanium resources is ilmenite, so the development and utilization of ilmenite is very important. The beneficiation methods of ilmenite mainly include reseparation, magnetic separation, flotation, combined beneficiation and so on. In this paper, we will introduce the mineral dressing method of ilmenite to help you solve the problem of ilmenite ore.
Use the table of contents below to navigate through the guide:
Gravity separation method is to remove the gangue minerals in the ore by jigging, spiral chute, shaking table and other equipment after the ilmenite is crushed. It is mainly suitable for coarse-grained ilmenite.
Due to the weak magnetic properties of ilmenite, ilmenite can be separated from non-magnetic minerals by magnetic separation. If the magnetic field strength is not enough during magnetic separation, some ilmenite minerals will be discarded, resulting in a decrease in resource utilization efficiency. Therefore, in the magnetic separation process of ilmenite, the magnetic field strength is a very critical factor.
Ilmenite mostly exists in the deposit in the form of complex solid solution, and it is easy to produce ilmenite platelets with a higher than magnetic susceptibility coefficient, and the difference in magnetization with gangue increases, and it is easy to be separated by magnetic separation. Some ilmenite placers contain large amounts of impurities and sludge. This kind of ore can first use weak magnetic separation to separate iron ore after primary grinding, and then use strong magnetic separation to separate titanium ore, so as to improve the recycling rate of ore.
Flotation method is a commonly used separation method of ilmenite, which can be divided into conventional flotation method, flocculation flotation method, agglomeration flotation method and carrier flotation method.
Conventional ilmenite beneficiation methods generally use oleic acid, oxidized paraffin soap, tar oil, etc. as ilmenite collectors. The combination and ratio of collectors can be carried out according to different mineral compositions. For example, some ores contain both ilmenite and titanium common pyroxene. The two minerals have similar floatability and can be separated using new collectors to improve the ore grade.
The ilmenite flocculation flotation method can also be divided into selective flocculation flotation method and hydrophobic flocculation flotation method. Mainly for ilmenite with finer particle size. Selective flocculation flotation method is to condense one mineral in the pulp containing two or more minerals and then gradually separate it. The hydrophobic flocculation flotation method utilizes the mutual hydrophobic interaction of hydrophobic mineral particles to make them agglomerate into clusters and then separate.
The ilmenite agglomeration flotation method utilizes the collector adsorbed on the ilmenite surface. The ilmenite particles are hydrophobic, and the ore particles are agglomerated by the capillary attraction of the bridge liquid, so as to realize the flotation of ilmenite, which is suitable for ilmenite with fine particle size. When using this flotation method, attention should be paid to the use of collectors and the intensity of stirring. These two factors have a direct impact on the recovery of ilmenite.
Ilmenite often contains a variety of minerals and impurities, such as rutile, zirconite, etc. In order to improve the grade and recovery rate of minerals and realize the comprehensive utilization of minerals, the combined beneficiation method has better effect than the single beneficiation method. At present, the commonly used ilmenite combined beneficiation methods include magnetic separation + flotation method, gravity separation + flotation method, magnetic separation + gravity separation method, gravity separation - magnetic separation - flotation - electric separation method.
This beneficiation method is to first perform magnetic separation on ilmenite to remove some useless gangue minerals, and then perform flotation on the magnetic separation concentrate to improve the ore grade and recovery rate of the ilmenite concentrate.
The gravity separation + flotation method has a good selection effect for ilmenite with a raw ore grade of less than 6%, and at the same time, it can also separate the sulfur in the ilmenite, and improve the utilization rate of ilmenite resources.
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 improve production efficiency.
If the ilmenite gangue minerals contain titanium pyroxene, plagioclase, sulfide minerals, etc., the plagioclase can be removed by gravity separation first, then the flotation method can be used for desulfurization, and the titanium pyroxene can be removed by electric separation. Improving the grade and utilization rate of ilmenite is a better solution for low-grade ilmenite.
The above is the mineral dressing plant of ilmenite. In actual production, due to the complex composition of ilmenite, the process flow cannot be simply determined by experience. It is recommended to analyze the mineral composition and properties of the ore through beneficiation test, and formulate a scientific and reasonable beneficiation plan based on the test results.
