Sulfate process, titanium dioxide pigment production

Paints. Paints account for perhaps 3% of sulfur consumption (see Paint). The main sulfur use is for the production of titanium dioxide pigment by the sulfate process. Sulfuric acid reacts with ilmenite or titanium slag and the sulfur remains as a ferrous sulfate waste product. Difficulties with this process have led to the development of the chloride process (see Pigments, inorganic Titanium compounds). 

Two major processes are used for producing raw titanium dioxide pigment (1) the sulfate process, a batch process accounting for over half of current production, introduced by European makers in die early 1930s and (2) the chloride process, a continuous process, introduced in the late 1950s and accounting for most of the new plant construction since the mid-1960s. The sulfate process can handle both rutile and anatase, but the chloride process is limited to rutile. 

Monk-Irwin An unsuccessful predecessor of the Sulfate process for making titanium dioxide pigment from ilmenite. Invented by C.R. Whittemore at McGill University, Montreal, in the early 1920s and subsequently developed by J. Irwin and R.H. Monk in Canada and B. Laporte Limited in Luton, UK. Ilmenite from the deposit at Ivry, Quebec was reduced by heating with coke, leached with ferric chloride solution, and then roasted with a mixture of sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate. The resulting cake, containing titanyl sulfate, was dissolved in water and hydrolyzed, and the titania hydrate calcined. Some of the product was extended with barium sulfate. The project was abandoned in 1928. 

Ecological Aspects of Modern Production Processes. Sulfate Process. The conventional sulfate process is characterized by a linear flow of sulfuric acid through the process. Some H2SO4 ends up in the copperas by-product, but the main part remains separate from the pigment end product, as a used reagent with deteriorated quality in terms of concentration and purity. Formerly, this large stream was discarded as waste (see Fig. 80). Now, the spent acid is recovered, and complex acid concentration and filter salt treatment plants are added to recycle the acid entirely. Hence, the modern sulfate process plant for titanium dioxide pigment manufacture is characterized by a closed sulfuric acid cycle that completely withholds spent acid from the environment (see Fig. 81). 

Two pigment production routes ate in commercial use. In the sulfate process, the ore is dissolved in sulfuric acid, the solution is hydrolyzed to precipitate a microcrystalline titanium dioxide, which in turn is grown by a process of calcination at temperatures of ca 900—1000°C. In the chloride process, titanium tetrachloride, formed by chlorinating the ore, is purified by distillation and is then oxidized at ca 1400—1600°C to form crystals of the required size. In both cases, the taw products are finished by coating with a layer of hydrous oxides, typically a mixture of siUca, alumina, etc. 

Titanium dioxide (E171, Cl white 6) is a white, opaque mineral occurring naturally in three main forms rutile, anatase, and brookite. More than 4 million tons of titanium dioxide are produced per year and it is widely used for industrial applications (paints, inks, plastics, textiles) and in small amounts as a food colorant. ° "° Production and properties — Titanium oxide is mainly produced from ilmenite, a titaniferous ore (FeTiOj). Rutile and anatase are relatively pure titanium dioxide (Ti02) forms. Titanium oxide pigment is produced via chloride or sulfate processes via the treatment of the titanium oxide ore with chlorine gas or sulfuric acid, followed by a series of purification steps. High-purity anatase is preferred for utilization in the food industry. It may be coated with small amounts of alumina or silica to improve technological properties. 

About 70% of all iron oxide pigments are produced synthetically. Copperas or ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (FeS04-7H20) is the primary source of iron. It is a byproduct of the sulfate process for the manufacture of titanium dioxide as well as a by-product of pickling operations in the steel industry. Other sources of iron include ferric sulfate, ferrous chloride, ferric chloride, and the iron oxide slurry from the production of aniline by nitrobenzene reduction. 

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