Abstract
Titanium is a very important element for several industrial applications, being one of the ninth most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust (0.63% wt). In this work it will discuss the different mining and industrial activities involved in the production of titanium dioxide. The first step analyzed will treat about the beneficiation mining process of titanium mineral, and secondly, it will discuss the two main processes of the TiO2 manufacturing (sulphate and chloride routes). In addition, we will show different uses of the titanium dioxide pigment as filler in paper, plastics and rubber industries and as flux in glass manufacture, etc. Finally, we will show that the old wastes are currently called co-products since they were valorized, being commercialized by the Spanish industry of TiO2 production in different fields such as agriculture, civil engineering, or cement manufacturing.
Highlights
Titanium was discovered in 1791 by the British clergyman and mineralogist William Gregor while analyzing black magnetic sands from Menachan in Cornwall (England)
Titanium is not found as a pure metal in nature due to its strong affinity for oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, making it difficult to obtain in the pure state, but it suffers the phenomenon of “passivation”, which is the process of making a material “passive”, usually by the deposition of a layer of oxide that adheres to the metal surface [1]
The commercial production of titanium dioxide started on the 1920 decade, and the Ti metal started on the 1950 decade due to the increase of demand generated by the aircraft industry, reaching its metal production 166,000 metric tons in 2008 [4]
Summary
Titanium was discovered in 1791 by the British clergyman and mineralogist William Gregor while analyzing black magnetic sands from Menachan in Cornwall (England) He produced a white metallic oxide from the mineral menachanite, a variety of ilmenite, and named the new element menachite. In 1825, J.J. Berzelius, a Swedish chemist, performed a crude separation of titanium metal. Titanium is not found as a pure metal in nature due to its strong affinity for oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, making it difficult to obtain in the pure state, but it suffers the phenomenon of “passivation”, which is the process of making a material “passive”, usually by the deposition of a layer of oxide that adheres to the metal surface [1]. This oxide or nitride film usually has a thickness of few nanometers
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