The potential of the Russian raw material base of zirconium for production of ZrO2-based refractory materials

Abstract

The article is devoted to solving the problem of providing Russian manufacturers of refractory ceramic materials based on ZrO2 with domestic zirconium raw materials. The relevance of the study lies in the need to expand the Russian production of zircon refractories in order to ensure the technological integrity of Russia and the provision of consumable components in steelmaking. Zircon raw materials for the production of refractories belong to the group of metals that are mostly imported from abroad for domestic use. Deposits, production and logistics of refractory clays and kaolin, quartzite and magnesite in Russia are sufficiently developed and allow providing refractories manufacturers with domestic raw materials. The purpose of the article is to analyze the potential of the domestic raw material base of zirconium compounds for the production of refractory materials and products based on them. The technology and experience in the production of heat-resistant structures in ceramics based on ZrO2 at ONPP «Tekhnologiya» named after A. G. Romashin for the aviation, aerospace industry, nuclear energy using domestic raw materials of zirconium dioxide. It is determined that the consumption of ZrO2 in Russia is about 10 thousand tons per year, which is mainly represented by imported zircon concentrate (more than 90 %) and in a small amount by domestic baddeleyite concentrate. Based on the analysis of mineral resources, it has been established that the Russian raw material base of zirconium is sufficient to meet the needs of Russian enterprises in zirconium raw materials, but its development is hindered by the deep hard-to-reach occurrence of the metal, the lack of industrial ore dressing technology and the complexity of further processing of the resulting concentrates. With the planned indicators for the development of the Tuganskoye deposit, by 2026, a complete transition of the Russian industry to domestic zircon raw materials is possible, and if the enterprise reaches full capacity by 2030, the production volume of the concentrate will be four times higher than the current volume of consumption, which will allow organizing its export.