Dissolution studies of mechanically activated Manavalakurichi ilmenite with HCl and H2SO4

Abstract

The effect of the change in phase constitution, particle size distribution, surface area, crystallite size, strain and lattice parameters introduced by mechanical activation of the altered beach sand ilmenite from Manavalakurichi region, India on the dissolution kinetics of HCl and H2SO4 was investigated. The altered ilmenite showed different physico-chemical characteristics and was found to be more resistant to acid leaching than the less altered ilmenite from the Chatrapur beach sands, India investigated earlier. The dissolution behavior was also different in H2SO4 and HCl. For sulfuric acid leaching, the dissolution of Fe and Ti increased monotonically with time of milling and showed a continuous increase with time of leaching, whereas hydrolysis of titanium occurs in HCl medium, especially for the activated samples at lower acid concentration, lower solid to liquid ratio and higher temperature leading to lower solution recoveries. The dissolution kinetics in both H2SO4 and HCl prior to hydrolysis conforms initially to the reaction rate control model and for higher leaching times to the shrinking core model where diffusion through the product layer is rate controlling. It is postulated that the anatase formed by hydrolysis in milled samples impedes the further progress of leaching. The activation energies for the dissolution of Fe and Ti decreased with time of milling and were marginally lower in HCl than in H2SO4. An attempt has also been made to correlate the decrease in activation energy to the increase in the energy input to the material through high-energy milling. The relative contribution of the increase in surface area and structural disorder on the enhancement of the dissolution rates has been evaluated.