Effect of wet grinding on carbothermic reduction of ilmenite concentrate

High titania slag has become a good raw material in the development of titanium. Ilmenite is reduced first and then smelted in an electric arc furnace to separate iron from the high titania slag. Therefore, enhanced reduction of ilmenite concentrate can reduce smelting time and energy consumption. Wet grinding method, which is often used to reduce particle size and improve the balling ability of ilmenite, was proposed to enhance the reduction. The effect of wet grinding on the carbothermic reduction of ilmenite was investigated. The wet grinding treatment was found to result in a high reduction rate and improve metallisation. The metallisation degree of reduced ilmenite concentrate increased as the time of wet grinding increased. Under the constant reduction conditions, the degree of metallisation improved from 68.58% to 87.32% while the FeO content decreased from 10.62 to 5.28% as the wet grinding time increased from 10 to 60min. [Display omitted] •After the wet grinding of ilmenite concentrate was reduced with coke.•Grinding improves the reduction rate of concentrate during the reduction processes.•The metallisation of iron generally increased by increasing the wet grinding time.•The maximum mass loss rate increased as the wet grinding time increased.