About this Abstract |
Meeting |
2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
Symposium
|
Scandium Extraction and Use in Aluminum Alloys
|
Presentation Title |
Solvent Extraction of Scandium from Titanium Process Solutions |
Author(s) |
Dimitrios Filippou, Michel Paquin, Yves Pépin, Mike Johnson, Niels Verbaan |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Mike Johnson |
Abstract Scope |
Scandium is present in titanium dioxide feedstock (ilmenite, titania slags, etc.) and usually reports to process solutions and effluents either at the feedstock producer site or at the end user site (TiO2 pigment or Ti metal plant). In this paper, we report on the refining of scandium from such solutions by solvent extraction. A mixture of D2EHPA and TBP was used to extract scandium from a scandium-rich intermediate aqueous solution, which had been previously recovered from a titania slag upgrading process. Scandium loaded organic was scrubbed with H2SO4 to remove titanium and thorium, and the scrubbed organic was stripped with NaOH to produce an impure scandium hydroxide precipitate. The precipitate was dissolved in H2SO4, and the resulting solution was treated further with Alamine® 336 and Aliquat® 336 to remove persistent impurities. The formation of solids in the D2EHPA stripping step was a significant process issue, but ultimately high purity scandium oxide was produced. For reasons not related to the work reported here, Rio Tinto eventually selected other processing methods for its scandium extraction plant in Sorel-Tracy, QC, Canada. |
Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Light Metals |
Keywords |
Other, Hydrometallurgy, Recycling and Secondary Recovery |