Process for the beneficiation of titaniferous ores utilizing hot wall continuous plasma reactor

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR BENEFICIATING TITANIFEROUS ORES UTILIZING A HOT WALL CONTINUOUS PLASMA JET REACTOR ADAPTED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF AT LEAST A 90 PERCENT TIO2 MATERIAL HAVING IN COMBINATION A VERTICALLY POSITIONED, ELONGATED, WATER-COOLED CASING HAVING AN UPPER HOT WALL REACTOR ZONE, A MIDDLE REACTOR BASE ZONE, AND A LOWER COOL WALL ZONE, SAID UPPER HOT WALL REACTOR ZONE HAVING MEANS FOR INTRODUCING A PLASMA REDUCING GAS, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING TITANIFEROUS FEED MATERIAL INTO THE LATTER CHAMBER ON WHICH MOLTEN SLAG FLOWS, SAID REACTOR ZONE HAVING A LENGTH OF DIAMETER RATIO GREATER THAN 3; SAID MIDDLE REACTOR BASE ZONE HAVING A VERTICAL CHAMBER OF DIAMETER EQUAL TO AT LEAST THREE TIMES THAT OF THE DIAMETER IN SAID UPPER HOT WALL REACTOR ZONE, AND MEANS FOR QUENCHING SAID MOLTEN SLAG IMMEDIATELY EMANATING FROM THE SAID UPPER REACTION ZONE SO AS TO FORM DISCRETE DROPS OR PARTICLES; AND SAID LOWER COOL-WATER ZONE HAVING A WATER-COOLED CHAMBER, WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF: INTRODUCING A GROUND LOW-GRADE TITANIFEROUS ORE COMPRISING TITANIUM AND IRON VALUES INTO A REACTION ZONE OF SAID PLASMA JET REACTOR WHERE OXIDES OF IRON IN THE ORE ARE PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY REDUCED BY HOT HYDROCARBON GAS IN WHICH THE LENGTH TO DIAMETER RATIO OF THE REACTION ZONE IS AT LEAST 3, CONTACTING AN MELTING SAID ORE WITH A REDUCING GAS EFFLUENT OF A PLASMA TORCH OR ARC FOR A PERIOD FROM 0.01 TO 5.0 MINUTES, FLOWING MOLTEN ORE PREDOMINATELY ON THE WALLS OF SAID REACTION ZONE, QUENCHING THE MOLTEN ORE AT THE BASE OF THE SAID UPPER REACTION ZONE SO AS TO BREAK-UP MOLTEN ORE INTO DROPLETS THEREBY SOLIDIFYING THE MOLTEN ORE AFTER SAID QUENCH IN A RECTION BASE ZONE, EFFECTING FREE FALL OF THE SO BROKEN-UP AND SOLIDIFIED MATERIAL THROUGH SAID REACTOR BASE ZONE WITHOUT TOUCHING THE WALL OF SAID LATTER REACTOR, SAID RECOVERING SAID SOLIDIFIED DROPLET CONTAINING AT LEAST ABOUT 90 PERCENT TIO2.