Magnesiothermic reduction of pseudobrookite as an alternative to ferrotitanium alloy production

Ferrotitanium demand is expected to grow; this can be seen from the increase in goods with titanium and Ferrotitanium alloys as raw materials. Ferrotitanium is iron alloy that consist of 20-75% titanium. This alloy usually manufactured by reduction or melting process. High titanium intensity from ilmenite is generally used as the core material of the reduction Titanium process. The by-product of the carbothermic process of ilmenite produced iron-titanium oxide ore in Pseudobrookite form (Fe2TiO5); this mineral is currently on the rise because it can be used in several factors, such as photocatalysis, filter optic, and photoelectrode. The reduction process of iron-titanium oxide, which can still be developed, is carried out to produce Ferrotitanium alloy. On the other hand, mixing commercial products such as iron oxide and titanium oxide with high availability could produce synthetic Pseudobrookite by the solid-state process. The Pseudobrookite produced by carbothermic and solid-state processes will be reduced to make Ferrotitanium alloy. Magnesium is usually used as a reducing agent because Magnesium will easily oxidize to be MgO, while Iron and Titanium are easily reduced to Iron, Titanium, or their alloys. The lower reduction potential of Magnesium will be actively releasing the oxygen bound in iron-titanium oxides. The experiments would be tested by excess Magnesium (50.3wt%), reducing the feed containing 48-57% of Pseudobrookite. Both of the product was tested with the X-Ray Diffraction method showing that 9-20% of the Ferrotitanium alloy was produced from carbothermic Pseudobrookite feed, and 8-14% of Ferrotitanium alloy was produced from solid-state (synthetic) Pseudobrookite. Scanning Electron Microscope with eds tested of both products showing the microstructure of Fe-Ti alloy produced between MgO slags.