Fluidizers to boost TiO2 production

Copenhagen  - GEA Niro has received an order from Tiwest for two Swirl Fluidizer dryers to increase production of TiO2 at its plant in Western Australia.

Tiwest, a producer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and a joint venture between US-based Tronox Inc and South African company Exxaro Resources, selected GEA Niro’s drying technology because it is claimed to be able to produce high-quality powders, even when the consistency of the feed material varies.

The Swirl Fluidizer is claimed to be able to accept feeds with widely varying viscosities by virtue of its fluidising action. The design of the dryer secures a roulette-like rotation at its bottom that, together with a careful control of the fluidising velocities, retain oversized particles within the dryer until they are broken down.

Jerry Lloyd of Tiwest said: “We identified significant cost savings to be made by using the more efficient Swirl Fluidizers compared to the rather old drying tunnels currently being used.”

The energy-efficient Swirl Fluidizer dryers will replace the dated tunnel dryers that are currently being used at the plant in Kwinana, Western Australia.

The raw materials for the facility are mined from the sands of inland sites in Western Australia.

The plant, which was built 20 years ago, uses Tronox’s proprietary chloride process to produce TiO2 pigments from Rutile and Ilmenite minerals.

The tunnel dryers currently extract the last of the water from the TiO2.

The plant is currently undergoing a major expansion to accommodate the Swirl Fluidizer dryers later this year, which will raise the plant capacity from 110,000 tonnes per annum to 150,000 tonnes per annum and may later expand it to 180,000 tonnes per annum.

TiO2 is an inorganic white pigment, the crystals of which refract light to create a distinctive white brightness and gloss surface of high luminescence in paints, plastics, magazine papers and many other products.

At the final stage of the production, thin acidic liquor is washed clean. The washing process converts the product into a chalk-like form with limited mechanical strength that breaks up into a paste as it is conveyed. When the paste is too thin or thick, blockages often occur.

Tiwest selected the Swirl Fluidizer to try and avoid these blockages and produce a less dusty product to make down-stream handling and processing easier.