ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to investigate the interaction of oxalic acid with hydrochloric acid to attain the better performance for iron dissolution in comparison to absence of oxalic acid. The effects of oxalic acid on ratio of hydrochloric acid, acid concentration, ratio of liquid to solid, temperature and dissolution time are investigated for the dissolution of Fe and Ti from ilmenite to produce synthetic rutile. The DX7 software basing on an experimental design method with the central composite of response surface design is applied to specify the effects of the parameters and to optimize the leaching process. The optimum condition was determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA), indicating that the ratio of oxalic acid to hydrochloric acid for Fe dissolution and acid concentration for Ti dissolution were the most effective parameters. The results showed that the dissolution of Fe and Ti in 30% (w/w) hydrochloric acid solution was only 48.65% and 5.14%, respectively, while at the same condition and in the presence of oxalic acid with twice the ratio, these values are increased to 78.65% and 12.06%, respectively. The optimum values of parameters were as follows: oxalic acid to hydrochloric acid ratio (2:1), acid concentration (30%), ratio of liquid to solid (10), temperature (160 °C), and dissolution time (3 h). By applying the optimized parameters, Fe and Ti dissolution of 97.15% and 2.8% were predicted by the software with a desirability of 0.745. The results of leaching tests indicated that the Fe and Ti dissolution of 97.58% and 2.43%, were achieved, respectively, which are very close to the predicted value.