Techno-economic evaluation of titanium catalyst production cycle from ilmenite purer (a case study at Kahnooj mine in Iran)

This study evaluates the construction of a production line for titanium catalyst based on three scenarios, one based on the chloride method with sol-gel synthesis (CP-SG) (case A), second case based on the sulfate process with hydrothermal synthesis (SP-H) (case B) and the chloride process with spray-pyrolysis synthesis (CP-SP) as third case (case C). Technical feasibility was tested through utilization of ilmenite feedstock in cycle's production using three mentioned scenarios. The economic indicators such as net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) were used to evaluate the economic performance. The results show that at 50,000 Ton/y production capacity, NPV at 15% discounting rate is 409 M$ for case A, and 424.7 M$, 422.7 M$ for cases B and C, respectively. The sensitivity analysis shows that the production cost and titanium catalyst selling price were the most sensitive input parameters. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.