Industrial Production of Zirconium Oxide (Essay Sample)

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Industrial Production of Zirconium Oxide
Summary Table
Raw material (zirconium sand)70,000 kgFossil fuel use5.6kJ/kgSteam use2.8kJ/kgElectricity10kwh/kgWater use1.2kgwater/kgproductEnvironmental management0.8kg/kJ
Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) is a compound formed from zirconium. Zirconium occurs in compound forms in igneous rocks. The most dominant mineral containing this element is the zircon silicate. Zirconium oxide is the raw material for the manufacture of most ceramics in its pure form (Dhanaraj & Govindhan 444). This compound has special properties that make it suitable for ceramic production. The production of Zirconium oxide occurs in large scale. There have been development plants in India to produce this product in large scale. The production of Zirconium oxide is a chemical process that occurs in phases utilizing raw materials and energy. The flow chart shown below shows the process of Zirconium oxide production.



The main raw material in the production of the nuclear-grade zirconium oxide is the zircon mineral (ZrSiO4) naturally occurring as zirconium sand. The zirconium sand consists of zirconium and hafnium whose properties are almost similar. Special separation techniques of precipitation, filtration and calcination are applied to separate the two products (Dhanaraj & Govindhan 444). The production of zirconium oxide is broken down into three simple steps; extraction of zirconium sand, removal of wastes (including hafnium) and conversion of the resulting compound into the finished product (zirconium oxide free from hafnium).
The separation of zirconium and hafnium occurs at temperature ranges of 650-700 degree Celsius (Dhanaraj & Govindhan 444). The zirconium sand is mixed with K2SiF6. This converts the metal into K2ZrF6 which is soluble in water and K2HfF6. A sequential process of crystallization eliminates hafnium. The process results into pure form of K2ZrF6 which is ammonized to produce zirconium oxide.
The amount of raw material for the production of 100,000 kg of zirconium oxide metal required is equivalent to
0.7kg × 100,000 = 70,000kg of zirconium metal.
The production of 1kg of zirconia requires 0.7 kg of the zirconium metal that has to be extracted from the zirconium sand (Dhanaraj & Govindhan 444). The by-products obtained from the process of zirconia extraction are washed away in water to the sea. These elements are not harmful to the environment. The other byproducts are sold for utilization in other industries like the refineries of magnesium.
The final stage of zirconium oxidation into zirconia requires the use of steam. This is carried out at high temperatures (Dhanaraj & Govindhan 444). The oxidation process is exothermic and yields substantial amounts of hydrogen. The equation for oxidation of zirconium is as shown.
 Zr + 2H2O ZrO2 + 2H2
The production of zirconia utilizes energy in many forms. Electricity is used to heat up the reactors where separation of zirconium from its impurities occurs. The electricity is also used to heat up steam that causes the oxidation of zirconium into zirconia (Dhanaraj & Govindhan 444). Fossil fuel can also be used in the whole process and the calories of energy produced can be equated to the corresponding electric energy.
A huge amount of energy is required in the production of zirconia. There have been various concerns in about the use of energy. Energy management is a way of reducing the cost of energy through energy recycles. The energy from the hydrogen steam produced during oxidation can be utilized in the heating up of reactors where waste removal occurs (Dhanaraj & Govindhan 444). Energy wastages occurring in the reactors can be minimized by conservation techniques. The fuel used should ...