Experimental investigation on drying characteristic of titanium slag using microwave heating

Drying characteristic of titanium slag using microwave heating is attempted in the present work, so as to assess the effect of microwave power and sample mass, and to understand the mechanism and morphological changes. The results show that the water removal rate of titanium slag increased with both incident microwave power and sample mass. For the 50 g of sample microwaved at 600 W, for duration of 80 s, water content could be reduced to 0.02%. The thermal stability of the titanium slag and the morphological changes before and after microwave heating were characterized by TG/DSC and SEM. The results show an obvious endothermic peak at about 86°C, which indicates the dehydration processes of titanium slag, and the chemical stability of the drying materials within the drying temperature range. In addition, after certain duration, the sample under microwave heating developed internal microcracks, which augmented the release of internal water, improving the drying rate.