Zirconium Oxide Manufacturing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Zirconium Oxide Manufacturing - Essay Example The essay "Zirconium Oxide Manufacturing" talks about the zirconium oxide characteristics that allow it to be a refractory insulating material, industrial manufacture of crucibles and production of alkaline zirconate. The essay also describes the process and routes for industrial manufacture of Zirconium oxide including chlorination, alkali decomposition, lime fusion and precipitation of the acidic reagents. Zirconium is usually obtained from sand as a raw material for the production of zirconium oxide. The zirconium sand is calcined with either lime or a mixture of lime and magnesia. The resulting product is an alkaline earth zirconate and sodium silicate and zirconium oxide can be recovered from sodium zirconate free from alkalis to obtain it in its pure form, the impurities must be removed first. Water is added to the mixture of Sodium silicate and sodium zirconate which are in solid form and this result in the formation of a complex hydrated zirconium hydroxide with a high level of alkalinity. In order to separate the salts, the process of precipitation is conducted using sodium either sodium oxide or sodium carbonate and these results in the formation of zirconium hydroxide and from the hydroxide of zirconium, zirconium oxide can be obtained. Therefore, it's possible to achieve an energy efficient system that can be used to manufacture Zirconium oxide in and industry and this requires that the proper temperature and time period is maintained for the reactions to take place effectively.