Zirconium Oxide/ Zirconium Oxychloride

Zirconium oxide and oxychloride find wide applications in the ceramic and chemical industries. Zirconium oxide finds use in ceramic stains for coloured glazed tiles, high temperature refractory materials and in glass polishing. It is also used in alkali resistant glasses, electrochemical industries, corrosion resistant materials and as opacifier. On the other hand, zirconium oxychloride finds application in the leather processing, textile processing, cosmetics etc. and is an important intermediate in the preparation of many zirconium compounds. 

The process consists of the following steps:

• Caustic fusion of the ore followed by water leaching to yield crude zirconium hydroxide.
• Dissolution of the crude zirconium hydroxide in concentrated hydrochloric acid to obtain crude zirconyl -chloride solution. The zirconyl chloride solution thus obtained forms the feed material for the production of either zirconium oxide or oxychloride or both.