Improved methods for producing titanium dioxide slurries. The output from
a micronizer is passed through a condenser to condense the steam and form an aqueous
slurry of titanium dioxide, which can in most cases then be further concentrated
as desired or which can be sold or used without further concentration, instead
of passing the micronizer output to apparatus for separating the TiO2 from the
steam, as is currently practiced in the art. The resultant slurry from the condenser
is in a further refinement preferably sent to an agitated storage tank together
with dispersant and anti-settling compounds to aid in preventing settling of the
titanium dioxide solids out of the slurry. To help facilitate condensation of the
steam/pigment mixture sent to the condenser, a portion of the condensed slurry
is in yet a further refinement pumped from the slurry storage tank to a heat exchanger.
The output from the heat exchanger is then fed to the condenser to facilitate the
condensing of the steam in the condenser. The temperature and volume (flow) of
cooled condensate to the condenser are set to match the amount of steam and its
temperature so as to ensure that substantially all of the steam and contained pigment
are collected from the condenser.