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Deoxidation of Titanium Using Cerium Metal and Its Oxyhalide Formation

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REWAS 2022: Developing Tomorrow’s Technical Cycles (Volume I)

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

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Abstract

The recycling of titanium (Ti) scraps requires the direct removal of oxygen (O) from the Ti scraps. Although several deoxidation techniques for Ti have been developed, the strong affinity between Ti and O limits their cost-effectiveness. In this study, we develop a new deoxidation process for Ti using cerium (Ce) metal, which is the most abundant and cost-effective rare earth element. Thermodynamic analysis suggests that the deoxidation through the formation of Ce oxyhalides in halide fluxes containing Ce ions enables the production of Ti with extremely low O concentrations. We experimentally demonstrate that the formation reaction of CeOCl with Ce metal can deoxidize Ti metal and produce highly pure Ti with 100 mass ppm O or below, which is lower than the O concentration of the virgin Ti produced by the Kroll process. This deoxidation process with Ce metal enables the recycling of Ti scraps contaminated with O.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mr. Koichi Hirota at Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. for providing us with rare earth metal samples. We are grateful to Mr. Akihiro Iizuka and Mr. Kenta Akaishi at the University of Tokyo for their experimental support and their comments on this manuscript. This work was financially supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) (KAKENHI Grant No. 19H05623). This paper is also based on results obtained from a project commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan

    Gen Kamimura, Takanari Ouchi & Toru H. Okabe

Authors
  1. Gen Kamimura
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  2. Takanari Ouchi
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  3. Toru H. Okabe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gen Kamimura .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Adamantia Lazou

  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Katrin Daehn

  3. Eramet Norway, Sauda, Norway

    Camille Fleuriault

  4. İzmir Institute of Technology, İzmir, Turkey

    Mertol Gökelma

  5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Elsa Olivetti

  6. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Christina Meskers

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Kamimura, G., Ouchi, T., Okabe, T.H. (2022). Deoxidation of Titanium Using Cerium Metal and Its Oxyhalide Formation. In: Lazou, A., Daehn, K., Fleuriault, C., Gökelma, M., Olivetti, E., Meskers, C. (eds) REWAS 2022: Developing Tomorrow’s Technical Cycles (Volume I). The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92563-5_10

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