Abstract
A process to produce titanium powder continuously is proposed and its applicability is examined experimentally. The method is based on the chemical reaction in the conventional Kroll reduction process; however, TiCl4 gas is injected into molten salt on which a molten magnesium layer is floated as the reductant. Bubbles of gaseous TiCl4 can be reacted at the lower surface of the liquid Mg layer, while TiCl4 gas reacts on the upper surface in the Kroll process. The fine Ti particles produced in this study were well separated from magnesium and could be recovered from the bottom of the molten salts. The particles were small and fine enough for use in powder metallurgy, while congregated lumps of about 20 µm in size are obtained by the Kroll process. The composition of molten salts and an operation temperature above 1073 K did not affect the morphology of the Ti particles, if suitable material for the reaction vessel was chosen.
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Deura, T.N., Matsunaga, T., Suzuki, R.O. et al. Titanium powder production by TiCl4 gas injection into magnesium through molten salts. Metall Mater Trans B 29, 1167–1174 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-998-0038-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-998-0038-6