Continuous production of titanium powder
Although incremental improvements have been made to the Kroll process since its inception in 1948, the process in use today remains essentially the same batch process developed by Dr. Kroll and perfected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. In this process, titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) is reduced by magnesium to produce titanium metal. There are two major limitations to the Kroll process: (1) it is a batch process; and (2) the reduction of TiCl4 proceeds so rapidly that the sponge formed is an interlocking dendritic mass with inclusions of magnesium, magnesium salts and titanium subchloride that must undergo several purification steps before the metal is suitable for use. The Albany Research Center (ARC), formerly the U.S. Bureau of Mines, has investigated a new, continuous titanium metal production process in which a titanium powder is produced in a bath of molten salt. In this process, the rate of the reduction reaction was slowed and controlled by diluting the reactants with molten chloride salts. The diluted reactant streams were combined in a continuous stirred tank reactor, operated much like a crystallizer. New titanium metal forms on the already present small Ti particles. When the Ti particles become too large to remain suspended in solution, they fall to the bottom of the reactor and are removed. Initial experiments show promise but problems remain in obtaining the required purity and uniform particle size.
- Research Organization:
- Albany Research Center (ARC), Albany, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE - Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- OSTI ID:
- 899201
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ARC-1997-013; TRN: US200706%%924
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Titanium Extraction and Processing, Indianapolis, IN, Sept. 14-18, 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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