Fundamental study on magnesiothermic reduction of titanium dichloride

Abstract

With the purpose of establishing a high speed and (semi-)continuous process for the production of high-purity titanium, a fundamental study on the magnesiothermic reduction of titanium dichloride (TiCl2) using a titanium reaction container was investigated. TiCl2 was synthesized by the reaction of TiCl3 with metallic titanium and used as feed material in metallothermic reduction. The obtained TiCl2 and the magnesium reductant were placed in a titanium reaction container and heated at a rate of 0.056 K/s (3.3 K/min) in a stainless-steel chamber filled with argon gas. The sample temperature increased rapidly above 973 K, and the magnesiothermic reduction of TiCl2 proceeded at a high speed. After the reduction, the reaction product—magnesium chloride (MgCl2)—and the excess magnesium were removed by leaching or vacuum distillation. Under certain conditions, titanium with 99.7 pct purity was successfully obtained. The titanium reaction container showed no signs of damage, thereby indicating that it is suitable for use in the magnesiothermic reduction of TiCl2.