Magnesium reduction of titanium tetrachloride

• Published in: Inorganic materials Vol. 38; no. 5; pp. 490 - 493
• Main Authors: Evdokimov, V I, Krenev, V A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2002
• ISSN: 0020-1685
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1015475122802

The reasons for the slow rate of reaction between TiCl sub 4 vapor and a clean Mg surface are clarified, and the role of the magnesium reduction of titanium chlorides in the gas phase and liquid magnesium chloride film is discussed. The mechanisms for the formation of spongy titanium and its deposition on the walls of commercial reactors are elucidated. A continuous procedure is proposed for the preparation of titanium powder. The magnesium reduction of titanium tetrachloride, TiCl sub 4 , a major process for the commercial-scale production of titanium metal, has been studied in great detail. The results obtained by optimizing the procedures for the reduction of TiCl sub 4 with magnesium and sodium are summarized in [1]. Despite the many years of optimization, the procedure most widely used industrially is not free of serious drawbacks, such as batch operation, incomplete use of magnesium, nonuniform quality of the resulting titanium sponge, high energy cost since the process includes vacuum separation and melting of the titanium sponge, and the long time required to prepare the reactor for heating and cooling and to withdraw the titanium sponge.