AND PRODUCTION OF TITANIUM POWDER BY PREFORM REDUCTION PROCESS (PRP)

A fundamental study was performed on the removal of iron from titanium ore by selective chlorination using metal chlorides (MClx, M = Mg, Ca, etc.) and the production of titanium powder directly from titanium ore. The objective of this study was to achieve reduction in the production cost of titanium. In order to remove iron from the ore, the titanium ore (ilmenite) was reacted with metal chlorides (and water vapor) in a graphite crucible at 1023－1293 K. After the iron removal experiment by selective chlorination, a titanium ore with low iron content was obtained, and the by-product—iron chloride gas (FeClx)—was recovered by condensation. In order to obtain titanium powder directly from the abovementioned titanium ore, the preform reduction process (PRP) based on the calciothermic reduction of titanium oxide contained in the feed preform was applied. When the preform containing titanium ore was reduced by calcium vapor at 1273 K, metallic titanium powder with a purity exceeding 99 % was obtained