R. O. Loutfy, J. C. Withers, K. Loutfy, MER Corporation, Tucson, AZ; K. O. Yu, B. Martin, RMI Titanium Company, Niles, OH

Summary:

Low cost titanium is enabling to defense transition into a lighter force and reduced cost of maintenance due to corrosion. Currently almost all the titanium sponges is produced by the fifty year old Kroll process with any significant price reduction for primary metal unlikely. Electrolytic reduction has been envisioned as a low cost route to produce titanium but has failed to demonstrate a commercial viable process utilizing a TiCl4 feed in spite of five decades of investigations. TiO2 can be a very economical feed material for new sponge making processes. Carbothermic reduction is more economical than electrolytic supplied electrons for reduction and has been used to produce titanium suboxides. The titanium suboxides can be utilized in three different electrolysis reaction processes to complete the reduction and produce titanium at a cost substantially below Kroll produced sponges. In a DARPA funded project, work is undertaken to investigate the process dynamics, cost reduction potentials and scale-up ability for a new electrolytic reduction process based on carbothermic reduced titanium suboxides. Details of this investigation will be presented.