Titanium Production by Magnesiothermic Reduction of TiCl_4 through an Electronically Mediated Reaction (EMR)

摘要

The fundamental aspects of EMR (electronically mediated reaction) and their application for titanium production has been outlined using a broad range of reliable experimental evidence. In metallothermic reduction of TiCl_4, the concept of EMR is important for explaining many observations during reduction and useful for projecting new developments. LR-EMR (Long Range-EMR) provides an effective method for controlling the location of titanium deposition during magnesiothermic reduction. It permits reduction of TiCl_2 by aluminum without significant aluminum contamination. SR-EMR (Short Range-EMR) is suitable for powder production because a homogeneous reduction of titanium chlorides is likely to occur in electronic conductive molten salt. Molten salt containing Dy~(2+)/Dy~(3+) reaction mediator also is suitable for powder production because Dy~(2+) can homogeneously reduce titanium present in the molten salt. In addition, since magnesium can thermodynamically reduce Dy~(3+) to Dy~(2+), molten salt containing Dy~(2+)/Dy~(3+) reaction mediator produces titanium powder even during magnesiothermic reduction. It is possible to exploit the new understanding of mechanisms of metallothermic reduction to develop a new continuous process for producing titanium.