Subchloride Synthesis in Titanium Metallurgy

摘要

The idea of using aluminum subchloride for gas-phase reduction of volatile chlorides of some metals, including titanium, was first suggested from thermodynamic calculations and reported in a little-known source [1], being ignored in a review of new approaches to extractive metallurgy of titanium [2]. Recently, we have performed calculations and laboratory experiments on subchloride reduction of titanium in the gas phase [3, 4] and demonstrated that aluminum can be used to obtain titanium-aluminum alloys from a heterogeneous mixture of crystalline aluminum and liquid TiCl4 [5]. All these studies share the radically new approach that aluminum and its subchlorides, rather than conventional magnesium, are proposed to be used to reduce TiCl4. This option has not even been considered until recently in titanium metallurgy [2]. The replacement of magnesium by aluminum or its subchloride requires quite different equipment for metallo-thermic process [4].