EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY OF TITANIUM -CURRENT STATUS IN INDIAN DEVELOPMENTS

摘要

Proven Indian reserves of ilmenite in the coastal beach-sands are one of the world's largest. Realizing the vast potential of titanium for a variety of end-use applications, (Late) Prof. C.V. Sundaram initiated a program on the extractive metallurgy of titanium in the early 1960s at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai (BARC) which went through several stages of development not only at BARC but also at the Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad (NFC) and finally culminated in the establishment of a Technology Development Center for Titanium at the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad (DMRL) wherein large-scale trials were conducted and process conditions optimized for commercial scale production of titanium sponge in 3000 to 3500 Kg batches. Based on this technology, a 500 TPY capacity Titanium Sponge Plant is currently being set up by The Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited, Chavara (KMML). This Paper describes the various stages of development that have taken place during the last four decades or so in the indigenous efforts of technology development, which the authors believe will be a fitting tribute to (Late) Prof. C.V. Sundaram under whose inspiring leadership and guidance the entire program was conceived and developed leading up to the present stage of technology transfer.