High-speed titanium production by magnesiothermic reduction of titanium trichloride

The possibility of a high-speed and (semi-)continuous titanium production process by the magnesiothermic reduction of titanium subchloride - titanium dichloride (TiCl ₂) and/or titanium trichloride (TiCl ₃) - is discussed. When the TiCl ₃ feed material and magnesium reductant charged into a titanium reaction container were heated at a rate of 0.056 K/s (3.3 K/min) in an argon atmosphere, the temperature of the container rapidly increased above 973 K, and the magnesiothermic reduction of TiCl ₃ proceeded at a high speed. After the reduction, the reaction product magnesium chloride (MgCl ₂) and the excess magnesium were removed by leaching or vacuum distillation. An efficient separation process of MgCl ₂ from titanium metal by a combination of draining and vacuum distillation was also investigated. Under a suitable condition, titanium with 99.5% purity was efficiently obtained. The titanium reaction container showed no signs of damage, thus proving its suitability for the magnesiothermic reduction of TiCl ₃.