Thermodynamic analysis of separation of alloying elements in recycling of end-of-life titanium products

X. Lu, T. Hiraki, K. Nakajima, O. Takeda, K. Matsuabe, H. M. Zhu, S. Nakamura, T. Nagasaka

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The separation and control of undesired elements are key to recycling scrap or end-of-life (EoL) metal products, as the quality of regenerated metals is often impaired by contamination from the alloying elements in the scrap. However, little is known of their removability or controllability because they are normally absent in the production of primary metal from natural ore. Here, the distribution ratios of 31 kinds of alloying element among the metal, slag, and gas phases in the re-melting of EoL titanium products were quantitatively discussed. Our results clarified that the typical titanium alloying elements - Al, Fe, and V - are essentially uncontrollable in re-melted titanium by oxidation or evaporation. This suggests that the mixing of commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) and other titanium alloys should be avoided. Hence, the development of new technologies to separate alloying elements from titanium scraps for sustainable titanium recycling is highly anticipated.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)135-141
Number of pages7
JournalSeparation and Purification Technology
Volume89
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012 Mar 22

Keywords

  • Alloying element
  • EoL product
  • Refining
  • Thermodynamics
  • Titanium scrap

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Filtration and Separation

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