Calciothermic Titanium Reduction Using Powdered Metallic Calcium for Low-Cost Titanium Production

Process of Producing Calcium by Electrolysis, US3226311A, Jacques Van Diest, Solvay SA, 1963, Calcium Metal Production, US3043756A, George B Cobel, Paul R Juckniess, Dow Chemical Co, 1958. The above patents describe using barium and strontium chloride in the calcium chloride electrolyte bath to reduce the voltage required and hence the power consumption down to less than 9 kW/kg of calcium metal. 1.7 kg of calcium metal is required to reduce a kg of titanium, at an energy cost of 15.3 kWh/kg-titanium. Since the cost of high-altitude wind power is 1 cent/kWh or less, the electricity cost is only $150/ton-titanium. The Gibbs free energy for titanium dioxide reduction using metallic calcium is 332 kJ/mol. The chemical equation is as follows: TIO2 + 2Ca = Ti + 2CaO. The corrosive magnesium tetrachloride used in the Kroll process is eliminating dramatically reducing reactor and plant costs, the lower oxygen content of the titanium sponge produces a more ductile titanium product ready for alloying with vanadium. Vanadium can be extracted at low cost from magnetite.