TITANIUM PRODUCTION IN A PLASMA REACTOR - A FEASIBILITY INVESTIGATION

The feasibility of producing titanium metal from titanium tetrachlorid e in a thermal plasma under equilibrium and adiabatic expansion condit ions has been theoretically investigated. Free energy minimisation and adiabatic expansion calculations to simulate a nozzle expansion were used to study the practicality of production. The crucial requirements for the production of titanium powder from TiCl4 and H-2 appear to be rapid quenching of the plasma gas at high temperature (e.g., 3700 K) and appropriate reactant concentrations. Quenching of the plasma gas a nd production of titanium powder can be achieved by adiabatic expansio n through a nozzle. Preliminary experimental data indicate that titani um powder of approximately 5 nm in size can be produced in an argon pl asma using a nozzle expansion approach.