A Sustainable Molten Salt Route for the Electro-extraction and Electro-refining of Low-grade Ores to Yield High Purity Titanium Powders
Titanium is the fourth most abundant engineering material in the Earth’s crust. Although it has many beneficial properties, the cost of extraction remains a challenge and over 90% of high grade titanium is derived from the expensive and time-consuming Kroll Process. Electro-refining methods show promise but present their own special challenges. We present an overview and update of a novel molten salt process to extract and refine low-grade ores to produce high-grade powder titanium. Titanium oxycarbide produced by carbothermic reduction is electro-refined in a molten eutectic bath of NaCl:KCl salt. Anodic dissolution causes the Ti product to be plated out in the form of a dendritic product which collects on the cathode while impurities are retained in the anode. A gentle introduction to the process will be given and recent studies to apply the method to include the effect of using ilmenite and ilmenite/rutile blends as a feedstock, as well as the applicability of the process to other metals, specifically niobium (Nb) and vanadium-baring minerals presented.
Dr. Paul Coxon
Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy
University of Cambridge
The Old Schools
Trinity Lane
Cambridge CB2 1TN
UK
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