An Innovative Process for Production of Ti Metal Powder via TiS_x from TiN

This work presents a new processing concept for production of Ti metal powder from FeTiO₃via TiN and TiS_x. Because FeTiO₃ can be converted to TiN by the carbothermal reduction and nitridation method, TiN was taken as the starting material. Ti_2.45S₄ and TiS₂ powders were completely formed from TiN at 1473 K (1200 °C) in 3.6 and 10.8 ks, respectively. Either CS₂ or S₂ gas could be used for the sulfurization process. The sulfides were then converted to α-Ti metal powders by the Ono and Suzuki (OS) process in molten CaCl₂ with a small addition of CaS. Employing S₂ gas in the sulfurization step remarkably reduced the carbon contamination to 0.01 and 0.1 wt pct C after the sulfurization and reduction processes, respectively. α-Ti powders with spherical morphology and foil-like Ti sheets containing less than 0.15 wt pct O were obtained from the electrochemical reduction in molten CaCl₂-0.5 mol pct CaS. The approach applied here offers a promising strategy to design an innovative process for production of commercial grade Ti powders via TiS_x and TiN from FeTiO₃ by nitridation, sulfurization, and OS processes.