日本金属钛制备工艺技术研究进展

Progress in Japan's Titanium Metal Preparation Technologies

综述了日本近年来在海绵钛制备、钛金属新型提取方法、钛屑回收提纯等工艺技术研究现状。重点介绍了日本大阪钛技术公司与东邦钛业公司在原料结构调整、海绵钛单炉产能提升、原料(TiCl_4与Mg)纯度及海绵钛质量提升等方面的生产技术进步;目前日本使用TiO_2含量为90%~92%的钛原料比例已达30%,海绵钛单炉产能达13 t,已建立Kroll法稳定生产制备纯度为99.999%(5N9)的高纯金属钛生产工艺。为降低金属钛生产成本,日本近年来还开发了钙热还原法(OS法)、电子中介反应与融盐电解法(EMR/MSE法)、预制还原法(PRP法)等新型钛金属提取方法,分析其工艺流程及技术特点的同时,对日本废钛屑回收利用制备TiCl_4、采用MgCl_2熔盐电解钛屑脱氧净化等新工艺进行了评述。虽然理论与试验均证明了各种新方法的工艺可行性,但若要使其替代现用Kroll法生产工艺,仍需在简化生成设备、提升生产效率、提升产品纯度等方面进一步开展研究。

The progresses of Japan＇ s titanium metal preparation technologies in recent years, such as prep- aration of titanium sponge, new titanium metal extraction technologies,titanium scrap recovery and purifica- tion,were summarized in this paper. The technical progresses in adjustment of raw materials structure, en- hancement of single furnace production capacity, purity improvement of raw material （TiCl4 and Mg） and quality amelioration of titanium sponge, made by Osaka Titanium Technologies Co. , Ltd. and Toho Titanium Industry Co. ,Ltd. in preparation of titanium sponge ,were emphatically introduced. The use ratio of titanium material containing 90% -92% TiO2 is more than 30%. Titanium sponge production capacity of single fur- nace has reached to 13 tons. The stable production and preparation process of high purity titanium has been established by Kroll process and the purity of titanium metal is 99.999% （5N9）. Alternative titanium metal extraction technologies to lower the production costs, which include OS （calcium thermic reduction） process,electronically mediated reaction and molten salt electrolysis （EMR/MSE process）, preformed re- duction process （PRP process）, and their technical characteristics were discussed. Recovery of titanium metal scrap for TiCl4 preparation and direct oxygen removal technique utilizing MgCl2 molten salt electroly- sis of titanium metal scrap were also reviewed. The technology feasibility of new methods was proved by the- ories and experiments, but further studies, such as simplifying the equipment, improving production efficien- cy and product purity, still need to be conducted for replacing the Kroll process.