日本金属钛制备工艺技术研究进展

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。

Progress in Japan's Titanium Metal Preparation Technologies

The progresses of Japan' s titanium metal preparation technologies in recent years,such as preparation of titanium sponge,new titanium metal extraction technologies,titanium scrap recovery and purification,were summarized in this paper.The technical progresses in adjustment of raw materials structure,enhancement 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 furnace 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 reduction 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 electrolysis of titanium metal scrap were also reviewed.The technology feasibility of new methods was proved by theories and experiments,but further studies,such as simplifying the equipment,improving production efficiency and product purity,still need to be conducted for replacing the Kroll process.