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About the titanium production...


albertlee

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TiO2 + C + 2Cl --> TiCl2 + CO2

 

then

 

TiCl2 + Mg --> Ti + MgCl2

 

 

above is the typical way of producing titanium...

 

however, why not just react TiO2 with C, so the reaction looks like:

 

TiO2 + C --> Ti + CO2...

 

 

wouldnt the simpler method uses much less energy??

 

 

please help

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the chlorine is to help the oxygenfree itself from the titanium. while it could happen without the chlorine, the temperature would have to be higher for the reaction to go at an appreachiable(sp?) rate. ths is usually not practical for a large scale production plant. however in a lab your proposed metho would be fine ast you wouldn't need tonnes of titanium.

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TiO2 + C + 2Cl --> TiCl2 + CO2

 

then

 

TiCl2 + Mg --> Ti + MgCl2

 

 

above is the typical way of producing titanium...

 

however' date=' why not just react TiO2 with C, so the reaction looks like:

 

TiO2 + C --> Ti + CO2...

 

 

wouldnt the simpler method uses much less energy??

 

 

please help[/quote']

 

I'm not shure but I think its because the Carbon Dioxide can react with the Titanium again.

 

I'm not shure if it does but thats what I think :)

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

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it can dissolve TiO2? maybe, i don't know. i should probably research before giving answers... nah.

 

Yea it is - it lowers the melting point of the [ce]TiO2[/ce] I think and I think it allows it to conduct elecricity more easily :)

 

This may be of help (It defines what an electrolyte is): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elecrolyte

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

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however' date=' why not just react TiO2 with C, so the reaction looks like:

 

TiO2 + C --> Ti + CO2...

[/quote']

If you mix TiO2 and C, then you'll not get pure titanium, but you get titanium carbide, TiC, and carbon monoxide. TiC is an extremely inert and high-melting compound, so, once this is formed, it will be hard to get rid of the carbon.

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If you mix TiO2 and C, then you'll not get pure titanium, but you get titanium carbide, TiC, and carbon monoxide. TiC is an extremely inert and high-melting compound, so, once this is formed, it will be hard to get rid of the carbon.

 

woelen - do you happen to know if Titanium Carbide has any uses? Could something with such a high melting point be used to line the interior of blast furnaces for example?

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

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woelen - do you happen to know if Titanium Carbide has any uses? Could something with such a high melting point be used to line the interior of blast furnaces for example?

 

Cheers' date='

 

Ryan Jones[/quote']

I'm not sure about that. A meterial, being inert and having a high melting point may still not be suitable. If the material is very brittle and has a high thermal expansion coefficient, then still it is quite useless from an engineering point of view.

 

A similar problem exists at the moment for the "high-temperature" superconducting compounds (barium-yttrium-copper-oxides with traces of other elements). These compounds are inert, but also very brittle and the last property prevents the use of such compounds in commercial devices. It might be that a similar problem exists for TiC. I personally never have read anything about the use of TiC in commercial devices.

Is there someone else over here who knows about applications of this compound?

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I have read an article on this which I cant fully understand, but they mention that that typical electrolyte is used to cause something like electro-deoxidation of titanium oxide........

 

In such process, electrons are attracted to oxygen forming O2-, where it then goes to the anode and release the 2- to the electrode and bubble off....

 

can any one explain from this perspective??

 

thanks

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