Idaho Research Foundation, Inc.

Lee S Richardson

Robert W Bartlett

James J Hemenway

Kay D Bowles

A process for producing salt free titanium powder by reacting zinc and a titanium halide in the presence of a reducing agent to form a solid zinc titanium product. Titanium halide vapor is introduced into a liquid alloy of zinc and the reducing agent at a temperature between 650.degree.-907.degree. C. The titanium halide is introduced beyond the titanium solubility limit in zinc to precipitate a zinc titanium intermetallic compound and also produce a liquid halide salt. The intermetallic compound forms and accumulates at an interface between the salt and liquid alloy. The compound is periodically removed from the interface, crushed into a powder, and the zinc is evaporatively separated from the titanium to produce pure titanium powder. The process preferably occurs above the peritectic decomposition temperature of Zn.sub.3 Ti, and most preferably above the peritectic decomposition temperature of Zn.sub.2 Ti, to maximize the titanium content of the resulting product.

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Moscow, ID, United States of America

Lee S Richardson