Titanium is processed from its natural form using the Kroll process, which involves high heat and specialized equipment. The resulting titanium sponge is purified through leaching, distillation, and melting with other metals to create a flexible alloy. The finished product is used in various industries due to its low density and high corrosion resistance. Despite being widely available, the complex and expensive process of mining and refining makes titanium an expensive material.
Titanium sponge is a porous form of titanium that is created during the first processing stage. In its natural form, titanium is widely available within the earth’s crust. After being quarried, it is processed to remove excess materials and convert it into a usable, albeit expensive, product.
The conversion process used with raw titanium is called the Kroll process. This is a complex, multi-stage batch process that requires very high heat and specialized equipment. The Kroll process converts metal oxide to chloride by passing the metal over extremely hot rutile or ilmenite and carbon to create titanium tetrachloride. These chemicals are separated through a process called fractional distillation in which the components of a mixture are separated based on their different boiling points.
The resulting material from the Kroll process is titanium sponge. This sponge is then subjected to leaching or heated vacuum distillation to remove further impurities. The remaining materials in the sponge are pounded, crushed, pressed and melted to remove even more impurities.
In the next stage of the process, the titanium sponge is melted. It is then subjected to a fractional distillation process to remove excess liquid and combined with molten magnesium, iron aluminum, vanadium or molybdenum and argon in a very hot furnace. The purpose of combining these materials is to add strength and stability to the titanium sponge and create a flexible metal alloy.
At this point, the converted titanium sponge is ready for fabrication. Some companies sell the titanium sponge as a finished product, while others complete the conversion process in-house. The sponge can now be shaped into mill shapes such as a bar, plate, sheet or tube. These products are then shipped to different factories and manufacturers to create finished products for commercial use.
Titanium is used to make jet engine parts, missiles, orthopedic implants, jewelry and cell phones. The most important properties of titanium are its low density and high level of corrosion resistance. Although six times more expensive than steel, titanium is highly resistant to corrosion in both seawater and chlorinated water, making it popular with a wide range of manufacturers.
Titanium was first discovered and documented by William Gregor in 1791. Although purified titanium is quite expensive, it is available in its basic form, in nearly all living creatures. It can also be found in rocks, water and soil. The process of mining and combining with alloys is what makes the procedure complex and expensive.
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