Project BriefOpen Competition 2 - Chemistry and MaterialsTitanium Hydride ProductionDevelop a rapid plasma-quench process for producing 50-300 micrometer titanium metal powder at a substantially lower cost than possible with the current process, thereby enabling significantly increased use of lightweight titanium by the automobile industry. Sponsor: Idaho Titanium Technologies, Inc.101 Technology DriveIdaho Falls, ID 83401
Replacement of steel with titanium in a variety of automotive parts would increase vehicle fuel efficiency, thus lowering United States dependence on foreign oil. Currently, titanium is manufactured as ingots through the labor-intensive, Kroll batch-wise process, which involves a chemical reaction of titanium tetrachloride with magnesium, followed by separation and purification. Idaho Titanium Technologies proposes to develop a much more efficient and cost-effective "rapid plasma quench process," building on a process originally developed at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory. The rapid plasma quench process would convert raw titanium tetrachloride into ultrafine titanium metal powder by thermally dissociating it in a plasma arc at over 4,500 degrees Celsius. Direct heating of the reactant enables very short residence times in a very small reactor. The key technical challenge that the project will address is the development and demonstration of an innovative method to grow the nanometer-size particles produced by the process into particle sizes safe for handling (50-300 micrometers.) The University of Idaho, a subcontractor, will demonstrate that the powder can be used to form high quality solid parts using standard parts fabrication techniques. Economic analyses suggest that a commercial powder production system could produce titanium powder at $5.19/kg and titanium ingot at $6.01/kg, prices -- less than 60 percent of the target price desired by the automotive industry to expand its use of titanium. If succesfully developed, the value of the process may be even greater. It may prove useful for the production of other metal powders (such as aluminum, vanadium, zirconium, and magnesium), intermetallic materials, and ceramic powders, and for the thermal destruction of hazardous materials.
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