Hydrogen Assisted Magnesiothermic Reduction (HAMR) of Commercial TiO2 to Produce Titanium Powder with Controlled Morphology and Particle Size

A two-step thermochemical reduction was developed to remove oxygen from commercial titanium dioxide, TiO2, producing metallic titanium powder. The first step was to remove >95% of the oxygen by Mg reduction in a hydrogen atmosphere, followed by a de-oxygenation step. The goal is to produce Ti powder that meets the standard specifications for titanium. Several ancillary steps including granulation and heat treatment were introduced to modify the powder morphology, particle size and powder density to make the powder suitable for a range of applications. Detailed compositional analysis indicated that the final product meets the ASTM B299 for general-purpose titanium sponge. The powder can be irregularly shaped or spherical with different granulation treatments.