Review—The Emerging Technologies for Producing Low-Cost Titanium

Abstract

This paper presents a thorough review of various technologies to obtain titanium and its alloys and their discussion concerning their merits and demerits. Titanium and its alloys are ideal advanced structural materials because of their excellent properties such as high corrosion resistance, exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, bio-compatible, non-magnetic and mechanical properties. As a result, such materials are served extensively for several engineering applications that include wind turbines, auto industries, biomedical implants, aerospace industry, marine structures, and many others. However, the low yield and higher cost production of the current employed energy-intensive Kroll process restricts the widespread use of titanium and its alloys. Numerous alternative extraction processes have been developed during the last few decades to produce titanium and its alloys in a more accessible and cost-effective way. Amid growing demand for titanium in the market, it is necessary to consider the impact of technological innovations that can reduce titanium production cost. Recent research and developments on the electrochemical reduction method of titanium production from molten salts or ionic liquids have shown promising results. This paper reviews the developments on titanium production and its alloys by various techniques, including but not limited to molten salt electrolysis processes, such as the FFC-Cambridge process, the OS process, the USTB process, and ionic-liquid electrolysis.