Gel of elemental material or alloy and liquid metal and salt
AssigneeKroftt-Brakston International, Inc.
InventorsRichard P. Anderson, Donn R. Armstrong, Stanley S. Borys
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of producing a non-metal element or a metal or an alloy thereof from a halide or mixtures thereof. The halide or mixtures thereof are contacted with a stream of liquid alkali metal or alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof in sufficient quantity to convert the halide to the non-metal or the metal or alloy and to maintain the temperature of the reactants at a temperature lower than the lesser of the boiling point of the alkali or alkaline earth metal at atmospheric pressure or the sintering temperature of the produced non-metal or metal or alloy. A continuous method is disclosed, particularly applicable to titanium.
Claims20
A method of producing an elemental material of Ti, Al, Sn, Sb, Be, B, Ga, Mo, Nb, Ta, Zr, V, Ir, Os, Re, U or an alloy thereof from a halide vapor of the elemental material or mixtures thereof comprising introducing the halide vapor or mixtures thereof into a continuum of a liquid alkali metal or a liquid alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof to convert the halide vapor to elemental material or an alloy, said liquid alkali metal or liquid alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof being present in an amount in excess of the stoichiometric amount needed to reduce the halide to cool the elemental material or alloy to temperatures below the sintering temperature thereof.
A method of continuously producing a non-metal or a metal or an alloy thereof comprising, providing a supply of halide vapor of the metal or non-metal or mixtures thereof, providing a supply of a liquid alkali metal or a liquid alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof as a reducing agent, introducing the halide vapor in a continuum of the liquid alkali metal or alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof at a velocity not less than the sonic velocity of the halide vapor to produce a powder of a non-metal or a metal or an alloy thereof and a halide of the alkali or alkaline earth metal by an exothermic reaction, maintaining the temperature of substantially all of the powder produced below the sintering temperature thereof and separating the powder from the reactants.
A method of producing Ti powder from a source of TiCl4 vapor, comprising introducing the TiCl4 vapor submerged in liquid Na or Na with an alkaline earth metal to reduce TiCl4 to a Ti powder and the halide salts of the Na or alkaline earth metals present and separating the Ti powder from the combination of Ti powder and unreacted metal and salt.
A method of producing an elemental material or an alloy thereof from a chloride vapor of the elemental material or a mixture of halide vapors of two or more elemental materials comprising the steps of introducing the chloride vapor or mixture of chloride vapors into a reaction zone in the interior of a flowing stream of a liquid alkali metal, a liquid alkaline earth metal, or any mixture thereof;
- intimately mixing the chloride vapor or mixture of chloride vapors with the flowing metal stream to cause a reduction reaction therebetween and form the elemental material or alloy thereof and a salt of the alkali metal, the alkaline earth metal, or any mixture thereof, and separating the elemental material or alloy thereof from the salt and unreacted metal
A method of producing an elemental material of Ti, Al, Sn, Sb, Be, B, Ga, Mo, Nb, Ta, Zr, V, Ir, Os, Re, U or an alloy thereof from a halide vapor of the elemental material or mixtures thereof comprising introducing the halide vapor or mixtures thereof into a liquid continuum of alkali metal or liquid alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof to convert the halide vapor to elemental material or an alloy wherein the liquid continuum is present in sufficient quantity to maintain the temperature of substantially all of the reaction products below the sintering temperature thereof.
A method of producing Ti powder from a source of TiCl4 vapor, comprising introducing the TiCl4 vapor within a continuum of a liquid reducing metal principally of Na, Mg or mixtures thereof to produce Ti powder and a salt of the reducing metal or metals by a subsurface reaction and separating the Ti powder from the liquid reducing metal, wherein substantially all of the Ti powder has a particle diameter in the range of from about 0.1 microns to about 10 microns.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.