Process for reducing metal halides by reaction with calcium carbide
AssigneeBattelle Memorial Institute
InventorsClaude Gentaz, Gerard Bienvenu
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Abstract
A metal halide is reduced by reacting it with calcium carbide in a bath in which the calcium carbide is dissolved in a mixture of a halide of at least one alkali metal, specifically sodium, potassium, rubidium and/or cesium, with a halide of at least one alkaline-earth metal, specifically calcium, strontium and/or barium. The desired metal may be one of the aforementioned alkali or alkaline-earth metals, e.g. sodium or magnesium, in which case its halide is one of the constituents of the mixture. Otherwise, a vapor of a halide of the desired metal (e.g. titanium tetrachloride) is bubbled through the bath in order to react with the calcium carbide.
Claims3
A process for obtaining a desired alkali metal, selected from the group which consists of sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium, from a halide thereof, comprising the steps of:
- forming a solvent bath by melting a mixture of said halide of the desired alkali metal and a halide of at least one alkaline-earth metal selected from the group which consists of calcium, strontium and barium;
- homogenizing the molten mixture;
- dissolving calcium carbide in the homogenized mixture;
- and
- reacting the dissolved calcium carbide in said bath with said halide of the desired alkali metal for a period and at a temperature sufficient to bring about a reduction of the last-mentioned halide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.