High purity Zr and Hf metals and their manufacture
AssigneeTeledyne Industries, Inc.
InventorRandall L. Scheel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The process for preparing zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, tantalum, or niobium metal comprising providing in first vessel means a eutectic solution of a chloro, bromo or iodo salt of zirconium or hafnium in a molten thermal body of one or more alkali or alkaline earth metal halides at a non-vaporizing temperature, transferring said eutectic solution to second vessel means, maintaining said second vessel means at a temperature sufficient to vaporize said salt, transferring the salt vapor independently to a bank of separately fed reduction crucibles, the supply of said eutectic solution to said second vessel means being maintained such that said salt vapor can be supplied substantially continuously to said crucibles in a selective manner dependent upon the operating status of each crucible.
Claims7
The process for preparing metals selected from the group consisting of zirconium, hafnium, tantalum, vanadium, and niobium comprising providing in first vessel means a eutectic solution of a chloro, bromo or iodo salt of the selected metal in a molten thermal body of one or more alkali or alkaline earth metal halides at a non-vaporizing temperature, transferring said eutectic solution to second vessel means, maintaining said second vessel means at a temperature sufficient to vaporize said salt, transferring the salt vapor independently to a bank of separately fed reduction crucibles, the supply of said eutectic solution to said second vessel means being maintained such that said salt vapor can be supplied substantially continuously to said crucibles in a selective manner dependent upon the operating status of each crucible.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.