Method for manufacturing titanium powder or titanium composite powder

A method for manufacturing titanium composite powder comprising:

• introducing a vertically downwardly flowing stream of a molten reducing agent comprising a molten alloy at a temperature from 100.degree. to 900.degree. C. into a reaction vessel through a nozzle;
• ejecting a stream of a titanium tetrachloride gas at a temperature of from 650.degree. to 900.degree. C. to contact the stream of said molten reducing agent and atomize said molten reducing agent and react said atomized molten reducing agent with said titanium tetrachloride gas at a reaction temperature of up to 1000.degree. C. to form titanium composite particles and a chloride reaction product, wherein said flow stream of titanium tetrachloride gas has a flow velocity u in cm/sec determined by following equation:
• ##EQU3## where, D.sub.L is an inner diameter in cm of said nozzle,
• .rho. is a difference in density in g/cm.sup.3 between said molten reducing agent and said titanium tetrachloride gas,
• .tau. is a surface tension in dyne/cm between said molten reducing agent and said titanium tetrachloride gas, and
• separating said titanium composite particles from said chloride reaction product outside of said vessel to produce a titanium composite powder.

A method for manufacturing titanium composite powder, comprising:

• introducing a vertically downwardly flowing stream of a molten reducing agent at a temperature of from 100.degree. to 900.degree. C. into a reaction vessel through a nozzle;
• ejecting a stream of a mixed gas at a temperature from 650.degree. to 900.degree. C. to contact the stream of said molten reducing agent, said mixed gas comprising gaseous titanium tetrachloride and a gaseous chloride of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, vanadium, tin, chromium, iron, zirconium and zinc, said contact causing said molten reducing agent to atomize and to react with said mixed gas at a reaction temperature of up to 1000.degree. C. to form titanium composite particles and a chloride reaction product, wherein said flow stream of mixed gas has a flow velocity u in cm/sec determined by following equation:
• ##EQU4## where, D.sub.L is an inner diameter of said nozzle,
• .rho. is a difference in density in g/cm.sub.3 between said molten reducing agent and said mixed gas,
• .tau. is a surface tension in dyne/cm between said molten reducing agent and said mixed gas, and
• separating said titanium composite particles from said chloride reaction product outside of said vessel to produce a titanium composite powder.