A new concept for producing Ti sponge: Calciothermic reduction

This article presents a new cell concept for the calciothermic reduction of titanium dioxide and an ongoing test program for its experimental verification. The thermochemical background of this concept is focused and a new cell design is described. This system consists of a single cell, where both the reduction reaction and the electrolytic reaction for recovery of reducing agent coexist in the same molten calcium-chloride bath. The theoretical electric energy requirement for this cell is about half of that for the magnesium electrolytic cell in the Kroll process.