A process to produce titanium powder from Ti2+ in the molten salt was confirmed experimentally.
It consists of the two steps. At the first step, titanium (IV) chloride gas dissolves in the molten
salt as the titanium (II) chloride by reacting chemically with the metallic titanium or magnesium.
At the second step, this molten salt is exposed to the metallic reductant Mg for the final reduction
to the metallic Ti powder. Experimentally the feed of TiCl4 gas and the subsequent reaction
with Ti prepared the molten salt containing 5-10 mass %Ti2+.
By Mg reduction of this salt, the well-isolated fine Ti particles were recovered.
The powder morphology and particle size depended on the Ti2+ concentration,
reduction temperature, time and the concentration of the by-product MgCl2.
The stirring by argon gas bubbling effectively grew the fine and round particles to
a few tens micro m in size.