Cost-Breakthrough Titanium Production as a Commodity Metal
Summary:
With funding from MDA, Vartech, Inc. (Idaho Falls, ID), has developed a process to produce titanium-aluminide alloy powders using a chemical vapor-phase process. The alloys are ideal for high-temperature environments in which weight is important, since the alloys have greater strength-to-weight ratio than aluminum alloys. The company seeks to produce high-value coated materials and other products that would demand a high dollar-per-pound value. Potential applications include aircraft/aerospace parts, missile components, and high-temperature valves such as those used in automotive equipment.
Technology Description:
Vartech has developed a chemical reactor that utilizes a vapor-phase process to produce titanium-aluminide alloy powders directly. The chemical process uses aluminum-chloride gas as a reducing agent. Titanium tetrachloride is then reduced in the vapor phase to generate alloy powders. The reactor operates under normal atmospheric conditions.
Vartech personnel consider conventional titanium production methods as too expensive and complicated. In general, the titanium production process is expensive because of titanium's tendency to react with other elements. The conventional method of production requires lengthy steps to avoid that reactivity. The traditional production method, known as the Kroll process, often begins with titanium tetrachloride. The titanium tetrachloride is reacted with magnesium (which by itself can be expensive) in an effort to remove chlorines. The result is a mass of material from which magnesium chloride then must be separated. Electrorefining the material under a vacuum results in a bulk titanium sponge. If the material is intended for use in alloy powder – for application in aircraft parts, missile parts or high-temperature automotive valves, for example – the material must be melted and blasted with an inert gas such as helium or argon to atomize the material. The titanium must then be reacted to form titanium-aluminide alloys. Vartech's process promises a direct alternative to this lengthy conventional method.
MDA Origins:
MDA funded the company's titanium-production project for its potential in producing more affordable materials for military aerospace structures. The company has received funding through an SBIR Phase II award. In pursuing the funding, Vartech cited the efficiency of high-performance propulsion systems and turbines as being limited by the high-temperature capabilities of materials used for engine components. Vartech points out that relatively lightweight gamma-titanium-aluminide-based intermetallic alloys have shown particular promise in comparison with the heavier titanium- and nickel-based alloys used in both the combustion and compressor sections of engines.
Spinoff Applications:
Titanium-reinforced and titanium-aluminum-reinforced composite aerospace components, such as advanced silicon-carbide-fiber-reinforced titanium alloy aeroengine and structural components, are under development in countries such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and China. Such advanced composites require expensive titanium and titanium- aluminide powders and/or foils in their manufacture. Vartech's process can dramatically reduce the manufacturing cost of titanium-aluminide powders for use in the aerospace, automotive, and infrastructural industries. Products created by the company's process could provide an attractive alternative to applications of aluminum, or other products in which low weight, strength, and high-temperature performance are important factors. Such applications include aircraft/aerospace parts, missile components, and automotive parts or equipment.
Commercialization:
In raw form, on a strength-to-weight basis, titanium can be up to five times stronger than aluminum. Aluminum, however, is cheaper to produce. Pure aluminum ingots sell for around 60 cents per pound, while aircraft-quality titanium billets and refined titanium bulk ''sponge'' sell for close to $1 per pound. Moreover, using conventional methods to produce titanium in more specialized alloy powder form results in much higher production costs, with prices for titanium alloys escalating to as much as $75 per pound.
Vartech's focus, therefore, is on not only offering a less expensive alternative to conventional titanium alloy production, but also on rivaling the cost advantage of aluminum. One of Vartech's key objectives is to make titanium-aluminide alloy powders at $3 to $5 per pound in a large plant, generating a large tonnage. Vartech expects that its cheaper, commercially available titanium alloys would find use in products such as automotive turbochargers and industrial valves, where strength and weight considerations are important, as is cost. As of July 2005, the company has initiated a Phase III effort (i.e., commercialization) in a search for capital and partnerships that will allow it to grow into that capacity. Vartech personnel also have been working with the Idaho governor's office and several Idaho universities to study market sizes and opportunities.
Ultimately, the company would on its own seek to produce high-value coated materials and other products, such as superalloy materials that would demand a high dollar-per-pound value. Coated materials might include titanium carbide as well as silicon carbide or tungsten carbide coated with titanium alloys. Vartech's plan calls for licensing out other titanium alloy production technology to companies such as large metals producers. The company continues to conduct experiments with its reactor and fine-tune production techniques. Vartech researchers also are running tests on coating fibers and filaments, as well as studying reactor thermodynamics, cost projections and yield.
Company Profile:
Vartech, Inc., specializes in materials technology. The company, which has five employees, was founded to develop the commercial potential of high-production material processes. Vartech also conducts materials R&D for government, university, industry, and private concerns.
Company services involve materials engineering (e.g., parametric testing), materials research and development, applications development, materials characterization and evaluation, process evaluation, materials technical consultation, and computational studies.
Vartech is a technology-transfer spinoff company of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and maintains close ties to the laboratory. The company is owned by Dominic J. Varacalle, Jr., and Jay Myrick and was formed in January 1993. Vartech was incorporated in July 1993.
Contact Information:
Dominic J. Varacalle, Jr.
Vartech, Inc.
2230 N. Yellowstone Highway
Idaho Falls, ID 83401
Tel: (208) 552-5655
Fax: (208) 528-7127
email: djv@iictr.com
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