He estimated that a kilogram of primary titanium metal is about 20 times more expensive than an equivalent quality of steel because it takes more energy to produce – although Fang and other scientists are working to invent less energy-intensive methods.
Titanium occurs in the earth’s crust as ilmenite, a heavy, opaque mineral mined mainly in China, Mozambique, South Africa and Canada. As a chemical element, titanium reacts rapidly with oxygen in the air to form the compound titanium dioxide. To separate the oxygen, companies use a method known as the Kroll process.
To start, titanium ore is heated to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and reacted with chlorine gas and carbon-rich oil to form ”coke.” This step yields a liquid chemical, titanium tetrachloride, and also produces carbon dioxide as a byproduct (similar to how blast furnaces for iron production release CO2). The liquid chemical is then subjected to another treatment using molten magnesium, resulting in a porous, spongy pure titanium metal.
The sponge is then crushed and melted and made into ingots, coils and bars — the types of products Timet plans to make at its solar-powered Ravenswood plant — and then into finished products.
The United States has not produced its own titanium sponge since 2020, after Timet closed the nation’s last remaining production line in Henderson, Nevada, where the company still melts titanium. Today, the US imports most of its titanium sponge supply from Japan and to a lesser extent from Kazakhstan.
Competition from cheap imports and falling global metal prices have made it difficult for US manufacturers to continue to produce sponges domestically. Rising energy costs have also strained operations, as have other energy-intensive industries, including domestic aluminum production. When Century Aluminum finally closed its Ravenswood smelter in 2015, the company cited high electricity prices as one of the main reasons.
Limiting costs and CO2 emissions from titanium
Finding cleaner sources of electricity to power titanium devices can help manage and potentially reduce the costs associated with manufacturing titanium products. But companies and researchers are also developing alternative methods for titanium production that aim to dramatically reduce energy use and curb carbon dioxide emissions in the supply chain.
At the University of Utah, Fang developed a new thermochemical process that uses hydrogen to separate titanium from oxygen at relatively low temperatures and in a fraction of the time required by conventional methods. Notably, the process can use scrap metal to produce high-purity titanium, eliminating the need for raw minerals and several other energy-intensive steps.
On a lifecycle basis, the hydrogen metallothermic reduction (HAMR) process can reduce CO2 emissions from titanium production by anywhere from 50 to 95 percent, depending on the end product, compared to conventional methods.
Fang’s research group received nearly $7 million in total federal funding, including from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, to develop the HAMR process. North Carolina-based IperionX later acquired both the technology and a pilot plant in Utah that can produce about 2 metric tons of titanium per year, mostly for prototypes.
IperionX is partnering with metal 3D printing technology leader SLM Solutions to develop low-carbon recycled titanium powder at a new facility in Virginia. (IperionX)
Next month, IperionX plans to begin operations at its first commercial-scale facility in Halifax County, Virginia, which will process approximately 125 metric tons of titanium per year. The company received a $12.7 million grant from the Department of Defense for the new facility, which will produce titanium products for potential customers such as Ford, Lockheed Martin and GKN Aerospace.
Dominic Allen, IperionX’s chief commercial officer, said the company was working to “re-establish” US titanium production for national security reasons. Today, China and Russia together control about 70 percent of the world market for primary titanium. IperionX also hopes that by producing less energy-intensive and therefore cheaper titanium, the metal can tap into new markets, potentially replacing aluminum and stainless steel in vehicles and construction materials.
“The titanium market is about $4 billion globally,” Allen said, adding that the global markets for aluminum and stainless steel are about $170 billion and $200 billion, respectively. ”So if you can buy just a fraction of those markets on price alone, there’s going to be a lot of growth in the titanium market from where it is today.”
Meanwhile, titanium producers are expanding to serve the existing market for the high-strength, lightweight metal, and in Timet’s case, harnessing clean energy as they scale.
In addition to its new plant in West Virginia, Timet operates titanium smelters in Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Timet’s two main U.S. competitors, ATI Materials and Howmet Aerospace, also operate smelters in Ohio, North Carolina and Washington.
The ”state-of-the-art” facility in Ravenswood will allow Timet to address growing demand for titanium products from the aerospace industry and other sectors, Precision Castparts’ Dugan said. The solar microgrid next door ”presents a unique opportunity to increase our titanium capacity using a renewable energy source,” he said.