Overview of the development of titanium industry in China

In 1791, the British personality W. Gregor discovered the new metallic element titanium in black magnets. In 1795, the German chemist M. H. Klaproth also discovered this element in rutile, naming it Titans after the Greek god Titan, the son of heaven and earth.

In 1910, the American scientist M. A. Hunter first produced malleable metal titanium by reducing TiCl4 with metallic sodium, which is the famous Hunter method for preparing metal titanium.

In 1940, the Luxembourg scientist W.J. Kroll produced titanium metal by reducing TiCl4 with magnesium, forming the mainstream method for preparing titanium metal - the Kroll process. The metal titanium prepared by the Claus process has better quality and higher safety in the production process, and has become the only industrialized method for the production of sponge titanium at present. The United States first produced sponge titanium using the Claus process in 1948, followed by Japan in 1952, the United Kingdom in 1953, the Soviet Union in 1956, and China in 1958.

Titanium and its alloys have received widespread attention because they have a series of outstanding advantages.

Titanium has a melting point of 1668 ℃, 138 ℃ higher than iron, and is a high melting point metal. The melting point of commonly used titanium alloy Ti-6AI-4V ranges from 1540 to 1650 ℃, which is also higher than the melting point of iron.

Titanium has a density of 4.51g/cm3, which is only 57.4% of iron. It is a light metal and a high melting point metal among light metals. The commonly used Ti-6AI-4V alloy has a lower density, only 4.42g/cm3.

Pure titanium has a low strength, but titanium alloys have a high strength. The strength of the commonly used Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy after aging can reach 1166 MPa, which is equivalent to that of high-strength steel. Therefore, titanium alloy has a very high specific strength, far surpassing magnesium alloy, aluminum alloy, and high-strength steel, making it a good structural material.

Titanium alloy is a good spring material due to its low elastic modulus and high yield strength.

Titanium and its alloys have excellent corrosion resistance properties, especially in salt baths containing chloride ions, where the corrosion rate is almost zero, so they are widely used as corrosion resistant materials.

Titanium alloys have excellent high-temperature properties. Some high-temperature titanium alloys can work stably at 600 ℃, especially new Ti-Al alloys, which can even work stably at 800~1000 ℃, making them excellent materials for aircraft engines.

Titanium alloys also have good low-temperature properties, and some titanium alloys still have good plasticity at - 200 ℃, making them suitable for use as aerospace materials.

Titanium and its alloys are nonmagnetic and do not magnetize even in strong magnetic fields.

Titanium and its alloys have very low damping properties and slow attenuation of sound waves and vibrations in titanium, making them suitable for use as sonar materials.

Titanium and its alloys have excellent biocompatibility with the human body and are suitable for use as human implant materials.

Titanium and its alloys have similar thermal expansion coefficients and electrochemical potentials to carbon fiber materials, and have good compatibility, making them suitable for composite materials.

Titanium and its alloys have so many advantages that they are widely used in fields such as aviation, aerospace, naval vessels, offshore oil exploration, seawater desalination, real life salt production, chemical engineering, electric power, metallurgy, textiles, paper making, food, medical treatment, sports and leisure, and are known as "space metal", "ocean metal", and "smart metal". Titanium and its alloys are important strategic materials.

China's titanium industry has developed under the direct leadership of the Party and government, driven by the demand for national defense and economic construction. The development of China's titanium industry has generally experienced three stages: entrepreneurship, growth, and rise.

The entrepreneurial period covered 1954 to 1978. During this period, under the unified leadership of the state, China has conducted titanium exploration, mining and beneficiation, smelting, processing, application technology research, and industrial trials; The establishment of key titanium smelting and processing enterprises represented by Zunyi Titanium Plant and Baoji Non ferrous Metal Processing Plant has realized the industrialization of titanium; A complete titanium industry system has been established, including titanium exploration, mining, beneficiation, smelting, processing, application, and research; It provides much-needed titanium products for many key national defense projects and national economic construction.

The growth period covers the period from 1979 to 2000. During this period, China's titanium industry has carried out a lot of work in titanium smelting, processing, application technology, and new alloy development, and made solid technological progress; Carry out innovative application and promotion of titanium and its alloys: with the goal of modern enterprise system, state-owned enterprises gradually began to reform and restructure, and private enterprises began to enter the field of titanium application and titanium processing; A large number of titanium products are widely used in various sectors of the national economy. In short, during the 22 years of growth, the progress of China's titanium industry has been gradual and solid, laying a solid foundation for the take-off of the new century.

Since 2001, it has been a rising period. During this period, China's titanium industry has achieved explosive growth along with the long-term sustained and rapid development of the national economy. In 2000, China's sponge titanium production was 1751t, and titanium processing material production was 2206t. In 2010, China's sponge titanium production was 57770t, an increase of 32.0 times in 10 years; In 2010, the output of titanium processed materials in China was 38323t, an increase of 16.4 times. In 2010, the production capacity of sponge titanium of Zunyi Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. reached 24000t, and the output reached 14248t; The titanium ingot production capacity of Baoti Group reaches 25000 tons, and the actual production of titanium processing materials also reaches 13010 tons; China has two world-class titanium industry factories, and titanium processing materials have been widely used in chemical, aviation, aerospace, sports and leisure, electric power, light industry, and other industries. In 2010, China's titanium consumption reached 35636t, making it a major country using titanium.

In 1954, the Beijing General Research Institute of Non ferrous Metals (formerly the Comprehensive Research Institute of Non ferrous Metals of the Ministry of Heavy Industry) established two sponge titanium research groups (electrolysis group and magnesium reduction group) to begin research on the preparation process of sponge titanium. The magnesium reduction group prepared sponge titanium samples in November 1955, with a purity of 99.2%.

Based on the research on the process of producing sponge titanium by magnesium reduction method at Beijing General Research Institute of Non ferrous Metals, the design and construction of a sponge titanium test workshop at Fushun Aluminum Plant was started in 1956, with a design scale of 60 t/a. In March 1959, the pilot production of sponge titanium was started, and 60 t of sponge titanium was produced that year.

In 1956, the Beijing General Research Institute of Non ferrous Metals established a research group to begin research on the processing technology of titanium and its alloys. In August 195, a titanium ingot with a diameter of 65 mm and a weight of 1 kg was prepared. In the same year, the first titanium tube in China was extruded at the Northeast Light Alloy Processing Plant.

In October 1958, the 621 Institute of the Third Machine Department produced a titanium alloy ingot with a diameter of 80mm. In the same year, a 1mm thick BT3-1 titanium alloy plate was rolled at the Shenyang Non ferrous Metal Processing Plant.

In September 1959, the National Science and Technology Commission decided to build a titanium melting and casting plant (Wuyi Workshop) in Shenyang Non ferrous Metal Processing Plant. In 19, China's first titanium production workshop including melting and casting, forging, rolling, and other sections was completed.

In October 1964, the preparation for the construction of Zunyi Titanium Plant was started (the construction scale was determined to be 1000 t/a in May 1965). On September 17, 1970, the first batch of sponge titanium was produced, realizing the full process production of the titanium system.

In March 1965, the construction of Plant 902 (now Baoti Group and Northwest Research Institute of Non ferrous Metals) began. The main equipment of the plant was imported from more than ten countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, and other countries, including two 3t vacuum consumable electric arc furnaces, 3150t horizontal extrusion machines, two 12m vacuum annealing furnaces, 1200mm hot rolling and cold rolling mills, with a production capacity of 1000t/a. The casting workshop was put into production in 1967, the pipe workshop was put into production in 1968, the forging workshop was put into production in 1969, and the plate workshop was put into production in 1971. The output of titanium processing materials in this factory was 1.4t in 1970 and 328.2t in 1978, accounting for about 65% of the national output at that time.

In addition to Fushun Titanium Plant and Zunyi Titanium Plant, in the 1960s and 1970s, China successively established sponge titanium production lines in Shanghai No. 2 Smelter, Jinzhou Ferroalloy Plant, Xingtai Non ferrous Metal Smelter, Tianjin Chemical Plant, and Zhanjiang Chemical Plant, but in the end, production was discontinued due to market or technical reasons. In addition to Plant 902, in the 1960s and 1970s, Shanghai Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., No. 5 Steel Plant, Fushun Steel Plant, and Great Wall Steel Plant also produced various titanium processing materials using a combination of steel and titanium.

In the 1960s and 1970s, while titanium smelting and processing production enterprises were closely arranged and constructed, China's Ministry of Metallurgy's Nonferrous Metals Research Institute, Shanghai Institute of Metallurgy, Baoji Rare Metals Processing Research Institute (now Northwest Institute), the Third Mechanical Department 621 Institute (now Beijing Aerospace Materials Institute), the Sixth Mechanical Department 725 Institute (now 725 Institute of Shipbuilding Heavy Industry), the Seventh Mechanical Department 703 Institute (now 703 Institute of Aerospace Industry), the Institute of Metals of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin Institute of Metallurgical Materials, and Shenyang Institute of Metallurgy, As well as Beijing Institute of Aeronautics, Northwest Polytechnic University, Northeast Institute of Technology and other universities, they have actively carried out research on titanium smelting and processing technology, forming a momentum of combining production, education, and research to jointly develop the titanium industry, and also providing a solid technical foundation for the development of China's titanium industry.

On the basis of extensive research and trial use, the first batch of ministerial standards for sponge titanium and titanium processing materials in China were formed in 1970, including a sponge titanium standard, a titanium and titanium alloy grade and chemical composition standard containing 21 alloy grades, a titanium and titanium alloy plate standard, and a titanium belt standard, providing technical support for the application of titanium products in China.

In July 1982, the Party Central Committee approved the report of Vice Premier Fang Hu and established a national titanium application promotion leading group, with Ye Zhiqiang and Qiu Chunfu serving as team leaders. The National Titanium Application Promotion Leading Group Office was established with Li Dongying as the director. This measure has had a very far-reaching impact on the development of China's titanium industry.

In order to promote the development of the titanium industry, the country has introduced a series of preferential support policies, which are reflected in the following aspects.

① In November 1980, the State Planning Commission and the National Import and Export Commission submitted a letter to the Ministry of Metallurgy in which they replied, "The leaders of the State Council approved the policy of using titanium for titanium production." That is, based on the profits paid in 1979 as a lump sum basis, the profits increased due to increased production from 1980 to 1985 can be left to enterprises for use as construction funds for "using titanium for titanium production.".

② The State Administration of Taxation approved the tax exemption for titanium products from May 1, 1983 to 1989.

③ From 1983 to 1988, the National Economic Commission allocated a total of 10.03 million yuan to the "National Titanium Office" for the promotion of new technologies, which was used for the titanium application and promotion pilot project.

④ From 1987 to 1995, the National Economic and Technological Reform Bureau allocated a total of 213.2 million yuan in loans for technological transformation projects to titanium equipment users.

⑤ The export of titanium products enjoys tariff exemption, export tax refund, and discount incentive policies.

These policies have played an important role in broadening the application field of titanium materials and promoting the development of the titanium industry.

In 1982, Shenyang Non ferrous Metal Processing Factory tested and equipped China's first titanium welded pipe production line. Baoji 902 Factory introduced a titanium welded pipe production line from the United States in 1986, forming a production capacity of 200 t/a titanium welded pipe.

In August 1983, Factory 902 established a titanium equipment branch, forming a formal titanium equipment production capacity.

In 1983, the Fifth Plant of Shanghai Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. independently designed and manufactured sponge titanium electronic weighing devices, mechanical mixing devices, etc., and established a mixing and distribution system for raw materials. The 902 Plant began to introduce equipment and build its own mixing and distribution system in 1987.

In 1985, Factory 902 imported equipment such as SXP13 precision forging machines from Austria and established a precision titanium bar production line in 1986.

In 1987, Plant 902 imported 21 sets of equipment from the United States and built China's first advanced titanium residue recovery production line.

In 1987, Factory 902 imported second-hand equipment such as 3300 mm four-roller reversible rolling from Germany and built a titanium wide plate rolling production line.

In 1987, the Fifth Plant of Shanghai Iron and Steel Group independently designed and built a small isothermal die forging production line composed of 500t presses, and gradually developed into a series of isothermal die forging production lines composed of 500t, 800L, 2000t, 3000L, 63001, and 10000t presses, with a production capacity of 8000 pieces/a and a maximum projected area of forgings of 2.0m2.

During the "Seventh Five Year Plan" period, units such as Zunyi Titanium Factory have successfully tackled the key issues of sieve plate free boiling chlorination technology and inverted U-shaped 5t combined furnace preparation of sponge titanium. In 1990, a $1200mm fluidized bed chlorination furnace and an inverted U-shaped 5t combined furnace were used for production, forming a production capacity of 2000t/a sponge titanium.

In 1991, Factory 902 purchased the ""? The 3000mm ring rolling mill has built a unique titanium and titanium alloy ring rolling production line in China.

In 1994, 621 Institute of Aviation and 725 Institute of China Shipbuilding Heavy Industry overcame technical difficulties such as wax mold injection molding and built their own precision casting production lines.

In 1998, Plant 902 was equipped with bending machines, hydraulic presses, and other equipment, combined with plate mills, to establish a production line for laminated composite plates and their products. In 2001, Zunyi Xuan Plant realized the automatic operation of the steam return process; In 2001, the self-developed inverted U-shaped 8t furnace was successful, and its capacity was expanded to 3000t/a with self-raised funds; In 2004? The 2400 mm sieve plate free fluidized bed chlorination furnace was successfully tested and transferred to industrial production; In 2005, the demonstration project of modern production technology and equipment industrialization for sponge titanium with an annual output of 5000 tons was successful, and the factory's production capacity exceeded 10000 t/a.

In 2005, a private enterprise, Chaoyang Baisheng Zirconium Titanium Co., Ltd., established a production capacity of 5000 t/a of sponge titanium and began to intervene in the production of sponge titanium.

In 2006, Zunyi Titanium Plant successfully developed an inverted U-shaped 12t retort furnace and put it into production; Fushun Titanium Industry? The 2.56m large fluidized bed chlorination furnace was successfully tested and transferred to trial production.

In 2008, Luoyang Shuangrui Wanji Titanium Industry Company successfully developed a multipolar electrolytic cell; The total production capacity of sponge titanium in China reaches 71000 t/a.

In 2003, Baoti Group introduced a 10t vacuum consumable arc furnace from German ALD company, and then continued to introduce it. As of 2010, a total of 7 such furnaces were introduced, forming a titanium ingot production capacity of 25000 t/a.

In 2003, the Northwest Research Institute of Non ferrous Metals introduced an 8t vacuum consumable arc furnace and mixing and distribution system from Germany, followed by two 8t vacuum consumable arc furnaces, forming a production capacity of 8000t/a titanium ingot.

In 2006, the 2500t fast forging machine imported by Baoti Group from Germany was put into use; Baosteel Special Steel has established a production line for high alloy steel long profiles, which can produce high-precision titanium and titanium alloy round and square bars; The Northwest Non ferrous Metals Research Institute has started the construction of a titanium plate and strip project.