Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and is the fourth most abundant structural metal after aluminum, iron, and magnesium. It exhibits a higher specific strength than steel along with an excellent corrosion resistance, highlighting the promising potential of titanium as a structural metal. However, titanium is difficult to extract from its ore and is classified as a rare metal, despite its abundance. Therefore, the production of titanium is exceedingly low compared to that of common metals. Titanium is conventionally produced as a sponge by the Kroll process. For powder metallurgy (PM), hydrogenation-dehydrogenation (HDH) of the titanium sponge or gas atomization of the titanium bulk is required. Therefore, numerous studies have been conducted on smelting, which replaces the Kroll process and produces powder that can be used directly for PM. In this review, the Kroll process and new smelting technologies of titanium for PM, such as metallothermic, electrolytic, and hydrogen reduction of TiCl₄ and TiO₂ are discussed.

Ti has received considerable attention for aerospace, vehicle, and semiconductor industry applications because of its acid-resistant nature, low density, and high mechanical strength. A common precursor used for preparing Ti materials is TiCl₄. To prepare high-purity TiCl₄, a process based on the removal of VOCl₃ has been widely applied. However, VOCl₃ removal by distillation and condensation is difficult because of the similar physical properties of TiCl₄ and VOCl₃. To circumvent this problem, in this study, we have developed a process for VOCl₃ removal using Cu powder and mineral oil as purifying agents. The effects of reaction time and temperature, and ratio of purifying agents on the VOCl₃ removal efficiency are investigated by chemical and structural measurements. Clear TiCl₄ is obtained after the removal of VOCl₃. Notably, complete removal of VOCl₃ is achieved with 2.0 wt% of mineral oil. Moreover, the refined TiCl₄ is used as a precursor for the synthesis of Ti powder. Ti powder is fabricated by a thermal reduction process at 1,100ºC using an H₂-Ar gas mixture. The average size of the Ti powder particles is in the range of 1-3 μm.