Titanium is one of the most widely distributed elements in the earth's crust, accounting for 0.61% of the crust's weight, ranking 9th. Titanium resources rank fourth after iron, aluminum and magnesium. According to USGS data in 2017, global titanium ore (ilmenite and rutile) reserves are approximately 830 million tons, of which ilmenite accounts for 89%. my country's titanium ore reserves are approximately 220 million tons, accounting for 26.4% of the world's total reserves, ranking first in the world. Australia's titanium ore reserves account for 21.2% of the world's reserves, ranking second in the world. According to data from China Chemical Manufacturing Network, 90% of the world's titanium is used to produce titanium dioxide, only 4% is used to produce titanium sponge, and 6% is used in other aspects. Our country is one of the four countries in the world with a complete industrial system from ore processing to titanium production. It is also the country with the largest reserves of ilmenite, but the country with the highest output is Australia.
The process of the titanium industry is relatively simple and can be divided into two paths: one is to use ilmenite or rutile as raw materials to produce high-purity titanium tetrachloride, and then use magnesium as a reducing agent to reduce the titanium in titanium tetrachloride. out, you can get titanium sponge; the second is to directly process the raw materials to obtain titanium dioxide. Currently, only six countries in the world, China, Japan, the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, produce titanium sponge, and the production processes all adopt the Mg reduction method. China ranks first in titanium sponge production capacity, accounting for 49% of global production capacity, followed by Japan with 19% and Russia with 14%, Kazakhstan with approximately 8%, the United States with approximately 7%, and Ukraine with 3%. Since 2014, the titanium sponge industry has been in a dilemma of industry-wide losses, and the overall operating rate of enterprises has continued to decrease. In recent years, China's average industry operating rate has remained at a low level of 50 to 60%, which is far lower than the level of about 80% in foreign countries.
Human society is progressing, and aircraft are also developing rapidly. Using materials that are both light and strong, that is, specific strength and specific stiffness, to manufacture aircraft has also become a research direction. It can be said that the development of materials has promoted the development of aircraft. In the development of aircraft, titanium has been pushed to the forefront of "space metal" with the rotation of time and space. The hardness of titanium is similar to that of steel, but its weight is almost half that of steel of the same volume. Although titanium is slightly heavier than aluminum, its hardness is twice that of aluminum. Therefore, the advantages of titanium are slowly being demonstrated in the aerospace field. Titanium was successfully developed in the 1940s and fully entered industrial production in the early 1950s, when aircraft reached supersonic speeds. When a supersonic aircraft flies, the temperature of its wings can reach 500°C. If a relatively heat-resistant aluminum alloy is used to make the wings, it will not be able to withstand temperatures between 100 and 200 degrees Celsius. A light, tough, and high-temperature-resistant material must be used to replace the aluminum alloy. Titanium just breaks out at this time. meet these requirements. For example, as the proportion of titanium alloy used in aircraft developed in the United States increases, the performance of the aircraft tends to be better. For example, in the F-4E Phantom fighter developed in the 1950s, titanium alloy only accounts for 6% of the aircraft mass. The titanium alloy in the later F-14A fighter jet Accounted for 25%. The SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft developed after the 1960s has a flight altitude of 24,000 meters and a range of 4,800 kilometers. To fly so high, fly so fast, and fly so far, aluminum and steel will not work. Therefore, titanium showed With its own unique charm, "Hero Titanium" has found its own "purpose". This kind of aircraft uses 93% of titanium and is known as an "all-titanium aircraft." Today, some supersonic long-range interceptors use titanium as the main structural material. The use of titanium accounts for almost 95% of the total weight of the entire body structure. Therefore, it is difficult to develop current supersonic aircraft without titanium alloys. Now, titanium has become an important role in space navigation. In the aerospace industry, titanium can be made into the "coat" of spacecraft to protect it from high temperatures. At present, more than 1,000 tons of titanium are used for space navigation in the world every year. Extremely fine titanium powder is also a good fuel for rockets, so titanium is known as a cosmic metal and a space metal. The C919 domestically produced large aircraft is about to be finalized, which will promote the development of my country's titanium industry.
