On March 8th, walking into the titanium material factory area of Panzhihua Vanadium and Titanium High tech Zone, the reporter visited the trial production site of the 35000 ton sponge titanium expansion project led by Zhang Min. This production line is also a key production line that his research team is currently working on.

To overcome difficulties, one must master the core technology in their own hands
Titanium and titanium alloys have the characteristics of high strength, light weight, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, and non-magnetism, and can be widely used in fields such as aviation, aerospace, medical, and marine engineering. But in the Panxi region, this metal has long encountered awkward situations: on the one hand, the quality cannot be improved, and on the other hand, the price and cost cannot be reduced.
"Titanium is very dispersed in nature, making it very difficult to extract pure titanium metal. It is even more difficult to carry out large-scale industrial production. The purified titanium looks like a sponge with many small pores, so people have always called this relatively pure titanium sponge titanium." Li Kaihua recalled that on June 11, 2011, Panzhihua produced the first sponge titanium, opening up the high-end application of Panxi titanium resources.
The research team led by Li Kaihua and Zhang Min has been deeply involved in the field of sponge titanium technology for 16 years, winning 10 provincial and ministerial level scientific and technological progress awards, 5 national invention exhibition gold awards, and more than 40 authorized invention patents in China

Ultra soft sponge titanium



Why has the research direction been anchored to ultra soft sponge titanium in recent years? Li Kaihua told reporters that ultra soft sponge titanium is a high-quality sponge titanium with significant characteristics such as low impurity content, low Brinell hardness, and high porosity. Due to its strong safety and toughness, as well as good processing plasticity, it is an important basic material for manufacturing core components in the aviation industry. However, due to the long-term monopoly of foreign countries on the core technology of preparing ultra soft sponge titanium, China mainly relies on imports. "Guided by national strategic needs, we have launched a research project on the development and application of key technologies for preparing ultra soft sponge titanium in the aviation industry."



Over the course of 7 years, the research team has successively overcome common technical challenges in the industry, such as the coordinated control of impurity elements and the regulation of dense structure, in the preparation process of ultra soft sponge titanium. They have developed a complete set of industrialization technologies for producing high-quality sponge titanium based on Panxi resources, which have been successfully applied to mass production. Seeing the data in the laboratory turning into buckets of ultra soft sponge titanium in the workshop, Li Kaihua sighed and said, "The continuous development of new quality productivity requires us to master core technologies in our own hands.".

Industrialization "new challenges have arrived"



The reporter arrived at the 20000 ton/year sponge titanium production line of Panzhihua Iron and Steel. As soon as he saw it, it was bustling with enthusiasm, and the workers were focused and meticulous in their operations. Cranes, forklifts, and other equipment cooperated closely with each other.



"In 2023, the company's high-quality sponge titanium production accounted for 34% of the total production, and achieved a technology innovation efficiency of 59.95 million yuan last year." Zhang Min introduced that their ultra soft sponge titanium has been widely applied in key core areas in China and achieved foreign trade exports in 2023.



He told reporters that the mass production of ultra soft sponge titanium means that the cost of using ultra soft sponge titanium will be significantly reduced not only in the aerospace field, but also in fields such as 3D printing, medical equipment, metallurgy and chemical engineering, and sports.



However, the process of industrialization of technological achievements has not been smooth, and Li Kaihua, Zhang Min, and others have also encountered many new challenges. In August 2023, the 35000 ton sponge titanium expansion project of Panzhihua Iron and Steel began trial production, but this production line has not yet achieved mass production of ultra soft sponge titanium. What is the reason for this?



"The new production line has adopted many new processes. The old line adopts aluminum powder for vanadium removal, the new line adopts mineral oil for vanadium removal, the old line adopts assembly line magnesium electrolysis process, and the new line adopts multipolar magnesium electrolysis process..." Zhang Min gave an example. To produce ultra soft sponge titanium using a new production line, simply copying the preparation technology of the old line is no longer feasible, and research on impurity control technology for precision titanium tetrachloride is also needed.



So, the opening scene of the article appeared - Zhang Min on the production line and Li Kaihua in the laboratory communicated on the phone every day about the production quality situation. They are full of confidence in breaking through more key technical difficulties. Zhang Min said, "We strive tirelessly and innovate continuously. We hope to achieve the mass production of ultra soft sponge titanium for the 35000 ton sponge titanium expansion project as soon as possible through our efforts." Li Kaihua, on the other hand, expressed his desire to further break through the technical difficulties of purity, uniformity, and stability in the preparation process of ultra soft sponge titanium, and continue to contribute wisdom and strength to ensuring the independent supply of high-end titanium metal materials in the country and the high-quality development of the titanium industry.