Date of Award

5-1949

Degree Type

Bachelors Essay

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Scott L. Kittsley

Second Advisor

Virgil Roach

Abstract

For the past twenty-five centuries man's mastery of nature has been based largely on his ability to produce and work iron into implements, tools, and machines. This has been due to the relatively simple task of converting abundant iron ores to metallic iron. No other common metal has the durability of iron. Aluminum has sometimes been called the second most important structural metal, but its extreme softness, even in its alloys, and low melting point have barred it from heavy duty applications. Pound for pound it is stronger than iron, but its bulk is a disadvantage.

Regardless of its durability and rather high melting point, iron has one great disadvantage - it rusts. Parts of machines must either be immersed in oil or coated with p:lint or some other more resistant metal. This coating process is both expensive and unreliable. Once the protective covering has cracked or worn off, exposing the basic metal, corrosion begins, slowly undermining the entire structure. Despite its shortcomings, iron has reigned supreme for 2500 years, and will probably continue to do so for many more years as long as its deposits remain workable. There is today, however, another star on the horizon. A metal stronger than iron, nearly as light as aluminum, and as resistant to corrosion as stainless steel, may become one of the most important of the structural metals. This metal is titanium. Although it was discovered in 1791, only during the past two decades have its properties become generally known.

Titanium is overly fond of oxygen and nitrogen. The biggest problem in its commercial production has been to separate the metal from its oxide by a method which will allow its production at a price approaching that of the other major structural metals. There are some deposits of the oxide which are nearly 100 percent pure, but titanium occurs more abundantly in combination with other metals in rather low concentrations. A method is needed to separate either the oxide or some salt of the metal from this impure ore. That is the object of this thesis.

Comments

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Liberal Arts Marquette University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science

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