The effect of different cleaning methods for titanium chips on the carbon content of ferrotitanium after remelting

Titanium is an important structural metal. Titanium alloy have the characteristics of low density, high strength, good corrosion resistance, good biocompatibility and strong surface decoration, which are widely used in aerospace, medical, construction, sporting goods and other fields. However, titanium alloys are difficult to process, and a large amount of titanium chips stained with oils such as cutting fluid will be produced. Since the high-titanium ferrotitanium used to produce high grade steel requires low carbon content, titanium chips cannot be directly used for remelting and need to be pre-cleaned. In order to obtain the best cleaning conditions of titanium chips, the effects of ultrasonic cleaning of titanium chips with different cleaning agents, different temperatures and different times were investigated in this study. It was determined that the oil removal rate could reach 83.5% by using 5% sodium carbonate solution at 50 °C, 40 kHz ultrasonic cleaning for 20 min. In addition, the cleaning mechanism was analyzed, and the influence modes of slight vibration, saponification and emulsification reaction, and cavitation in ultrasonic cleaning were explained according to Young equation. This paper has positive significance for promoting the production of low-carbon, high-purity and high-titanium ferrotitanium from titanium chips and realizing the secondary recycling of resources.