Direct synthesis of zirconium powder by magnesium reduction

The direct synthesis of zirconium powder has been conducted through an analysis of the chemical reaction between evaporated ZrCl₄ and molten magnesium over a range of reduction temperatures, concentration of hydrochloric acid, and stirring time. The observed results indicated that the purity of zirconium powder increased with increased stirring time, and Mg and MgCl ₂ were removed by 10 wt% of hydrochloric acid solution. The pure zirconium powder was obtained by stirring again for 5 h using 5 wt% of hydrochloric acid solution. It was noted that the mean particle size increased when the reaction temperature was increased, and the size of the powder at 1,123 K and 1,173 K was found to be 10 μm and 15 μm, respectively. In addition, the purity of the powder was also improved with temperature, and its purity finally reached up to 99.5% at 1,250 K. Overall, pure zirconium powder was obtained after a stirring stage for 5 hours using 5 wt% of hydrochloric acid solution.