National Smelting Company

Attempts have been made to carry out the sodium reduction of titanium tetrachloride in other ways. For example, the reaction of the two vapours at a temperature of about 2000°C to give molten, or massive solid, titanium metal.2 - This reaction can be carried out in a vessel lined with sponge as in the National Smelting Company s patent applicable to titanium or zirconium. Alternatively, the low-temperature fluidization process has been used, in which titanium tetrachloride vapour reacts with a dispersion of 1 to 2 per cent of molten sodium, in a bed of titanium sponge and sodium chloride reaction products, at 200°C to 600°C, fluidized with a flow of pure argon. It is not known that these, or similar processes, have been operated on a commercial scale yet. 

In autumn 2006, the national power company of Iceland blocked two glacial rivers near the mountain of Karahnjukar in order to flood a wilderness area of 22 square miles and create a reservoir that would supply power for a new aluminum smelting facility built by the American company, Alcoa. The hydroelectric dam, the tallest of its kind in Europe, was expected to generate 4600 GWh of electricity each year, and the smelter had the capacity to process 344,000 metric tons of aluminum annually. In addition to the 400 jobs the project was expected to provide, Alcoa also claimed that theirs would be the safest, most environment-friendly smelter on Earth. Some Icelanders contested this assertion, however, by pointing out the 45 miles of tunnels, 31 miles of high-tension power lines, and the sulfur dioxide fumes associated with... 

The authors thank the National Research Council. Ottawa, and the Research Corporation for financial assistance, and one of us (D.H.L.) thanks the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Ltd. for a Fellowship. 

---