Tungsten Powder Production Method
The production method of tungsten powder mainly include: tungsten oxide hydrogen reduction method, molten salt electrolysis method, tungsten halide hydrogen reduction method, plasma method, high-energy ball milling method, etc.
Tungsten Oxide Hydrogen Reduction Method
The preparation of tungsten powder by hydrogen reduction of tungsten oxide (yellow tungsten oxide, blue tungsten oxide or purple tungsten oxide, etc.) is suitable for continuous industrial production, with simple production equipment, simple operation and no impurities introduced in the production process. It is the most widely used method in industry at present.
Molten Salt Electrolysis
Compared with hydrogen reduction method, molten salt electrolysis method has a shorter process flow and a wider selection of raw materials. If APT is directly used as the electrolyte, compared with tungsten oxide hydrogen reduction method, tungsten oxide is used as the reducing agent, which shortens the industrial process. Moreover, the cost of using electricity and electrodes is lower than that of using hydrogen for reduction, and there is no danger of hydrogen being flammable and explosive. The molten salt electrolysis method can also remove some impurities, and can prepare tungsten powder with high purity.
High Energy Ball Milling
High energy ball milling is a physical process with low cost and simple process, but impurities will be introduced in the process of ball milling, which will affect the purity of tungsten powder. The preparation of micron, submicron and even nanometer tungsten powders by ball milling process will lead to a long ball milling time, increased production costs and greater energy consumption.
Plasma Method
The plasma method is to add ordinary tungsten powder to the plasma jet to melt the surface of tungsten powder or tungsten powder particles to form droplets. After rapid cooling, spherical ultra-fine tungsten powder can be obtained. The spherical ultra-fine tungsten powder can be used as the tungsten source of 3D printing technology. The fluidity of spherical tungsten powder is better than that of ordinary tungsten powder. The production of superfine tungsten powder by plasma method requires very high equipment and shielding gas, so the production cost is high. Hou Yubai and others spheroidized tungsten powder by plasma method, using Ar as the working gas, H2 as the powder feeding gas, and directly using water for cooling. The surface of the spheroidized tungsten powder was slightly oxidized.
Self Propagating High-Temperature Reduction Method
The self propagating high-temperature reduction method is a new method proposed in the 1960s. Active metals are used as reductants, and the combustion reaction of the reductant itself releases a lot of heat to make the active metals reduce the oxides or compounds of the inert metals. The whole chemical reaction process continues spontaneously. Its process is simple, product purity is high, energy conservation and environmental protection, but the combustion rate and reaction process in the reduction process are difficult to control, and there are still many technological problems in practical application. Some experts used tungsten wire as the ignition source, Mg powder as the reducing agent, and CaWO4 as the tungsten source. The average particle size was 0.87 obtained by SHR method μ M of tungsten powder.
The methods for preparing tungsten powder include tungsten halide hydrogen reduction method, reverse microemulsion mediated method, or optimizing traditional process to prepare tungsten powder. There are many methods for preparing ultra-fine tungsten powder in the laboratory, but the methods for preparing ultra-fine tungsten powder in industry are mainly tungsten oxide hydrogen reduction method and plasma method. The tungsten powder prepared by tungsten oxide hydrogen reduction method is mainly used to produce tungsten metal materials and tungsten carbide powder, The plasma method is mainly used to prepare spherical ultrafine tungsten powder, which is used in additive manufacturing (3D printing technology) and other high-end fields.
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