| Despite the fact that the commercial | | | | |
| production of Titanium has only been possible | | | | Titanium and its' alloys are used in the |
| in the last sixty years and then only by a | | | | manufacture of armored vehicles, military |
| complex and expensive process, it's unique | | | | aircraft including stealth planes, naval |
| properties have resulted in advances in | | | | applications, ordnance and spacecraft. |
| technology, aviation, marine, medicine and | | | | |
| the many other applications that we now take | | | | Titanium Dioxide is widely used in paint, |
| for granted but may not have been possible or | | | | paper, plastics, toothpaste and cement for |
| be as efficient by using an alternative. | | | | its intense whiteness, permanency, excellent |
| | | | covering properties and the ability to add |
| A promising new development known as the FFC | | | | strength to the product. |
| Cambridge Process may result in producing | | | | |
| Titanium at a lower cost than the original | | | | It is recognized for its ability to alloy |
| Kroll process that is still in use to this | | | | with other metals to improve their strength |
| day. The Properties of Titanium Titanium is | | | | durability and lightness. |
| a chemical element with the symbol Ti. | | | | |
| | | | Titanium alloys are an essential component in |
| It has a silvery white metallic lustre when | | | | the skins of wide body aircraft, landing gear |
| pure. | | | | and hydraulic tubing. A Boeing 777 uses 58 |
| | | | tons of the metal and the Airbus A380 is |
| It is as strong as steel but is only just | | | | projected to use 67 tons and a further 10 |
| over half its weight and is twice as strong | | | | tons in the engines. |
| as aluminium. | | | | |
| | | | Heat exchangers in desalination plants rely |
| Titanium based alloys have very high | | | | on Titanium for its non-corrosion properties |
| strength-to-weight ratios. | | | | and it is even used in heater-chillers in |
| | | | aquariums. |
| Titanium is ductile, malleable, wieldable and | | | | |
| easily worked. | | | | It is an effective catalyst in a number of |
| | | | commercially important chemical processes. |
| It is obtainable in a number of formats that | | | | |
| include wire, sheet, rod, foil, granules, | | | | Because it does not react unfavorably with |
| sponge and powder. | | | | the human body and has a benign connectivity |
| | | | with bone that is not fully understood, |
| It has an extremely low response to | | | | Titanium is used for orthopaedic implants, |
| magnetism. | | | | artificial heart pumps, pacemakers, joint |
| | | | replacement and dental implants. |
| Titanium has a very low electrical | | | | |
| resistivity and thermal conductivity. | | | | Its use in medicine also encompasses surgical |
| | | | instruments and those used in image-guided |
| Titanium is highly corrosion resistant, it is | | | | surgery and magnetic resonance imagery. |
| impervious to seawater, chlorine and a broad | | | | |
| range of acids, unless concentrated, and | | | | Titanium is used in some construction |
| alkalis. | | | | projects and associated applications such as |
| | | | the 150-foot high Yuri Gagarin memorial in |
| Titanium burns in air and is one of the very | | | | Moscow, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, |
| few elements to burn in Nitrogen (it makes | | | | Spain and others. |
| great fireworks!) | | | | |
| | | | The petroleum industry is a user for its off |
| The metal is physiologically inert and | | | | shore activities and pipe lines. |
| non-toxic. i.e. it has no effect on the human | | | | |
| or animal body. | | | | On a more mundane level, the metal and its |
| | | | alloys can be found in many every day |
| It is the ninth most plentiful element | | | | consumer applications including; - tennis |
| present in the Earths crust. It has been | | | | rackets, golf clubs, camping equipment, |
| found in meteorites and detected in the sun | | | | divers accessories, spectacle frames (also |
| and class M stars. | | | | shape memory frames), food processing, sky |
| | | | writing, artificial gemstones, sweet and |
| Approximately 90% of worldwide usage is in | | | | candy coatings, bicycles, computer |
| the form of Titanium alloys or Titanium | | | | components, sports safety helmets, watches, |
| compounds Titanium Applications | | | | jewelry and many others. |
| | | | |
| The Apollo 17 moon mission brought back rocks | | | | There seems no limit to the future uses of |
| containing Titanium compounds. Titanium | | | | this extraordinarily versatile metal, |
| Applications. Titanium is recognized as a | | | | particularly if the FCC Cambridge Process |
| critical strategic metal for its' importance | | | | successfully reduces the expense and |
| to the military. During the cold war the | | | | complexity of producing the metal to add cost |
| Soviet Union, a producer of Titanium, used | | | | effectiveness to its' recognized unique |
| the metal and its' alloys as the principal | | | | properties. |
| material in the construction of its submarine | | | | |
| fleet as it is impervious to seawater. | | | | John Lloyd is the author and designer of . |
| | | | He has been involved in the financial sector |
| Russia made an attempt to corner the market | | | | for many years and has a great deal of |
| in Titanium to deprive the US and its allies | | | | investment knowledge to offer. |
| of the material. | | | | |