Allegheny Technologies, a manufacturer of specialty metals in the world, has reported the completion of standard-grade qualification process at its titanium sponge plant located in Rowley, Utah.
Titanium sponge is a raw material that is mainly used in the manufacturing of titanium mill products. The Rowley facility is manufacturing this titanium sponge, which can be currently used in several products for industrial, medical and aerospace airframe applications.
According to ATI’s CEO, President and Chairman, Rich Harshman, the qualification achieved by this facility is significant and the company will be continuing the process to attain the planned objective of this commercial titanium sponge unit. This approval is given to the Rowley facility after conducting a wide series of audits, assessments, and qualifications in order to validate the qualities of the titanium sponge.
He added that this standard-grade qualification is significant at this time as the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have exceptionally increased the production rates for jet engines and airframes in the aerospace industry. There is an increasing requirement from the jet engine aftermarket. Also, there remains a strong demand for the company’s titanium products in the industrial and medical markets.
The Kroll reduction-vacuum distillation method is used in ATI’s Rowley facility. This process decreases titanium tetrachloride along with magnesium during manufacture of the titanium sponge.