Abstract:
On-board hydrogen storage has not yet reached beyond 6 wt%, suggesting a longer time for commercially viable hydrogen powered vehicles to battle against global warming. The situation would not have been so constraining if car manufacturers replaced steel components by titanium ones because both are similarly strong, but titanium is 40 % lighter (and more corrosion resistant). A lighter titanium car would allow additional load capacity for the heavy hydrogen storage system. However, titanium (~$8000/tonne-sponge from the Kroll Process) is far more expensive than steels (~$150/tonne-steel from carbothermic reduction with CO2 emission) for automobile applications. Titanium can find many other applications, such as chemical processes and devices, if only the metal could be made cheaper.

William Kroll, the inventor of the industrial titanium extraction process, predicted in early 1950s that titanium should be made cheaper by electrolysis in 15 years. Half a century later, more affordable titanium is indeed being promised by the development of the accidentally discovered FFC (Fray-Farthing-Chen) Cambridge Process in the past decade. This presentation explains this new process in terms of technical innovation and scientific principles with emphases on the reduction of CO2 emission from, and economical impact on the metallurgical and automobile industry.