Removal of metallic impurities from Ti binary alloy scraps using hydrogen plasma arc melting

In the present study, we produced button ingots using hydrogen plasma arc melting (HPAM), which enabled refining while suppressing the loss of alloy components as much as possible, in order to recycle Ti-Ni, Ti-Mo, and Ti-Al alloy scraps. When 20% hydrogen was added and the scraps were melted for 20 min, the weight losses were <1%, which is nearly no loss of components. The removal degrees (RD) of impurities for the Ti-Ni, Ti-Mo, and Ti-Al alloys were 82.6%, 86.2%, and 49.1%, respectively. The Ti-Ni and Ti-Mo alloys showed a refining effect nearly identical to the level of RD for pure titanium obtained in the same way. In contrast, the refining effect for the Ti-Al alloy was not as good as those for the other alloys because of the properties of the alloy component, Al.