The preparation of fine TiC powders by carbothermal reduction of TiO2 in vacuum was investigated by XRD,SEM,XRF and laser particle sizer.Thermodynamic analysis indicates that it is easy to prepare TiC in vacuum and the formation sequence of products are Ti4O7（Magneli phase）,Ti3O5,Ti2O3,TiCxO1-x and TiC with the increase of reaction temperature.Experimental results demonstrate that TiC powders with single phase are obtained with molar ratio of TiO2 to C ranging from 1：3.2 to 1：6 at 1 550 ℃ for 4 h when the system pressure is 50 Pa,and TiC1.0 is gained when the molar ratio of TiO2 to C is 1：4 and 1：5.In addition,fine TiC1.0 powders（D50 equals 3.04 μm） with single phase and low impurities are obtained when the molar ratio of TiO2 to C is 1：4.SEM observation shows that uniform shape,low agglomeration,and loose structure are observed on the surface of block product.
To develop an effective process for titanium powders production, a calciothermic reduction process of pigment titanium dioxide （w（TiO2）〉98%）, based on the preform reduction process （PRP）, was investigated by means of XRD, SEM and EDS. In this process, the mixture of TiO2 powder and CaC12 was pressed into pieces as feed preform and was reduced by calcium vapor. Titanium powders was recovered after leaching from the reduced preform with hydrochloric acid and deionized water. The results indicate when the mass ratio of CaC12 to TiO2 is about 1：4 and at a constant temperature of 1 273 K for 6 h in vacuum furnace, titanium powders with 99.55% purity by EDS analysis and irregular shape （8-15 μm in particle size） are obtained.
