ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION OF CHEMICALLY ACTIVE METALS FROM METAL-OXIDE RAW MATERIALS CONTAINING OXIDE

FIELD : chemistry. SUBSTANCE : invention relates to a method for the electrolytic production of chemically active metals from metal-oxide raw materials containing oxide of target chemically active metal by electrolysis in molten oxide electrolyte. The method includes providing an electrolyzer with molten oxide electrolyte, including a container, an anode and a current collector, placing molten oxide electrolyte in the container and in ion-conducting contact with the anode and the current collector, while electrolyte contains a mixture of at least one alkaline earth metal oxide and at least one rare earth metal oxide, feeding metal-oxide raw materials containing oxide of at least one target chemically active metal into molten oxide electrolyte, passing current between the anode and the current collector, while the mentioned oxide of target chemically active metal is reduced with the formation of at least one molten target chemically active metal in the container, and removing at least part of molten target chemically active metal from the container. In this case, metal-oxide raw materials containing beryllium oxide or rare earth metal oxide are used as metal-oxide raw materials to ensure the extraction of at least one rare earth metal or beryllium as molten target chemically active metal, while metal-oxide raw materials containing beryllium oxide or rare earth metal oxide is fed into molten oxide electrolyte at a saturation concentration of the mentioned metal oxide raw materials or at a concentration deviating by no more than 10% from the specified saturation concentration. A method for the electrolytic production of chemically active metals from metal-oxide raw materials containing at least one of titanium, zirconium and hafnium oxide is also disclosed, molten oxide electrolyte contains from about 30% to about 50% of beryllium oxide, from 0% to about 85% of lanthanum oxide, from 0% to about 85% of cerium oxide, and the rest is calcium oxide, with the extraction of at least one of titanium, zirconium and hafnium oxide as molten target chemically active metal. In this case, the mentioned metal oxide raw materials are fed into molten oxide electrolyte at a level from about 5% to about 25%. EFFECT : reduction in operating costs and health and safety problems associated with the use of CaO-BeO in the process of direct production of Be and rare earth metals is provided due to the use of highly stable background electrolyte. 13 cl, 4 dwg, 1 tbl, 6 ex