Thanks for responces,
I'm actually calculating after the experiment took place, so I didnt perform the experiment and do not have any of the powder. The only information I have is, "1lb. of commercially pure ti powder was mound up (cone shape) onto a Sn lid (from a drum) outside in a field and was ignited with a blow torch". I also have one picture of the set-up before the experiment. The reason I am calculating this is to determine if the result they got (~3 minutes) was correct. I am suspecting maybe the titanium oxidized and only the surface of this cone shaped mound was actually ignited. So here I am to experiment since I have no other information.
I found the density of ti to be 4.5g/cm^2. Now with powder, I assume it is ~50% dense and, therefore, the ti powder would have a density of 2.25g/cm^2?
I calculated the volume of the cone to be =~226.2. assuming the radius=~6cm height=~6cm (approximated from the picture taken before the experiment).
If my assumption is correct, I would guess only 1mm of the surface of the cone ignited so I end up with 160cm^2. I get ~5min. for this amount to burn. So I figure something did not go well since they got 3min.
I also figure the experiment did not go well because titanium's melting point is ~1668 °C and Sn is ~232°C, so titanium should melt right through the Sn lid, which it did not. Thanks again for the help so far