Chemical reaction and processing equipment: Tantalum is widely used in the manufacture of critical equipment such as reactors, reaction vessels, heat exchangers, pipes, agitator blades, and container linings. It can withstand the strong corrosion of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, liquid metals, and chlorine-containing compounds, making it an ideal material for handling high-purity nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, terephthalic acid, and other chemical media.
Corrosion-resistant coatings and linings: By applying tantalum as a coating or composite anti-corrosion material to ordinary metal surfaces, the service life of equipment in corrosive environments can be significantly extended. It is commonly used in sulfuric acid production systems, marine engineering, and oil drilling equipment. In strong acid production lines such as sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid, tantalum components (such as valves and pumps) can operate stably for long periods, reducing equipment replacement and downtime losses due to corrosion.
Excellent corrosion resistance: A dense, stable oxide film can form on the surface of tantalum, making it chemically inert in most acid, alkali, and salt solutions. High-Temperature Stability: Tantalum's high melting point of approximately 2996°C to 3017°C allows it to maintain structural integrity even in high-temperature corrosive environments. Material Reliability: Despite its higher cost, its unparalleled corrosion resistance makes it irreplaceable in critical chemical processes, ensuring production safety and product purity.
Tantalum has a wide range of applications worldwide. Its largest application is in tantalum capacitors. Anodized tantalum capacitors are now used in many common electronic devices. Most other applications utilize tantalum's corrosion resistance or its high-temperature resistance. The pharmaceutical industry finds tantalum very attractive due to its very low corrosion resistance. Corrosion byproducts can contaminate process media and introduce contaminants into products.
In the chemical processing industry, few materials outperform tantalum in acidic media. Tantalum is commonly used as a liner for tanks and pipes in processing containers, and as a heat exchange material in shell-and-tube heat exchangers, condensers, and heaters. It is frequently used as a liner for autoclaves in many high-temperature, high-pressure applications. Tantalum can also be used to repair glass-lined containers. Tantalum is often considered suitable only for small equipment applications. However, tantalum equipment can be quite large. Tantalum is also used in heating elements and heat shields in high-temperature vacuum furnaces, as well as crucible materials for many high-temperature applications.
The thin-film industry uses tantalum as a sputtering target material for many electronic applications. Tantalum is also used in the medical field for hemostatic clips, stents, and pacemaker components. Due to its corrosion resistance, tantalum is inert in the human body. Industry has long recognized tantalum and its alloys as a solution to some of the most difficult problems. It is well known that tantalum has been used for decades while other materials fail quickly. Tantalum is often chosen over cheaper materials because it provides long-term service and reduces downtime.
Tantalum is also a versatile and easy-to-manufacture material whose performance often surpasses almost all alternatives. Although its properties are not widely known and are often misunderstood, differing somewhat from more common materials in some cases, it often provides practical solutions to difficult problems in industry.
