| Tantalum Outperforms Other Metals | |||||||||
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| Today’s global economy means increased competition. The control of cost including manufacturing efficiency, plant equipment costs and maintenance are paramount to survival. Chemical producers have recognized that increasing pressure and temperature increases efficiency in many applications. This also increases corrosion problems which Tantalum can handle. The largest cost of all is often maintenance and downtime. Industries from steel pickling to pharmaceutical have recognized that to stay competitive you first have to stay in production. It is no coincidence that the world’s best, most progressive, and most profitable steel pickling and pharmaceutical companies standardize on Tantalum equipment to solve their corrosion problems. The relatively high initial cost of Tantalum equipment is offset by its extremely low corrosion and long lifetime. Life cycle costs and manufacturing efficiencies need to be evaluated for a globally competitive manufacturing facility. Tantalum process equipment meets all these challenges. |
Isocorrosion
Diagram for 5 mpy for Tantalum and Other Materials in HCl |
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| Tantalum Price and Availability | |||||||||
| During the years 2000 and 2001, the price and availability of Tantalum mill products was very unstable and fluctuated to extreme highs and lows. The cause was a perceived shortage and panic buying in the electronics industry. The supply chain for Tantalum has responded with large amounts of capital spending and increased capacity to insure this will never happen again. Price and availability have returned to the normal and stable levels that Tantalum has experienced since the early 1970s. TITAN works with H.C. Starck Inc. in Newton, Massachusetts—the world’s largest and fully integrated Tantalum mill products producer. This domestic supplier has over the years demonstrated their commitment to quality and dedication to the Chemical Processing Industry. H.C. Starck has supplied over 90% of the Tantalum used in the industry over the last 30 years. They are members of NACE, MTI, ASTM, SOMCA and other Chemical Industry societies, keeping them on the forefront of current corrosion issues. They have set the current standards on the use of Tantalum and continue to perform research to set the standards of tomorrow. |
Isocorrosion Diagram for 5 mpy for
Tantalum and Other Materials in Sulfuric Acid |
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| Corrosion Resistance of Tantalum (mils per year) | |||||||||
| Media |
Concentration |
Temperature | Nb | Ta | Ti | Zr | |||
| Acetic Acid | 50% | Boiling | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | |||
| Bromine | Dry | 200°F | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | |||
| Chlorine | Wet | 220°F | Nil | Nil | Nil | 10 | |||
| Chromic Acid | 50% | Boiling | 1 | Nil | >5 | 5 | |||
| HCl | 5% | 200°F | 1 | Nil | 100 | Nil | |||
| HCl | 30% | 200°F | 5 | Nil | 100 | Nil | |||
| Nitric Acid | 65% | Boiling | Nil | Nil | 1 | 1 | |||
| Nitric Acid | 99% | Boiling | Nil | Nil | 5 | 1 | |||
| Sodium Hydroxide | 10% | Room | Nil1 | Nil1 | Nil | Nil | |||
| Sulfuric Acid | 40% | Boiling | Nil | Nil | 5 | 3 | |||
| Sulfuric Acid | 98% | 400°F | 5 | Nil | 50 | 200 | |||
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1 Note: Material may become
embrittled due to hydrogen attack. TITAN Metal Fabricators |
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