Tantalum
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[edit] Tantalum
Tantalum is a gray, heavy, and very hard metal. When pure, it is ductile and can be drawn into fine wire, which is used as a filament for evaporating metals such as aluminum. Tantalum is almost completely immune to chemical attack at temperatures below 150oC, and is attacked only by hydrofluoric acid, acidic solutions containing the fluoride ion, and free sulfur trioxide. Alkalis attack it only slowly. At high temperatures, tantalum becomes much more reactive. The element has a melting point exceeded only by tungsten and rhenium. Tantalum is used to make a variety of alloys with desirable properties such as high melting point, high strength, good ductility, etc. Tantalum has a good "gettering" ability at high temperatures, and tantalum oxide films are stable and have good rectifying and dielectric properties. [1]
[edit] General uses
Tantalum is used in a number of different forms across a wide range of applications.
- At present the major use of tantalum is in capacitors which are used in desktop and laptop computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, pagers, PDA's, handheld games, automotive applications and a number of other fields in the electronic industry. It is estimated 65 percent of tantalum made available each year is used in the production of capacitors.
- With modern technologies requiring smaller capacitors in a number of new areas, including micro-technologies, tantalum, because of its superior performance over other materials used in the production of capacitors, often stands as the material of choice for a new generation of electrical applications.
- The next major use of Tantalum after capacitors is in the aerospace industry. In aircraft the main use being in the production of the turbine engines. It is also used in the turbines that drive gas powered generation facilities and in power generation.
- Tantalum pentoxide is used to make a glass that has a high index of refraction for use in the manufacture of camera lenses.
- A composite that consists of tantalum carbide and graphite is one of the hardest materials known and is used on the cutting edges of high -speed machine tools.
- Tantalum also has many applications in the world of industry. Due to its extreme corrosion resistance and heat transfer properties, tantalum is a preferred construction material in many critical environments and high performance applications. Tantalum is used widely in processing in both the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Due to risk of contamination, tantalum is also used for all parts of vacuum sintering furnaces.[2]
[edit] Pricing structure
Except for a brief spike to $240/lb in late 2000, spot prices for tantalum have been in the $40-$50/lb range since 2000. However, bottom range of the market price has just slipped to $30. Also, analysts at Research and Markets in Dublin expect another long period of stability in he $30-50 range. While demand has increased from such principal end-use markets as electronic components for mobile phones and other electronics equipment and aerospace that hasn't tightened supply.[3]
Metals Place Tantalite Price 30% Ta2O5 CIF Europe; Price on 15 January 2008: $101/kg
[edit] Current consumption trends
Tantalum consumption can be divided into five main sectors as follows: [4]
- Tantalum Powder: Tantalum powder is the largest sector representing approximately 60-65% of total tantalum consumption, with current annual consumption of 2.2 – 3.0 million lbs Ta per annum. Tantalum powder is used in the manufacture of tantalum capacitors.
- Tantalum Alloys: The use of tantalum as an alloy additive currently consumes approximately 300,000 lbs Ta per annum. The use of tantalum in this application permits resistance to corrosive gases at high temperatures with specific application in the construction of combustion turbines used in the generation of electricity, and for the fabrication of components for aircraft engines.
- Tantalum Chemicals: In the oxide form, tantalum sees significant consumption in electronics, medical applications, optics, and as a spluttered film for use in integrated circuitry. Lithium tantalate is used in the fabrication of SAW filters and yttrium tantalate is used in ultra sensitive X-ray films. The total annual consumption is currently approximately 300,000 lbs Ta.
- Tantalum Carbides: Tantalum is also used as an additive in cemented carbide formulations for the preparation of tool steels. The current consumption of approximately 330,000 lbs Ta per annum.
- Tantalum Mill Products
[edit] Price forecasts
[edit] Major producers
Tantalum is recovered from ore minerals such as columbite and tantalite. The United States has no high-grade tantalum ores. In fact, no significant tantalum ores have been mined in the U.S. since 1959.
About 20% of the tantalum used in the United States comes from recycling. The rest must be imported. Recent major sources for tantalum imports were Australia, Kazakhstan, Canada, China, Thailand, and others. [5]
[edit] External References
- ↑ http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/73.html
- ↑ http://www.tantalumaustralia.com.au/tantalum/uses/uses.html
- ↑ http://metalsplace.com/news/?a=1474 Tantalum has gone into a slide
- ↑ http://www.atwall.com/atwall/tantalumcons.html Tantalum Consumption
- ↑ http://www.mii.org/Minerals/phototant.html
