Dust collectors, coat

Although very unreactive in massive forms, the finely divided metal may be pyrophoric, a Japanese study of this hazard has been reported [1]. Consequent upon an explosion in a tantalum dust collector, further study of powder explosion was made. Minimum ignition energies were found to be much lower than previously supposed. An oxide coating makes it susceptible to electrostatic charge generaton and discharge [2]. See entry PYROPHORIC METALS (references 3,9)... 

Other Uses Ohso has application as a welding flux ingredient and as a pre-coating on baghouse dust collector bags. 

The crash shattered many of the detectors into pieces a few millimeters across, and Utah dirt and dust from the spacecraft coated the pieces. But, while the crash of the spacecraft was a setback, all was not lost. The spacecraft and all of its pieces were carefully collected and returned to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. There, all the tools and skills of ground-based laboratories and scientists were applied to the problem of cleaning the collectors and making them suitable for analysis. 

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