Tantalum production

The long life and reliability of tantalum equipment in severe-corrosion applications often more than offsets its higher initial costs. Therefore, a new situation has been created for utilising the benefits of tantalum products. When tantalum is properly applied, it can often be justified not only on a field replacement basis but also on initial installation. 

Tantalum production has increased steadily and strongly since 1993. An optimistic forecast regarding the strongly increasing demand for tantalum capacitors caused excessive demand for tantalum powder in 2000, when the overproduction of capacitors led to a sharp shortage in tantalum powder. It is still difficult to predict when the electronics industry will return to balanced condition. 

Additional sources of the elements are tin slag and scrap. For instance, cassiterite deposits, in Australia, Brazil, Thailand and some other countries, contain a significant amount of tantalum. The bulk of this tantalum is collected in the slag and processed separately. Recycling of various tantalum-bearing scrap is also a veiy important source for tantalum production. These scrap materials include powder surplus from sintering operations, scrap from mill products, rejected and used capacitors, scrapped cutting tools and furnace hardware. 

Tin slags account for a sizeable fraction of the world s tantalum production. These slags are melted in electric arc furnaces, together with coke and lime (as flux), and this pyrometallurgical process leads to the production of synthetic niobium/tantalum concentrates. The waste products of this operation are mechanically separated slags which can be used, for instance, as landfill. The exhaust gases from this process are of minor consequence if dust is eliminated by the use of filters. 

Tantalum oxide film, 24 314 Tantalum oxides, 24 322, 334 Tantalum pentachloride, 24 335 Tantalum pentafluoride, 24 334-335 Tantalum pentoxide, electrochemical reduction of, 24 322 Tantalum powder, 24 323, 324-325 capacitor-grade, 24 326 safety of, 24 333-334 Tantalum products, world shipments of, 24 331t... 

Reactions of Tantalum(V) and Niobium(V) Iodides with Pyridine. Both niobium(V) and tantalum(V) iodide were reduced in pyridine. In each case the di-adduct of pyridine with the metal tetraiodide was produced, along with elemental iodine as its pyridine complex. The two reduction products were identified by analysis after washing with chloroform to remove the iodine liberated in the reaction. Further identification of the tantalum product was provided by x-ray diffraction data, which compared favorably to those obtained for samples of the tetraiododi(pyridine)niobium (IV) as shown in Table V. 

There are two other aspects that should be mentioned here that may directly affect the choice of the milling process. First, the uranium ore often contains other metals that have commercial value, like vanadium or niobium, for example, and their recovery may influence the process selected for uranium recuperation. Second, uranium itself may be a by-product of other processes like gold extraction, niobium, and tantalum production or phosphoric acid manufacture. Thus, recovery of low levels of uranium from phosphates, columbite, or gold-bearing minerals may not be economical in itself, but extracting uranium as a by-product from the waste streams of these operations could be commercially sensible. 

The experimental conditions for conducting the above reaction in the presence of dimethylformamide as a solvent are as follows. In a 250 ml. three-necked flask, equipped with a reflux condenser and a tantalum wire Hershberg-type stirrer, place 20 g. of o-chloronitrobenzene and 100 ml. of diinethylform-amide (dried over anhydrous calcium sulphate). Heat the solution to reflux and add 20 g. of activated copper bronze in one portion. Heat under reflux for 4 hours, add another 20 g. portion of copper powder, and continue refluxing for a second 4-hour period. Allow to cool, pour the reaction mixture into 2 litres of water, and filter with suction. Extract the solids with three 200 ml. portions of boiling ethanol alternatively, use 300 ml. of ethanol in a Soxhlet apparatus. Isolate the 2 2- dinitrodiphenyl from the alcoholic extracts as described above the 3ueld of product, m.p. 124-125°, is 11 - 5 g. 

Jets for continuous filament textile yam are typically 1 cm diameter gold—platinum ahoy stmctures with 20—500 holes of 50—200 p.m diameter. Tire yam jets are also 1 cm in diameter but typicahy use 1000—2000 holes to give the required balance of filament and yam denier. Staple fiber jets can have as many as 70,000 holes and can be made from a single dome of ahoy or from clusters of the smaller textile or tire yam jets. The precious metal ahoy is one of the few materials that can resist the harsh chemical environment of a rayon machine and yet be ductile enough to be perforated with precision. Glass jets have been used for filament production, and tantalum metal is a low cost but less durable alternative to gold—platinum. 

MIBK is a highly effective separating agent for metals from solutions of their salts and is used in the mining industries to extract plutonium from uranium, niobium from tantalum, and zirconium from hafnium (112,113). MIBK is also used in the production of specialty surfactants for inks (qv), paints, and pesticide formulations, examples of which are 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4,7-diol and its ethoxylated adduct. Other appHcations include as a solvent for adhesives and wax/oil separation (114), in leather (qv) finishing, textile coating, and as a denaturant for ethanol formulations. 

A large deposit of loparite occurs ia the Kola Peninsula, Russia. The production of REO reaches 6500 t/yr. Loparite contains over 30% of rare-earth oxides from the cerium group. In addition, loparite contains up to 40% titanium oxide and up to 12% niobium and tantalum oxides. 

Opa.nte. There are two methods used at various plants in Russia for loparite concentrate processing (12). The chlorination technique is carried out using gaseous chlorine at 800°C in the presence of carbon. The volatile chlorides are then separated from the calcium—sodium—rare-earth fused chloride, and the resultant cake dissolved in water. Alternatively, sulfuric acid digestion may be carried out using 85% sulfuric acid at 150—200°C in the presence of ammonium sulfate. The ensuing product is leached with water, while the double sulfates of the rare earths remain in the residue. The titanium, tantalum, and niobium sulfates transfer into the solution. The residue is converted to rare-earth carbonate, and then dissolved into nitric acid. 

Acid corrosion presents a problem in isopropyl alcohol factories. Steel (qv) is a satisfactory material of constmction for tanks, lines, and columns where concentrated (>65 wt%) acid and moderate (<60° C) temperatures are employed. For dilute acid and higher temperatures, however, stainless steel, tantalum, HasteUoy, and the like are required for corrosion resistance and to ensure product purity (65). 

Tantalum Compounds. Potassium heptafluorotantalate [16924-00-8] K TaF, is the most important tantalum compound produced at plant scale. This compound is used in large quantities for tantalum metal production. The fluorotantalate is prepared by adding potassium salts such as KCl and KF to the hot aqueous tantalum solution produced by the solvent extraction process. The mixture is then allowed to cool under strictiy controlled conditions to get a crystalline mass having a reproducible particle size distribution. To prevent the formation of oxyfluorides, it is necessary to start with reaction mixtures having an excess of about 5% HF on a wt/wt basis. The acid is added directiy to the reaction mixture or together with the aqueous solution of the potassium compound. Potassium heptafluorotantalate is produced either in a batch process where the quantity of output is about 300—500 kg K TaFy, or by a continuously operated process (28). 

The excellent corrosion resistance means that tantalum is often the metal of choice for processes carried out in oxidising environments or when freedom from reactor contamination of the product or side reactions are necessary, as in food and pharmaceutical processing. Frequently, the initial investment is relatively high, but this is offset by low replacement costs owing to the durabiUty of the metal. 

Fluorides. Tantalum pentafluoride [7783-71-3] TaF, (mp = 96.8° C, bp = 229.5° C) is used in petrochemistry as an isomerization and alkalation catalyst. In addition, the fluoride can be utilized as a fluorination catalyst for the production of fluorinated hydrocarbons. The pentafluoride is produced by the direct fluorination of tantalum metal or by reacting anhydrous hydrogen fluoride with the corresponding pentoxide or oxychloride in the presence of a suitable dehydrating agent (71). The ability of TaF to act as a fluoride ion acceptor in anhydrous HF has been used in the preparation of salts of the AsH, H S, and PH ions (72). The oxyfluorides TaOF [20263-47-2] and Ta02F [13597-27-8] do not find any industrial appHcation. 

The four most important carbides for the production of hard metals are tungsten carbide [12070-12-17, WC, titanium carbide [12070-08-5] TiC, tantalum carbide [12070-06-3J, TaC, and niobium carbide [12069-94-2] NbC. The binary and ternary soHd solutions of these carbides such as WC—TiC and WC—TiC—TaC (NbC) are also of great importance. Chromium carbide (3 2) [12012-39-0], molybdenum carbide [12011-97-1], MoC, and... 

Pla.tinum, Platinum plating has found appHcation in the production of platinised titanium, niobium, or tantalum anodes which are used as insoluble anodes in many other plating solutions (see Metalanodes). Plating solutions were often based on platinum "P" salt, which is diamminedinitroplatiniim (IT). A dinitroplatinite sulfate—sulfuric acid bath has been used to plate direcdy onto titanium (129). This bath contains 5 g/L of the platinum salt, pH adjusted to 2.0 with sulfuric acid. The bath is operated at 40°C at 10—100 A/m. Other baths based on chloroplatinic acid have been used in both acid and alkaline formulations the acid bath uses 20 g/L of the platinum salt and 300 g/L hydrochloric acid at 65° C and 10—200 A/m. The alkaline bath uses 10 g/L of the platinum salt, 60 g/L of ammonium phosphate and ammonium hydroxide to give a pH of 2.5—9.0. The alkaline bath can be plated directly onto nickel-base alloys acid baths require a gold strike on most metals. 

During World War II, production of butadiene (qv) from ethanol was of great importance. About 60% of the butadiene produced in the United States during that time was obtained by a two-step process utilizing a 3 1 mixture of ethanol and acetaldehyde at atmospheric pressure and a catalyst of tantalum oxide and siHca gel at 325—350°C (393—397). Extensive catalytic studies were reported (398—401) including a fluidized process (402). However, because of later developments in the manufacture of butadiene by the dehydrogenation of butane and butenes, and by naphtha cracking, the use of ethanol as a raw material for this purpose has all but disappeared. 

Tantalum. Above 300°C (570°F), the possibihty of reactivity of tantalum with all gases except the inert gases. Below 300°C (570°F), the possibility of embrittlement of tantalum by nascent (monatomic) hydrogen (but not molecular hydrogen). Nascent hydrogen is produced by galvanic action or as a product of corrosion by certain chemicals. 

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