Title of Innovation:
Tantaline
Category:
Materials
Nominee:
Tantline
Waltham, MA, USA
Web site:
www.tantaline.com
Date of Innovation:
2008
Brief Summary:
Today’s industrial processes and cutting-edge applications continue to push the limits of materials as
they strive for greater energy efficiency with more aggressive chemistries, higher pressures, and
elevated temperatures. As a result, corrosion is one of the biggest challenges to the success, cost
effectiveness, durability, and safety of these applications. Tantaline addresses these critical market
needs by providing engineers with the most corrosion-resistant material commercially available.
Tantaline achieves this by producing a tantalum surface alloy, enabling unmatched corrosion
performance, increased productivity, and improved safety. Pure tantalum (Ta) is an element and also
one of the most corrosion-resistant metals. Because of its extremely high cost, limited availability in
usable forms, and fabrication difficulties, widespread use of tantalum has been limited and therefore
reserved for only the most corrosive applications. Tantaline’s technology gives engineers,
manufacturers, and suppliers access to the benefits and chemical properties of pure tantalum metal
at a fraction of the cost.
Through Tantaline’s tantalum vapor technology, the company creates a tantalum surface alloy on
almost any process engineering equipment, including valves, fittings, instrumental, heat exchangers,
pumps etc. It’s not a coating. It’s not a spray. The tantalum vapor creates an alloy bond on the part’s
surface (and into the core substrate), becoming a true surface alloy. The completed part nearly
maintains the original OEM part’s size and shape but has the same chemical properties and corrosion
resistance as pure tantalum metal. The result is the most corrosion-resistant product commercially
available, offering significantly higher corrosion performance compared to some alloy grades,
titanium, and zirconium. Tantaline’s products are used primarily in the following industries: oil and
gas, chemical processing, energy, pharmaceuticals, and mining.
Title of Innovation:
Tantaline
Full Description:
When and how was it developed?
Tantaline began as a simple idea and grew into an innovative technology and platform that’s
changing the world of corrosion and hot acid applications. In 1984, Danfoss Tantalum
Technologies was born as a development project to learn how tantalum could be used in an
effective, affordable way. Tantalum, an element (Ta) and one of the most corrosion resistant
metals, was and remains challenging to use commercially due to its extremely high cost.
In 1989, the first prototype plant for creating a tantalum surface alloy was developed. Our
process turns tantalum into a vapor that not only covers the surface of a part, but
metallurgically alloys with the substrate and forms an extremely rugged and durable surface.
Four years later in 1993, after extensive process development, the tantalum vapor technology
was used to create our first tantalum surface alloy prototype, which was supplied to the
chemical industry. In fact, these prototypes are still in operation today after 15-plus years in
an extreme corrosion environment—concentrated hydrochloric acid at 100 °C.
After seven years of focusing on implantable products for the medical device industry,
Danfoss Tantalum Technologies turned its attention back to industrial applications in 2006.
The following year in 2008, Tantaline was formed by a consortium of investors, and Tantaline
spun out of Danfoss. The company was founded with the commitment to create the most
corrosion-resistant material commercially available and make it both affordable and
accessible for engineers and manufacturers/suppliers who work with hot acids and/or highly
corrosive chemicals.
As a technology-driven company with more than 10 patents, Tantaline’s mission is to help
businesses, who work with highly corrosive acids, be more competitive with the highest
performing products possible. Through Tantaline’s innovative tantalum vapor technology, we
deliver the industry’s most corrosion-resistant material commercially available, enabling
leading manufacturers and some of today’s most cutting-edge technologies to reduce costs,
increase productivity, and improve safety. Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts,
Tantaline currently serves a wide array of industries, including chemical processing, mining,
oil and gas, energy, food processing, and pharmaceuticals.
How does it work, in basic terms?
Tantaline’s surface alloy treatment has five key steps:
1. A part is selected for treatment. We can use almost any leading OEM part (standard
or stainless steel valves, fittings, instrumentation, and thousands of other types).
2. A furnace is then heated to a temperature between 700 to 900 °C, whereupon the
tantalum metal is chemically reacted and vaporized. The high temperature fosters
conditions suitable for solid state diffusion and alloy bonding at an atomic level.
3. A gaseous atmosphere of tantalum is created and individual tantalum atoms diffuse
into the core substrate (typically stainless steel).
4. The gaseous tantalum begins to metallurgically bond to the substrate, creating the
surface alloy. The deposited tantalum layer is securely bonded to the core material by
means of a thin alloy zone.
5. The gas phase continues until a dense excess layer of pure tantalum metal is grown
onto the surface. The final tantalum surface is approximately surface 50-µm thick
(0.002 in) with all the characteristics and chemical properties of pure tantalum (Ta)
metal.
The result: The completed part is an entirely new product that maintains the original OEM
part’s size and shape but that now has the same chemical properties and corrosion resistance
as a pure tantalum part. It is also extremely rugged and durable, with the ability to handle an
extremely high degree of stress caused by mechanical load, vibrations, rough physical
handling, or temperature variations during use.
How or why is the innovation unique?
Tantaline’s innovation brings the unmatched performance of tantalum metal to the market in
a cost effective way. Tantalum is proven to be one of the highest performing materials for
use in hot acid application; however, its cost and supply make it impossible to effectively use.
To address this, Tantaline created a new vapor technology that results in a true surface alloy.
This provides engineers with the performance and chemical properties of tantalum at a
fraction of its cost.
What type of corrosion problem does the innovation address?
The Tantaline technology helps anyone who works with hot acids, highly corrosive chemicals,
and high purity applications.
As a platform technology Tantaline, has been able to address a broad range of corrosion
needs in the chemical processing, oil and gas, energy, mining, and food and pharmaceutical
industries. Beyond the traditional industrial needs for Tantaline, Tantaline has also enabled
many next generation technologies to become feasible. With processes able to run hotter
with more aggressive chemistries (and be more efficient), Tantaline is enabling numerous
emerging technologies and processes, including hydrogen production, advanced energy
storage, fuel cells, ultra deep well drilling, and more.
Tantaline does this by growing our tantalum surface alloy on all kinds of standard process
engineering equipment. Historically, to achieve this level of corrosion protection on such a
broad range of equipment was either not feasible physically or economically.
What is the need that sparked the development of the innovation?
To manufacture the plastics, metals, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and fuels we use every
day, a variety of aggressive processes, chemicals, and acids are utilized to purify and convert
the earth’s raw materials into modern products. In these processes there are numerous
corrosive challenges to not only guard against the costly destruction of equipment and
process downtime but also on a micro scale to prevent the contamination of sensitive
products.
As a result, the need for corrosion-resistant products is vital and has existed since the
industrial revolution. And this need for corrosion resistant products has only accelerated as
more advance materials and aggressive processes are continually being developed. In fact,
aggressive acids like sulfuric acid are so commonly consumed (more than 190 million metric
tonnes per year globally) that it can be used as a leading indicator of a country’s industrial
output. And it is one of the most common applications for Tantaline’s products.
The market drivers for corrosion-resistant products are to reduce costs, increase productivity,
and improve safety. Within these market segments, specialty alloys (nickel alloys, titanium,
zirconium, and tantalum) are most common materials used in corrosive environments. The
problem with specialty alloys is they have a limited corrosion resistance (when compared to
tantalum metal), their costs are high, they can be very difficult to fabricate, and their leadtimes are long (typically 12 to 18 weeks).
This represented an opportunity for Tantaline, as there was a distinct need in the
marketplace.
Are there technological challenges or limitations that the innovation overcomes?
Yes. In the past, people have developed numerous coatings with a variety of characteristics
and very mixed results. The Tantaline technology has been able to create a new innovation,
the tantalum surface alloy. This tantalum surface alloy is actually grown into substrate
forming an inseparable metallurgical alloy. This gives Tantaline the ruggedness and durability
needed for use in harsh industrial applications. This is very different than traditional coatings
where you have two distinct layers that are only bonded by mechanical means.
What are the potential applications of the innovation?
Tantaline`s tantalum surface alloy technology is applicable for the chemical processing,
mining, oil and gas, energy, and pharmaceuticals. The Tantaline vapor technology can be
applied to almost any commercially available part (standard/ stainless steel or other). Since
the process is geometrically independent, most any part (even highly complex ones on both
internal and external surfaces) can be treated. Current products include agitators and stirrers,
autoclaves, bellows and joints, couplings, diaphragm seals, heat exchangers, fasteners,
flanges and pipe fittings, instrumentation, laboratory reactors, pumps, rupture disc holders,
static mixers, thermowells, tube fittings, and valves.
How does the innovation provide an improvement over existing methods, techniques, and
technologies?
Through Tantaline’s patented tantalum surface alloy, Tantaline can grow tantalum metal into
and on top of any standard steel (or other materials) parts. Tantaline takes low cost standard
parts and transforms them into very high value, high performance parts. As a result, Tantaline
is able to offer the highest performing, most cost effective specialty metal (with the quickest
lead time) for corrosive applications.
What type of impact does the innovation have on the industry/industries it serves?
For industrial applications, Tantaline reduces costs, increases productivity, and improves
safety. For many next generation applications that are being developed, Tantaline is the
“enabling technology.”
Does the innovation fill a technology gap? If so, please explain the technological need and
how it was addressed prior to the development of the innovation.
The performance gap between Tantaline and competitive specialty alloys like, nickel alloys,
titanium, and zirconium is typically orders of magnitude greater. As a result, process and
applications have been designed with this limitation in mind. Engineers have either had to
chronically replace equipment or run a process at a sub-optimal condition.
Has the innovation been tested in the laboratory or in the field? If so, please describe any
tests or field demonstrations and the results that support the capability and feasibility of
the innovation.
Yes. We have numerous tests by end-user and independent labs in various environments. I
have listed briefly a few and more detailed information could be found using the links.
Testing Environment:
 100% wet chlorine gas—no corrosion
 Sulfuric acid 96%-98%—no corrosion
 Liquid bromine 99.8%—no corrosion
 Boiling HCl 28%—no corrosion
 H2S, HCl, acetic acid 450F—no corrosion
 10% acetic acid 450F—no corrosion
 Glacial acetic acid 400F—no corrosion
In addition, below are three video case studies that show the power and potential for
Tantaline’s technology, including a client case study from General Atomics, Honeywell, and
Materials Selection Resources:
General Atomics uses Tantaline for the Sulfer Iodine Thermochemical Hydrogen Production:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4FXvK_ZEeE
Honeywell Corrosion Solutions Tests Tantaline Corrosion’s Performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_VTOkr6eYs
Materials Selection Resources Tests Tantaline’s Technology:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWokfiV5B-Y
Is the innovation commercially available? If yes, how long has it been utilized? If not, what
is the next step in making the innovation commercially available?
Yes. Tantaline has officially been in market since 2008 and is growing quickly.
Are you aware of other organizations that have introduced similar innovations? If so, how
is this innovation different?
No.
Are there any patents related to this work? If yes, please provide the patent title, number,
and inventor.
Yes
Tantalum
electroplating
DK: 169.354
Tantaline på
vitalium
GB: EP 1 363 683
DE: 602 00 844.0-0
US: 7156851
GB: EP 1 364 079
US: 7150818
DE: 602 02 592.3-0
GB: EP 1501962
DE: 602 18 541.6-0
US: 7479301
Tantalum
electroplating
Pulsed CVD
Wire fixture
TantaCell
Ta-Ti mixed
oxide for
electrodes
TantaCell
Ceramic
conductive
layer on Ta
TantaCell
Noble metal
conductive
layer on Ta
Blue
Seal/TantaBlu
e
Tantaline
surface alloy
Tantaline
surface alloy
on titanium
EPO 06700967.0
US 11/814 484
CN: 200680009527.4
IN 5728/DELNP/200
EPO: 07764487.0
US: 12/373 634
CN: 200780026700.6
IN: 10779/DELNP/20
EPO: 06753311.7
US: 11/917 213
CN: 200680021244.1
IN: 9700/DELNP/200
RU: 2007148532
EPO: 06742466.3
US: 11/917 206
CN: 200680021259.8
IN: 9699/DELNP/200
US: 11/914 846
CN: 200680016996.9
EPO?
WO 2009_065410
WO 2009_106079
Supporting Photos:
Fig. 1: Micrograph x-section of Tantaline surface.
Fig. 2: X-section of tantalum surface alloy.