Tantalum Pipe and Tube
Tantalum seamless and welded pipe and tube to ASTM B521 (UNS R05200 / R05400), near-immune to hot mineral acids, for chemical process equipment, thermowells and heaters.
- DocumentsMTC and EN 10204 3.1 on request
- TraceabilityHeat number and inspection scope confirmed
- RFQ detailsGrade, standard, size, tolerance, quantity
- PackingExport protection by product form and length
Product Introduction
UNS R05200Common pure tantalum grade
ASTM B521Pipe and tube reference
16.69 g/cm3Typical tantalum density
Hot acid serviceApplication reviewed by medium
Acceptance is by the ordered specification. Values are RFQ references only. Final grade, chemistry, dimensions, inspection and documentation are confirmed by the purchase specification and mill test certificate.
Supply envelope: tantalum pipe and tube cover outside diameters of 1.0 mm to 100 mm, with lengths to 12000 mm cut to drawing, annealed with a bright surface. Wall thickness is set by the buyer drawing.
Tantalum (Ta) offers some of the best corrosion resistance of any engineering metal. It is essentially inert to most hot mineral and organic acids, including hydrochloric, sulphuric, nitric and phosphoric across wide concentration and temperature ranges, which makes tantalum pipe and tube the material of choice for the most aggressive chemical-process duties.
Grades and standards
| Grade | UNS | Type | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ta (EB-melted) | R05200 | Unalloyed, high purity | ASTM B521 / B708 |
| Ta (sintered) | R05400 | Powder-metallurgy | ASTM B521 |
| Ta-2.5W | R05252 | Tantalum-tungsten | on request |
Supplied seamless or welded to ASTM B521, annealed, with mill test certificate and EN 10204 3.1 documentation on request.
Typical size range
- OD: 1.0 mm to 100 mm
- Wall: to drawing
- Length: to 12000 mm, cut to drawing
- Condition: annealed; bright surface
Applications
Chemical-process heat exchangers, condensers and bayonet heaters
Thermowells and protection tubes in aggressive acids
Tantalum linings and repair sleeves for reactors
Medical / implant and high-reliability electronics
Corrosion notes
Tantalum is often specified for hot HCl, H₂SO₄ HNO₃ and many organic media, but concentration, temperature and contamination must be reviewed before quotation. It is attacked only by hydrofluoric acid, fuming (oleum) sulphuric acid, free sulphur trioxide and hot concentrated alkalis. Above ~300 °C it absorbs hydrogen and embrittles, so it is not used for cathodic or hydrogen-charging service.
RFQ information needed
Send grade (R05200 / R05400 / Ta-2.5W), OD, wall thickness, length, seamless or welded, surface/condition, quantity and required documents. Custom and drawing-based parts are quoted on request.
FAQ
Why choose tantalum over titanium or niobium?
Tantalum resists hot reducing acids (e.g. boiling HCl, concentrated H₂SO₄) that attack titanium and exceed niobium’s range. Where the medium is that aggressive, tantalum is often the only metal that survives.
What about hydrofluoric acid?
Never use tantalum (or niobium/titanium) with HF or fluoride-bearing media: it is rapidly attacked.
Can you supply tantalum heat-exchanger tube?
Yes. thin-wall tantalum tube for shell-and-tube and bayonet heaters is available to ASTM B521. Send an RFQ with process data, OD, wall and length.
Inspection, documentation and packing
Tantalum pipe and tube is supplied annealed with a mill test certificate and EN 10204 3.1 documentation on request. Material carries heat / lot marking for traceability, and thin-wall tubes are foam-protected and crated for export.
Related products and alternatives
For flat stock and linings see tantalum plate and sheet. Where tantalum’s resistance is more than the duty needs, the lighter, lower-cost niobium tube may suffice - compare in niobium vs tantalum.
Two fields a tantalum tube enquiry usually leaves open
Tantalum is bought in small quantities against tight drawings, and the two fields most often left open are the ones that change the material rather than the size. The first is whether unalloyed tantalum or an alloyed grade is wanted, since both are supplied as tube and they are not substitutes. The second is seamless or welded, which is a different product with a different acceptance history rather than a manufacturing detail.
Because quantities are small, the certificate carries proportionally more weight than on a bulk order, and the reporting scope is worth stating rather than assuming. The discipline is the same as on titanium: a reported value is read against the method that produced it, and a heat analysis taken at the melt is not interchangeable with a product analysis run later on the finished tube. Beiyu Titanium reviews the metal with its UNS number, the governing specification, seamless or welded, outside diameter and wall thickness with tolerance, length, the delivery condition, the surface condition and the inspection scope before quotation, and supplies against an EN 10204 3.1 mill test certificate.
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Tantalum category
Some of what is ordered as tantalum tube is not a length of tube
Thermowells are closed at one end. Bayonet heaters are closed at one end, with the flow returning through an inner tube. Protection tubes are finished to a seated length that comes from the instrument, and linings and repair sleeves are dimensioned from the vessel they go into rather than from any catalogue. All four arrive worded as tantalum tube, and in all four the end condition and the finished length are order lines in their own right. Both are easily left off an enquiry that otherwise carries a complete dimensional call-out, so an apparently finished RFQ can still come back before it can be priced.
The word the buyer uses carries a second instruction. Tantalum tubing and tantalum tube are dimensioned by outside diameter and wall thickness. Tantalum pipe is called out as a nominal size with a schedule, which is a piping convention rather than a measurement: at NPS 12 and below the nominal figure is not the outside diameter, and only from NPS 14 upward do the two coincide. The published envelope on this page is written in outside diameter and wall, so a nominal call-out is converted at enquiry rather than carried across as if it were a measurement.
| What is being ordered | What sets the dimensions | The field that is easily left off |
|---|---|---|
| Thermowell or bayonet heater | The instrument and the vessel nozzle | End condition and finished length |
| Lining or repair sleeve | The vessel it goes into | The vessel dimension the part is taken from |
| Heat exchanger or condenser tube | The bundle drawing | Wall tolerance, and whether ends are cut or finished |
Supply range for tantalum tube and tubing is 1.0 mm to 100 mm outside diameter with the wall taken from the drawing, in lengths to 12000 mm.
How much does tantalum tube weigh per metre?
Weight per metre follows from outside diameter and wall: kg/m = π × (OD − wall) × wall × density ÷ 1,000, with OD and wall in millimetres and density in g/cm³. The table uses 16.69 g/cm³, the tantalum density given on this page. The sizes are examples for estimating only; the wall is taken from the drawing, and any outside diameter from 1.0 to 100 mm can be quoted.
| OD × wall (example) | Weight per metre | Weight of a 6 m length (example) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 × 0.5 mm | 0.144 kg | 0.87 kg |
| 10 × 1 mm | 0.472 kg | 2.83 kg |
| 25 × 1 mm | 1.258 kg | 7.55 kg |
| 50 × 2 mm | 5.034 kg | 30.20 kg |
| 100 × 3 mm | 15.258 kg | 91.55 kg |
Lengths run to 12000 mm. For other sizes, the weight calculator takes OD and wall under its tube setting, with tantalum at the same density.
Specification detail with sources
Beiyu Titanium supplies tantalum pipe and tube at Ø1.0 mm to 100 mm outside diameter with length to 12000 mm. The density of 16.69 g/cm³ is the reference value Beiyu Titanium uses for weight estimates and quotations, and 2996 °C is the melting point it uses as a reference; neither figure is taken from the printed supply ranges. Three grades are carried against those ranges, the UNS designations R05200, R05252 at Ta-2.5W and R05255 at Ta-10W.
The tantalum standards published alongside them are ASTM B365, B521 and B708. As with the other refractory metals they sit in one entry covering every tantalum form, so pairing a particular standard with pipe would be a reading of that entry rather than something it states. The tungsten content of the alloyed grades travels with the grade name rather than as a separate order line, so R05252 and R05255 are ordered by number and not by a percentage.
For a view of who else publishes this material and what each one states, see Tantalum Tube Suppliers: Four Company Pages Compared.
Request a quote for Tantalum Pipe and Tube
Send material grade, standard, size, condition, quantity and certificate requirements. Beiyu replies with quotation, lead time and documentation scope.