Abstract

This study examined the correlation of various operational factors including reaction temperature and the quantity of reductant and diluent with the characteristics of powder using K_2 TaF_7 as feed materials, Na as a reductant and KCl/KF as a diluent. Also to control the particle size and shape, external supply system developed, it can provide a feed material and a reductant at a fixed quantity and evaluated the characteristics of tantalum powder. When the external supply system was applied instead of the batch type process that charges feed material, reductant and diluent at the same time, it was possible to induce regular reduction reaction between feed material and reductant, which increased the recovery rate and reduced the mixture of impurities. In particular, the application of the external supply system enabled the control of reaction temperature and reaction speed according to the feeding rate of feed material during reduced reaction, and resultantly it enabled the manufacturing of granular-shaped powder with a regular granularity of 2∼3 µtextrmm and purity of 99.5%.

• Keywords: Ta powder;External supply;Feed material;Reductant;Diluent;Granular-shaped powder;