Refining Tungsten: A Path to High Purity, Dense Tungsten Materials
Tungsten, often referred to as Wolfram, is a highly ordered and very hard metal, making it an ideal choice for a variety of uses in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Because of its density and other properties, it is commonly used in areas such as aerospace and nuclear power, for its strength in such applications.
However, tungsten, in its natural form, is not suitable for use in highly sensitive applications. In order to make tungsten suitable for these applications, it must be further refined to a purer, more dense form. This form of tungsten is known as high purity, dense tungsten.
The process of refining tungsten begins with the chemical separation of its component parts. These components, including Iron, Boron, and Vanadium, are removed from the tungsten ore through the chemical leaching process. The leached material is then refined into a powder form. The purity of the powder is then increased by additional mechanical processing to separate out impurities and achieve a desired chemical composition.
Once the powder is pure, it can be further processed to form wrought tungsten. This process involves making use of extrusion techniques or die casting. The extrusion process involves passing the tungsten powder through a die at high temperatures, creating a relatively pure, solid tungsten bar. This bar is then ready for further processing.
One of the most common methods for refining tungsten is through the powder metallurgy process. This process involves blending the tungsten powder with other metals and elements, such as cobalt and nickel, before sintering the powder together under heat and pressure. This process can result in a tungsten product that is up to 99.9% pure.
Tungsten can also be further refined through vacuum furnace sintering. This process uses a vacuum chamber to sinter the tungsten powder together in a non-oxidising atmosphere, under high temperatures and pressure. This can further purify tungsten, and result in a product that is up to 99.995% pure.
The process of refining tungsten can also result in the production of dense tungsten components. This is due to the way that sintering works to join the individual particles of tungsten in the powder together. The resulting product can be up to 50% denser than conventional cast or wrought tungsten.
High purity, dense tungsten materials have a variety of uses in the production and manufacturing industries. One of the primary uses of these materials is in the aerospace and nuclear sectors, due to the high strength, density and low-toxicity of the material. These materials are also extensively used in medical devices, as well as in electrical switches, for their highly conductive nature.
Overall, the refining of tungsten to a high purity, dense form is an important process, as it allows the metal to be used in a variety of sensitive and technical applications. This process involves the removal of component parts and the further purification of the tungsten powder to achieve the desired chemical composition, before it is put through further processes to form high purity, dense tungsten components.
