Resistance to high temperatures and chemical corrosion make tantalum and its alloys common materials of construction for chemical, pharmaceutical and nuclear plant processing equipment.

Tantalum operates safely at high temperatures and chemical concentrations, while minimizing product contamination. Applications include reaction vessels, liners and repair materials, instrumentation and safety devices such as thermowells, diaphragms, rupture discs and orifices.

Ease of fabrication means that niobium parts can be designed with thin cross sections and in intricate shapes, as in spinnerets and impellers.

Tantalum offers high thermal conductivity, important to distillation equipment, heat exchangers, condensers, bayonet heaters, spiral coils, U-tubes, spargers, side-arm reboilers and thermowells. Thin-gauge tantalum strips can be readily deep-drawn to produce inert laboratory crucibles and cups.