Behaviour of tantalum in the presence of CO and CO/CO mixtures at elevated temperatures

A study of the carburization of tantalum was carded out by reacting it with CO at temperatures in the range from 1073 K to 1573 K. In addition to TaC, TaO also formed as an intermediate product before full conversion to TaC. A thermodynamic analysis showed that such a complex reaction path was followed because the carburizing reactions generate enough CO to oxidize the metal. The reaction of tantalum with CO-CO gas mixtures was also investigated. The kinetics of reaction is discussed in terms of the reaction mechanisms and the reacting gas composition.