Invention entitled ‘Method of obtaining semi-finished niobium products’ (P.437441)

Description:

The object of the invention is a method for obtaining semi-finished niobium products using the FAST/SPS method. Niobium products, as innovative products, have applications in many fields, including those related to nuclear energy, production of chemical apparatus and electronic device components, medicine, as well as in the defence industry. The traditional technological process of manufacturing niobium products or semi-finished products is very complicated due to the large number of forming processes and intermediate heat and mechanical treatment processes. The efficiency of these processes is low due to the high amount of technological waste in the individual operations. Thanks to the developed technology for obtaining semi-finished products from niobium powder, it is possible to significantly shorten both the manufacturing time of semi-finished products by eliminating a number of forming operations, and to reduce material consumption by reducing technological waste compared to the traditional process. Semi-finished products obtained using the new technology have the same mechanical properties as those obtained using the traditional method.

Benefits:

• Of the pure metals, niobium has the highest superconductivity temperature (T=30 K). Niobium-based superconducting materials are used in particle accelerators, including the Large Hadron Collider.
• Niobium semiconductors provide a critical current density of up to 3500 A/mm² in a magnetic field of 12 T and at a temperature of 4.2 K. They are characterised by low residual resistivity and good mechanical properties.
• Niobium is also used in the nuclear power industry due to its small effective neutron absorption cross-section (1,15·10^-28m²) and good tensile strength.
• Niobium semi-finished product is obtained in a single FAST/SPS process.

Status of legal protection:

The technology consists of a patent application to the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland registered under No. P.437441 of 29 March 2021.

The property rights to the invention are held by the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Poznań Institute of Technology and Częstochowa University of Technology.

Contact person:

Maria Wiśniewska

Główny Specjalista – Kierownik Grupy Badawczej Inżynierii Materiałowej
Grupa Badawcza Inżynierii Materiałowej

Tel.: +48 887 584 110

E-mail: maria.wisniewska@pit.lukasiewicz.gov.pl