The evolution of the niobium production in Brazil

Abstract

Niobium (Nb) was initially applied in the industry in 1933 to stabilize stainless steels against intergranular corrosion. Around 1970, niobium started to be used in many technological applications, especially in heat treatments at high temperatures, in the form of superalloys and, over the past four decades, Nb has been employed on an industrial scale. During recent years, applications of niobium have increased steadily in various segments such as: micro-alloyed steels, super alloys, thin films, medical implants, titanium and aluminum alloys, superconductors and copper alloys, electrolytic and ceramic capacitors. The worldwide demand for Nb grew at an annual rate of 10% between the years 2000-2010, were the sectors of energy, automotive and construction of the largest consumers FeNb. In 2000 the brazilian production was 35,458 t of Nb and, in 2007, reached 82,000 t of concentrate Nb. Brazil has the world's largest reserves of Nb (98.53%), which totaled 842.4 million t. So, in this paper is made a study on the evolution of the production of niobium in Brazil and its main industrial and technological applications.