Morgan Advanced Materials, a materials engineering company, has added Hafnium Oxide (HfO) to its portfolio of advanced materials for the oil and gas sector as it aims to expand its market offering in line with evolving market demands.
The material, also known as Hafnia, bears a number of similarities to materials such as magnesium oxide (MgO) and zirconium Oxide (ZrO2) in terms of compound structure while boasting a number of performance advantages over its counterparts. Ideal for high temperature thermocouples, Hafnia can be used in temperatures of up to 2500°C (4532°F) whereas, for instance, MgO starts to interact with thermocouple wires at 1500°C (2732°F) despite having a similar melting point. Furthermore, the band gap is a lot higher for Hafnia, making it better suited to providing insulation at high temperatures. Hard fire Hafnia is also significantly harder than MgO, providing greater physical resistance.
Health and safety regulations around the use of thermocouples prohibits the use of toxic materials. This is where Hafnia can be seen as a preferable alternative to beryllium oxide (BeO), since it is non-toxic and requires no specialized disposal, unlike BeO.
“While Hafnium Oxide has already been on the market, the decision was taken to include it in our product offering to provide a wider range of materials to meet the requirements of our rapidly expanding global customer base,” said Samuel Wood, strategic account manager, Morgan Advanced Materials. “In short, Hafnia has a number of properties which make it a more viable option when compared to many alternative materials.”
Image: Hafnia Oxide/Morgan Advanced Materials
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