High Precision Customizable Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plungers

Overview of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger

Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger is a high performance component. It is made of silicon nitride ceramic material with the advantages of high strength, high hardness, high temperature resistance, wear resistance and good chemical stability. In various high-pressure, high-speed and high-temperature working environments, Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger can maintain stable performance, effectively reduce friction loss, extend service life and improve the operating efficiency of the equipment, which is widely used in chemical industry, petroleum, machinery and many other industrial fields.

Features of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger

Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger has the following significant features:

High hardness and wear resistance: Silicon Nitride Ceramics are extremely hard, second only to diamond and a few other substances. This makes the silicon nitride ceramic plunger in the frequent reciprocating motion, can resist the medium of scouring and abrasion, even in the high-pressure, high-speed working conditions, but also can maintain a good surface finish and dimensional accuracy, greatly extending the service life.

High-temperature resistance: Silicon nitride ceramics have excellent high-temperature resistance, and can maintain stable mechanical properties in a high-temperature environment. Can withstand high working temperature, not easy to thermal deformation, which makes it suitable for some need to operate in a high-temperature environment of the equipment, such as chemical reactor, high temperature and high pressure pumps.

Corrosion resistance: silicon nitride ceramics have good chemical stability, strong resistance to most acids, alkalis, salts and other corrosive media. In the chemical and petroleum industries, it can resist the erosion of various corrosive media, ensure the normal operation of the equipment, and reduce the leakage and failure caused by corrosion.

Low friction coefficient: Silicon Nitride ceramics have smooth surface and low friction coefficient, when cooperating with other parts, it can effectively reduce friction loss, improve the energy conversion efficiency of the equipment, and at the same time, reduce the heat and noise generated by friction, so as to make the equipment run more smoothly and efficiently.

Specifications table of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger

Parameter	Typical Value
Material	Si₃N₄
Density (g/cm³)	3.2 – 3.3
Flexural Strength (MPa)	700 – 900
Young’s Modulus (GPa)	300
Poisson’s Ratio	0.25 – 0.28
Compressive Strength (MPa)	2500 – 3000
Hardness (GPa)	15 – 16
Fracture Toughness (MPa·m¹/²)	5 – 8
Maximum Working Temperature in Oxidizing Atmosphere (℃)	1100 – 1300
Maximum Working Temperature in Neutral Atmosphere (℃)	1600
Thermal Conductivity (W/m·K)	20 – 25
Thermal Expansion Coefficient (/℃)	3×10⁻⁶ – 3.1×10⁻⁶
Thermal Shock Resistance (ΔT ℃)	550 – 800
Surface Roughness	Ra 0.02 μm (after polishing)
Cylindricity Tolerance	±0.006 mm
Concentricity Tolerance	±0.002 mm

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Applications of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger

Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger has a wide range of applications, mainly in the following areas:

Chemical industry: chemical production often involves corrosive media and high temperature and pressure environment, silicon nitride ceramic plunger with its excellent corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance, can be used in chemical pumps, plunger valves and other equipment, can be stable delivery of a variety of corrosive liquids, such as sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and other strong acids and strong alkali solutions such as sodium hydroxide, to ensure the safety and stability of the chemical production process.

Petroleum field: In the process of petroleum mining and refining, silicon nitride ceramic plunger can be used in water injection pumps, mud pumps and other equipment. It can withstand the high temperature, high pressure and impurities containing sand and other impurities in the well, to ensure the efficient operation of the pump, improve the efficiency of oil extraction, while reducing the frequency of maintenance and replacement of equipment, reduce production costs.

Mechanical field: in some high-precision mechanical processing equipment, such as precision injection molding machines, high-pressure hydraulic systems, etc., silicon nitride ceramic plungers with its high hardness, high precision and low coefficient of friction characteristics, to achieve precise pressure control and stable movement, helping to improve the processing accuracy and product quality, and at the same time to extend the service life of the equipment.

New energy field: In new energy equipment such as fuel cells, silicon nitride ceramic plungers can be used in key components such as hydrogen transfer pumps. It can work stably under high-pressure, high-purity hydrogen environment, providing guarantee for the reliable operation of new energy equipment and helping the development of new energy industry.

Company Profile

RBOSCHCO is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years of experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. The company exports to many countries, such as the USA, Canada, Europe, UAE, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Turkey, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dubai, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal etc. As a leading nanotechnology development manufacturer, RBOSCHCO dominates the market. Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value, and easily cope with various challenges. If you are interested, please send an email to sales1@rboschco.com

Payment Term

T/T, Western Union, Paypal, Credit Card etc.

Shipment Term

By air, by sea, by express, as customers request.

5 FAQs of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Plunger

Q1: What do I need to pay attention to when installing a silicon nitride ceramic plunger?

Cleanliness: Thoroughly clean the mating surface with alcohol before installation to avoid particles scratching the surface.

Coaxiality: The coaxiality error between the plunger and pump body should be controlled within ±0.005mm to prevent misalignment.

Lubrication: It is recommended to use high-temperature grease containing molybdenum disulfide to avoid running without lubrication.

Temperature control: Slow temperature rise (≤10℃/min) is required at startup to prevent thermal stress cracking.

Q2: How to extend the service life of silicon nitride ceramic plunger?

Surface treatment: Using laser micro-woven + ALD coating technology, the wear rate can be reduced to 6.3mm³/N・m.

Regular Inspection: Microscopic cracks are detected by ultrasonic flaw detector every 500 hours, and damaged parts are replaced in time.

Media filtration: A 10μm filter is installed at the pump inlet to minimize the intrusion of hard particles.

Process optimization: Adoption of Gas Pressure Sintering (GPS) process, product density increased to 99.9%, fracture toughness up to 7.2MPa・m¹/².

Q3: Do silicon nitride ceramic plungers meet international standards?

Domestic standards: Conforms to GB/T 41490-2022 (rolling contact fatigue test), GB/T 31703-2015 (ceramic ball bearings).

International standards: Passed ISO 17947:2023 (chemical analysis methods), FDA food contact certification (for medical devices)

Q4: Are silicon nitride ceramic plungers fragile?

Misunderstanding clarification: The fracture toughness of silicon nitride ceramics reaches 5-7MPa・m¹/², which is 3-5 times higher than that of common ceramics, and it is not easy to be broken in normal use. However, shock loads (e.g., hard impacts) should be avoided.

Impact-resistant design: Gradient composite structure (e.g. Si₃N₄/WC-Co transition layer) reduces thermal stress by 70%.

Q5: Are silicon nitride ceramics environmentally friendly?

Material advantage: no heavy metal pollution, recyclable, compliant with EU RoHS directive.

Production process: Pressureless sintering technology, energy consumption is 60% lower than metal smelting.

Application value: Reduce the use of lubricants (e.g. self-lubricating design), reduce the environmental impact of equipment maintenance.