Search Documents

By Zhigang Liang

Effects of the configuration parameters of submerged entry nozzle on the flow field in slab mold were investigated through a water modeling. The experimental results showed, when the original submerged entry nozzle was applied, there was an appreciable level fluctuation in the mold with obviously naked surface and entrapment of mold flux at higher casting speed. By increasing the outlet area of submerged entry nozzle, without any change of other configuration parameters and submergence depth, a proper fluid field with active surface and good covering of mold flux can be obtained, which is proper to meet the requirement for increasing the casting speed and improving the slab quality simultaneously.

Jan 1, 2009

By P. V. Ananthapadmanabhan

Feedstock powders of metals, alloys and ceramics for thermal spray applications have to meet several specifications. Particle shape, size and distribution, powder flow characteristics and density are the important factors that need to be controlled, in order to ensure high spray efficiency and better coating properties. Thermal plasma technology can be effectively utilized to produce metal, alloy and ceramic powders for spray applications. The present paper describes plasma spheroidisation of commercially available aluminium powder and nickel-aluminium powder blend in a plasma reactor. Results show that the processed powder particles bear spherical morphology with excellent flow characteristics, which make them ideal for thermal spray applications.

Jan 1, 1997

By Wellington Pereira Inácio, Frederico Muylaert Margem, Artur Camposo Pereira, Sergio Neves

"Natural fibers are currently gaining attention as reinforcement of polymer composites for uses in engineering parts for automobile and building construction. In spite of environmental, economical and societal advantages, the natural lignocellulosic fibers are not as uniform in their dimension and properties as compared to synthetic. In recent works it was found that the variation in strength could be correlate to the equivalent diameters for several lignocellulosic fibers including the sisal fibers. In the present work an investigation on a possible correlation of the equivalent diameter with changes in density and elastic modulus was carried out. Precise measurements of the equivalent diameter, conducted in a profile projector, were correlated with the density and the elastic modulus by means of the Weibull statistic analysis. The results showed that an inverse correlation with the diameter also applies for both the density and the elastic modulus with a high degree of precision. SEM observation of the sisal fiber in structure and fracture aspects strongly indicate that defects and microfibril participation could be responsible for the inverse correlation.IntroductionAccording to Kalia [1], cellulose-based fibers are currently being pushed owing to their ""green"" image. Contrary to synthetic glass fiber, extensively used in our modem technology, these lignocellulosic fibers are renewable and can be incinerated at the end of the material's lifetime without adding pollution in the atmosphere moreover, the amount of CO2 released during incineration process is negligible as compared to the corresponding amount taken up by the plant throughout its lifetime. Even if an industrial processing equivalent of C02 release is added, the lignocellulosic fiber is considered neutral with respect to the emission of gases responsible for the global warming [2]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Douglas M. Matson, Rongbiao Gu, Christopher San Marchi, Anil Saigal

"Hydrogen embrittles most structural metals, although the form and magnitude of embrittlement depends on the source of the hydrogen as well as the stress in the metal. Hydrogen fuel cell systems typically store gaseous hydrogen fuel at high-pressure, which provides both a source of hydrogen and high stresses in the containment materials. Understanding and measuring the effects of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of common structural metals, especially fatigue properties, is important for safe, long-term operation of such systems. This work explores the use of thermography to efficiently and quantitatively evaluate hydrogen-assisted fatigue of type 304 austenitic stainless steel. In particular, thermographic analysis was used with rotating-beam fatigue testing and shown to provide repeatable results which are in general independent of test cycle frequency while reducing test times by several orders of magnitude. The effects of hydrogen were studied by thermally precharging fatigue test specimens in gaseous hydrogen prior to thermography-assisted fatigue testing and then compared to testing of non-charged specimens. Hydrogen-precharging increased the strength of this type 304 austenitic stainless steel and increased the fatigue life by a factor of about 50-100.IntroductionThe world is facing a severe energy and environmental challenge: how to provide competitive and clean energy for its citizens in light of an escalating global energy demand and concerns over energy supply security, climate change and local air pollution. As a carbon-free energy carrier, hydrogen provides a promising vector for storing and distributing renewable energy. Hydrogen is an important industrial gas that is used extensively in many industries. However, with growing demand for clean energy, hydrogen fuel cell systems are being developed for use in consumer products, such as fuel cell vehicles, which changes the landscape for safe design of high-pressure gaseous hydrogen systems."

Jan 1, 2012

By Nathália M. Campelo, Alexandre P. Umpierre, Fabricio Machado

"The present work illustrates the reuse of macoporous anion exchange resins (employed for decolorization of solutions of organic substances such as sugar syrup and fruit juice concentrates in the soft-drink and beverages industries), based on crosslinked styrene-divinyl benzene copolymer (Sty-DVB) to the production of polymeric materials. Micro-sized particles of polystyrene and poly(styrene-ethyl acrylate) were obtained by mass-suspension sequential polymerization process. The proposed experimental technique was able to perform proper dispersion of the Sty-DVB in the thermoplastic matrix of polystyrene. The final material showed good thermal stability, showing degradation profile similar to that observed for the pure polystyrene. It was also noticed that polymer particles with spherical morphology can be obtained. In addition, the incorporation of ethyl acrylate monomer into the polystyrene chains minimizes the undesirable effect of fracture in polymeric particles, improving the mechanical and end-use properties of the final polymeric composite.IntroductionIn face of the industrial development, the development of techniques that are safer and less aggressive to the environment has become one of the main challenges in the industrial field. In this scenario, processes more efficient in terms of energy and raw materials can be regarded as an important requirement to minimize the production of waste. The reuse of waste becomes an attractive alternative for most industries engaged with sustainable and economic development.In this context, both the primary and the secondary mechanical recycling are potentially attractive because they allow for reuse of polymeric waste (post-industrial or post-consumer) as a source of raw material in the supply chain by using traditional methods of processing, so that the final materials can exhibit characteristics similar or superior to those observed in the virgins polymeric materials, considered as a starting product in the process of reuse of plastics [1-3]."

Jan 1, 2012

By S. Y. Tan

As CMOS devices are scaled down into nano-region, SiO2 dielectric is approaching its physical and electrical limits. High-k material has been investigated widely in recent years, and gate oxide take place growth oxide with Hf-based below 45nm gate length technology node has been shown. The phenomenon of interfacial property between bulk silicon and gate dielectric materials (HfO2 and HfSiO) was focused. A comparison of capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristic of gate insulator was presented. Furthermore, the electrical property and thermal stability of high-k dielectric materials at various post deposit anneal (PDA) temperatures were established. The X-Ray diffraction technique was (XRD) utilized to analyze crystallization of the thin films, and the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied for surface chemical bounding energy to identify the silicon and dielectric layers. Results show that HfSiO films have exhibited a superior performance on both thermal stability and electrical performance.

Jan 1, 2009

By Y. Shigeno

The reactivity of a porous solid is a strong function of its pore structure (porosity, pore surface area and pore size distribution). It follows that reactivity could be altered by altering pore structure; one way to achieve this is by chemical vapor infiltration whereby a gaseous species is reacted in the porous solid to produce a solid. Experiments were carried out in which the pore structures of various carbons were modified by cracking methane within the pores; oxidation rates of the carbons were then measured for both infiltrated and original samples. For coke it was found that two indices of coke performance used in the steel industry (CRI and CSR) can be greatly improved following a small amount of infiltration. Infiltration/oxidation results are interpreted in terms of measured pore structure changes.

Jan 1, 1993

By Neil E. Izatt

The use of Molecular Recognition Technology (MRT), a selective separations technology using specifically designed ligands, has been established as an effective process for removal of metal ions found in many hydrometallurgical, chemical, and wastewater streams. The MRT process has been proven to be highly efficient and effective for indium extraction and recovery from zinc acid leach, electrolyte, chemical process and waste streams. A high percentage of the indium is recovered in a solid product format. MRT has also proven effective for germanium extraction and recovery from similar feed streams. This paper provides the indium and germanium metal recovery flow sheets and analytical results of the metal load and recovery steps.

Jan 1, 2006

By Sacha Neven

Submerged lance technologies combine high intensity processing characterized by rapid mixing and reaction rates using a simple reactor design. The Isasmelt technology uses a central submerged lance to inject oxygen-enriched air and fuel into a bath thus creating large gas bubbles and intensive turbulence and splash. The lance is equipped with swirlers to increase gas velocity and heat transfer. This enables the formation of a frozen slag layer on the lance which protects it from the aggressive environment. Water models as well as high temperature reactors were used to validate the Davidson-Schiiler model on bubbling. Frequencies and pressure amplitudes were measured in a wide range of gas flow rates: from m3/sec using a water model to more than 30 m3/sec in an industrial process. Agreement with the model was satisfactory. The experiments however also clearly showed that cross-flow and bubble wake induce slightly higher frequencies. No influence of the use of swirlers on the bubbling frequency was observed in the water models.

Jan 1, 2002

By Christian Trassy, Pierre Proulx

"Inductive plasmas are now commonly used in material processing: spraying, powder synthesis, densification or spheroidization. An inductive discharge presents, in the coil region, recirculation eddies due to the Lorentz forces, resulting in an axial backflow. If the central jet is strong enough to ""pierce"" the recirculation this axial backflow disappears on the centerline, but the external layer of the injection flow is skimmed by the remaining eddy, and particulates are rejected to the discharge periphery. To avoid this disadvantage, it is common to introduce the injection pipe inside the discharge, so that its outlet is positioned after the recirculation eddy. The powders remain confined in the axial zone, to the expense of shortened residence time.In order to increase the efficiency of the particle trajectories, a double flow injector has been designed. It enables the particles to travel closer to the axis, while the outer schrouding gas is skimmed and passes through the electromagnetic eddies. This injector is made up of two concentric tubes. The powders are injected with the carrier gas in the inner tube. A schrouding gas is injected in the annular space between the inner and the outer tubes. The powder is confined to the vicinity of the axis, resulting in a more homogeneous thermal treatment.Tungsten powders have been spheroidized with and without this device. Using the double flow injection, the spheroidization yield has been increased from 70 % up to 95 %.The design of such an injection device has. been studied and improved using numerical modelling. Another useful tool, a visualisation technique described elsewhere, has been used for the experimental study, that drastically simplifies the comparison between experimental and theoretical results: injecting yttrium oxide into the discharge results in a colorful display of the 4000 K isothenn: the ""cold"" zone, below 4000, appearing as red, and the ""hot"" zone as blue. Furthermore, it is of great industrial interest since it is a very cheap and efficient way to obtain a picture of an important isotherm."

Jan 1, 1999

By Takamitsu Nakasuga, Haiping Sun, Kyushu University, Katsumi Mori

"The kinetic behavior of reduction of chromite ore by liquid iron containing carbon and silicon has been investigated under various experimental conditions to clarify the reduction mechanism. It was found that the reduction rate of chromium ore by liquid Fe-C alloy was very slow. In addition, when carbon and silicon coexisted in the iron melt, silicon was found to preferentially oxidized to form silica, which favored for the fonnation of liquid slag and the rate of reduction was considerably accelerated. The similar effect was obtained by the addition of some fluxes, such as SiO2, Na2B407, CaO-SiO2, which also promoted the formation of a liquid slag and thus the reduction rate in the early stage also increased.IntroductionThe reduction of Cr2O3 is a basic reaction for production of ferro-chromium from chromite ore and for chromium recovery from the slag fonned during the decarburization period of a stainless steel-making process. The reduction of chromite ore consumes much energy and its reaction rate is not so high. Thus, in order to increase the reduction efficiency, it is strongly desired to clarify its reduction mechanism from the practical and the theoretical points of view."

Jan 1, 2000

By Elli Miettinen

In Copper Flash Smelting operation disturbances may lead into dust build-up in the gas train and off-gas handling system causing reduced heat recovery efficiency and process availability. Flue dust of a Copper Flash Smelting process heat recovery boiler has been characterized and its thermal conductivity and diffusivity have been determined. Dust accretions consist of several layers possessing varying particle sizes, densities, and thermal properties, with the binding phase usually being sulphate. All the dusts can be regarded as effective thermal insulators with thermal conductivity values of less than 2 W/mK and thermal diffusivity values of less than 0.005 cm2/s. Porosity can be regarded as a fairly good indicator of the thermal transport efficiency of these types of materials, but the material microstructure must also be considered. The results can be used in the dimensioning of metallurgical heat recovery boilers and they also provide accurate input data for process models.

Jan 1, 2009

By Sadegh Safarzadeh, Anne-Marie Suriano, Stanley Howard

The electrodeposition of metal ions from aqueous electrolyte solutions has been a well-known process for the last half century. With numerous industrial applications such as electroplating, electrowinning and electrorefining, the kinetics of electrochemical reactions involved in the process has been extensively researched. Arrhenius-type rate equations, the Butler-Volmer equation, and the empirical Tafel equation are among the most important models to explain the rate of electrochemical reactions. The study of the kinetics of metal deposition is critical to understanding the underlying mechanisms through which a certain morphology of metal deposit is formed on the cathode. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the influence of experimental parameters such as pH and additives on the rate and the reaction mechanism determining the rate limiting step of the electrodeposition reactions.

Jan 1, 2015

By M. Rubinstein, N. C. Koon, B. N. Das, V. G. Harris

"Copper and gold - based alloys having giant magnetoresistance properties were produced by melt spinning from arc melted and cast rods. The ribbon width varied between 1 and 2 mm and the ribbon thicknesses were in the range of 30 to 50 11m. The uniform microstructure of the cast rods indicated the composition homogeneity in the starting material. The ribbons showed composition uniformity across the cross section from EDX analysis. However, the spun ribbon microstructure changed from a 'frozen in' region near the wheel side to a nanosize spherically precipitated phase towards the freely frozen surface. The evolution of the microstructure from the spun ribbon state to the annealed ones was studied by optical microscopy, SEM and TEM. The structural information of the spun and annealed specimens was obtained from X - ray, electron diffraction, electron microscopy and ferromagnetic resonance. Magnetoresistance was measured by the four point probe method.IntroductionRecently. Giant Magnetoresistance. GMR. has been observed in sputtered thin films alloys of Ag. Au and Cu with Co and Fe [1. 2. 3]. The sputtered films are produced by condensation of the alloys from the vapor phase. These Ag. Au and Cu alloys are miscible and homogeneous in the vapor and liquid phase (except Ag alloys which exhibit phase separation even in the liquid phase) but immiscible and heterogeneous in the solid phase. In our work we have produced thin ribbons of the Cu and Au alloys about 30 µm thick from the miscible state in liquid phase by rapid solidification melt spinning. The microstructural development of the ribbons was investigated in the as - spun condition and on annealing. The other properties such as magnetization. GMR and Mossbauer Spectroscopy were also investigated in the various microstructural conditions of the ribbons."

Jan 1, 1994

By Kai Tang, Casper van der Eijk

Natural gas has been used as reductant in the production of iron for several decades. Recently, the use of natural gas as reductant for other metals has been drawing attention because of the low price of natural gas, as well as the reduction of CO2 emissions compared to the use of coke and coal. In this work, the reduction of a mixture of Ti- and Ni-oxides by natural gas has been studied. Within the Ni-Ti system, the intermetallic compound Ni3Ti is thermodynamically the most stable one. Therefore, powders of Ni-oxide and Ti-oxides were mixed in an atomic ratio of three to one and subsequently pelletized. Reduction was performed in a TGA furnace at constant temperature with varying reducing gas atmospheres. In a natural gas containing atmosphere, the Ni-oxide was easily reduced to metallic nickel while the Ti was reduced to Ti-oxycarbides or Ti-oxynitride when nitrogen was present. Depending on the process parameters, several percent of Ti was dissolved in the nickel-based solid phase.

Jan 1, 2014

By Ray Y. Lin, Sunil G. Warrier

"Low cost processing of metal matrix composites is an essential requirement for this class of materials to be acceptable in commercial application. In an effort to reduce the cost of processing of metal matrix composites, an infrared pressureless liquid infiltration technique has been developed. The salient features of infrared infiltration are that it is rapid, simple and a low cost process. The rapid processing capability causes very little oxide formation on the alloy resulting in both improved wetting and flow characteristics and reduced oxygen contamination in the composite. Thus, vacuum is normally not required. Using infrared inflltration, aluminum and titanium matrix composites have been prepared under an ambient argon atmosphere. Reinforcements in these composites include carbon fibers, silicon carbide Nicalon fibers and Textron's SCS fibers. Microstructural and mechanical test results indicate that completely consolidated composites with good fiber distribution, limited interfacial reaction and high mechanical properties can be manufactured by this process. IntroductionAluminum and titanium matrix composites reinforced with ceramic reinforcements are strong candidates for numerous applications in the aerospace and automotive industries. Aluminum matrix composites are commonly fabricated by either solid state vacuum hot pressing, liquid state pressure infiltration or squeeze casting [1]. Although liquid state pressure infiltration and squeeze casting has significant advantages over solid state processes, the requirement for pressure makes these composites uneconomical for large scale industrial application. Titanium matrix composites are primarily fabricated by solid state diffusion bonding [2]. Pressureless liquid infiltration can significantly reduce the cost of fabrication in both the composite systems. However, during pressureless infiltration processes, several complications concerning the wetting characteristics and chemical compatibility arise."

Jan 1, 1994

By Susana Caballero, Lourdes Yurramendi

Air Pollution Control (APC) ashes from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) plants need to be treated prior to landfilling due mainly to their heavy metals content. This research evaluates the capacity of the APC residues to sequester carbon dioxide, while the ash becomes stabilized for storage. It has the benefit of using two wastes, with no addition of any raw material. APC samples from different MSWI plants were treated by gas/solid accelerated carbonation at different temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations to evaluate the residue behaviour to the process. The extent of carbonation was evaluated by means of weight gain upon carbonation and by the measurement of the final carbonate content. The APC residues were analyzed before and after the treatment in order to know their composition and their leaching behaviour according to the criteria for the acceptance of wastes at landfills established by the European Council Decision 2003/33/EC.

Jan 1, 2008

By Viktor Mukhin

"Among the methods proposed for spent activated carbon regeneration, the most acceptable is, thermal reactivation, because in this case the existing equipment for manufacture of activated carbon can be adapted for this purpose.In order to conduct the process of thermal re-activation of spent activated carbon directly at gold mills, a fullscale drum-type furnace with external electric heating has been developed, i.e. EPV-300 model with a throughput rate of 50 to 120 kg/hour. Its use ensures restoration of the adsorption properties of carbon up to the level of fresh activated carbon with an insignificant (by 0.7%) decrease in strength and with a high (95% to 97%) yield of reactivated carbon.During the recent years, activated powder carbon has been extensively used in flotation processes for treating polymetallic ores at ore treating plants to improve recoveries of main metals (copper, lead, nickel, etc.).Especially large volumes of activated powder carbon are used at the Talnakh concentrator of the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Complex in Russia for absorption of residual flotation reagents from recycled water in order to ensure efficient selective separation of minerals with similar physical and chemical properties.IntroductionSorption technology based on active carbons use starts being applied in such an important in the widest sense of the word strategical branch of economics as non-ferrous metallurgy. Thus since the middle ninetieth Russian gold extraction industry began to apply widely the processes of sorption from pulps and solutions by means of high-resistant granulated active carbons. That provided the start of gold ore minefield exploration, increasing of gold extraction from the ore and reducing its loss with the ""tails"" of process. At present more than 40% of Russian gold is extracted with the help of sorption technologies [1].Another field of active carbons application in non-ferrous metallurgy is the processes of non-ferrous ores floatation at ore-mining and processing enterprise. For that purpose powdered (less than l00µm) active carbons are used for providing the effective selection of minerals with similar physicochemical properties. This method not only increases the metal extraction level but provides deeper division of them."

Jan 1, 2008

By Kazuya Kitatani, Gen Sasaki, Naoto Ohta, Hideharu Fukunaga, Makoto Yoshida, Jin Pan, Kenya Nagahisa, Toshihiro Ishikawa

"A sintered SiC (Tyranno-SA) fiber-reinforced MAS glass matrix composite was fabricated by using a slurry infiltration method and hot-pressing. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated: To prepare the preform, the MAS glass slurry including a dispersing agent was infiltrated into a bundle of the fibers. The preform was then hot-pressed under the conditions of 1473 K, 30 MPa, 3.6 ksec. A unidirectionally-reinforced oxide matrix composite with 50% Vf. of the fiber and a density of 2.84 g/cm3 was obtained. As the mechanical properties at room temperature, the three-point flexural strength- and quasi-static adsorbed energy were 500 MPa arid 6,000 J/m2, respectively. Without graphite or an h-BN pre-coating on the surface of the fiber, pull-out and bridging of the fibers from the matrix was found, and this leads to a high value of the adsorbed energy. By TEM observation, nano-scale crystalline products were found between the fibers and the glass matrix. The push-out test reveals that this layer causes the appropriate debonding of the interface during the fracture process of the composite.Introduction It is known that the CFCCs (continuous-fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites) are characterized by their non-linear fracture behavior, which is' hardly found in monolithic ceramic materials. It is inevitable for the CFCCs to exhibit a large fracture toughness so 'that debonding of the fiber/matrix interface; pull-out and bridging of the fibers then' occurs during the fracture process. This series of fracture behavior is known as the so-called ""the mechanism of toughening of the CFCCs"". Thus, different from the MMCs in which strong interfacial bonding is necessary, the interfacial strength of the CFCCs has to be controlled. As techniques for controlling the interfacial strength, it is also known that both a CVD-graphite coating and an h-BN coating are effective to induce the mechanism of toughening[1,2]. In the case, of the Si-C-O or Si-Ti-C-O fibers/glass or crystalline oxide matrix composites, it is reported that the formation of the in-situ graphite layer, which is also effective to increase the fracture toughness of the CFCCs, is often found during the fabrication process such as hot-pressing. The lower the crystallinity of the Si-C-O fibers, the higher is the tendency to form the in-situ graphite layer as found by the chemical reaction between the fibers and the glass matrices[3-12]. On the-other hand crystallized stoichiometric 'SiC fibers are attractive for high temperature service because of the higher phase stability compared to the Si¬C-O or Si-Ti-C-O fibers. However, in the previous, studies, the mechanical properties and the interfacial chemical reaction of the crystallized SiC fibers / glass matrix Composites have still been unknown. In this study, a polycrystalline 'sintered SiC fiber-reinforced MAS glass composite was fabricated. The mechanical properties and microstructure were then investigated. The slurry infiltration technique followed by hot-pressing was used to prepare the composites. The formation of the in-situ graphite layer and the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties at room temperature were examined by the TEM observation of the fiber/matrix interface."

Jan 1, 2000

By Shantanu Chakrabarti, Khursid Alam Khan

"Globally, the use of metallic coated steel sheets in the automobile industry is increasing. The sheet should have excellent formability, weldability, paintability and corrosion resistance. Since bare cold rolled steel sheets have certain limitations, application of galvanized steel sheets is steadily expending. Galvannealed steel sheet fulfills all requirements and has become of major interest in the automobile industry.The success of Galvannealed (GA) steels in the body-in-white depends upon material design and parameters of various processes involved, like cold rolling, continuous annealing, hot dipping and galvannealing. In the present work, powdering resistance, one of the important product characteristics of GA, has been studied and a relation is established between the process parameters and the powdering value. The product obtained through optimization of the process parameters have been successfully used by major automotive producers without any powdering problem, for internal as well as external automotive applications.IntroductionThe present automotive industry demands that steel for the auto components should have excellent formability, weldability, paintability, corrosion resistance etc. In addition to this there is specific requirement for some particular components like high surface quality for skin panels. Corrosion resistance of panels is important requirment which determines the life of the particular component and brand value of the automotive. Among all the zinc based steel coating used in the automotive industry coating produced by Galvannealing process has received most attention because of its excellent weldability along with superior corrosion resistance and better paintability."

Jan 1, 2012