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By Alan J. Hurd

"New insights into the development of microstructure in sol-gel films have recently been revealed by several diagnostic techniques, including imaging ellipsometry, ""chemical imaging"" by fluorescent tracers, light scattering from capillary waves, and finite-element modeling. The evolution of porosity during the continuous transition from dilute sol to porous solid in restricted geometries such as films and fibers is becoming clearer through fundamental understanding of evaporation dynamics and capillarity.IntroductionWith sol-gel processing, the full flexibility of solution chemistry can be exploited to make ceramic films and fibers with well controlled compositional characteristics. No less important is the ability to tune porosity and connectivity for specific applications such as optical and electrical coatings and membranes. Since the chemical and physical factors that determine the microstructure are not entirely understood, new diagnostics applied to sol-gel processing are welcome.Sol-gel films and fibers are distinguished by processing that takes a sol through continuous stages of increasing concentration and connectivity of a solid precursor. The liquid carrier is usually volatile or, at least, volatilizable through heat treatment. During deposition through states of increasing solids concentration, this sol might gel, as in bulk sol-gel processing, however, the gel state may be a fleeting transient that quickly empties of liquid. Nevertheless, the structures formed in solution during this stage influence the structure of the final solid. In particular, porosity is likely to be a remnant of networks formed in the sol-to-gel transition. Here we report on experiments whose goal is to discover the factors involved with porosity development."

Jan 1, 1994

By J. McKelliget, J. Szekely, Oreper. G. M.

"1. INTRODUCTIONThis paper is concerned with heat and fluid flow phenomena in arc welding operations. Fig. 1 shows a schematic sketch of a typical arc welding arrangement. It is seen that an arc is being struck between an inert electrode and a metal surface and that the resultant current and energy flow will case the formation of a molten weldpool.It is clearly appreciated that the weldpool shape and the nature of circulation in the weldpool may play an important part in determining the ultimate weld quality. It is known, furthermore,· that the weldpool behavior in turn will be affected by the spatial distribution of the current and the heat flux it receives from the arc. Indeed, the inherent coupling between the arc and the weldpool is a key feature of welding operations.Up to the present useful work has been done on the modelling of heat transfer and melt circulation in weldpools (1,2,3,4) and also on the description of arcs, including welding arcs (5,6,7,8). However, the coupling between these two sets of phenomena is relatively unexplored in a qualitative sense. The purpose of the present paper is to examine the interaction between welding arcs and weldpools. The actual material will be presented under the following headings:"

Jan 1, 1986

By Sergey Komarov, Manuela Diaz, Sano. Masamichi

"Mixing time, bubble behavior and absorption rate of gas injected into a liquid bath through rotary L-shaped lances have been studied by cold models with an effort to improve refining characteristics of metallurgical processes. Two kinds of the rotary lances were tested, namely the single-hole lance and the multi-hole lance. The effects of gas flow rate, bath depth and rotation speed were examined.It is found that when gas is injected through the rotary lances, the mixing intensity and the gas absorption rate are larger than that for the gas injection through stationary lances. The effect of rotation speed decreases as the bath depth and the gas flow rate increase.The multi-hole lance produces much smaller bubbles, which lead to an increase in the volumetric mass transfer coefficient by 3-4 times as compared with the single-hole lance. However, the effect of rotation speed is smaller for the multi-hole lance. The obtained results are explained in terms of the bubble coalescence and fragmentation, the rate of which depends on the departure bubble size and the power supplied to the liquid bath.IntroductionIn recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of gas injector for metallurgical processes. The majority of the previous work was focused on modification to the injector design to improve mixing and to increase the of chemical reaction rate. These two goals can not be necessarily achieved by the same way. Bottom nozzles and stationary immersed top lances, which have been widely applied to steelmaking processes, are effective for the bath mixing, but have a limit to decrease in the bubble size. This results from a vigorous coalescence occurring between the bubbles when they rise in the molten bath as a bubble swarm.One of the ways to ensure the small bubble size and the effective bath stirring is the gas purging through rotary injectors. A number of studies have been undertaken to improve the refining characteristics by using rotary injectors. All of them are related to aluminum refining. The SNIF equipment (The Spinning Nozzle Inert Flotation) has significantly improved the quality of aluminum products at National Luxemburg Aluminum [1]. Rotary injectors made in the form of a disc have been applied to the Alcoa 622 [2] and the GBF processes [3]. A study of the gas injection by a rotary impeller has been carried out by C. Leroy and G. Pignacelt [4]. All researchers note the significant improvement in removal of sodium, calcium, hydrogen and non-metallic inclusion."

Jan 1, 1996

By N. J. Tannyan

Laboratory bath smelting tests were conducted to determine the feasibility of smelting nickel- copper concentrate directly to a low iron matte in one step. Concentrate, air/oxygen and a silica flux were fed to a matte-slag bath kept in MgO crucibles at I 300°C. Various oxygen enrichments and smelting rates were used to maintain 0.5 to 2 wt% iron in the product matte. The slag losses are comparable to those obtained under similar industrial conditions. Due to the highly oxidizing conditions required to produce mattes with low iron contents, it is not recommended to target iron contents below about 2% in the matte. The specific bath smelting rates were equal to or higher than those in various industrial bath smelting processes.

Jan 1, 2003

By Liang Wang, Sheng-Kai An, Bing Xie, Hong-Yi Li, Cui Li

In order to develop an environment-friendly method for extracting vanadium effectively from aqueous solution containing vanadium, the dynamic adsorption behavior of V by a continuous fixed-bed column which was filled with macro-porous weak base anion exchange resin was studied. Effects of conditions including the bed depth, flow rate, concentration of vanadium ions on dynamic V adsorption were investigated. The optimum adsorption conditions were established at flow rate of 6 ml/min with bed depth of 20 cm. Isotherms studies demonstrated that the column adsorption of V was a favorable chemical ion exchange process in monolayer. Several kinetic models were applied to analyze the adsorption characteristics. Analysis results of the Bohart-Adams model indicated that the adsorption process was dominated by external mass transfer in the initial stage. The Thomas model was appropriate to describe the column behavior, revealing that both external and internal diffusions were involved in the limiting steps.

Jan 1, 2014

By Catherine Cai

A granular sorbent, prepared by gel-coating polyethyleneimine (PEI) on high surface area silica followed by crosslinking with a low-molecular weight diepoxide, has significantly higher uranium capacity, greater salt tolerance, and faster kinetics than the commercial resin Dowex 21K. Though having lower U(VI)/Fe(III) selectivity than Dowex 21K, the gel-coated PEI affords much higher sorptions of both U(VI) and Fe(III) and also their separation by selective stripping with acid.

Jan 1, 1999

By X. K. Lan

The greater demand for high-quality large-diameter crystals has led to the robust idea of a free- flying solar-powered furnace satellite, whereby the buoyancy-driven convection effects are almost nonexistent, and diffusion-controlled crystal growth with minimal radial segregation is promoted. In the proposed solar furnace, a paraboloid of revolution imaging concentrator is used to focus the sun's radiation onto an-ampoule which holds the solid charge to be processed. The charge will start melting in the vicinity of the focal point, after which it is translated in order for the melt to resolidify as a single crystal. A ray-trace method has been developed to determine the incident concentrated solar heat flux on the ampoule surface for a perfectly-aligned configuration with an incoming columnated beam. A transient 2- dimensional conduction problem with phase change is formulated, which is solved using the commercial code FIDAP. Results highlighting the feasibility of growing GaAs, Ge and Si crystals with diameters of the order of 20 cm using the solar furnace satellite concept are presented. The transient temperature fields within various charge materials are quantified.

Jan 1, 1994

By P. Thapliyal

The petroleum refining industry generates over a million tons of spent catalyst per year, containing valuable metals. Currently, these materials are recycled to smelting furnaces, but the fundamental mechanisms controlling the recovery processes are poorly understood. Furthermore, submerged injection of finely divided materials is potentially a means to obtain high recoveries of pay metals. In this study, a catalyst containing 10% Ni and 1% Co was injected into 45 kg heats of matte. A copper matte was chosen so that the nickel and cobalt recoveries were measurable. It was found that the recovery ranged from 40 to 700Al, increasing with catalyst feed rate, decreasing with catalyst particle size and decreasing with the oxygen content of the carrier gas. A mathematical model was developed to account for the results, and to permit extrapolation to nickel mattes. The industrial implications are discussed.

Jan 1, 1996

By Toshia Suzuki, Keiji Kakudate, Yoshihiro Adachi

"A macro model for the steel usage pattern in Japan is proposed. The steels are classified into four types; converter steel for machinery and for construction and electric furnace (EF) steel for machinery and for construction. The steels are assumed to be discharged from the society in accordance with lifetime distributions of each usage. The amount of EF steel and the accumulation in society are calculated using a population balance model. The comparison with the calculated results and statistics ensures the validity of the model. Since the amount of EF steel for construction will increase and be oversupplied, EF steel will have to be used for machinery. The required and available amounts to supply EF steel for machinery are considered from the point of allowable· copper concentration for machinery use. Copper contaminates steel used for machinery during recycling process and contamination ratio is evaluated with the model. Copper concentration in EF steel is predicted for various scenarios.IntroductionThe amount of CO2 emission from Japanese steel industry is 48.0 million C-ton in 1990 and it occupies 15.1% of the total amount in Japan. In order to reduce the C02 emission and to save the natural resources, it is strongly required to promote the recycling of steel. However, the impurity contaminates steel in recycling process and lowers its quality. The copper concentration in EF steel is analyzed by Toi et al. using a macro model with the assumption that steel is discharged in proportion to the accumulation amount [1]. However the discharged amount of products is dependent on their age for service and usage pattern and not on the accumulation amount. In addition, the degree of copper contamination is different depending on the usage of steel. Therefore a precise model that contains the age for service within the society as a parameter and distinguishes the usage· of steel is necessary in order to clarify the problems in the recycling of steel."

Jan 1, 2000

By G. Taylor, S. Bounds, G. Moran, M. Cross, K. Pericleous

"A variety of interacting complex phenomena takes place during the casting of metallic components. Here molten metal is poured into a mould cavity where it flows, cools, solidifies and then deforms in its solid state. As the metal cools, thermal gradients will promote thermal convection which will redistribute the heat around the component (usually from feeders or risers) towards the solidification front and mushy zone. Also, as the evolving solid regions of the cast component deform they will form gap at the cast-mould interface. This gap may change the rate of solidification in certain parts the casting, hence affecting the manner in which the cast component solidifies. Interaction between a cast component and its surrounding mould will also govern stress magnitudes in both the cast and mould - these may lead to defects such as cracks.This paper presents a multiphysics modelling approach to this complex process. Emphasis will be placed on the interacting phenomena taking place during the process and the modelling strategy used. Comparisons with plant data are also be given."

Jan 1, 1999

By George Nekoksa

The biofilm activity monitoring probes measure applied current during intermittent short-term polarization of the probe electrodes and current or potential between the electrodes after removal of the polarization. The probe polarization mimics conditions at crevices, welds and inclusions where the biofilm activity and microbially influenced corrosion usually concentrate. Monitoring of AC resistance between the probe electrodes can provide infornation about the thickness of deposits.

Jan 1, 1994

By Gerardo R. F. Alvear, Alistair S. Burrows, Stanko Nikolic, James S. Edwards

"The copper ISASMELT™ process has evolved over more than a quarter of a century and can now be considered mainstream, with single furnaces producing more than 340,000 tpa of copper in matte. The next evolutionary step for the ISASMELT™ technology is to directly challenge the dominance of the Peirce-Smith converter by the implementation of a continuous copper converting process on a commercial scale. The present work describes the status of the continuous converting process – ISACONVERT™.Continuous converting has been performed successfully in pilot scale ISACONVERT™ plants, where operating results have verified the predictions of fundamental research and reinforced the underlying confidence in the design parameters. From a matte feed rate of 250 kg/hr, a calcium ferrite slag and a low-sulfur blister have been produced. Design is now complete for the first commercial application of the ISACONVERT™ process. The present paper describes the status of ISACONVERT™ by summarising results of recent pilot plant tests and describing the first commercial plant design."

Jan 1, 2009

By M Phil Schwarz

"A CFD model for the gas-side of an impinging jet iron bath reactor has been developed to assist in the interpretation and design of oxidizing gas-melt reaction rate experiments. Heat transfer and reaction at the surface have been included. A free surface model, which solves for the liquid motion within the bath as well as the gas motion above the bath, has also been developed. This model also predicts extent and shape of the dimple formed on the liquid surface by the impinging jet. Both models have been run for conditions typical of jet impingement experiments using CO2 , H2O and O2• The main conclusions are• Results from the model for gas-side mass transport are in good agreement with the empirical correlation of Belton and Belton (1980)• Experimentally determined rates of decarburization by CO2 should be corrected for mass transfer because the experiments are often carried out under mixed rate control, eg for gas flow rate 10 L/min when the sulphur concentration is lower than 0.045• If the rate constant for oxygen reaction is greater than about 5 mol/m2.s.atm, it cannot be determined using a gas flow rate of 10 L/min or lower because of mass transfer control.• A cavity of depth 4.5 mm is predicted for a gas flow rate of 10 L/min and this substantially changes the flow field (and hence reaction rate) compared with a simulation in which the surface is assumed to be flat."

Jan 1, 1999

By M. T. Ernett

Significant amounts of arsenic are often present in effluents arising from the mining of sulfide ores for the extraction of metals such as copper, gold, lead and zinc. The arsenic is usually removed from the process effluent by co-precipitation with iron because of its common occurence in the mined ore bodies and the excellent adsorptive property of the precipitated hydrous ferric oxide compound. There has been controversy, however, over the long-term stability of the arsenic-bearing ferrihydrite which is produced. This paper presents the results of laboratory studies which indicate that the cations of calcium, magnesium, zinc, cadmium and lead, increase the pH range of effective arsenic adsorption in the Fe-As precipitate from 4-7 to 4-9. The increase in the pH range is similar for all of the added cations investigated. Sulphate ions are shown to have a minimal effect on the residual dissolved arsenate concentration. Silicate ions reduce the adsorptive capacity of ferrihydrite if they are present before the arsenic is adsorbed.

Jan 1, 1994

By M. Misra

The prediction and assessment of the reactivity of acid mine tailings has been a subject of numerous studies. The conventional approaches such as sulfur content, pH, net acid generating capacity and conductivity are used for assessing reactivity of the tailings. In this paper a new non-invasive Impedance Spectroscopy (IS) technique is used for the determination of reactivity and acid mine potential of tailings. This technique is also used to establish the long term stability and leaching propensity of the tailings agglomerated with alkaline binders.

Jan 1, 1994

By Phillip B. Messersmith, Emmanuel P. Giannelis

"A versatile in-situ polymerization approach is described for the synthesis of polymerceramic nanocomposites consisting of two-dimensional layers of mica-type silicate (MTS) within polymer matrices. Functionalized, organically modified mica-type silicates (OMTS) were used to promote delamination/dispersion of the host layers and initiate polymerization of organic rrionomer. Epoxy nanocomposites prepared in this manner exhibit substantial modulus reinforcement at low silicate loadings. The water vapor permeability of the poly(?-caprolactone) nanocomposite containing 4.8% silicate by volume was reduced by nearly an order of magnitude compared to pure poly (?-caprolactone).IntroductionPolymer matrix nanocomposites are a relatively new class of materials with dimensions typically in the range of 1-100 nm.1 In general, because of the ultrafine phase dimensions involved, nanocomposites exhibit new and improved properties when compared to their micro- or macrocomposite counterparts. We as well as others are currently investigating the design, synthesis and characterization of polymer-ceramic nanocomposites. Our effort, in particular, has focused on the use of mica-type silicates (MTS) with various thermoplastic and thermosetting matrices.2-5MTS's belong to the general family of 2: 1 layered silicates. Their crystal structure consists of layers of two silica tetrahedral sheets fused to an edge-shared octahedral sheet of either aluminum or magnesium hydroxide. Stacking of the layers leads to a regular van der Waals gap or interlayer.6 Isomorphic substitution within the layers generates negative charges that are counterbalanced by cations residing in the interlayers. Although the natural forms of MTS's usually contain hydrated Na+ or K+ ions, ion exchange reactions with organic cations (e.g. alkylammonium ions) can render the normally hydrophilic MTS's organophilic."

Jan 1, 1994

By W. F. Ranson, R. C. Progelhof

"I. THE PROBLEM: MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITYThe 1985 President's Commission [I] on Industrial Competitiveness found compelling evidence of the declining economic position of the United States in world markets. The annual rate of increase in the United States productivity is approximately one-seventh that of our major trading partners over the last decade: profit levels in manufacturing investments are below those of the mid-1960's; an increasingly negative trade balance since 1971; and a sharp decline in the United States share of world trade in manufactured goods for more than two decades. A particularly dramatic example of the shifting economic balance is the fact that Japanese productivity growth has been five times greater than that of this country since 1960. In face, Japan's productivity now exceeds that of the United States in such critical industries as steel, transportation equipment, electronics and electrical machinery.American employees have experienced the competitive consequences of this nation's lagging industrial performance. Between 1980 and 1984 alone, the population of non-farm employees engaged in manufacturing dropped from 22.4% to 20.6%. This reduction in manufacturing must be arrested.Commissions RecommendationsThe comprehensive set of recommendations offered by the President's Commission recognized the nation's ""key competitive advantages"", technology and human resources, and calls for their strengthening. Particular emphasis is placed on manufacturing technology and the fact that this country does not translate research into new technologies rapidly and fully.""Perhaps the most glaring deficiency in America's technological capabilities has been our failure to devote enough attention to manufacturing or 'process' technology. It does us little good to design state-of-the-art products if within a short time our foreign competitors can manufacture them more cheaply. The United States has failed to apply its own technologies to manufacturing. Robotics automation and statistical quality control were all first developed in the United States but in recent years they have been more effectively applied elsewhere""."

Jan 1, 1988

By T. Iriyama, Y. Fujita, R. Omatsuzawa, T. Nishio, N. Okochi

Sm-Fe-N hard magnetic materials are good candidates for high performance bonded magnets. Rapid-quenching method should be highly favorable for the fabrication of isotropic magnet powder with high coercivity. We report here the magnetic properties of Sm-Fe-N powders produced by a few kinds of rapid-quenching processes. Sm2Fe17 powders were prepared by gas-atomization (GA), rotating-disk atomization (RDA), or melt-spinning (MS) method. The Sm2Fe17 GA powder had dendritic solidification structure, while the RDA powder had micro crystalline structure with size of 3-5 µm. Coercivities (HcI) of their nitrides were 56 (for GA) and 217 ka/m (for RDA). The H cI of nitrided Sm2Fe17 MS powder with wheel velocity (V5) of 5-20 m/s, which had also microcrystalline structure, was 53 to 509 Wm. These coercivity values are not sufficient for bonded magnet applications. From the study of additive effects, it was found that C, C-Si, C-Ga, or C-Al addition decreased the crystal size of quenched Sm2Fe17 powder. Consequently, high coercivity was obtained; the HcI of nitrided Sm2Fe1C1Si1 MS powder with V5 of 10 m/s was 898 kA/m, and 708 kA/m for the nitrided Sm2Fe15C1Si1 RDA powder. The compression-molded bonded magnet made from Sm2Fe18Si0.1Nx MS powder showed a high (BH)max of 82.7 kJ/m3.

Jan 1, 2000

By Zhou Jiemin

A mathematical model is developed to determine the economic thicknesses of refractories and insulations in rectangular furnaces, Both the heat loss cost and the lining investment are taken into account to achieve a minimum operation cost. For the sake of calculating the heat flux, the paper is particularly concerned with the simulation of the three-dimensional transient heat conduction processes in the lining and a Douglas-Rachford method is used to solve the finite difference equations, The model has been used to design an industrial electric resistance furnace operated periodically. the values of temperatures and power consumption measured from the furnace correspond with the model results.

Jan 1, 1991

By Saskia Duyvesteyn

Small ion-exchange resin particles provide faster mass transport than conventional-sized beads. Unfortunately, high pressures are needed to pump solutions through columns containing small resin particles. It is preferable to disperse fine resins in the solution being treated. Screens have been used to separate the resin from the solution, but screens do not retain fines created by attrition of the resin particles. We have developed a separation process based on flotation, which relies on the surface characteristics of the resin, instead of size. The resin is conditioned with a surfactant before dispersing it in the solution to be treated; this increases the hydrophobicity of the resin sufficiently for froth flotation, without introducing surfactant directly into the solution. The surfactant adsorbed on the resin surface does not appear to impair the kinetics of metal ion removal. A flowsheet for an effluent treatment process is proposed; other applications are clearly possible.

Jan 1, 1998