Search Documents

By Tzu-Chien Lin, Jack Tsai, Ming-Yu Lin, Der-Ray Huang, Jiin-Sen Chen, Jing-Xuan Lin

"In this paper, some DVD-R discs have been selected for long time light exposure test and high temperature and humidity test. Generally, recordable media under long time light exposure maybe be defected seriously. If we use Jitter value 8% as a reference to determine the life time of DVD-R samples, some discs defect after 5 hours of light exposure while some discs can endure over 25 hours. Also if we use reflectivity 45% to determine the life time, some discs defect after 30 hours light exposure while some discs can endure over 40 hours. From our results, the good samples show good characteristics of PI error. The absorption spectrum of recordable media is a good reference to justify the quality of dye media. These results can be used to estimate the life time of recordable discs.IntroductionIn general, the life time of DVD-R with a layer of organic dye recording layer is required for preservation in decades. In addition to optical characteristics and thermal properties, we still need to consider the stability of the dye in recording media. The presentation of the color on organic dye is not only related to the material's property but also related to the light exposure. In this study, we focus on the absorption characteristics and reflectivity of organic dye in optical recording layer after light exposure. The optical properties of discs depend on the functional groups and molecular structure [1]. According to ""DVD Specifications for Recordable Disc (DVD- R)"", the reflectivity should higher than 40%. From measured reflectivity, we can confirm that the important issue is whether dye be affected by light exposure or not. Because each specific functional group absorbs the specific spectrum, we can check the characteristics of functional groups from their UV/Visible Spectra. We also use High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to detect the different components of dye on the recording layer [2]. The jitter value test is to test the error cause by digital signal of recording media. If we use jitter value 8% as a reference to determine the life time of DVD-R samples, the purpose of this study is to investigate the jitter values of recording media after high light exposure and high temperature/humidity test. The results of these test will be helpful for the development of long-life optical storage media."

Jan 1, 2012

By Emilia Visileanu, Eftalea Carpus

"The strategy of developing the Romanian textile industry sub-sectors envisages the achieving of certain superior production indices, from a physical and value point of view, in 2010, a quantitative increase of textile wastes by 14% in 2010 as compared to 2000, implicitly. The percentage of the turned-to-profit wastes will have an increasing tendency, from 53.6% in 2000 to 74.7% in 2010. The article synthetically presents the innovative elements of the technology of processing the industry textile wastes.1. Introduction“People will need to re-adopt this sense of rarity that has been forgotten over the last two centuries. Humans need to collect, sort, recover, going back to the old ideal of alchemists: complete the material cycle, turn waste into resource, reduce all forms of predatory behaviour as much as possible”Irrespective of the historical period, geographical positioning, economic power or employed technologies, wastes resulted and will result in a bigger or smaller quantity as long as life and activity on Earth go on. The negative effects of these over the environment factors and implicitly over population health are well known all over the world and not approaching this matter enough may have catastrophic consequences over life. Having in view these aspects, finding solutions for diminishing the general waste quantity and limiting the negative effects of those products is important, by effecting the reusing of the recyclable ones in the production processes as secondary raw materials, and by ecologically treating and storing those than cannot be reused.2. Experiments and researchesThe textile industry affects the environment by the high water, energy and chemical consumption, as well as by the high quantity of wastes that are the result of using an impressive number of chemical substances and technological processes.The development strategy of the Romanian textile industry sub-sectors foresees, for 2010, the achieving of certain higher production indices as compared to 2000, both in terms of materials (as merchandise) and in terms of value, which implicitly leads to a quantitative increase of wastes.The flexible, economic and ecologic technologies which include systems of waste preliminary preparing (cutting, opening) and conventional or non-conventional system of processing the recovered fibres lay at the basis of substantiating the activity of implementing the notion of zero wastes."

Jan 1, 2008

By Ejike Emmanuel, Nwoye Chukwuka, Ogwuegbu Martin, Asuwaji Ayuk, Onyedika Gerald

"Microwave pre-treatment of cassiterite ore prior to leaching was carried out in an attempt to obtain high grade of Sn02 and to conserve the total energy expended during processing. Microwave treatment was selected due to the presence of associated minerals which behaves differently to microwave energy. Studies in this work showed that microwave pretreatment of cassiterite ore can be applied to increase the recovery of tin oxide within 5 minutes of leaching. Microwave treatment of the ore resulted in mineral liberation at all particle sizes. Tin oxide was separated from the major impurities via leaching in potassium hydroxide solution and precipitation, resulting in 98% Sn02 at pH 7.IntroductionIn the nineties, the available techniques used for ore processing and analysis in Nigeria was the solution methods of either alkaline fusion or acid digestion [1,2]. A process in which cassiterite is made acid soluble by reduction to SnO2 , which stabilizes by glass formation and the tin was extracted by leaching the glass with sulphuric acid, followed by electrowinning was reported [3,4]. In another study, Baba et al [5] studied the dissolution kinetics of a Nigerian casiterite ore in hydrochloric acid solution. The effects of acid concentration,temperature, particle size and stirring speed were examined. It was found that the dissolution rates of cassiterite depends on hydrogen ion concentration, H+, stirring speed and ore particle dimensions. These were believed to report low data due to incomplete solubilization of the ore minerals in aqeous medium [6]. Analytical chemists have used microwave heating devices routinely for the dissolution of metals, minerals and various chemical products in chemical analysis [7,8]. It offers faster heating rate and consequently faster dissolution rate than conventional heating. The principle of the dissolution of analytical samples has been applied to the leaching of various minerals contained in an ore or concentrate sample. Some researchers [9, 10] conducted microwave assisted leaching of laterite ores containing oxides of nickel, cobalt, and iron. The metals of these mineral components were converted into their chlorides by microwave heating (1200 W, 2450 MHz, Nz atmosphere) a mixture of the ore and ammonium chloride between l 77°C and 312° C for 4-5 min, followed by water leaching at 80° C for 30 min. Nickel and cobalt extractions were 70% and 85%, and respectively, and are comparable with roasting at 300°C in a conventional rotary kiln for 2 hours."

Jan 1, 2013

By Reuben John Mathew

"Oxygen evolution is the main anode reaction in industrial copper electrowinning. The oxygen bubbles do not conduct electricity, thus increasing the electrolyte resistance. The oxygen bubbles formed at the anode rise to the surface, occupying a larger volume of the electrolyte at the top of the cell than at the bottom. This oxygen bubble concentration gradient contributes to a gradient in electrolyte resistance and consequently a tendency toward uneven current distribution. This phenomenon increases the chance for uneven growth on the cathode and/or short-circuits, particularly on the lower portions of the cathode. This issue may be ameliorated by increasing the charge transfer resistance for oxygen evolution down the height of the anode. This concept was studied by solving the current distribution for a 2-D model of a copper electrowinning cell using COMSOL.IntroductionA copper electrowinning tankhouse aims to operate at the highest current density that will deposit on the cathode a layer of copper metal possessing the desired physical and chemical characteristics. The operating current density is directly related to the physical nature of the copper deposit on the cathode (Figure 1), limiting a copper electrowinning tankhouse to some operating current density that produces acceptable copper deposits.[!] The ratio of the operating current density to the limiting current density is typically around 0.3.[2] If the limiting current density for a cell could be raised, the operating current density could also be raised and thus result in savings in capital cost for a tankhouse. [3]The average operating current density in a copper electrowinning plant is 270A·m- 2 .[4] The value for average current density, however, obscures the fact that the face of a cathode does not experience this value equally. Indeed, the current density varies along the height of an electrode and is independent of the height of the electrode.[5] This phenomenon partly explains why the lower portions of a cathode tend to display a rougher copper deposit.In order to utilize a higher operating current density but still remain at 30% of the limiting current density, the limiting current density must be raised, but it is affected by the mass transfer regime at the electrodes. The mass transfer regime is currently poorest at the lower portions of the cathode and this is part of the reason for the tendency for poor cathode deposits to occur at the lower portion of the cathode.[6]"

Jan 1, 2012

By Jamil M. Khalifeh, Shadia J. Ikhmayies, Bothina A. Hamad

"We computed the optical properties of the cubic niobium nitride (o-NbN) compound using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FL-LAPW) method within density functional theory (DFT). The complex dielectric function and optical constants, such as optical absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, energy-loss spectrum, and reflectivity, are all calculated and compared with experimental results. The behavior of the computed quantities is similar to that obtained experimentally, but the optical positions are shifted to lower energies. This shift was related to the strong interband transitions, which are located at energies higher than 5 eV for NbN- as they are for IV B transition-metal mononitrides- and they appear in the computed spectra and not in the experimental spectra. These interband transitions simply shift the position of the reflectivity edge or the screened plasma frequency to the longer wavelength side.IntroductionIn recent years, NbN, as a transition metal nitride, has become a very popular material due to its high hardness, melting point, wear resistance, chemical inertness and temperature stability, which makes it suitable for use as emission cathodes in microelectronics and sensors, optical films and micro-mechanics etc [l]. Niobium nitride has long been known as highly polymorphic material, for which several crystalline structures have been reported in the literature [2]. These structures include the well known super-conducting rock-salt (Fm-3m, or Bl) structure (o-NbN), the hexagonal structure with space group p63/mmc and prototype Fe2N (18fuN), the hexagonalstructure with space group p63/mmc and prototype NiAs ~-NbN) and others.There has been a lot of computational studies for the structural and electronic properties ofNbN [3, 4-7], but according to our knowledge there is not any computational work that has been devoted to study the optical properties of this transition metal compound. At the same time a number of authors had performed experimental work in this direction. For example, Xin-kang et. al [l] studied the microstructure and optical properties of magnetron sputtered NbN thin films. Torche et. al [8] studied the composition, structure, electrical and optical properties of nonstoichiometric niobium nitrides. Newport et. al [9] investigated the reflection and transmission spectra of cubic niobium nitride films, and Tanabe et. al [10] had investigated the optical parameters and reflectivity of reactively sputtered NbN thin films by using in situ ellipsometry."

Jan 1, 2013

By C. Niedersberg, M. K. Almeida, R. M. C. Santana, V. G. Dalenogore

"The major source of environmental pollution in urban areas is the transport sector and its impact on human health and the greenhouse is preoccupying. In many works of literature is monitored the pollutants in urban cities, however in specific areas such as universities, they are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this work is to monitorate the gaseous pollutans in a bus terminal at Santa Cruz do Sul University-UNISC and to develop a control framework of the air quality. Six points were selected for monitoring, being one of them inside a bus. The monitoring of CO, HC and CO2 were carried out on arrival and departure of the bus. Preliminary results conducted in a day of spring showed that the most critical condition was during the night shift, where the concentration of CO (200 ppm) was the highest, caused by the vehicles increase, due to the larger number of students.IntroductionAccording to Mascarenhas et al, 2005, air pollutants are responsible for various effects on vegetation, ecosystems and is recognized as one of major public health problems of today, with harmful effect on humans even at levels considered safe by Brazilian legislation.There are numerous scientific papers linking air pollution with respiratory problems, cardiovascular which hinder the daily life because many of these diseases are chronic and may even lead to death, as was noted by Brook et al, 2004.There is a significant increase in the last decades of emissions to air resulting mainly from human activities. Already being observed the relationship of these emissions with the change in global climate, IPCC, 1995.They are a multitude of pollutants from the atmosphere, and its sources and its effects. The effect of Greenhouse gases (GHG), representing less than 1% of the gases in the atmosphere, controlling the flow of energy in the atmosphere. The increase in emissions of greenhouse gases is affecting the Earth's average temperature, which depends on the balance between these flows, in particular the flow of solar radiation reaching the surface and the flow of infrared radiation sent into space.One of the main greenhouse gases to this imbalance is the gas methane (CH4). Methane is produced by anaerobic decomposition of organic substances, through the action of bacteria metanogenic conditions that require highly reduced to its growth. This gas is released into the atmosphere mainly by transport diffusive by aerenchyma (vascular tissue) plant and also by diffusion through the water slide. (Bont et al., 1978)."

Jan 1, 2008

By Yang Tian-zu

Sodium pyroantimonate which is widely used as the clarifier in the glass industry and as the synergist in anti-flaming industry respectively has a production history of about 30 years in China. At present there is the production capacity of about 20,000 tons per year in China and China is chief producer of sodium pyroantimonate. In this work the production processes adopted by the producers of China, the operation conditions and the product qualities of sodium pyroantimonate prepared by different preparation methods have been summarized, and on the basis of comparing the advantages and disadvantages for each process the most advanced method - the air-oxidation method was introduced in detail. The production processes of sodium pyroantimonate mainly include the method of oxidation by sodium nitrate, the oxidation method of hydrogen peroxide, the potash salt method, the chlorination method and the air-oxidation method etc. The method of oxidation by sodium nitrate in which the crude antimony oxide, sodium carbonate and sodium nitrate are separately used as the raw material, the flux agent and the oxidant, has the advantage of short and simple technological process, but low grade quality of sodium pyroantimonate and bringing about serious environmental pollution are the disadvantages and this method has been substituted by other methods. Sodium pyroantimonate can be directly prepared by the hydrogen peroxide oxidation method with the advantages of simple technological process, high grade quality of the product and little environmental pollution. High grade quality of sodium pyroantimonate can be also synthesized by the potash salt method, in which industrial antimony white, the hydrogen peroxide, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are applied as the starting material. The disadvantages of these two preparation methods are high production cost and high requirements on the raw materials. The chlorination method with the crude antimony oxide, hydrochloric acid and chlorine as the raw material has the advantages of low production cost and high grade quality of the product. However complex process, high requirement of anti-corrosion for the equipments and producing plenty of waste water limit its application. The air-oxidation method with stibnite/jamesonite concentrate, sodium sulfide, and sodium hydroxide as the raw material and atmosphere as the oxidant is a newly developed method and its advantages are low production cost and the complex raw material can be treated by this method and its disadvantage is that the quality of sodium pyroantimonate is lower than that prepared by the oxidation method of hydrogen peroxide and the potash salt method.

Jan 1, 2006

By Xuewei Lv, Maojun Zhou, Xiaobo Huang, Rende Zhang

"The characterization of the surface roughness of the mineral particles is of vital importance for the studies of the mineral processing. In this study, an evaluation of the roughness of the iron ore particles, with the measurements of size distribution and the measurements of specific surface area with the liquid nitrogen absorption, was developed. The main theory of this method is the fact that the roughness of the particle influences the specific surface area apparently. The specific surface area of the particles can be measured with the laser diffraction method and the liquid nitrogen absorption method. The influence of the surface roughness of the particle can be measured with the nitrogen absorption and cannot be measured with the laser diffraction. Therefore, the roughness can be got by comparing the specific surface area with two measurement methods.IntroductionThe characterization of the surface roughness of the mineral particles is of vital importance for the studies of the mineral processing. There are three main methods for measuring the size distribution of mineral particles: sieving, laser diffraction, and sedimentationl). Many techniques involve sedimentation such as the Horiba2, 3) and the Cyclo-sizer1). In the mineral industry, size distribution is usually determined by sieving because it can be carried out accurately for all particle sizes larger than 45 . The preferred method to obtain the size distribution of finer particles is laser diffractometry. The technique has several advantages: it produces measurements in a few minutes with considerably less labor compared with the cyclo-sizer and for a range of sizes considerably wider in comparison with the sedigraph4). The equivalent-sphere size distribution reported by laser diffractometry is valid for metallurgical calculations and can be routinely used in mineral processing plants. The surface area of the particles can be measured by the BET method of nitrogen adsorption, or it can be calculated from the size distribution. However, the latter calculation requires the size distribution to be accurately known across the whole size range, and assumptions have to be made about the shapes and surface roughness of the particles and presence or absence of pores (see below). The BET method is based on the physical adsorption of gas over the whole exposed surface area and measures the surface area stemming from the roughness and open pores on the surface of the particle5). The calculation of the surface area from the size distribution is usually based on the assumption that all the particles are smooth spheres, without considering the shape and/or roughness of the particles. Determining the surface roughness of the particle with these methods, is the objective of this study."

Jan 1, 2012

By Toshiyuki Hashida, Victor M. Lopez-Hirata

"Small-punch tests and determination of fracture toughness JIC were conducted at 4 and 77 K on new cryogenic JN1, JJ1 and JK2 austenitic stainless steels, after isothermal aging. Equivalent fracture strain ?qf determined by measuring the reduction of thickness in the small-punch test specimen. A linear dependence of JIC on ?qf was found in these new materials. Regression analysis of experimental data produced the following linear relation JIC = 1304.1 ?qf + 8.09 [kJm-2]. An analysis of present work relation was pursued on the basis of material properties and evaluation method of he. Results showed that the slope value has a strong dependence on material yield strength and JIC evaluation method. This linear relation is useful for the evaluation of fracture toughness JIC, measuring the equivalent fracture strain ?qf by means of small-punch test. Thus it can be useful for assessing the degradation of fracture toughness in small areas such as, the heat-affected zone in welded components.IntroductionCryogenic structural materials for superconducting magnets of fusion nuclear reactor are required to possess a good combination of strength and toughness. The mechanical properties are required beyond the capability of conventional austenitic stainless steels [1]. New cryogenic JN1, JJ1 and JK2 austenitic stainless steels were developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) [1]. The structure of superconducting magnets is constructed by welding of 200 = thick plates of these steels, which are solution treated at high temperatures and then water-quenched to avoid intergranular precipitation. However, the welding process involves heating and cooling [2], which cause microstructural changes in both base metal and weld. In this heterogeneous microstructure, it is important to estimate the fracture toughness of these materials at cryogenic temperatures. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effect of aging process on the fracture toughness behavior of these new steels. To determine the cryogenic fracture toughness, the elastic-plastic JIC value has been co=only used [2]; however, the specimen size is much larger than heat-affected zones in welded components. Small-punch (SP) testing method, employing miniature specimens, has permitted to evaluate the fracture toughness behavior at different temperatures in different nuclear reactor materials [3,4]. Mao et al. [5,6] and Misawa et al. [7] found a linear relation between JIC value and equivalent fracture strain ?qf, determined by SP method in non-ferrous alloys and ferritic steels at room temperature and austenitic stainless steels at 4 and 77 K, respectively. So that, this kind of correlation would be very useful to assess the fracture toughness JICe values by means of SP test in small zones of welded components."

Jan 1, 2012

By Shadia J. Ikhmayies

"Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is a very interesting material that has many applications. Thin films of p-type CdTe can be used as the absorber layer in the heterojunction CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells in which n-type cadmium sulfide (CdS) works as the window layer. A review of the photoluminescence (PL) spectra ofp-type CdTe thin films prepared by different techniques was performed. The presence of defects and impurities such as oxygen and chlorine influence the PL spectrum. Copper and other dopants change the PL spectra and enhance the defects band. Chemical-heat treatment especially with CdCh is known to improve the quality of CdTe thin films because it decreases the Cd vacancies and quenches deep traps, so it enhances the PL signal. A discussion of chemical-heat treatment especially with CdCh, the effect of the ambient atmosphere, and that of the measuring temperature is performed.IntroductionCadmium telluride (CdTe) is a II-VI compound semiconductor that has a cubic zincblende (sphalerite) structure with a lattice constant of 0 A4~11]. Other than all of II -VI semiconductors, CdTe can be made both n- and p-type. But due to self compensation it is not easy to get p-type CdTe films [2]. Polycrystalline CdTe thin films are interesting because they have a lot of applications. Most of the problems associated with the use of these films are attributed to inhomogeneity, self-compensation, and the difficulty of forming a stable and lowresistivity ohmic contact [3]. CdTe technology has been established for a large number of applications, including solar cells, optical and nuclear detectors, and thermal- and radiationimaging devices [3]. At present, the highest demonstrated conversion efficiency for a CdTe based heterojunction (ID), with CdS as a window layer, is 16.5% [4, 5]. CdTe thin films can be prepared by different experimental techniques, such as thermal evaporation [l], electrochemical deposition (ED) [3], close-spaced sublimation (CSS) [3, 4, 6], physical vapor deposition (PVD) [3], chemical molecular beam deposition (CMBD) [7], and close space vapor transport (CSVT) [8].The objective of this paper is to make a review of the photoluminescence (PL) spectra ofp-type CdTe thin films prepared by different techniques and discuss the factors that influence the PL spectra. The composition of the film is very interesting in determining its PL spectrum. Different kinds of defects, impurities and dopants have their finger prints in the PL spectrum. Deposition techniques and deposition parameters such as the deposition temperature and ambient atmosphere also have their influence. Heat and chemical treatments which are known to improve crystallization and reduce the defects change the PL spectrum."

Jan 1, 2013

By Björn Hinzel, Joachim Rösler

"The most important characteristic of open-pored metals is porosity, since it enables all of their functional applications as filters or sound absorbers. Due to the notch effect of the pores, mechanical properties of porous metals are better than the ones of comparable structures made of polymers or ceramics. Consequently, only open-pored metals can be used in aircrafts to reduce flow noise or noise resulting from the core engine by acoustic absorption. Absorption properties depend highly on pore size and porosity of the material, which must be characterized as precisely as possible in order to analyze the correlation between morphology and noise reduction performance. Here, a line segmenting method is explained in order to characterize pore size and porosity of absorber materials using image processing based on two dimensional microscopy images, including sample preparation and specification of the set-up. Then, the influence of the pore structure on the measured absorption behavior is discussed. Finally, the correlation of acoustic behavior, pore morphology, and porosity is outlined.IntroductionSignificant noise loads affect everyone causing anxiety, depression, insomnia and other effects which impair health and productivity [1],[2]. Due to the rising number of flights and aircrafts, air traffic noise increases dramatically. To counter this development, various approaches have been developed to reduce the different noise sources resulting from airframe, jet or engine [3],[4],[5],[6]. One approach to reduce this noise is the application of noise reducing liners in the hot gas path [7]. This is especially important, since the engine is becoming the dominant noise source of modern airplanes during take-off [8]. Due to the elevated temperatures and high fatigue loading in this part of the aero-engine, conventional passive absorber materials cannot be used. Polymers would not be able to bear the heat and ceramic fibers would crack under the mechanical loading due to the notch effect. Consequently, this study focuses on metals with open pores, which can resist elevated temperatures and fatigue loading and additionally resemble geometrically conventional passive absorbers. Based on the production processes, e.g. sintering of metal fibers [7], powder processing using a foaming agent [9], coating of polymer foams [10], or using melt infiltration techniques [11], the characteristic dimension of the porosity is usually in the range of 0.01-10mm. In this work, sintered metals and metal sponges are analyzed after the theory of sound absorption is briefly outlined. Then, measurements of the acoustic absorption of metal sponges and sintered metals in an impedance tube are performed. To understand and predict the acoustic properties of metals with open porosity, it is necessary to characterize the materials as precisely as possible. This is explained in detail using a line segmenting technique, followed by a discussion of the connection of pore characteristics and acoustic absorption. Finally, a conclusion is given."

Jan 1, 2012

By Suleyman Tekeli, Serdar Salman, Bulent Aktas

"The effect of La2O3 content up to 15 wt% on phase stability, sintering and microstructure of cubic zirconia (8YSZ) was investigated. XRD results showed that the specimens containing up to 15 wt% La2O3 were composed of only cubic structure. Also, the specimens doped up to 5 wt% La2O3 revealed no La2O3 peaks, indicating that La2O3 was completely solubilized in the cubic structure. However, when> 5 wt% La2O3 was added, the peak of La2Zr2O7 compound emerged, showing that the overdoped La2O3 was not solubilized in the 8YSZ matrix. The lattice parameter of the 8YSZ slightly decreased with the increasing La2O3 content up to 1 wt% but further increase in the La203 amount resulted in an increased lattice parameter. The comparison of grain size of the 8YSZ specimens with various La2O3 content showed that grain size slightly increased with the increasing La2O3 content up to 1 wt% but further increase in the La2O3 amount resulted in a decreased grain size.IntroductionAt atmospheric pressures, three polymorphic forms of Zr02 are stable at different temperatures i.e. monoclinic, tetragonal and cubic. A high-pressure orthorhombic form of Zr02 has also been reported[l]. The successful production of pure Zr02 bodies is not possible all the time due to the large volume expansion associated with the martensitic tetragonal-monoclinic transformation. This fact restricts the applications of zirconia, in spite of its excellent mechanical and thermal properties. However, the stabilization of the high temperature polymorphs at room temperature as stable phases is made possible by addition of suitable dopants. Fully stabilized cubic Zr02 and partially stabilized tetragonal Zr02 show interesting properties and are widely used as ionic conductors, coatings and gas sensors in solid oxide fuel cells and structural applications[2]. Most frequently used dopants include Y203, CaO, MgO and Ce02, although other oxides, such as those of rare earth elements, can also act as stabilizers of the high temperature structures. The incorporation of aliovalent cations to the lattice, forming substitutional solid solutions, allows to control the concentration of anionic vacancies in the structure. This aspect is particularly important in designing ionic conductors[3], and is also determinant in the stabilization process[ 4]. The process of stabilization with larger ionic radii dopants is rationalized by the crystal chemistry model[ 5], that describes the dopant cations as typical stabilizer when they have larger ionic size, lower charged state and higher ionicity than Zr4+ The ionic radius of Zr4+ is 0.84 Å and that for La3+ is 1.016 Å [6]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Muhammad Abid, Kh. .. S. Karimov

"In this study, design and investigation of biogas digester consisting of methane tank with built-in solar collector to utilize solar energy for the heating of the slurry prepared from the dung and heat exchanger is designed, developed and tested. The digester was laboratory type and consists of cylindrical metallic tank of size of 0.5 m in diameter; 1 m in height and 200 liters in volume. The surface of the digester from outside was covered by thermo insulated material a glass wool, except of south side (in northern hemisphere). This side played the role of built-in collector and was blackened to increase absorption of solar irradiation and covered under 45o by glass. In the blackened side of the digester on the different heights it was installed metallic pipes for the inlet and outlet of the air, connected with heat exchanger installed inside of the digester. The heat exchanger was fixed in the level above of the inlet pipe. The horizontal plane reflector concentrates solar beams to blackened side of the digester. In the winter period, it was found that the retention time of this digester is shorter on 15% and produced biogas volume is larger on 20% with respect of ordinary biogas digester. This digester is used for the demonstrative purposes and as a teaching aid presently and base on the results it may be used for the construction of large volume digesters for use in the farms, especially located in the remote and mountain areas where the climate in the winter period is cold. Introduction At present many experts around the world have focused their efforts to energy crises because energy is one of the most important factors for the development of the society. It is known that consuming energy is proportional to quality or standard of life. There is a close relationship between energy consumption and the Gross National Product (GNP). It is obvious that for further development of the country additional sources of energy is required, which are cheap, safe and environmentally compatible with respect to the action on possible wastes. Utilization of renewable energy is one route to help in solving the above mentioned problems. In particular, biogas as a source of renewable energy is produced by biotechnology and used wide on residential scale [1]. The biogas was produced for the very first time in 1814 by Deivy from organic wastes. In 1900 production of biogas was started in Bombay (India) [2, 3]. Biogas consists of 55-70% methane (CH4) and around of 27-44% carbon dioxide (CO2) and less than 1% H2 and H2S. At present biogas is used widely in some countries for lighting, machines, and vehicles, generators, cooking and heating. Biogas generation is suitable for small to large scale operation and at present is realized in a number of developed and developing countries as USA, Hungary, China, India etc. Since 1990s biogas projects construction in China has developed steadily by the end of 1998, there were altogether 6.88 million household biogas digesters [4]. In Russia biogas digesters are used for processing of hard dung into biogas [5]. Over the last few years the very first biogas digesters were constructed in Tajikistan as well [6,7] and it was found that the digesters can work with sufficiently high efficiency in mountain areas as well ."

Jan 1, 2008

By Keizo Uematsu, Satoshi Tanaka, Zenji Kato, Nozomu Uchida

"A novel technique is developed and applied to evaluate the binder segregated at the· surface of granule. Compressive strength of each granule was measured directly with a micro-compressive instrument. The relation between compressive characteristics and the amount of binder was discussed quantitatively.IntroductionCharacterization of granules is essential in the production of ceramics, since they govern the structure of green compact and thus the structures and properties of ceramics. However, there is no research to clarify the relation between the strength of granules and structure of granules, especially of binder segregation at granule surface. We develop a novel technique to determine the binder concentration in the granules by the iodine method. In this study, we measure yield strength of granules directly and discuss the relevance between compressive characteristics and the concentration of binder.ExperimentalGranules were prepared by spray-drying of aqueous slurry of commercial alumina (AL160-SG1. Showa Denko, Tokyo, Japan) and PVA (PVA 105 Kurare, Japan). PVA. concentration in granules was 1.1, 1.5 and 2.3 wt%. The inlet and outer air temperatures were 200 and 95 °C , respectively. Iodine-potassium iodide solution was prepared by dissolving iodine (0.15mol) and potassium iodide (0.15mol) in diluted water (50ml). A saturated boric acid solution was prepared by mixing boric acid powder with a diluted water."

Jan 1, 2000

By Marcelo Jimenez Bustos

The Chagres Smelter was the first in Chile to follow environmental regulations to control sulfur dioxide emissions. Because of this, the operation and development plans have had to incorporate environmental planning as part of its policies for almost three decades. The present article shows the development of the environmental standards applied to its operations, investments and operational improvements carried out to meet the regulations and improve competitiveness. Results to-date and future plans are outlined, as well as their impact on operations and the environment.

Jan 1, 1993

By Yong Xian, Zhaohui Sun, Honggang Zhong, Qijie Zhai, Jie Sun

Vacuum refining is admitted as an effective means to remove impurities in the process of alloy smelting. In this paper, Orthogonal and single factor experiments were carried out to investigate effects of multiple factors, such as superheat degree of the melt, degassing time and vacuum degree, on the vacuum refining process. The results showed that the best removal rate of oxygen and nitrogen is up to 82.71% and 61.3%, respectively, due to high vacuum degassing efficiency. It is found that the superheat degree is minimal impact on the deoxidization rate, in addition, nitrogen removal is controlled by the degassing time. The inclusions exist in the AlV55 alloy are mainly composed of oxides and vanadium-nitrogen compounds.

Jan 1, 2015

By Isabela Leao Amaral da Silva, Alice Barreto Bevitori, Frederico Muylaert Margem, Victor Bastos da Silva, Sergio Neves Monteiro, Artur Camposo Pereira

"The jute fiber is one of the most rigid natural lignocellulosic fibers, which has since the last decade been investigated as possible reinforcement for polymeric composites. In the present work, the tensile properties of DGEBA/TETA epoxy composites reinforced with jute fibers with different diameters were investigated. Composites with volume fractions up to 30% of continuous and aligned jute fibers were tensile tested at room temperature to evaluate the ultimate strength, elastic modulus and total strain. For each volume fraction, separated fibers with smaller larger diameters were tested. The results indicated that the tensile properties tend to improve with increasing volume fraction of the thinnest jute fibers. The role played by the fiber/matrix interaction was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy.IntroductionThe interest of this research is to develop composites with epoxy resin matrix reinforced with continuous and aligned jute fibers, for applications in various industries, including construction and automotive industry. Conflicts related to the use of non-renewable forms of energy are increasing the interest to enter the market to replace natural materials, synthetic materials synthetics have a higher power consumption in its manufacture [ 1-4].Therefore, applications of natural lignocellulosic fibers obtained from cellulose-based plants are receiving increased attention as an alternative to replace more environmentally correct nonrecyclable materials, energy intensive and glass fiber composites in [5-6]. The use of composites reinforced with natural fibers is a reflection of the concerns with environmental issues such as pollution caused by waste that is not biodegradable or cannot be incinerated and climate change due to C02 emissions associated with the processes of intensive energy and also motivates this work to develop self-sustaining, since natural fibers generate a source of income, especially in developing countries, where most originate, encouraging the cultivation of non-food agriculture [7-9]. Additionally, it is worth also remembering that these fibers come from renewable sources, in addition to being abundant, inexpensive and have a relevant set of mechanical properties [10]."

Jan 1, 2013

By Anestis Vlyssides, Elli Maria Barampouti, Sofia Mai, ?postolos Vlyssides

"A new anaerobic reactor variation, the UASB/CO2-stripper reactor was conceived. It consisted of a conventional UASB reactor that recirculated the biogas produced. The sludge characteristics of this system were examined when treating high strength wastewater. From the data collected, it was obvious that the UASB/CO2-stripper system can satisfactorily operate at higher loading rates (25 g COD·L-1·d-1). A pronounced effect on the quality of the granular sludge was observed. The VSS/TSS ratio decreased sharply. A considerable decrease in the mean granule diameter was observed, while the specific gravity of the granules increased. The sludge bed porosity increased significantly leading to a considerable expansion of the sludge bed. These changes in the sludge properties led to a gradual shift of the system towards a fluidized bed process as far as its hydraulic characteristics were concerned.IntroductionIn recent years energy considerations and environmental concerns have increased the interest in direct anaerobic treatment of industrial wastes. The anaerobic method of waste treatment offers, under the present circumstances, a number of significant advantages with trivial or more serious drawbacks over other treatment methods. The major obstacle to the application of the process for this specific purpose is perhaps the difficulty of extending it to a stable and simple operational form. A number of reactor configurations has been developed leading to high biomass concentrations, e.g. the contact process, the filter reactor, the UASB reactor, and the fluidized bed systems, but the process stability problem still remains [1].A prime objective in the operation of anaerobic waste treatment process is the maintenance of a proper pH range. Thus, a possible solution to the process stability problem could be obtained by increasing alkalinity in the anaerobic systems. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present and evaluate the results of a system (UASB/ CO2-stripper) with increased alkalinity concentrations."

Jan 1, 2008

By Alain Jardy, Valerio De Felice, Jean-Pierre Bellot, Ismael Lis Alves Daoud, Stephane Hans

"Gas-stirring ladle treatment of liquid metal has been pointed out for a long time as the processing stage mainly responsible for the inclusion population of specialty steels. A steel ladle is a complex three-phase reactor, where strongly dispersed inclusions are transported by the turbulent liquid metal / bubbles flow. We have coupled a population balance model with CFD in order to simulate the mechanisms of transport, aggregation, flotation and surface entrapment of inclusions. The simulation results, when applied to an industrial gas-stirring ladle operation, show the efficiency of this modelling approach and allow us to compare the respective roles of these mechanisms on the inclusion removal rate.IntroductionThe reduction of the weight of high performance materials together with the improvement of mechanical properties and the increase of the recycling of used metal are new challenges which emphasize the importance of metal cleanliness. Ladle treatment of specialty steels has long been described as the secondary metallurgical process mainly responsible for the non-metallic inclusion derived from the deoxidation process. The treatment is accomplished by blowing argon through one or more porous plugs for the purposes of desulphurization, minor composition adjustments, and inclusion removal. Gas injection is applied on routine basis to achieve both the stirring of the liquid bath (thermal and chemical homogenization) and the entrapment of the inclusions by the bubbles (flotation). Furthermore, the turbulence produced in bubble swarms enhances the probability of inclusion collisions and makes aggregation the first mechanism for particle removal. The physical processes involved in gas stirred ladles are numerous and complex owing to the three dimensional and multiphase (metal-gas and inclusions) nature of the reactor. Despite these difficulties, the population balance equations can be implemented in CFD code11'21 and combined CFD-PBM (computational fluid dynamics - population balance method) models are investigated for steel ladle processes13'41 and produce very promising results in terms of inclusion removal efficiency."

Jan 1, 2012

By Juergen Antrekowitsch, Stephan R. Steinacker

The main aim of the electric furnace treatment in the primary copper industry is the reduction of valuable metals such as zinc, lead or copper itself. On the one hand legal restrictions for the further use of the treated slag are constantly getting stricter while on the other every type of loss in the oxidic phase leads to economic disadvantages. In order to fully understand and to improve the process, kinetics during the reduction play an essential role. In the first part, this paper highlights the theoretical background of the reduction process, while the following chapters present experimental aspects and results from laboratory scale trials at the Montanuniversitaet Leoben. In addition, the comparison between the chemical reaction and the diffusion model plays a continuously important role. By investigating the reducibility of electric furnace slag, process adaptions and ameliorations are developed.

Jan 1, 2016