Influence of spherical porous aggregate content on microstructures and properties of gas-permeable mullite-corundum refractories

In this study, six gas-permeable mullite-corundum refractories with 45–95 wt% spherical porous mullite aggregates were prepared. The influence of the spherical porous aggregate content (SPAC) on the microstructure, gas permeability, and mechanical properties was analysed by XRD, SEM, EDS and image analysis method, etc. It's found that the SPAC affected the pore characteristics and mechanical properties through changing the packing and sintering behaviours of the aggregate and matrix in the refractories. When the SPAC was 45–65 wt%, the refractories had higher strengths as well as two gas-permeable channels in the aggregate and matrix respectively. Whereas, when the SPAC increased to 75–95 wt%, the refractories had lower strength as well as one gas-permeable channel in the matrix. The optimized product contained 65 wt% spherical porous aggregate and combined a high gas permeability of 4.9 × 10⁻¹² m², a high compressive strength of 18.5 MPa, a good thermal shock resistance and well-distributed gas-permeable channels.     

我国两部制电价制度对天然气发电企业盈利能力的影响

上海、浙江和江苏等地陆续出台了两部制电价制度,以期解决天然气发电(以下简称气电)企业成本高、经营困难等问题。为了研究该电价制度对气电企业盈利能力的影响,在对比分析上述三地电价政策和实施效果的基础上,基于不同类型机组的三大经营指标(项目财务内部收益率、经济净现值、动态投资回收期),采用项目经济性分析模型探究了不同类型燃气电厂的经济性。研究结果表明:①现行两部制电价与单一制电价相比,电价水平小幅度下降,给企业经营带来了一定的冲击,但从长远看,则有利于形成可持续的发展机制;②两部制电价是各地政府经过充分调研和测算后根据该区具体情况制定的,在该政策下多数企业处于盈亏平衡点附近,综合条件优、管理水平高的企业能取得一定的盈利,反之则亏损;③当电量电价一定且大于盈亏平衡点时,企业效益随年利用小时数的增加而提升,反之则随年利用小时数的增加而降低。结论认为:①两部制电价能起到促进企业管理和技术水平提升,引导和鼓励电力投资的作用,符合我国电力体制改革的方向;②政策制定时应针对不同时期建成的项目加以区别对待,实现上网电价、天然气价格和供热蒸气价格的"三个联动";③应建立大数据平台,实行气网、电网联合调度;④发电企业应创新管理,降低电厂建设及维护成本,提升机组效率,降低气耗。     

空冷器用高压水清洗与雾化降温系统集成设计与开发

高压水清洗系统和喷淋降温系统分别是春季保持空冷器翅片表面清洁和夏季保证空冷器在高温下正常运行的2个重要辅助系统。针对喷淋系统的缺点研究了高压射流雾化技术,通过试验论证了高压水清洗与雾化降温系统集成的可行性和合理性。根据设计思路开发的集成系统已在山西某项目获得应用并取得了良好的使用效果,此高压水清洗与雾化降温集成系统中高压水发生装置及介质输送管路共用,产生的高压水射流雾化颗粒可达到60μm,夏季降温效果较传统喷淋降温效果大幅提升,水资源的利用率得到极大提高,系统性价比更高。     

Slag eye formation in single and dual bottom purged industrial steelmaking ladles

ABSTRACT

Argon gas is often injected from the bottom of the ladle during steel refining operations. The injected gas interacts with the liquid (metal and slag) bath and enhances the momentum, heat, and mass transfer rate in the melt. However, during these gas–liquid interactions, an opening of the slag layer called slag eye is formed, which exposes the molten metal surface to the atmosphere, which is generally undesirable. In the current work, a transient, three-dimensional mathematical model is used to study the turbulent gas–liquid interactions in single as well as dual bottom blown industrial steelmaking ladles. A Coupled Level Set Volume of Fluid (CLSVOF) model is used for tracking the steel-argon, steel-slag, and argon-slag interfaces, from which the slag-eye area has been predicted. It is found that the inlet gas purging rate, melt height, slag layer thickness, angular and radial positions of the gas inlets affect the slag opening area. Non-dimensional empirical correlations are proposed to predict the slag opening area in both single as well as dual purged ladles, using non-linear regression analysis.     

Effects of metal oxide nanoparticles on combustion and gas-generating performance of NaN3/Al composite powders ignited using a microhotplate platform

We investigated the effects of different metal oxide (MO) nanoparticles (e.g., CuO, KIO₄, Fe₂O₃) on the combustion and gas-generating characteristics of sodium azide microparticle (NaN₃ MP; gas-generating agent) and aluminum nanoparticle (Al NP; heat source) composite powders. The NaN₃ MP/Al NP/MO NP composite powders were stably ignited using a microhotplate (MHP) heater. The addition of CuO and KIO₄ to the NaN₃ MP/Al NP composite powders resulted in relatively high burn rates and high pressurization rates upon MHP-assisted ignition. This suggests that the highly reactive CuO and KIO₄ NPs significantly increased the combustion of the Al NPs; as a result, sufficient heat energy was generated via the active aluminothermic reaction to thermally decompose the NaN₃ MPs. Finally, the gas generating properties of NaN₃ MP/Al NP composite powders mixed with various MO NPs were tested using homemade inflatable small airbags. The airbags were fully inflated within ~20 ms when CuO and KIO₄ NPs were added to the NaN₃ MP/Al NP composite powders. However, the addition of Fe₂O₃ NPs to the NaN₃ MP/Al NP composite powder resulted in a slow and only partial inflation of the airbag due to an incomplete aluminothermic reaction, which was due to a slow combustion reaction between the Al NPs and relatively weak oxidizer of the Fe₂O₃ NPs. This suggests that the rapid, stable, and complete thermal decomposition of NaN₃ MP/Al NP composites can be effectively achieved by employing highly reactive nanoscale oxidizers.     

Low-pressure gas atomization of aluminum through a Venturi nozzle

A new concept of powder atomization based on the venturi phenomenon is presented in the current work. In the proposed method, the working gas speeds-up while flowing into the venturi nozzle. Under the low static pressure developing at the narrow part of the venturi, liquid metal is sucked and mixed perfectly with the gas. By controlling the operating parameters, metal powder of different sizes and shapes can be produced. Carbon dioxide and pure aluminum were mixed in the nozzle and the effect of different operating gas pressures on the produced particle size and shape were thoroughly investigated. Most of the particles were found to average to almost 150 μm, however, even sub-micron aluminum particles were produced at low mass fractions. With the increase of the gas pressure from 0.5 bar to 4 bar, finer aluminum particles are produced. One of the most attractive features of the proposed method is the low gas pressure required to cause melt atomization, which in certain cases may be up to 30 times lower compared to current industrial atomization methods.     

Synthesis and characterizations of highly responsive H2S sensor using p-type Co3O4 nanoparticles/nanorods mixed nanostructures

High-quality p-type semiconducting Co₃O₄ with mixed morphology of nanoparticles/nanorods are synthesized using a hydrothermal route for high response and selective hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) sensor application. XRD and Raman studies revealed the crystal structure and molecular bonding for obtained Co₃O_4, respectively. The nanoparticles/nanorods-like structures were confirmed for Co₃O₄ using FESEM and TEM analysis. The EDS and XPS spectra analysis were carried out for elemental composition and chemical atomic states of Co₃O₄. The Co₃O₄ sensor is investigated for gas sensing properties in dynamic conditions. The sensor exhibited the highest selectivity towards H₂S among various hydrogen-contained gases at 225 °C. The sensor revealed a high response of 357% and 44% for 100 and 10 ppm H₂S gas concentrations, respectively. The Co₃O₄ sensor exhibited a systematic dynamic resistance response for 100–10 ppm range H₂S gas. The excellent dynamic resistance repeatability of the sensor was shown towards 25 ppm H₂S gas. The response of Co₃O₄ sensor was investigated at different operating temperatures and H₂S concentrations. The sensor stability and H₂S sensing mechanism for the Co₃O₄ sensor have been reported. Highly uniform and mixed nanostructures of Co₃O₄ can be the potential sensor material for real-time high-performance H₂S sensor application.     

Constitutive model for gas hydrate-bearing soils considering different types of hydrate morphology and prediction of strength-band

The present study proposes a new elasto-plastic constitutive model that considers different types of hydrates in pore spaces. Many triaxial compression tests on both methane hydrate-bearing soils and carbon dioxide hydrate-bearing soils have been carried out over the last few decades. It has been revealed that methane hydrate-bearing soils and carbon dioxide hydrate-bearing soils have different strength and dilatancy properties even though they have the same hydrate contents. The reason for this might be due to the different types of hydrate morphology. In this study, therefore, the effect of the hydrate morphology on the mechanical response of gas-hydrate-bearing sediments is investigated through a model analysis by taking into account the different hardening rules corresponding to each type of hydrate morphology. In order to evaluate the capability of the proposed model, it is applied to the results of past triaxial compression tests on both methane hydrate-containing and carbon dioxide hydrate-containing sand specimens. The model is found to successfully reproduce the different stress–strain relations and dilatancy behaviors, by only giving consideration to the different morphology distributions and not changing the fitting parameters. The model is then used to predict a possible range in which the maximum deviator stress can move for various hydrate morphology ratios; the range is defined as the strength-band. The predicted curve of the maximum deviator stress obtained by the constitutive model matches the empirical equations obtained from past experiments. It supports the fact that the hydrate morphology ratio changes with the total hydrate saturation. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of the relation between the microscopic structures and macro-mechanical behaviors of gas-hydrate-bearing sediments.     

Enable high reversibility of Fe/Cu based fluoride conversion batteries via interfacial gas release and detergency of garnet electrolytes

Garnet-type Ta-doped Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZTO) electrolyte suffers from unstable chemical passivation under air exposure, responsible for the poor interfacial wettability and conductivity with Li metal. Instead of conventional methods to remove surface contaminants by mechanical polishing, acid etching and high temperature reduction, herein we propose a simple strategy of interfacial gas release and detergency to smartly convert Li₂CO₃ passivation layer into ion-conductive Li₃PO₄ domains at mild temperature (∼200 ℃). The in-situ formation of PH₃ vapor and its phosphorization enables a dramatic decrease of Li/garnet interfacial resistance down to 2 Ω cm² at room temperature (RT). The improved interfacial wettability and conductivity endow the symmetric cells with ultra-stable galvanostatic cycling over 1500 h and high critical current density of 2.6 mA/cm². The high coulombic efficiency of Li plating enables a high reversibility of solid-state NCM811/Li cells even under a low N/P ratio (∼4) and high cut-off voltage of 4.5 V at RT. The prototype of fluoride-garnet solid-state batteries are successfully driven as rechargeable system (rather than widely known primary battery) with high conversion capacity (400 ∼ 500 mAh/g) and high-rate performance (251.2 mAh/g at 3 C). This interface infiltration-detergency approach provides a practical solution to the achievement of high-energy solid-state Li metal batteries.     

Water-stable ZIF-300/Ultrason(R) mixed-matrix membranes for selective CO2 capture from humid post combustion flue gas

Water stable mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) were developed to help control the global warming by capturing and sequestrating carbon dioxide (CO2) from post-combustion flue gas originated from burning of fossil fuels.MMMs of different compositions were prepared by doping glassy polymer Ultrason(R) S 6010 (US) with nanocrystals of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-300) in varying degrees.Solution-casting technique was used to fabricate various MMMs to optimize their CO2 capturing performance from both dry and wet gases.The prepared composite membranes indicated enhanced filler-polymer interfacial adhesion,consistent distribution of nanofiller,and thermally established matrix configuration.CO2 permeability of the membranes was enhanced as demonstrated by gas sorption and permeation experiments performed under both dry and wet conditions.As compared to neat Ultrason(R) membrane,CO2 permeability of the composite membrane doped with 40 wt％ ZIF-300 nanocrystals was increased by four times without disturbing CO2/N2 ideal selectivity.In contrast to majority of previously reported membranes,key features of the fabricated MMMs include their structural stability under humid conditions coupled with better and unaffected gas separation performance.