One-step synthesis of t-ZrO2 from Zircon using magnesium-calcium minerals as stabilizers

Stabling crystal structure at room temperature is a classic problem in the study of Zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂). However, there are few investigations on making tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO₂) in one step at a low cost. In this research, t-ZrO₂ is synthesized using a one-step high-temperature solid-state sintering technique with magnesite, dolomite, and limestone as stabilizers and zircon as the raw material. The most suitable stabilizers and reaction conditions are determined, and the mechanism of zirconia structure stabilization is explored. The findings suggest that magnesite has the lowest effect as a crystal structure stabilizer, whereas dolomite and limestone are pretty close, but dolomite introduces more impurities. The ideal reaction conditions were 60% mol limestone at 1500 °C. The stabilization mechanism is zirconia gap correction, according to XRD and EPR data. The characterization of the SEM demonstrates that the heat treatment temperature and stabilizer had little effect on the morphology of t-ZrO₂. When limestone was introduced throughout the process, EDS data revealed that some amorphous silicon-calcium compounds occurred in the product. The focus of follow-up work will be on how to lessen the impact in this area. This research offers vital reference value for reducing the cost of the synthetic t-ZrO₂ process.     

蒙古国稀土矿地质特征及资源潜力

蒙古国蕴含丰富的稀土矿资源。本文通过对蒙古国成矿地质背景及典型稀土矿床进行研究,将蒙古国稀土矿床划分为碱性花岗岩型、碳酸岩型、伟晶岩型、离子吸附型、稀土砂矿型等5种成因类型,其中碱性花岗岩型和碳酸岩型是蒙古国稀土矿的主要成因类型;将蒙古国划分为3个稀土成矿省和7个稀土成矿带,并结合蒙古国成矿地质背景及矿产开发情况,初步划分出图瓦-库苏古尔稀土矿潜力区、肯特稀土矿潜力区和达兰扎达嘎德稀土矿潜力区共3处稀土矿勘查开发潜力区。     

深部奥灰水特性及其浓缩后在奥灰水害防治中的应用

减少矿井水排放、降低底板注浆费用，以深部奥灰涌出水改性底板注浆材料为研究对象，测试了矿井水的常规离子、悬浮物、微量元素，研究了矿井水加热浓缩后的水质变化特征，对比测试了浓缩矿井水改性黏土浆液和水泥净浆的水理和物理力学性能，并基于改性黄土的膨胀界限抗渗强度设计实施了工作面注浆工程。研究结果表明:矿井深部奥灰水有高矿化度、富含悬浮物、其他特殊物质不超标、高永久硬度等特征，其浓缩后有利于改性浆液的钙离子、硫酸根离子、氯离子等富集，不利于浆液改性的碳酸氢根离子浓度降低，用于改性黏土浆液使得双电层结构絮凝，提高了土样抗压强度，降低了渗透性，用于改性水泥净浆，水泥初凝时间缩短，1,3,28 d强度分别提高1.7~3.3,5.3~7.7,8.3~17.1 MPa。改性后黄土膨胀界限抗渗强度提高了19.5%，应用工作面在减少16%的注浆量下安全回采了煤炭资源。     

Full scale investigation of GCL damage mechanisms in small earth dam retrofit applications under earthquake loading

This paper reports results of full scale testing to further explore potential GCL damage mechanisms in earth dam retrofit applications in seismically active areas; in particular, to a) investigate whether shear displacements could reduce the magnitude of GCL panel overlap during earthquake shaking; b) explore the influence of gravel particles on GCL thickness at localised point of contact; and c) observe the consequences of an accidental exposure of an uncovered GCL to short duration rainfall in terms of moisture content and effects during subsequent compaction. The results of these experiments indicate that even under severe shaking no movements were detected at the GCL panel overlap. Whereas gravel particles were observed to locally reduce the thickness of the GCL to 2.2 mm, no plowing of the particle into the GCL occurred due to a lack of shear displacement at the interface, resulting in no localised internal erosion through the barrier. Furthermore, hydration of GCL panels during construction due to surface wetting was observed to result in a state of hydration less than its post-construction state. These results indicate that although each of the three GCL damage mechanisms cannot be ruled out to ever be relevant in practice, the performance of the GCL retrofitted earth dam tested was satisfactory under even severe Level 2 earthquake shaking, and suggests that the retrofitting of small earth dams with GCLs is a promising strategy to improve their static and seismic resistance.     

LF精炼废渣水热浸出过程中主要矿相的溶解行为

通过水热浸出实验分别研究了精炼废渣及合成的废渣中2种主要单一矿相12CaO?7Al2O3和2CaO?SiO2的溶解行为，并将二者进行对比分析，探究了LF精炼废渣在水热浸出过程中的溶解行为。结果表明，废渣浸出过程中浸出液的pH?12，且随浸出时间增加，电导率和Ca浓度增加，Al浓度急剧下降，Si浓度低于0.1 mg/L且保持不变；12CaO?7Al2O3浸出过程中，随时间增加，浸出液pH值稳定在约11.3，浸出液中Al浓度增加，Ca浓度略微下降。2CaO?SiO2浸出液中主要为Ca2+，Si浓度低于0.6 mg/L；废渣与单一矿相浸出过程的pH值及Al, Si浓度较接近，可以通过单一矿相的溶解行为研究精炼废渣在水热浸出过程中的溶解行为，但废渣浸出液的Al和Si浓度均低于单一矿相，表明废渣中CaO等其它组分溶解抑制了12CaO?7Al2O3和2CaO?SiO2溶解。     

Effects of andalusite and kyanite addition on the microstructure,thermo-mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of ultralow-cement bauxite-corundum castables

Ultralow-cement bauxite-corundum refractory castables are increasingly attracting attention because of the advantages in performance and cost. To improve its volume stability and high-temperature performance, andalusite and kyanite were incorporated into this type of refractory, respectively, and a comparative investigation of their effects on microstructure, thermo-mechanical properties, and slag corrosion resistance was carried out in this work. The expansion effects induced by the mullitization of these additives not only suppressed the sintering shrinkage but also made the matrix structure more compact and uniform, mainly owing to the generation of many new and strong mullite bonds. This improvement resulted in a significant increase in the refractoriness under load and creep resistance. This effect was far more pronounced for the andalusite-added castables, for which the RUL increased by 62 °C and the creep rate at the stationary stage decreased by 26%. Besides, adverse effects on microstructure and properties appeared when adding a higher amount of kyanite due to the excessive expansion. Moreover, the corrosion mechanisms of these refractory castables by refining slag were discussed, and the active role of andalusite addition in the corrosion resistance was also proposed.     

Experimental study on the permeability and self-healing capacity of geosynthetic clay liners in heavy metal solutions

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs), which have a very low permeability to water and a considerably high self-healing capacity, are widely used in liner systems of landfills. In this study, a series of experimental tests were carried out under complex conditions on typical commercial GCLs from China. In particular, the effects of pH values and lead ions (Pb²⁺) were tested in addition to other factors. The swelling properties of natural bentonite encapsulated between geotextile components in the GCLs were tested first. The swelling capacity was reduced rapidly at pH values < 3 and concentrations of Pb²⁺ >40 mM. Permeability tests on GCLs with different concentrations of lead ions were then performed by using the self-developed multi-link flexible wall permeameter, and data showed that increases in lead ion concentrations greatly improved the permeability. Finally, self-healing capacity tests were conducted on needle-punched GCLs under different levels of damage. Results showed that the GCLs have a good self-healing capacity with small diameter damage holes (2 mm, close to three times the original aperture), but with a damage aperture larger than 15% of the sample area, the self-healing capacity could not prevent leakage; hence, in certain situations it will be necessary to repair the damage to meet the anti-seepage requirement.     

Impact of pre-treatment (soaking or germination) on nutrient and anti-nutrient contents,cooking time and acceptability of cooked red dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) grown in Ethiopia

Pulses are processed in diverse ways prior to consumption. Soaking and germination are among the most common traditional, household-level food processing strategies. This study was carried out to determine the effects of soaking, germination, cooking and their combinations on the contents of selected nutrients and anti-nutrients of red dry bean and chickpea. In addition, the effects of pre-treatment on cooking time and the acceptability of dishes prepared from red dry bean and chickpea were determined. The nutrient compositions (zinc, iron and calcium) of most soaked-cooked and germinated-cooked red dry bean and chickpea samples were not significantly different than those of respective controls. However, soaking and germination pre-treatments significantly lowered the phytate and tannin contents of the red dry bean and chickpea samples, with a few exceptions, and overall, polyphenol contents were lower after soaking-cooking than after germination-cooking. Most scores for sensory attributes of bean-based and chickpea-based dishes prepared from soaked or germinated samples were not significantly different than those of the controls. For most red dry bean and chickpea samples, longer germination times yielded superior results in terms of reductions in cooking time, tannin content, and phytate:zinc and phytate:iron molar ratio.