Lehrstuhl für Metallurgie

Research fields: Hydrogen-plasma-smelting-reduction — Steel and alloy development — Casting and soldification — Remelting processes — Education — Equipment     

Strategies for optimal operation of the tellurium electrowinning process

Empirical models predicting the purity of electrowon tellurium have been developed using data from 36 pilot-plant trials. Based on these models, a numerical optimization of the process was performed to identify conditions which minimize the total contamination in Pb and Se while reducing electrical consumption per kilogram of electrowon tellurium. Results indicate that product quality can be maintained and even improved while operating at the much higher electroplating production rates obtained at high current densities. Using these same process settings, the electrical consumption of the process can be reduced by up to 10 pct by operating at midrange temperatures of close to 50 °C. This is particularly attractive when waste heat is available at the plant to help preheat the electrolyte feed. When both Pb and Se are present as contaminants, the most energy-efficient strategy involves the use of a high current density, at a moderate temperature with high flow, for low concentrations of TeO₂. If Pb is removed prior to the electrowinning process, the use of a low current density and low electrolyte feed concentration, while operating at a low temperature and moderate flow rates, provides the most significant reduction in Se codeposition.     

Blindness to response-compatible stimuli.

This contribution is devoted to the question of whether action-control processes may be demonstrated to influence perception. This influence is predicted from a framework in which stimulus processing and action control are assumed to share common codes, thus possibly interfering with each other. In 5 experiments, a paradigm was used that required a motor action during the presentation of a stimulus. The participants were presented with masked right- or left-pointing arrows shortly before executing an already prepared left or right keypress response. We found that the identification probability of the arrow was reduced when the to-be-executed reaction was compatible with the presented arrow. For example, the perception of a right-pointing arrow was impaired when presented during the execution of a right response as compared with that of a left response. The theoretical implications of this finding as well as its relation to other, seemingly similar phenomena (repetition blindness, inhibition of return, psychological refractory period) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Killing strategies for model‐based mutation testing

This article presents the techniques and results of a novel model‐based test case generation approach that automatically derives test cases from UML state machines. The main contribution of this article is the fully automated fault‐based test case generation technique together with two empirical case studies derived from industrial use cases. Also, an in‐depth evaluation of different fault‐based test case generation strategies on each of the case studies is given and a comparison with plain random testing is conducted. The test case generation methodology supports a wide range of UML constructs and is grounded on the formal semantics of Back's action systems and the well‐known input–output conformance relation. Mutation operators are employed on the level of the specification to insert faults and generate test cases that will reveal the faults inserted. The effectiveness of this approach is shown and it is discussed how to gain a more expressive test suite by combining cheap but undirected random test case generation with the more expensive but directed mutation‐based technique. Finally, an extensive and critical discussion of the lessons learnt is given as well as a future outlook on the general usefulness and practicability of mutation‐based test case generation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.