A lower carbon footprint process for production of metals from their oxide sources

This paper will describe the solid oxide membrane (SOM) process as it applies to the energy-efficient and environmentally sound production of magnesium from magnesium oxide. Also, it will describe the challenges encountered while using this process for the production of transition metals like titanium from its higher oxides. Finally, a novel magnesiothermic SOM process will be proposed that can enable production of transition metals from its higher oxides.     

Epitaxial growth of GaN on (0001) Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> via solution-cast seed layer formation process using Ga(mDTC)<Subscript>3</Subscript>

This paper reports an alternative method for the growth of GaN epitaxial layer on (0001) Al₂O₃ substrate by hot-wall vapor phase epitaxy technique. Tris (N,N-dimethyldithiocarbamato)-gallium (III), Ga(mDTC)₃ was introduced as a precursor material for the seed layer formation in the growth of GaN. Optimal growth conditions with seed layers formed by the Ga(mDTC)₃ concentration of 0.047 mol/L were identified: Growth temperature was found to be 850 °C, and optimal distance between the reactant outlet and substrate was determined to be 12.5 cm. Characterization results showed that this growth method produce high-crystallinity GaN epitaxial layers at a relatively lower growth temperature compared to the existing growth techniques and simplify the growth process.     

Porosity distribution in highly compressible cake: Experimental and theoretical verification of the dense skin

The rate of filtration and the water content of cake are influenced by the existence of a dense skin in a highly compressible cake. The phenomenon of the dense skin has been rarely studied, and its existence has not been verified experimentally. In this study, the porosity variation in a very compressible cake is measured by using a new experimental apparatus, and with this the existence of dense skin has been established experimentally. ‘Unified theory on solid-liquid separation’, a recently developed theory, is utilized for calculating the porosity variation in a very compressible cake.     

Evaluation of Soybean Seedcoat Cracking During Drying:PART II. Using MRI

MRI techniques were developed and employed for non-destructive and noninvasive study of seedcoat cracking in low moisture soybean kernels during heated air drying. Proton density image and transient moisture distribution profile of a single soybean kernel can be obtained using MRI. These MRI techniques proved to be particularly useful for the continuous observation of initiation and propagation of seedcoat cracking during the entire period of drying process without interruption.

The proton density images of soybean kernels showed that seedcoat cracking was initiated perpendicular to the long axis of the kernel near the hilum. The transient moisture distribution profiles in soybean kernels during drying indicate that moisture gradient developed during drying was higher in the seedcoat than in the cotyledon. Drying temperature and initial average moisture content were positively correlated with the soyhean seedcoat crackig. The location of the     

Nonlinear distortion prediction of active filters

The represention of circuit variables in frequency-domain complex matrix and nonlinearities by power series gives rise to a nonlinear distortion prediction technique, the intermodulation-balance method. This operates entirely in the frequency domain. The technique is verified by a single-amplifier filter with a two-tone input signal     

Precipitation behavior of σ phase in fusion zone of dissimilar stainless steel welds during multi-pass GTAW process

The purpose of this study is to investigate the precipitation characteristics of σ phase in the fusion zone of stainless steel welds at various welding passes during a tungsten are welding (GTAW) process. The morphology, quantity, and chemical composition of the δ-ferrite and σ phase were analyzed using optical microscopy (OM), a ferritscope (FS), a X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), an electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), and a wavelength dispersive spectrometer (WDS), respectively. Massive δ-ferrite was observed in the fusion zone of the first pass welds during welding of dissimilar stainless steels. The σ phase precipitated at the inner δ-ferrite particles and decreased δ-ferrite content during the third pass welding. The σ and δ phases can be stabilized by Si element, which promoted the phase transformation of σ→ϱ+λ₂ in the fusion zone of the third pass welds. It was found that the σ phase was a Fe−Cr−Si intermetallic compound found in the fusion zone of the third pass welds during multi-pass welding.     

A Survey on the Numerics and Computations for the Landau-Lifshitz Equation of Micromagnetism

The Landau-Lifshitz (LL)equation of micromagnetism governs rich variety of the evolution of magnetization patterns in ferromagnetic media. This is due to the complexity of physical quantities appearing in the LL equation. This complexity causes also an interesting mathematical properties of the LL equation: nonlocal character for some quantities,nonconvex side-constraints, strongly nonlinear terms. These effects influence also the numerical approximations. In this work, recent developments on the approximation of weak solutions, together with the overview of well-known methods for strong solutions,are addressed. Author is supported by the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders FWO (Belgium).