Effect of an abrupt change in pulling rate on microstructures of directionally solidified Al2O3-Er3Al5O12 eutectic and off-eutectic composite ceramics

Directionally solidified microstructures of Al₂O₃-Er₃Al₅O₁₂ eutectic and off-eutectic in situ composite ceramics were explored under abrupt-change pulling rate conditions. Corresponding temperature distributions and interface locations were studied. In eutectic composition, fluctuation of eutectic spacing occurred when the pulling rate increased abruptly. A gradually increase or abrupt increase in eutectic spacing was observed when the pulling rate decreased abruptly. In hypoeutectic and hypereutectic compositions, formation of the primary phases were suppressed when the pulling rate increased abruptly from 10?µm/s to 100?µm/s, while primary phases precipitated when the pulling rate decreased abruptly from 100?µm/s to 10?µm/s. The interface altitude decreased after the pulling rate increased abruptly, but increased after the pulling rate decreased abruptly. The liquid composition restriction (around the eutectic composition) at the eutectic interface plays an important role in the suppression of the primary dendrite and coupled eutectic oxides can be obtained in off-eutectic compositions even under higher solidification rate conditions.     

Study of MW-scale biogas-fed SOFC-WGS-TSA-PEMFC hybrid power technology as distributed energy system: Thermodynamic,exergetic and thermo-economic evaluation

Advanced biogas power generation technology has been attracting attentions, which contributes to the waste disposal and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. This work proposes and models a novel biogas-fed hybrid power generation system consisting of solid oxide fuel cell, water gas shift reaction, thermal swing adsorption and proton exchange membrane fuel cell (SOFC-WGS-TSA-PEMFC). The thermodynamic, exergetic, and thermo-economic analyses of this hybrid system for power generation were conducted to comprehensively evaluate its performance. It was found that the novel biogas-fed hybrid system has a gross energy conversion efficiency of 68.63% and exergy efficiency of 65.36%, indicating high efficiency for this kind of hybrid power technology. The market sensitivity analysis showed that the hybrid system also has a low sensitivity to market price fluctuation. Under the current subsidy level for the distributed biogas power plant, the levelized cost of energy can be lowered to 0.02942 $/kWh for a 1 MW scale system. Accordingly, the payback period and annual return on investment can reach 1.4 year and about 20%, respectively. These results reveal that the proposed hybrid system is promising and economically feasible as a distributed power plant, especially for the small power scale (no more than 2 MW).     

Catalytic Hydrocracking of a Bitumen‐Derived Asphaltene over NiMo/γ‐Al2O3 at Various Temperatures

Hydrocracking of a bitumen‐derived asphaltene over NiMo/γ‐Al₂O₃ was investigated in a microbatch reactor at varying temperatures. The molar kinetics of asphaltene cracking reaction was examined by fitting the experimental data. Below a defined temperature, the molar reaction showed the first‐order kinetic feature while at higher temperatures secondary reactions such as coke formation became significant, causing deviation of the reaction behavior from the proposed first‐order kinetic model. Selectivity analysis proved that dominant products varied from gases to liquids to gases with increasing temperature, shifting the dominant reaction from C–S bonds cleavage to C–C bonds cleavage.     

多元合金化大断面球墨铸铁组织和性能的分析

为了提升大断面球墨铸铁综合力学性能，通过复合添加微量合金元素铜、锑、锡、钼对大断面球墨铸铁进行微合金化处理，借助金相显微镜(OM)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)及力学性能测试等手段，研究了Cu Sb Sn Mo复合微合金化大断面球墨铸铁微观组织和力学性能。结果表明，试验球墨铸铁具有良好的综合力学性能。大断面球墨铸铁中添加铜、锑、锡、钼后优化了材料的组织结构，基体组织为珠光体＋少量牛眼状铁素体；试样石墨组织细小、圆整，分布均匀。同时，合金元素的复合加入使得其抗拉强度达到800 MPa以上，硬度约为280HB，伸长率达到5%以上。拉伸断口分析表明，微合金化大断面球墨铸铁断裂模式以解理断裂为主，伴有少量的塑性变形。