A potential application of collectorless flotation in a copper/gold operation

A recent study found that chalcopyrite in the Telfer ore could float without a collector whilst pyrite did not float without a collector in the laboratory. In comparison of the flotation result with and without a collector, the two grade–recovery curves are clearly separated due mainly to less pyrite recovery and higher concentrate grades produced by collectorless flotation. Pre-aeration tended to promote collectorless flotation of chalcopyrite while it had a negligible effect on pyrite flotation. In addition to the laboratory study, pulp potential measurements were conducted in the plant. The results indicate that chalcopyrite is likely to retain its collectorless floatability after SAG milling. This may provide an opportunity of using a flash unit for collectorless flotation on the SAG mill discharge stream.     

Study of ethylene polymerization catalyzed by nBu-Cp2ZrCl2/MAO catalytic system and their polymerization kinetics

Polyethylene was prepared by using a nBu-Cp₂ZrCl₂/MAO catalytic system. Considering the reactivation of Zr species, a novel and reasonable mathematical model of kinetics has been developed and the kinetic profiles of ethylene polymerization have been fitted satisfactorily. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 3186–3189, 2001     

Potassium promoted Ru/meso-macroporous SiO2 catalyst for the preferential oxidation of CO in H2-rich gases

A series of potassium promoted Ru/meso-macroporous SiO₂ catalysts were prepared and used for the preferential oxidation of CO (CO-PROX) in H₂-rich gases. The catalysts were characterized by using techniques of TEM, SEM TPR, XPS, and N₂ adsorption/desorption. The catalytic activity of Ru/meso-macroporous SiO₂ was markedly improved by the introduction of potassium. The catalyst of K-5 wt.% Ru/meso-macroporous SiO₂ with molar ratio of K:Ru = 5:7 exhibited relatively high activity and selectivity for CO-PROX. Nanoparticles of ruthenium species can be highly dispersed on the meso-macroporous SiO₂ support by the simple impregnation method. The addition of potassium weakened the interaction between metallic Ru and the silica support. Lowering the reduction temperature of ruthenium ions could keep ruthenium in the state of metallic Ru, and it was proposed that potassium acted as an electron donating agent. The electron donating effect of potassium improved the low temperature activity for CO oxidation and increased the selectivity of O₂ for CO oxidation, thus K-modified Ru/meso-macroporous SiO₂ catalyst showed obviously a wide temperature window for CO elimination from H₂-rich gases, meanwhile the related mechanism was discussed.     

Thermal management of lithium‐ion batteries for electric vehicles

Thermal issues associated with electric vehicle battery packs can significantly affect performance and life cycle. Fundamental heat transfer principles and performance characteristics of commercial lithium‐ion battery are used to predict the temperature distributions in a typical battery pack under a range of discharge conditions. Various cooling strategies are implemented to examine the relationship between battery thermal behavior and design parameters. By studying the effect of cooling conditions and pack configuration on battery temperature, information is obtained as to how to maintain operating temperature by designing proper battery configuration and choosing proper cooling systems. It was found that a cooling strategy based on distributed forced convection is an efficient, cost‐effective method which can provide uniform temperature and voltage distributions within the battery pack at various discharge rates. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reliability and accuracy of measured overpotential in a three-electrode fuel cell system

Numerical simulation was conducted to study the potential and current density distributions at the active electrode surface of a solid oxide fuel cell. The effects of electrode deviation, electrolyte thickness and electrode polarization resistance on the measurement error were investigated. For a coaxial anode/electrolyte/cathode system where the radius of the anode is greater than that of cathode, the cathode overpotential is overestimated while the anode overpotential is underestimated. Although the current interruption method or impedance spectroscopy can be employed to compensate/correct the error for a symmetric electrode configuration, it is not useful when dealing with the asymmetric electrode system. For the purpose of characterizing the respective overpotentials in a fuel cell, the cell configuration has to be carefully designed to minimize the measurement error, in particular the selection of the electrolyte thickness, which may cause significant error. For the anode-support single fuel cell, it is difficult to distinguish the polarization between the anode and cathode with reference to a reference electrode. However, numerical results can offer an approximate idea about the source/cause of the measurement error and provide design criteria for the fuel cell to improve the reliability and accuracy of the measurement technique.     

Thermophoretic Control of Submicron-sized Particulate Recontamination

Thermophoresis is the movement of particles in a thermal gradient. It has the advantages of being simple to set up and to carry out. Here, it is used to prevent the recontamination of emitted particles smaller than 0.5 μm during the dry laser cleaning of particles not chemically bound to the substrate. Its use permits the efficiency of such dry laser cleaning to be greatly improved. A comparison between the thermophoretic and laminar flow techniques is carried out, showing that thermophoresis is more efficient.     

A single-stage GM-type pulse tube cryocooler operating at 10.6 K

In order to explore the lowest attainable refrigeration temperature and improve cooling performance at temperatures around 20 K for a single-stage G-M type pulse tube cryocooler (PTC), numerical and experimental studies were performed. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) numerical model known as REGEN was applied to the simulation of a G-M type PTC for the first time. Based on the calculation results, a single-stage G-M type PTC was designed, fabricated and tested. The performance improvement of the regenerator in the temperature range of 10-80 K was investigated. The calculations predicted a lowest temperature of 10 K. A lowest temperature of 10.6 K was achieved experimentally with an input power of 7.5 kW, which is the lowest temperature ever achieved by a single-stage PTC. Further more, the cryocooler can provide a cooling power of 20 W at 20.6 K and 39.5 W at 30 K, respectively.     

Structure,microstructure and electrical properties of Cu2+ doped (K,Na,Li)(Nb,Ta,Sb)O3 piezoelectric ceramics

This work studies the effects of copper doping on the properties of the (K_0.44Na_0.52Li_0.04)(Nb_0.86Ta_0.10Sb_0.04)O₃ piezoelectric ceramic material. Cu²⁺ incorporation into the perovskite structure produces a transformation of the crystalline lattice from tetragonal to orthorhombic symmetry together with an increase of the secondary phase. The grain size of the ceramic samples is increased due to the formation of a liquid phase during sintering, which increases with the Cu²⁺ content. EDS analysis reveals that the secondary-phase regions present a Cu and Nb-rich composition, indicating that the Cu-excess accommodates through the formation of this secondary phase. Cu-doping induces a rapid increase of the orthorhombic–tetragonal phase transition temperature, while the tetragonal–cubic phase transition temperature is decreased, the latter becoming more diffuse with the increase of Cu content. The piezoelectric properties of the material are reduced with the copper concentration, whereas the mechanical quality factor increases by a factor of nearly four.     

A single step process to form in-situ an alumina foam/aluminide TBC system for alloys in extreme environments at high temperatures

A new approach to manufacture a complete thermal barrier coating system in a single step is studied in the frame of the European FP7 project PARTICOAT. Spherical μm-Al particles are deposited on different substrate alloys. During the sintering process in air, the μm-Al particles are oxidized and converted into hollow alumina spheres forming a ceramic “foam” (top coat), and simultaneously an Al rich diffusion layer (bond coat) is formed in the subsurface zone of the substrate.The “green” coatings deposited by air brush on IN738, René80 and CM247 nickel based alloys were cured at 300 °C and then isothermally exposed at 800 and 1000 °C in air for up to 1000 h. The oxide formation and the microstructure of the coatings were studied by thermo gravimetrical analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX).The coatings were adherent for all the substrates and temperatures tested. René80 shows the lowest mass gain whereas IN738 and CM247 show higher mass gains at the temperatures studied. Additionally, the use of reactive element oxides in the coating was investigated, demonstrating the flexibility and viability of this low cost coating concept.     

A mathematical model to analyze heat and mass transfer characteristics of a CPL evaporator porous wick

A capillary pumped loop (CPL), because of its high power thermal transport character, has been developed as an attractive system for the thermal discharge of electronic chips with high power loads, especially on spacecrafts. A working fluid having relatively larger heat of evaporation, methanol for example, may transfer significant heat flux. In this paper a new mathematic model is constructed, in which the most important character is the treatment or the unsaturated region of the evaporator porous wick. Numerical simulation of heat and mass transfer in the evaporator porous wick is carried out with a new three‐layer model. The importance of unsaturated layer to simulate the present problem is clear. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 34(4): 209–218, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20066