Synthesis of aluminium nanoparticles by arc evaporation of an aluminium cathode surface

Aluminium nanoparticles (Al Nps) are synthesized using arc discharge method by applying direct current between aluminium electrodes in liquid environment without any use of vacuum equipment, heat exchangers, high temperatures furnaces and inert gases. After synthesis of Al Nps, in situ coating process on the nanoparticles was performed immediately. The effects of media on the yield and morphology of aluminium nanoparticles were investigated. Analysis result of the samples indicated that particle size was less than 30 nm, when 120 A/cm² arc current was used. In addition, coating agent can affect arc velocity, arc stability, morphology and composition of the nanoparticles. Resultant nanoparticles were identified using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), also their surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and finally the accuracy of coating was assessed with infrared (IR) spectroscopy.     

Compressive and wear behaviors of bulk nanostructured Al2024 alloy

Compressive and wear properties of bulk nanostructured Al2024 alloy prepared by mechanical milling and hot pressing methods were investigated. Al2024 powders were subjected to high-energy milling for 30 h to produce nanostructured alloy. As-milled powders were compacted at 500 °C under 250 MPa in a uniaxial die. Consolidated sample had an average hardness and relative density values of 207.6 HV and 98%, respectively. Uniaxial compression tests at strain rates in the range of 1.67 × 10⁻⁴–1.67 × 10⁻² s⁻¹ were performed using an Instron-type machine. The wear behavior of nanostructured sample was investigated using a pin-on-disk technique under an applied load of 20 N. The compression and wear experiments were also executed on samples of commercial coarse-grained Al2024-O (annealed) and Al2024-T6 (artificially-aged) alloys, for comparison. The structure of consolidated Al2024 was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The yield strength and compressive strength of nanostructured Al2024 reached a value of 698 MPa and 712 MPa at strain rate of 1.67 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, respectively, which was considerably higher than those for coarse-grained Al2024-O and Al2024-T6 counterparts. Worn surfaces and the wear debris were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and XRD. Nanostructured Al2024 revealed a low friction coefficient of 0.3 and a wear rate of 12 × 10⁻³ mg/m, which are significantly lower than those obtained for Al2024-O and Al2024-T6 alloys. This enhanced wear resistance was mainly caused by nanocrystalline structure with high hardness value. The dominating wear mechanism of nanostructured Al2024 appeared to be delamination mechanism.     

The effect of type of atmospheric gas on milling behavior of nanostructured Ti6Al4V alloy

Recently fabrication of titanium alloys through solid state processes such as mechanical alloying has been greatly taken into consideration. In the present investigation the effects of common atmospheric impurities, oxygen and nitrogen, on the fabrication procedure and milling behavior of nanostructured Ti–6Al–4V alloy during mechanical alloying (MA) was studied. In this regards, elemental powders were milled under three different protective atmospheres of air, 90% and 99.998% pure Argon. Results indicated that, samples milled under Ar with 90% purity featured the best behavior and reached a nanostructure and subsequent amorphous state in shorter time periods. This was considered to be due to Ti lattice distortion made by interstitial element such as O₂ and N₂.     

Preparation of Al2O3–TiB2 nanocomposite powder by mechanochemical reaction between Al,B2O3 and Ti

Mechanochemical processing is a novel technique for the synthesis of nano-sized materials. This research is based on the production of Al₂O₃–TiB₂ nanocomposite powder using mechanochemical processing. For this purpose, a mixture of aluminum, titanium and boron oxide powders was subjected to high energy ball milling. The structural evaluation of powder particles after different milling times was conducted by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that during ball milling the Al/B₂O₃/Ti reacted with a combustion mode producing Al₂O₃–TiB₂ nanocomposite. In the final stage of milling, the crystallite sizes of Al₂O₃ and TiB₂ were estimated to be less than 50 nm.     

Amorphous phase formation in Al80Fe10M10 (M?=?Ni, Ti, and V) ternary systems by mechanical alloying

In this study, the amorphous phase formation in Al₈₀Fe₁₀M₁₀ (M = Ti, V, Ni) (at.%) ternary systems during mechanical alloying has been investigated. The milled samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analyses. A thermodynamic analysis of the amorphous phase formation was performed for these systems using the Miedema model. The obtained results demonstrate that amorphous phases can be formed during the mechanical alloying process of the Al₈₀Fe₁₀M₁₀ (M = Ti, V, Ni) ternary systems. The produced amorphous alloys exhibit one-stage crystallization during heating, which is amorphous to the Al₁₃Fe₄ intermetallic phases. The thermal stability of the produced amorphous phases decreases in the order of Al₈₀Fe₁₀Ti₁₀ > Al₈₀Fe₁₀Ni₁₀ > Al₈₀Fe₁₀V₁₀.     

A new approach for synthesis of well-crystallized Y zeolite from bentonite and rice husk ash used in Ni-Mo/Al2O3-Y hybrid nanocatalyst for hydrocracking of heavy oil

A series of Ni-Mo/Al₂O₃-Y hybrid nanocatalysts were synthesized for hydrocracking of heavy oil. The well crystallized Y zeolite was synthesized from mineral bentonite and rice husk ash by a two-step synthesis method. The solution combustion method was applied to develop a fast and simple technique for preparing of alumina-supported NiMo catalyst with high hydrodesulfurization activity. Such activity may be due to the morphological and textural modification as a consequence of the release of a high amount of exhaust gases during the combustion process. The XRD analysis revealed that the P zeolite was a competitive phase presented in the obtained product that could be eliminated using a two-step synthesis method. Compared to a one-step method, the pore volume and external surface area of the synthesized zeolite by the two-step method increased by 74 and 62%, respectively. The hydrocracking results illustrated that the synthesized zeolite was able to convert 66% of heavy oil to lighter products and reduce the viscosity up to 60%. Furthermore, the amount of sulfur removal was found to be 58%. The spent catalyst characterization suggested that the type of deposited coke was hard coke with the unsaturated aromatic ring which could be responsible for the pores blockage after the cracking reaction.     

Hydrocracking and hydrodesulfurization of diesel over zeolite beta-containing NiMo supported on activated red mud

NiMo nanocatalysts supported on activated red mud with different zeolite beta contents were successfully prepared by impregnation technique. Their hydrocracking and hydrodesulfurization activities were evaluated with two different kinds of diesel feed (iso diesel and heavy diesel) in a fixed bed reactor at ambient pressure and 500 °C. Physico-chemical properties of synthesized samples were characterized using the methods of XRF, XRD, FESEM, BET, FTIR and NH₃-TPD. The results indicated that zeolite incorporation resulted in a significant increase in specific surface area (BET result) and acidic strength (TPD result) of nanocatalysts. FESEM analysis confirmed that the particles size of zeolite-containing NiMo/ARM was less than 100 nm and the average size of particles was about 30 nm. Hydrocracking results illustrated that incorporation of zeolite beta improved cracking activity considerably. In addition, NiMo nanocatalyst containing 37.5 wt% of zeolite had the highest yields of desirable products (naphtha, kerosene and diesel) and the highest conversion. Moreover, the flash point and viscosity of the liquid product decreased notably the nanocatalysts with 37.5 wt% and 12.5 wt% of zeolite were able to remove approximately 96% and 72% of the sulfur content of iso diesel and heavy diesel, respectively.     

Monte Carlo simulation of the thermal column and beam tube of the TRIGA Mark II research reactor

The Monet Carlo simulation of the TRIGA Mark II research reactor core has been performed employing the radiation transport computer code MCNP5. The model has been confirmed experimentally in the PhD research work at the Atominstitute (ATI) of the Vienna University of Technology. The MCNP model has been extended to complete biological shielding of the reactor including the thermal column, radiographic collimator and four beam tubes. This paper presents the MCNP simulated results in the thermal column and one of the beam tubes (beam tube A) of the reactor. To validate these theoretical results, thermal neutron flux density measurements using the gold foil activation method have been performed in the thermal column and beam tube A (BT-A). In the thermal column, the theoretical and experimental results are in fairly good agreement i.e. maximum thermal flux density in the centre decreases in radial direction. Further, it is also agreed that thermal flux densities in the lower part is greater than the upper part of the thermal column. In the BT-A experiment, the thermal flux density distribution is measured using gold foil. The experimental and theoretical diffusion lengths have been determined as 10.77 cm and 9.36 cm respectively with only 13% difference, reflecting good agreement between the experimental and simulated results. To save the computational cost and to incorporate the accurate and complete information of each individual Monte Carlo MC particle tracks, the surface source writing capability of MCNP has been utilized to the TRIGA shielding model. The variance reduction techniques have been applied to improve the statistics of the problem and to save computational efforts.     

Formation of the Nanocrystalline Structure in an Equiatomic NiTi Shape-Memory Alloy by Thermomechanical Processing

The microstructural evolution during cold rolling followed by annealing of an equiatomic NiTi shape-memory alloy was investigated. The high purity Ni₅₀Ti₅₀ alloy was cast by a copper boat vacuum induction-melting technique. The as-cast ingots were then homogenized, hot rolled, and annealed to prepare the suitable initial microstructure. Thereafter, annealed specimens were cold rolled up to 70 % thickness reduction at room temperature. Post-deformation annealing was conducted at 400 °C for 1 h. The microstructure was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry techniques. The initial microstructure was free from segregation and Ti- or Ni-rich precipitates and was composed of coarse grains with an average size of 50 μm. The cold rolling of NiTi alloy resulted in a partial amorphization and the deformation-induced grain refinement. A nanocrystalline structure with the grain size of about 20-70 nm was formed during the post-deformation annealing.     

Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Steam Cracking Furnaces

The transient modeling of thermal cracking furnaces is developed. This representation is capable of describing and predicting the unsteady‐state behavior of cracking furnaces during start‐up. To accurately predict the heat transfer to the reactor tube, the fireside conditions are coupled with the process side. The mutual interaction of these two sections is found to be very stiff in terms of convergence of the computations. The two‐dimensional transient zone model is developed for the radiative heat exchange calculation. A simplified model for the convection section is also used to predict the crossover temperature at each time increment. The main simulation outputs are the flue gas properties as well as the distributions of heat flux, refractory wall and coil skin temperatures versus time. The dynamic simulation is implemented for a conventional procedure used in the start‐up run of the olefin furnaces.