Copper losses and thermodynamic considerations in copper smelting

A relationship between copper in slag and copper in matte during copper sulfide smelting has been derived using industrial data from 42 plants employing blast furnaces, reverberatory furnaces, flash furnaces, and Mitsubishi smelting furnaces together with the available thermodynamic equilibrium data for Cu-Fe-S-O, FeO-SiO₂, and Cu-Fe-S systems and laboratory slag-matte equilibrium information. A copper smelting diagram showing oxygen potential; sulfur potential; and copper, magnetite, and sulfur contents in slag during the smelting of different grades of copper mattes is developed for mattes containing less than 70 pct copper. The data presented can be used to determine the entrained copper losses in slag. Further, by combining the calculated value of the entrained matte with the corresponding plant data for the sulfur content of the slag, it is possible to derive the dissolved sulfur content of the slag. These calculated values were in excellent agreement with the experimentally determined sulfide capacity of fayalite slags. It is shown that there is no need to assume the presence of dissolved copper sulfide species in industrial slags. The existing equilibrium data that relate the copper content of slags to oxygen potential adequately describe the copper losses in industrial slags.     

Application and modelling of hybrid stereolithography injection mould tooling

The use of stereolithography (SL) to make injection moulding tools has been shown previously to be an efficient way of producing rapid tools for simple geometries, aiming at small lot sizes with an acceptable degree of accuracy. This paper highlights the unexplored potential of using SL inserts in hybrid tools using practical experiments and FEA mould filling models. The practical experiments reveal problems incurred by uneven flow as a result of differential thermal conductivity between dissimilar mould materials in a hybrid tool. The FEA flow models confirm that this uneven flow would be anticipated when using finite element analysis (FEA) software. A further FEA stress analysis predicts that catastrophic mould failure will be expected under some conditions and these reflect the results found in the practical experiments. The use of a homogeneous SL tool eliminates the issues caused by uneven mould filling but results in thermal distortion of the female mould. Ultimately, a SL tool backfilled with low melt point alloy provides a solution that eliminates the problems of uneven filling and thermal distortion.     

Thermal fatigue behavior of squeeze cast, discontinuous alumina-silicate fiber-reinforced aluminum alloy (A356) composite

Microstructural damage mechanisms owing to thermal cycling and isothermal exposure at elevated temperature are studied for a short alumina-silicate fiber-reinforced aluminum alloy (A356) composite produced by pressure casting. The tensile strength of the metal matrix composite is found to degrade considerably in each case. An X-ray double-crystal diffraction method is employed to study the mechanisms of recovery in the matrix. The fractal dimension of the X-ray “rocking curves” for individual grains in the composite reflects the substructure formation owing to the rearrangement of dislocations into subdomain walls. Recovery by polygonization is more pronounced in the case of thermal cycling than for equivalent isothermal exposure. The residual stresses in the matrix that provide the fiber clamping force undergo more relaxation in the case of isothermal exposure. The two competing damage mechanisms, thermally activated recovery by polygonization and relaxation of clamping stresses in the matrix, result in identical strength degradation (25%) for both thermal cycling and isothermal exposure.     

A special-purpose content addressable memory chip for real-timeimage processing

An application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) using a special-purpose content addressable memory that performs parallel search and multiple update (PSMU) operation is presented. This chip, referred to as multiple update content addressable memory (MUCAM), can search 256, 8-b-wide locations in parallel for target data and update all such locations with new data within 50 ns. MUCAM has been developed for image component labeling and merging operation in a connected component analyzer. It was fabricated using 0.9-μm CMOS technology     

The role of grain boundary diffusion in initial selective oxidation kinetics of a manganese-aluminum TRIP steel

Confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM) was used in real-time observation of alloy element oxidation of a manganese/aluminum transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steel. CSLM images reveal a marked role of grain boundaries in the overall initial oxidation kinetics of the alloy and consequently in the morphology of the initial surface oxide. Changing the grain size and the oxidation temperature results in a change in the overall kinetics of selective oxidation and in the importance of oxidation at grain boundaries, respectively. Electron backscattered diffraction mapping was used to characterize the grain boundaries intersecting the surface over an area of the alloy. Subsequent CSLM observation of selective oxidation over the same area allowed quantification of oxidation kinetics as a function of individual grain boundary misorientation.     

Tailoring acidity of HZSM-5 nanoparticles for methyl bromide dehydrobromination by Al and Mg incorporation

Three kinds of HZSM-5 nanoparticles with different acidity were tailored by impregnating MgO or varying Si/Al ratios. Both the textural and acidic properties of the as-prepared nanoparticles were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ammonia temperature-programmed desorption (NH₃-TPD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR or Py-FTIR). It was found that the intensity of Lewis acid sites with weak strength was enhanced by impregnating MgO or reducing Al concentration, and such an enhancement could be explained by the formation of Mg(OH)⁺ or charge unbalance of the MgO framework on the surface of HZSM-5 support. The effect of HZSM-5 nanoparticles'' acidity on methyl bromide dehydrobromination as catalyst was evaluated. As the results, MgHZ-360 catalyst with the highest concentration of Lewis acid sites showed excellent stability, which maintained methyl bromide conversion of up 97% in a period of 400 h on stream. Coke characterization by BET measurements and TGA/DTA and GC/MS analysis revealed that polymethylated naphthalenes species were formed outside the channels of the catalyst with higher acid intensity and higher Brønsted acid concentration during the initial period of reaction, while graphitic carbon formed in the channels of catalyst with lower acid intensity and higher Lewis acid concentration during the stable stage.     

3-Methyltrimethylammonium poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) based anion exchange membrane for alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Hydroxyl ion (OH^?) conducting anion exchange membranes based on modified poly (phenylene oxide) are fabricated for their application in alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells (APEFCs). In the present study, chloromethylation of poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) is performed by aryl substitution rather than benzyl substitution and homogeneously quaternized to form an anion exchange membrane (AEM). ¹H NMR and FT-IR studies reveal successful incorporation of the above groups in the polymer backbone. The membrane is characterized for its ion exchange capacity and water uptake. The membrane formed by these processes show good ionic conductivity and when used in fuel cell exhibited an enhanced performance in comparison with the state-of-the-art commercial AHA membrane. A peak power density of 111 mW/cm² at a load current density of 250 mA/cm² is obtained for PPO based membrane in APEFCs at 30 °C.