Effects of embedding direct reduction followed by magnetic separation on recovering titanium and iron of beach titanomagnetite concentrate

Embedding direct reduction followed by magnetic separation was conducted to fully recover iron and titanium separately from beach titanomagnetite(TTM).The influences of reduction conditions,such as molar ratio of C to Fe,reduction time,and reduction temperature,were studied.The results showed that the TTM concentrate was reduced to iron and iron-titanium oxides,depending on the reduction time,and the reduction sequence at 1 200°C was suggested as follows:Fe_(2.75)Ti_(0.25)O_4→Fe_2TiO_4→FeTiO_3→FeTi_2O_5.The reduction temperature played a considerable role in the reduction of TTM concentrates.Increasing temperature from 1 100 to 1 200°C was beneficial to recovering titanium and iron,whereas the results deteriorated as temperature increased further.The results of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses showed that low temperature(≤1 100°C)was unfavorable for the gasification of reductant,resulting in insufficient reducing atmosphere in the reduction process.The molten phase was formed at high temperatures of 1 250-1 300°C,which accelerated the migration rate of metallic particles and suppressed the diffusion of reduction gas,resulting in poor reduction.The optimum conditions for reducing TTM concentrate are as follows:molar ratio of C to Fe of 1.68,reduction time of 150 min,and reduction temperature of 1 200°C.Under these conditions,direct reduction iron powder,assaying 90.28 mass%TFe and 1.73 mass% TiO_2 with iron recovery of 90.85%,and titanium concentrate,assaying 46.24mass% TiO_2 with TiO_2 recovery of 91.15%,were obtained.     

Effects of Al contents on microstructure and properties of hot-dip Zn-Al alloy coatings on hydrogen reduced hot-rolled steel without acid pickling

A new hot-dip galvanizing method was employed on hot-rolled low carbon steel. The effects of Al contents on microstructure, micro-hardness and corrosion resistance of Zn-Al alloy coatings were systematically investigated. Phase composition, microstructure and element distribution in Zn-Al alloy coatings were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron probe micro analysis (EPMA), respectively. It is found that Al content (0. 6–6. 0 wt. %) in galvanizing zinc affects surface quality and adhesion between coatings and matrix in the newly developed method. In addition, with increasing Al content, micro-hardness significantly increased due to the increase in Zn-Al eutectoid phases. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) also revealed that increase in Al plays a noticeable role in improving the corrosion resistance of Zn-Al alloy coatings.     

Key factors affecting nickel recovery during the segregation of laterite ores

The segregation process as applied to nickel laterite ores involves the formation of gaseous nickel and iron chlorides which are subsequently reduced to form ferronickel on the surface of a solid carbon reductant. A fundamental study of the process has been carried out using limonite, nontronite and garnierite ores. The study highlighted the significant impacts that ore mineralogy and carbon addition have on the amount of nickel which is segregated rather than retained within the ore due to in situ reduction. These important aspects affecting nickel recovery and the success of the process are discussed in this paper.     

Low-order dynamic equivalent estimation of power systems using data of phasor measurement units

This paper utilizes data measured by phasor measurement units (PMUs) to extract a low-order dynamic equivalent model for power system stability studies. The estimated model is a 2-order model for synchronous machines. This model has the advantage of simplicity of classical model and considerably reduces the oversimplifying error of classical model. This method offers an alternative approach to analytical model reduction techniques based on the detailed system models. The proposed method uses the synchronized bus voltage and current phasors measured by PMUs. Using post disturbance data, electrical and mechanical parameters of the equivalent generator are estimated sequentially. Furthermore, a new approach for estimation of two-machine and single machine infinite bus (SMIB) equivalent systems are presented for analysis of electromechanical oscillations. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, simulations are performed on a two area 13-bus test system and real measured PMU data. Simulation results show that the estimated model can represent the dynamic behavior of the studied system with good approximation.     

城市污水余热的再利用与实践

城市污水余热是城市中理想的新能源，因此对以城市污水余热为冷热源的能源系统进行优化设计及深入研究意义重大。以青岛麦岛示范项目为例，通过对该项目的污水源能源区域中心四年来的运营情况进行投资回报与节能效果的分析。为城市污水源热泵技术的推广提供了一种方案参考及数据支持。     

Electrochemical performance of reduced graphene oxide in Spiro‐(1, 1')‐bipyrrolidinium tetrafluoroborate electrolyte

This paper investigates the relationship between structure and electrochemical performance of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) prepared via heat treatment and chemical reduction method. Structure and morphology of RGO was characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller. Electrochemical performance of RGO electrode supercapacitor was investigated in the organic electrolyte by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge and electrochemical impedance. The results show heat treatment RGO has high graphitization degree, less surface oxygen‐containing groups, good charge–discharge efficiency and stable life cycle. The chemical reduced RGO has single‐graphene structure, high specific surface area, high specific capacitance and low internal resistance. The ascorbic acid reduction RGO exhibits good comprehensive electrochemical performance: Its specific capacitance was 220.7 F g^?1, internal resistance was 3.0 Ω and charge–discharge efficiency was 97.0% after 2000 cycles of charging/discharging tests. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sludge stabilization and energy recovery by hydrothermal carbonization process

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a thermal conversion process that converts high-moisture biomass into hydrochar. HTC was applied to stabilize and process sludge collected from septic tanks into hydrochar for practical energy recovery. Experiments were conducted with a 1-L high-pressure reactor operating at different temperatures and reaction times in which the sludge was mixed with catalysts and biomass at different ratios. The effects of catalysts (i.e., acetic acid, lithium chloride, borax, and zeolite) and biomass (i.e., cassava pulp, dried leaves, pig manure, and rice husks) mixing with sludge for hydrochar production were investigated. The experimental data showed acetic acid and cassava pulp to be the most effective catalyst and biomass, respectively, increasing energy contents to the maximum value of 28.5 MJ/kg. The optimum HTC conditions were as follows: sludge/acetic acid/cassava pulp mixing ratio of 1/0.4/1 (by weight), at a temperature of 220 °C, and reaction time of 0.5 h. The relatively high energy contents of the produced hydrochar suggest its applicability as a solid fuel.     

A novel codification and modified heuristic approaches for optimal reconfiguration of distribution networks considering losses cost and cost benefit from voltage profile improvement

Network reconfiguration is the process of changing the topology of distribution systems by altering the open/closed status of switches. Because there are many candidate-switching combinations in the distribution system, network reconfiguration is a complicated combinatorial, non-differentiable constrained optimization problem. In addition, the radiality constraint typically increases the intricacy of the problem. In this paper, to avoid create infeasible configuration, a new codification is proposed. The proposed codification is computationally efficient and guarantees to generate only feasible radial topologies all times. Also, in this paper, a modified heuristic approach for optimal reconfiguration in radial distribution systems is presented. Additionally, in order to economize voltage profile improvement, a number of new formulas have been represented. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on balanced and unbalanced test distribution systems.     

Enhanced methane fermentation of municipal sewage sludge by microbial electrochemical systems integrated with anaerobic digestion

Sewage sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant was fed into a microbial electrochemical system, combined with an anaerobic digester (MES-AD), for enhanced methane production and sludge stabilization. The effect of thermally pretreating the sewage sludge on MES-AD performance was investigated. These results were compared to those obtained from control operations, in which the sludge was not pretreated or MES integration was absent. The soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in the raw sewage sludge after pretreatment was 31% higher than the SCOD in untreated sludge (5804.85 mg/L vs. 4441.46 mg/mL). The methane yield and proportion of methane in biogas generated by the MES-AD were higher than those of the control systems, regardless of the pretreatment process. The maximum methane yield (0.28 L CH₄/g COD) and methane production (1139 mL) were obtained with the MES inoculated with pretreated sewage sludge. Methane yield and production with this system using pretreated sewage were 47% and 56% higher, respectively, than those of the control (0.19 L CH₄/g COD, 730 mL). Additionally, the maximum SCOD removal (89%) and current generation were obtained with the MES inoculated with a pretreated substrate. These results suggested that sewage sludge could be efficiently stabilized with enhanced methane production by synergistic combination of MES-AD system with pretreatment process.