Verschleißbeständige Fe‐Basislegierungen mit Niobkarbid

Wear Resistant Fe‐Base Alloys with Niobium Carbide Martensitic Fe‐base alloys from the system Fe‐Cr‐C are widely used as chilled cast irons and tool steels. Because of the low hardness of their FeCr‐carbides this paper reports about new alloys with primarily solidified harder niobium carbides. It focuses on a secondary hardenable welding alloy, a coating material for composite castings, a chilled casting and a corrosion resistant cold work tool steel, which are investigated with respect to their process related microstructure and abrasive wear behaviour.     

Kinetics of Reaction between Iron Ore Fines and Coal or Char Fines

Iron ore fines and coal fines can be made to react to produce direct reduced iron (DRI) fines. There are three ways to achieve the reactions, namely, (a) using homogeneous mixtures, (b) arranging the ore and coal fines in separate but adjacent layers and (c) by fluidizing a mixture of iron ore fines and coal fines by air. This paper mainly discusses the work done by the author and his coworkers on the kinetic aspects of reactions in such systems.     

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of niobium processed by equal channel angular extrusion up to 24 passes

We have systematically investigated the microstructural evolution of niobium (Nb) subjected to severe plastic deformation via equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) up to 24 passes. The starting Nb billet material consists of a centimeter-scale grain size with a columnar structure. We have found that the grain size reduction of the Nb is almost saturated at ∼300 nm after eight passes of ECAE. However, the population of high-angle grain boundaries continues to increase with further ECAE, and no saturation appears to have been reached at 24 passes. We have evaluated the mechanical properties of the samples with different number of ECAE passes over a wide range of strain rates, from quasi-static to high strain rates. We have used strain-rate jump tests to examine the strain-rate sensitivity (SRS) of the processed samples and found that the SRS of the ECAE-processed Nb is ∼0.012, which is a factor of three smaller than that of the coarse-grained counterpart. The activation volume derived for plastic deformation indicates that the double-kink formation of screw dislocations is still the predominant deformation mechanism in the ECAE-processed Nb. Quasi-static true stress-strain curves exhibit elastic-nearly perfectly plastic behavior. The quasi-static yield strength is also nearly saturated after eight passes of ECAE. High-strain-rate compressive true stress-strain curves show uniform flow softening. However, the dynamic peak stress keeps rising with an increased number of ECAE passes, suggesting a strong grain boundary contribution to dynamic strengthening. Scanning electron microscopy of post-loaded surfaces displays a morphology of diffuse shear bands accompanying highly compressed grains. In our report, we demonstrate that grain boundaries of severely deformed metals play different roles at low, quasi-static vs. high-strain rates of mechanical loading. The difference is primarily determined by the strength of grain boundaries acting as dislocation barriers at different loading rates. This discovery is significant for the understanding of the effect of the microstructure as a function of the applied loading rate.     

Dehydrogenation kinetics and modeling studies of MgH2 enhanced by NbF5 catalyst using constant pressure thermodynamic forces

In this research, the effect of NbF₅ as an additive on the hydrogen desorption kinetics of MgH₂ was investigated and compared to TiH₂, Mg₂Ni and Nb₂O₅ catalysts. The kinetics measurements were done using a method in which the ratio of the equilibrium plateau pressure to the opposing pressure was the same for all the reactions. The data showed NbF₅ to be vastly superior to the other catalysts for improving the desorption kinetics of MgH₂. The rates of desorption were found to be in the order NbF₅ ? Nb₂O₅ > Mg₂Ni > TiH₂ > Pure MgH₂. Kinetic modeling measurements showed that chemical reaction at the phase boundary to be the likely process controlling the reaction rates. TPD analyses showed the mixture with NbF₅ has the lowest desorption temperature although it was accompanied with some weight penalty.     

A novel approach for recovery of rare earths and niobium from Bayan Obo tailings

It is difficult to economically recover rare earths (RE) and niobium (Nb) from Bayan Obo tailings by the existing metallurgical processes. In this study, a novel hydrometallurgy process was employed for separating and recovering RE and Nb from Bayan Obo tailings. Firstly, by sulfating roasting at 250 °C and subsequent leaching at 60 °C, the RE and Nb present in the polymetallic minerals can be efficiently extracted into the leach solution. Secondly, after the reduction of Ti⁴⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions (to Ti³⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions) with iron powders followed by hydrolysis at pH 2.01, the Nb can be efficiently precipitated from the leach solution. The impurities present in the precipitated product can then be removed by treating with NH₃⋅H₂O–H₂C₂O₄ system at pH 4.50. Thirdly, the RE can be efficiently precipitated at pH 7.15 from the filtrate of above hydrolysis reaction mixture. Finally, the impurities present in the crude RE can be removed by oxalate co-precipitation method. The yield of RE and Nb in this novel process reaches up to 90% and 78%, respectively. Both the Nb (60.67 wt% Nb₂O₅) and RE products (>88.65 wt% RE_xO_y) have high application value.     

First principle study of Nb defects in anatase (101) TiO2 surface

In this work, effects of Niobium (Nb) defects on TiO₂ surface using density functional theory (DFT) are investigated. Based on formation energy of the defects, their occurrences in two different extreme conditions, O-rich and O-poor conditions, are evaluated. Effects of Nb defects on surface and its electronic structure are studied and it is demonstrated that Nb doping widens valence band in deep energy level leaving the band gap without any change and it also lowers oxygen vacancy defect concentration due to the stronger bonding of Nb_sub defect with oxygen atoms specially bridging oxygen (most probable defect site for Oxygen vacancy). Higher density of Nb substitutional defects (Nb_sub) are examined and it is shown that higher density doping of TiO₂ surface leads to uniform distribution of defects over the anatase structure as a result of interaction of Nb defects when they are close and this fact prevents segregation of Nb atoms in Nb-doped TiO₂.     

Effect of synthesis parameters on structural and thermal properties of NbC/C nano composite synthesized via in-situ carburization reduction route at low temperature

Core-shell NbC/C nano composite has been synthesized by reacting niobium pentaoxide (Nb₂O₅) with metallic magnesium and acetone (C₃H₆O). The ensued powder samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry/thermal gravimetric analysis (DSC/TGA), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The synthesis temperature, holding time and heating rate has been optimized to facilitate the in-situ reduction-carburization of Nb₂O₅. The broadening of XRD diffraction peaks corresponding to NbC is analyzed using Williamson-Hall (W-H) analysis by calculating various parameters such as strain, stress, strain energy density for all the samples. The mean particle size of nano NbC is estimated by Scherrer's criterion which is highly correlated with W-H analysis in less stressed system. The electron microscopy analysis showed that particles have a partial faceted morphology along with carbon layer and having wide particle size distribution. BET analysis depicted large surface area having a combination of micropores and mesopores. All the results of various characterizations have been used to predict the mechanism of formation of core-shell NbC/C nano composite.     

核级UO_2及U_3O_8中铌的萃淋树脂分离－催化极谱法测定

样品溶液经ＣＬ－５２０９萃淋树脂在２ｍｏｌ／Ｌ硝酸介质中分离铀后，用催化极谱法测定铌。铌在０．８％Ｈ２ＳＯ４－０．０５ｍｏｌ／Ｌ酒石酸－２％ＫＳＣＮ－０．０８％抗坏血酸－０．０００４％聚乙烯醇底液中，于－１．３Ｖ处呈现络合催化氢波（ｖｓ．ＳＣＥ）可用二次导数测定。铌峰电流与浓度（０．００５～０．０３μｇ／ｍＬ）有线性关系。称样０．１ｇ时，铌的测定下限为０．５μｇ／ｇＵ、６次测定相对标准偏差＜１５％，加入回收率为９１％～１１９％。     

Ammonium complex of niobium as a precursor for the preparation of Nb2O5/Al2O3 catalysts

Ammonium oxalate complex of niobium was investigated as an aqueous precursor for the preparation of x% Nb₂O₅/Al₂O₃ (x=5, 10, 20 and 30 wt.%) samples. Catalysts with the same Nb₂O₅ contents were also prepared from the traditional niobium oxalate/oxalic acid aqueous solution. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), infrared spectroscopy of chemisorbed pyridine and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A comparison with the preparation method using the niobium oxalate salt was performed. The results showed that the niobium precursor influence the species growing leading to phases with different reducibility. The XPS revealed the presence of multilayers of niobium oxide on the Nb₂O₅/Al₂O₃ samples prepared by using niobium ammonium oxalate complex, while the ones obtained from niobium oxalate led to Nb₂O₅ particles islands. The addition of niobium oxide decreased the fraction of Lewis acid sites and increased the fraction of Brønsted acid sites, independent of the precursor salt. However, the creation of BAS was more pronounced on the Nb₂O₅/Al₂O₃ samples prepared from niobium oxalate.     

Niobium Extraction from Baotou Iron Ore Containing Niobium

The experimental results of niobium enrichment in laboratory and in blast furnace in Baotou Iron andSteel Corporation were reported.The effects of temperature,constituents of slag and silicon content in hotmetal on niobium recovery were studied and the results have been verified by blast furnace operation.Opticaland electronic microscopy and EPMA was observed that at the metal-slag interface there is NbC deposit layerobstructed Nb entering into the metal,By raising the temperature of hearth and agitating the bath,the reduc-tion of niobium oxide in slag could be speeded up,the solubility of Nb in hot metal could increase and thedeposited NbC layer became thinner and even disappeared,in result,Nb recovery was increased.A compre-hensive extraction process combining ore dressing with pyro-hydro-metallurgy was suggested for Baotouniobium resource which was difficult to be concentrated formerly.The methods of increasing niobium recoverywere also suggested.