[Evolution of technology and occupational exposures in petrochemical industry and in petroleum refining].

PubMed

Cottica, Danilo; Grignani, Elena

2013-01-01

The industry of oil refining and petrochemical play an important role in terms of number of employees in the Italian production. Often the terms "petroleum refining" and "petrochemical" are used interchangeably to define processes that occur in complex plants, which grow outdoors on large surfaces and a visual impact is not irrelevant. In reality, the two areas involve potential exposure to different chemical agents, related to raw materials processed and the specific products. The petrochemical uses as raw materials, the oil fractions, obtained by distillation in the refinery, or natural gas; petrochemical products are, usually, single compounds with a specific degree of purity, used as basic raw materials for the entire industry of organic chemistry, from the production of plastics to pharmaceuticals. The oil refining, that is the topic of this paper, processes mainly oil to obtain mixtures of hydrocarbon compounds, the products of which are specified on the basis of aptitude for use. For example gasolines, are obtained by mixing of fractions of the first distillation, reforming products, antiknock. The paper illustrates, necessarily broadly due to the complexity of the productive sectors, the technological and organizational changes that have led to a significant reduction of occupational exposure to chemical agents, the results of environmental monitoring carried out in some refineries both during routine conditions that during scheduled maintenance activities with plant shutdown and a store of petroleum products. The chemical agents measured are typical for presence, physico-chemical properties and toxicological characteristics of the manufacturing processes of petroleum products like benzene, toluene, xylenes, ethyl benzene, n-hexane, Volatile Hydrocarbons belonging to gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel. Data related to both personal sampling and fixed positions.

Assessment of the radiological impact of oil refining industry.

PubMed

Bakr, W F

2010-03-01

The field of radiation protection and corresponding national and international regulations has evolved to ensure safety in the use of radioactive materials. Oil and gas production processing operations have been known to cause naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) to accumulate at elevated concentrations as by-product waste streams. A comprehensive radiological study on the oil refining industry in Egypt was carried out to assess the radiological impact of this industry on the workers. Scales, sludge, water and crude oil samples were collected at each stage of the refining process. The activity concentration of (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K were determined using high-resolution gamma spectrometry. The average activity concentrations of the determined isotopes are lower than the IAEA exempt activity levels for NORM isotopes. Different exposure scenarios were studied. The average annual effective dose for workers due to direct exposure to gamma radiation and dust inhalation found to be 0.6 microSv and 3.2 mSv, respectively. Based on the ALARA principle, the results indicate that special care must be taken during cleaning operations in order to reduce the personnel's exposure due to maintenance as well as to avoid contamination of the environment. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Industry and Education: A Winning Combination.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Payne, John H.; Williams-Foster, Cathy

1997-01-01

Describes how the petrochemical employers of Texas City, Texas developed a fully accredited two-year associate degree program at the local community college tailored to train process operators for entry into the refining and chemical industry. Discusses planning; scholarship funds; vendor and community support; student population; outcomes of the…

Testing of Cerex Open Path Ultraviolet Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy Systems for Fenceline Monitoring Applications

EPA Science Inventory

Industrial facilities, energy production, and refining operations can be significant sources of gas-phase air pollutants. Some industrial emissions originate from fugitive sources (leaks) or process malfunctions and can be mitigated if identified. In recent amendments to the Nati...

Emission inventory of primary air pollutants in 2010 from industrial processes in Turkey.

PubMed

Alyuz, Ummugulsum; Alp, Kadir

2014-08-01

The broad objective of this study was to develop CO2, PM, SOx, CO, NOx, VOC, NH3 and N2O emission inventory of organic and inorganic chemicals, mineral products, metallurgical, petroleum refining, wood products, food industries of Turkey for 2010 for both co]ntrolled and uncontrolled conditions. In this study, industries were investigated in 7 main categories and 53 sub-sectors and a representative number of pollutants per sub-sector were considered. Each industry was evaluated in terms of emitted emissions only from industrial processes, and fuel combustion activities were excluded (except cement industry). The study employed an approach designed in four stages; identification of key categories; activity data & emission factor search; emission factor analyzing; calculation of emissions. Emission factor analyzing required aggregate and firm analysis of sectors and sub-sectors and deeper insights into underlying specific production methods used in the industry to decide on the most representative emission factor. Industry specific abatement technologies were considered by using open-source documents and industry specific reports. Regarding results of this study, mineral industry and iron & steel industry were determined as important contributors of industrial emissions in Turkey in 2010. Respectively, organic chemicals, petroleum refining, and pulp & paper industries had serious contributions to Turkey's air pollutant emission inventory from industrial processes. The results showed that calculated CO2 emissions for year 2010 was 55,124,263 t, also other emissions were 48,853 t PM, 24,533 t SOx, 79,943 t NOx, 31,908 t VOC, 454 t NH3 and 2264 t N2O under controlled conditions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolution of Oxide Inclusions in Si-Mn Killed Steels During Hot-Rolling Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wen; Guo, Changbo; Zhang, Lifeng; Ling, Haitao; Li, Chao

2017-10-01

The evolution of oxide inclusions in Si-Mn killed steels refined by slags of different basicity during a four-pass industrial hot-rolling process was investigated using an automated microscopy system. High-basicity refining slag induced the formation of CaO- and Al2O3-containing inclusions, while refining slag with 0.8 basicity induced dominant inclusions of SiO2 and MnO-SiO2. CaO-SiO2-Al2O3 inclusions mainly formed endogenously during solidification and cooling of Ca-containing steels, where Ca originated from slag-steel reactions. However, the larger-sized higher-CaO inclusions originated from slag entrainment. Different inclusions presented different hot-rolling behaviors. The inclusion composition changed by deformation and new phase formation. The dominant oxide types were unchanged under refinement by low-basicity slag; however, they changed under refinement with high-basicity slag. The deformation index of inclusions decreased with increasing accumulated reduction (AR) of the steel. The difference in deformation index between different inclusion types was the largest in the first rolling stage and decreased in subsequent stages. SiO2-CaO and SiO2-MnO-CaO inclusions had larger deformation indices during hot rolling but smaller indices in the last two stages. High-basicity slag increased inclusion complexity; from the perspective of cold-drawing performance, low-basicity refining slag is better for the industrial production of tire-cord steels.

Processing and refinement of steel microstructure images for assisting in computerized heat treatment of plain carbon steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Shubhank; Panda, Aditi; Naskar, Ruchira; Mishra, Dinesh Kumar; Pal, Snehanshu

2017-11-01

Steels are alloys of iron and carbon, widely used in construction and other applications. The evolution of steel microstructure through various heat treatment processes is an important factor in controlling properties and performance of steel. Extensive experimentations have been performed to enhance the properties of steel by customizing heat treatment processes. However, experimental analyses are always associated with high resource requirements in terms of cost and time. As an alternative solution, we propose an image processing-based technique for refinement of raw plain carbon steel microstructure images, into a digital form, usable in experiments related to heat treatment processes of steel in diverse applications. The proposed work follows the conventional steps practiced by materials engineers in manual refinement of steel images; and it appropriately utilizes basic image processing techniques (including filtering, segmentation, opening, and clustering) to automate the whole process. The proposed refinement of steel microstructure images is aimed to enable computer-aided simulations of heat treatment of plain carbon steel, in a timely and cost-efficient manner; hence it is beneficial for the materials and metallurgy industry. Our experimental results prove the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed technique.

Aspects of Western Refining, Inc.'s Proposed Acquisition of Giant Industries, Inc.

EIA Publications

2006-01-01

Presentation of company-level, non-proprietary data and relevant aggregate data for U.S. refinery capacity and gasoline marketing of Western Refining and Giant Industries to inform discussions of Western Refining Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Giant Industries Inc. for a total of $1.5 billion, which was announced August 28, 2006.

76 FR 55111 - United States v. General Electric Co., et al.; Proposed Final Judgment and Competitive Impact...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-06

... areas in the energy industry, including coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy, as well as in... higher power ratings. 12. In processing and refining crude oil into petroleum products, oil refineries... energy industry, including coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy, as well as in renewable resources...

Element Distribution in Silicon Refining: Thermodynamic Model and Industrial Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Næss, Mari K.; Kero, Ida; Tranell, Gabriella; Tang, Kai; Tveit, Halvard

2014-11-01

To establish an overview of impurity elemental distribution among silicon, slag, and gas/fume in the refining process of metallurgical grade silicon (MG-Si), an industrial measurement campaign was performed at the Elkem Salten MG-Si plant in Norway. Samples of in- and outgoing mass streams, i.e., tapped Si, flux and cooling materials, refined Si, slag, and fume, were analyzed by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS), with respect to 62 elements. The elemental distributions were calculated and the experimental data compared with equilibrium estimations based on commercial and proprietary, published databases and carried out using the ChemSheet software. The results are discussed in terms of boiling temperatures, vapor pressures, redox potentials, and activities of the elements. These model calculations indicate a need for expanded databases with more and reliable thermodynamic data for trace elements in general and fume constituents in particular.

New Insights on Degumming and Bleaching Process Parameters on The Formation of 3-Monochloropropane-1,2-Diol Esters and Glycidyl Esters in Refined, Bleached, Deodorized Palm Oil.

PubMed

Sim, Biow Ing; Muhamad, Halimah; Lai, Oi Ming; Abas, Faridah; Yeoh, Chee Beng; Nehdi, Imededdine Arbi; Khor, Yih Phing; Tan, Chin Ping

2018-04-01

This paper examines the interactions of degumming and bleaching processes as well as their influences on the formation of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters in refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil by using D-optimal design. Water degumming effectively reduced the 3-MCPDE content up to 50%. Acid activated bleaching earth had a greater effect on 3-MCPDE reduction compared to natural bleaching earth and acid activated bleaching earth with neutral pH, indicating that performance and adsorption capacities of bleaching earth are the predominant factors in the removal of esters, rather than its acidity profile. The combination of high dosage phosphoric acid during degumming with the use of acid activated bleaching earth eliminated almost all glycidyl esters during refining. Besides, the effects of crude palm oil quality was assessed and it was found that the quality of crude palm oil determines the level of formation of 3-MCPDE and glycidyl esters in palm oil during the high temperature deodorization step of physical refining process. Poor quality crude palm oil has strong impact towards 3-MCPDE and glycidyl esters formation due to the intrinsic components present within. The findings are useful to palm oil refining industry in choosing raw materials as an input during the refining process.

Prospects for the U.S. energy and refining industries: Markets, profitability and key drivers for change

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burke, B.F.

The US refining industry has experienced an extended period of change covering the past 20 years. Growing regulatory requirements, combined with shifting market characteristics, have resulted in massive investments and significant and ongoing structural change. Despite excellent capacity utilization, recent profitability has been poor. Industry psychology can be described as depressed, with honest concern about the long-term attractiveness of domestic refining as an area for continued participation and investment. This paper provides an overview of how the industry arrived at these levels of poor profitability, examines the current situation and future drivers, and presents Chem Systems` views on the outlookmore » for domestic refining.« less

Construction and Application of a Refined Hospital Management Chain.

PubMed

Lihua, Yi

2016-01-01

Large scale development was quite common in the later period of hospital industrialization in China. Today, Chinese hospital management faces such problems as service inefficiency, high human resources cost, and low rate of capital use. This study analyzes the refined management chain of Wuxi No.2 People's Hospital. This consists of six gears namely, "organizational structure, clinical practice, outpatient service, medical technology, and nursing care and logistics." The gears are based on "flat management system targets, chief of medical staff, centralized outpatient service, intensified medical examinations, vertical nursing management and socialized logistics." The core concepts of refined hospital management are optimizing flow process, reducing waste, improving efficiency, saving costs, and taking good care of patients as most important. Keywords: Hospital, Refined, Management chain

A historical review of additives and modifiers used in paving asphalt refining processes in the United States.

PubMed

Mundt, Diane J; Adams, Robert C; Marano, Kristin M

2009-11-01

The U.S. asphalt paving industry has evolved over time to meet various performance specifications for liquid petroleum asphalt binder (known as bitumen outside the United States). Additives to liquid petroleum asphalt produced in the refinery may affect exposures to workers in the hot mix paving industry. This investigation documented the changes in the composition and distribution of the liquid petroleum asphalt products produced from petroleum refining in the United States since World War II. This assessment was accomplished by reviewing documents and interviewing individual experts in the industry to identify current and historical practices. Individuals from 18 facilities were surveyed; the number of facilities reporting use of any material within a particular class ranged from none to more than half the respondents. Materials such as products of the process stream, polymers, elastomers, and anti-strip compounds have been added to liquid petroleum asphalt in the United States over the past 50 years, but modification has not been generally consistent by geography or time. Modifications made to liquid petroleum asphalt were made generally to improve performance and were dictated by state specifications.

Activities of the Institute of Chemical Processing of Coal at Zabrze

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dreszer, K.

1995-12-31

The Institute of Chemical Processing of Coal at Zabrze was established in 1955. The works on carbochemical technologies have been, therefore, carried out at the Institute for 40 years. The targets of the Institute`s activities are research, scientific and developing works regarding a sensible utilization of fuels via their processing into more refined forms, safe environment, highly efficient use of energy carriers and technological products of special quality. The Institute of Chemical Processing of Coal has been dealing with the following: optimized use of home hard coals; improvement of classic coal coking technologies, processing and utilization of volatile coking products;more » production technologies of low emission rate fuels for communal management; analyses of coal processing technologies; new technologies aimed at increasing the efficiency of coal utilization for energy-generating purposes, especially in industry and studies on the ecological aspects of these processes; production technologies of sorbents and carbon activating agents and technologies of the utilization; rationalization of water and wastes management in the metallurgical and chemical industries in connection with removal of pollution especially dangerous to the environment from wastes; utilization technologies of refined materials (electrode cokes, binders, impregnating agents) for making electrodes, refractories and new generation construction carbon materials; production technologies of high quality bituminous and bituminous and resin coating, anti-corrosive and insulation materials; environmentally friendly utilization technologies for power station, mine and other wastes, and dedusting processes in industrial gas streams.« less

Numerical analysis of impurity separation from waste salt by investigating the change of concentration at the interface during zone refining process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Ho-Gil; Shim, Moonsoo; Lee, Jong-Hyeon; Yi, Kyung-Woo

2017-09-01

The waste salt treatment process is required for the reuse of purified salts, and for the disposal of the fission products contained in waste salt during pyroprocessing. As an alternative to existing fission product separation methods, the horizontal zone refining process is used in this study for the purification of waste salt. In order to evaluate the purification ability of the process, three-dimensional simulation is conducted, considering heat transfer, melt flow, and mass transfer. Impurity distributions and decontamination factors are calculated as a function of the heater traverse rate, by applying a subroutine and the equilibrium segregation coefficient derived from the effective segregation coefficients. For multipass cases, 1d solutions and the effective segregation coefficient obtained from three-dimensional simulation are used. In the present study, the topic is not dealing with crystal growth, but the numerical technique used is nearly the same since the zone refining technique was just introduced in the treatment of waste salt from nuclear power industry because of its merit of simplicity and refining ability. So this study can show a new application of single crystal growth techniques to other fields, by taking advantage of the zone refining multipass possibility. The final goal is to achieve the same high degree of decontamination in the waste salt as in zone freezing (or reverse Bridgman) method.

Solar industrial process heat: A study of applications and attitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, V.

1981-04-01

Data were gathered through site visits to 100 industrial plants. The site specific data suggests several possible near term market opportunities for solar thermal energy systems. Plants using electricity as their primary fuel for industrial process heat were identified, on the basis of their high fuel prices, as attractive early entry markets for solar energy. Additional opportunities were reflected in plants that had accomplished much of their conservation plans, or bad sizeable percentages of their operating budgets committed to energy expenses. A suitability analysis identified eleven industrial plants as highly suitable for solar thermal applications, they included producers of fluid milk, pottery, canned and bottled soft drinks, fabricated structural metal, refined petroleum, aluminum cans, chrome and nickel plating and stamped frame metal and metal finishings.

γ-Oryzanol and tocopherol contents in residues of rice bran oil refining.

PubMed

Pestana-Bauer, Vanessa Ribeiro; Zambiazi, Rui C; Mendonça, Carla R B; Beneito-Cambra, Miriam; Ramis-Ramos, Guillermo

2012-10-01

Rice bran oil (RBO) contains significant amounts of the natural antioxidants γ-oryzanol and tocopherols, which are lost to a large degree during oil refining. This results in a number of industrial residues with high contents of these phytochemicals. With the aim of supporting the development of profitable industrial procedures for γ-oryzanol and tocopherol recovery, the contents of these phytochemicals in all the residues produced during RBO refining were evaluated. The samples included residues from the degumming, soap precipitation, bleaching earth filtering, dewaxing and deodorisation distillation steps. The highest phytochemical concentrations were found in the precipitated soap for γ-oryzanol (14.2 mg g(-1), representing 95.3% of total γ-oryzanol in crude RBO), and in the deodorisation distillate for tocopherols (576 mg 100 g(-1), representing 6.7% of total tocopherols in crude RBO). Therefore, among the residues of RBO processing, the deodorisation distillate was the best source of tocopherols. As the soap is further processed for the recovery of fatty acids, samples taken from every step of this secondary process, including hydrosoluble fraction, hydrolysed soap, distillation residue and purified fatty acid fraction, were also analyzed. The distillation residue left after fatty acid recovery from soap was found to be the best source of γ-oryzanol (43.1 mg g(-1), representing 11.5% of total γ-oryzanol in crude RBO). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sugar concentration in nectar: a quantitative metric of crop attractiveness for refined pollinator risk assessments.

PubMed

Knopper, Loren D; Dan, Tereza; Reisig, Dominic D; Johnson, Josephine D; Bowers, Lisa M

2016-10-01

Those involved with pollinator risk assessment know that agricultural crops vary in attractiveness to bees. Intuitively, this means that exposure to agricultural pesticides is likely greatest for attractive plants and lowest for unattractive plants. While crop attractiveness in the risk assessment process has been qualitatively remarked on by some authorities, absent is direction on how to refine the process with quantitative metrics of attractiveness. At a high level, attractiveness of crops to bees appears to depend on several key variables, including but not limited to: floral, olfactory, visual and tactile cues; seasonal availability; physical and behavioral characteristics of the bee; plant and nectar rewards. Notwithstanding the complexities and interactions among these variables, sugar content in nectar stands out as a suitable quantitative metric by which to refine pollinator risk assessments for attractiveness. Provided herein is a proposed way to use sugar nectar concentration to adjust the exposure parameter (with what is called a crop attractiveness factor) in the calculation of risk quotients in order to derive crop-specific tier I assessments. This Perspective is meant to invite discussion on incorporating such changes in the risk assessment process. © 2016 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Estimation of CO2-Equivalent Emission under the Copper Fire Refining Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chesnokov, Yu N.; Lisienko, V. G.; Holod, S. I.; Anufriev, V. P.; Lapteva, A. V.

2017-06-01

Non-ferrous metallurgy is one of the most energy-consuming and carbon-emissive sectors of industry. This is due to the fact that the volume of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is stipulated by energy consumption. Uralelectromed is a city-forming enterprise of the Verkhnyaya Pyshma. The situation is similar other cities of the old industrial regions of the Russian Federation (Krasnouralsk, Verkhnaya Salda, Karabash, etc.) Verkhnyaya Pyshma has many characteristics of “a clever city”. It can be compared to Hamburg where blister copper is being produced at the center of the city at a copper smelting plant Aurubis. Following the example of such ecologically clean country as Germany and in order to assess how modern energy-efficient low-carbon technologies can provide a favorable habitat, and an acceptable level of carbon footprint, the authors estimated the level of greenhouse gas, i.e., carbon dioxide emission produced by the Uralelectromed. The emission of greenhouse gas -carbon dioxide in the process of fire refining of blister copper has been calculated. The anode melting process consists of several stages where the most important ones are melting of charge, oxidation, and copper melt reduction. Calculations are based on taking into account the mass of burnt carbon of natural gas and the thermal dissociation of fuel oil. It implies that a complete combustion of carbon takes place. The specific value of carbon dioxide emission of the copper refining process is averaged 181 kg CO2 per 1 ton of anode copper.

Upgrading and Refining of Crude Oils and Petroleum Products by Ionizing Irradiation.

PubMed

Zaikin, Yuriy A; Zaikina, Raissa F

2016-06-01

A general trend in the oil industry is a decrease in the proven reserves of light crude oils so that any increase in future oil exploration is associated with high-viscous sulfuric oils and bitumen. Although the world reserves of heavy oil are much greater than those of sweet light oils, their exploration at present is less than 12 % of the total oil recovery. One of the main constraints is very high expenses for the existing technologies of heavy oil recovery, upgrading, transportation, and refining. Heavy oil processing by conventional methods is difficult and requires high power inputs and capital investments. Effective and economic processing of high viscous oil and oil residues needs not only improvements of the existing methods, such as thermal, catalytic and hydro-cracking, but the development of new technological approaches for upgrading and refining of any type of problem oil feedstock. One of the perspective approaches to this problem is the application of ionizing irradiation for high-viscous oil processing. Radiation methods for upgrading and refining high-viscous crude oils and petroleum products in a wide temperature range, oil desulfurization, radiation technology for refining used oil products, and a perspective method for gasoline radiation isomerization are discussed in this paper. The advantages of radiation technology are simple configuration of radiation facilities, low capital and operational costs, processing at lowered temperatures and nearly atmospheric pressure without the use of any catalysts, high production rates, relatively low energy consumption, and flexibility to the type of oil feedstock.

Bridging the Gap Between Validation and Implementation of Non-Animal Veterinary Vaccine Potency Testing Methods.

PubMed

Dozier, Samantha; Brown, Jeffrey; Currie, Alistair

2011-11-29

In recent years, technologically advanced high-throughput techniques have been developed that replace, reduce or refine animal use in vaccine quality control tests. Following validation, these tests are slowly being accepted for use by international regulatory authorities. Because regulatory acceptance itself has not guaranteed that approved humane methods are adopted by manufacturers, various organizations have sought to foster the preferential use of validated non-animal methods by interfacing with industry and regulatory authorities. After noticing this gap between regulation and uptake by industry, we began developing a paradigm that seeks to narrow the gap and quicken implementation of new replacement, refinement or reduction guidance. A systematic analysis of our experience in promoting the transparent implementation of validated non-animal vaccine potency assays has led to the refinement of our paradigmatic process, presented here, by which interested parties can assess the local regulatory acceptance of methods that reduce animal use and integrate them into quality control testing protocols, or ensure the elimination of peripheral barriers to their use, particularly for potency and other tests carried out on production batches.

Comprehensive Data Collected from the Petroleum Refining Sector

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

On April 1, 2011 EPA sent a comprehensive industry-wide information collection request (ICR) to all facilities in the U.S. petroleum refining industry. EPA has received this ICR data and compiled these data into databases and spreadsheets for the web

Lifeline in Danger. An Assessment of the United States Defense Industrial Base

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

reserves. In- furizing catalyst in crude oil refining, and (4) as a creasing U.S. production of vanadium would be 35 Petroleum and Fossil Fuels CHART 16...industry. Technical manpower. 4. Raw Materials 31 U.S. dependency in minerals and fuels . Excesses and shortages in the stockpile. 5. Key Segments of...power. rating. Instability in funding and in the defense The decline in manufacturing and technol- acquisition process undercut capital investment ogy

Energy conservation: Industry. Citations from the NITS data base

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hundemann, A. S.

1980-07-01

The 335 citations, 37 of which are new entries, discuss potential methods of conserving energy. Many abstracts deal with reports that also cover processes used, amount of energy consumed, and environmental considerations of energy conserving options. Industries covered include food, paper, chemical, cement, metals, petroleum refining, contract construction, synthetic rubber, plastics, drug manufacturing, and stone, clay, and glass. Energy conservation through the use of waste heat is covered in a related Published Search entitled Waste Heat Utilization.

Industrial hygiene walk-through survey report of E. I. Dupont de Nemours and Company, Inc. , Chocolate Bayou Plant, Alvin, Texas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fajen, J.M.

1985-05-01

A walkthrough survey of EI duPont deNemours and Company, Incorporated, Alvin, Texas was conducted in November, 1984. The purpose of the survey was to obtain information on the 1,3-butadiene monomer manufacturing process and the potential for exposure. The facility manufactured a crude product stream containing 1,3-butadiene as a coproduct of its ethylene process. The crude was refined to a 99.5% 1,3-butadiene product. The refining process occurred in a closed system, tightly maintained for economic, fire, and health-hazard reasons. The product was transferred by way of a pipeline to storage spheres for later transport off site. The facility used an open-loopmore » cylinder (bomb) technique for quality control sampling. All pumps were equipped with single mechanical seals, which were in the process of being replaced by tandem seals. Since 1962, the facility had experienced process changes and three changes of ownership. Because of these changes, records from previous owners of industrial hygiene monitoring were not available. Job titles identified as having potential exposure were processors, wage employee supervisors, production engineers, and laboratory technicians. The author concludes that a closed-loop manual quality-control sampling system should be installed to reduce exposure from this source.« less

Potential of powdered activated mustard cake for decolorising raw sugar.

PubMed

Singh, Kaman; Bharose, Ram; Verma, Sudhir Kumar; Singh, Vimalesh Kumar

2013-01-15

Carbon decolorisation has become customary in the food processing industries; however, it is not economical. Extensive research has therefore been directed towards investigating potential substitutes for commercial activated carbons which might have the advantage of offering an effective, lower-cost replacement for existing bone char or coal-based granular activated carbon (GAC). The physical (bulk density and hardness), chemical (pH and mineral content) and adsorption characteristics (iodine test, molasses test and raw sugar decolorisation efficiency) of powdered activated mustard cake (PAMC) made from de-oiled mustard cake were determined and compared to commercial adsorbents. Although the colour removal efficiency of the PAMC is lower than that of commercial materials, it is cost effective and eco-friendly compared to the existing decolorisation/refining processes. To reduce the load on GAC/activated carbon/charcoal, PAMC could be used on an industrial scale. A decolorisation mechanism has been postulated on the basis of oxygen surface functionalities and surface charge of the PAMC and, accordingly, charge transfer interaction seems to be responsible for the decolorisation mechanism. In addition, a complex interplay of electrostatics and dispersive interaction seem to be involved during the decolorisation process. A low-cost agricultural waste product in the form of de-oiled mustard cake was converted to an efficient adsorbent, PAMC, for use in decolorising raw as well as coloured sugar solutions. The physical, chemical, adsorption characteristics and raw sugar decolorisation efficiency of PAMC were determined and compared to those of commercial adsorbents. The colour removal efficiency of the PAMC is lower than that of commercial materials but it is cost effective and eco-friendly as compared to existing decolorisation/refining processes. The availability of the raw material for the production of PAMC further demands its use on an industrial scale. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

[Evaluation of treatment technology of odor pollution source in petrochemical industry].

PubMed

Mu, Gui-Qin; Sui, Li-Hua; Guo, Ya-Feng; Ma, Chuan-Jun; Yang, Wen-Yu; Gao, Yang

2013-12-01

Using an environmental technology assessment system, we put forward the evaluation index system for treatment technology of the typical odor pollution sources in the petroleum refining process, which has been applied in the assessment of the industrial technology. And then the best available techniques are selected for emissions of gas refinery sewage treatment plant, headspace gas of acidic water jars, headspace gas of cold coke jugs/intermediate oil tank/dirty oil tank, exhaust of oxidative sweetening, and vapors of loading and unloading oil.

Petroleum Technology: From Refinery To Home, Business, and Industry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shewell, John A.

1997-01-01

Discusses the application of petroleum technology and presents activities designed to raise students' awareness of the importance of petroleum-based products in their lives. Includes a handout designed to help students understand the refining processes in which the crude oil from the drill site is transformed into nearly 6,000 petroleum-based…

The refining of secondary lead for use in advanced lead-acid batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, Timothy W.; Mirza, Abbas H.

Secondary lead, i.e. material produced by the recycling of lead-acid batteries has become the primary source of lead in much of the world. This has been important to the secondary lead industry as other uses have dwindled, e.g. lead based pigments, chemicals, fuel additives, solders and CRT glasses [1]. Presently, battery manufacturing accounts for greater than 80% of lead consumption while recycled lead accounts for approximately the same market share of lead supply. These two facts strongly demonstrate the battery manufacturing and recycled lead are intimately coupled in everyday life. In this paper we will explore how recycled lead has become the material of choice for battery construction through the development of a recovery and refining process that exceeds the industries requirements. Particular focus will be on addressing the results presented by Prengaman [2] on the effects of contaminant or tramp elements on gassing in lead-acid batteries.

Production and characterization of refined oils obtained from Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps).

PubMed

Chakraborty, Kajal; Joseph, Deepu

2015-01-28

Crude Sardinella longiceps oil was refined in different stages such as degumming, neutralization, bleaching, and deodorization. The efficiency of these processes was evaluated on the basis of free fatty acid (FFA), peroxide (PV), p-anisidine (pAV), total oxidation (TOTOX), thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) values, Lovibond CIE-L*a*b* color analyses, and (1)H NMR or GC-MS experiments. The utilities of NMR-based proton signal characteristics as new analytical tools to understand the signature peaks and relative abundance of different fatty acids and monitoring the refining process of fish oil have been demonstrated. Phosphoric acid (1%) was found to be an effective degumming reagent to obtain oil with the lowest FFA, PV, pAV, TOTOX, and TBARS values and highest color reduction. Significant reduction in the contents of hydrocarbon functionalities as shown by the decrease in proton integral in the characteristic (1)H NMR region was demonstrated by using 1% H3PO4 during the course of the degumming process. A combination (1.25:3.75%) of activated charcoal and Fuller's earth at 3% concentration for a stirring time of 40 min was found to be effective in bleaching the sardine oil. This study demonstrated that unfavorable odor-causing components, particularly low molecular weight carbonyl compounds, could successfully be removed by the refining process. The alkane-dienals/alkanes, which cause unfavorable fishy odors, were successfully removed by distillation (100 °C) under vacuum with aqueous acetic acid solution (0.25 N) to obtain greater quality of refined sardine oil, a rich source of essential fatty acids and improved oxidative stability. The present study demonstrated that the four-stage refinement process of sardine oil resulted in a significant improvement in quality characteristics and nutritional values, particularly n-3 PUFAs, with improved fish oil characteristics for use in the pharmaceutical and functional food industries.

Direct Reduction of Waste through Refining of DOE Metal Assets - 13632

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hargett, Michael C.; Terekhov, Dimitri; Khozan, Kamran M.

2013-07-01

CVMR{sup R} presents a technology for refining nickel from the enrichment barrier materials of the DOE that is proven through 100 years of use by the metals industry. CVMR{sup R} applies modern controls, instrumentation for process and monitoring of the system, and innovative production methods to produce a wide spectrum of products that generate new technology applications and improvements to our society and economy. CVMR{sup R} will receive barrier materials as a secure operation and size reduce the metal to a shred that is fed to a carbonylation reactor where nickel is reacted with carbon monoxide and generate nickel carbonyl.more » The carbonyl will be filtered and decomposed with heat to form a variety of products that include high value nano powders, coated substrates, net shapes and pure nickel. The residue from the reactor will retain radionuclides from enrichment activities. The carbon monoxide will only react and extract nickel under the operating conditions to leave volumetric contamination in the unreacted residue. A demonstration plant was designed and built by CVMR{sup R} and operated by BWXT, to demonstrate the systems capabilities to DOE in 2006. A pilot plant operation precedes the detailed design of the nickel refinery and provides essential data for design, safe work practices, waste characterizations and system kinetics and confirms the project feasibility. CVMR{sup R} produces nickel products that are cleaner than the nickel in U.S. commerce and used by industry today. The CVMR{sup R} process and systems for nickel refining is well suited for DOE materials and will provide value through environmental stewardship, recovery of high value assets, and support of the DOE environmental remediation programs as the refined nickel generates additional long term benefits to local communities. (authors)« less

The First Seasat-A Industrial Users Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hicks, K. W.

1978-01-01

The purpose of this workshop was to begin the process of definition and development of the SEASAT-A Demonstration Program, leading to the implementation of a set of experiments which would begin during the latter part of 1978 following the launch of SEASAT-A (now scheduled for May 1978). NASA through the SEASAT-A program, has encouraged the planning of cooperative experiments by industry and government agencies that operate in areas of ocean activity that could benefit from improved measurements and forecasts of weather and ocean conditions. The objectives of these experiments are to: (1) evaluate the significance of SEASAT-A data to commercial user organizations; (2) assist in identifying those characteristics of follow-on systems that are important to industrial users; (3) obtain experimental evidence that could be used to refine estimates of the economic potential of an operational system; and (4) begin the technology transfer process to the industrial users.

Pollution prevention options to meet impending MACT standards: A compendium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berglund, R.L.; Pickron, J.S.

1997-12-31

Under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the EPA was charged with developing MACT standards for a large group of operations representing a variety of different industry categories. While pollution prevention opportunities for meeting the requirements of the HON standards for the synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry (SOCMI) and similar standards for the refining industry have drawn significant discussion and attention, little guidance for considering pollution prevention options for meeting other MACT standards have been provided. Yet, in working with companies to meet the requirements of proposed MACT standards for the shipbuilding, wood processing, plastics and gas processing industries,more » a number of pollution prevention opportunities for meeting these requirements were identified in early compliance strategies. This paper will provide a compendium of pollution prevention options for meeting these and other proposed and promulgated MACT standards.« less

Development of an industrial method to quantitatively measure carry-over amylase activity in raw and refined sugars

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In recent years, there has been increased concern over carry-over activity of mostly high temperature (HT) and very high temperature (VHT) stable amylases in white, refined sugars from refineries to various food manufacturing industries and other end-users. HT and VHT stable amylases were developed...

Tracing source pollution in soils using cadmium and lead isotopes.

PubMed

Cloquet, C; Carignan, J; Libourel, G; Sterckeman, T; Perdrix, E

2006-04-15

Tracing the source of heavy metals in the environment is of key importance for our understanding of their pollution and natural cycles in the surface Earth reservoirs. Up to now, most exclusively Pb isotopes were used to effectively trace metal pollution sources in the environment. Here we report systematic variations of Cd isotope ratios measured in polluted topsoils surrounding a Pb-Zn refinery plant in northern France. Fractionated Cd was measured in soil samples surrounding the refinery, and this fractionation can be attributed to the refining processes. Despite the Cd isotopic ratios being precisely measured, the obtained uncertainties are still large compared to the total isotopic variation. Nevertheless, for the first time, Cd isotopically fractionated by industrial processes may be traced in the environment. On the same samples, Pb isotope systematics suggested that materials actually used by the refinery were not the major source of Pb in soils, probably because refined ore origins changed over the 100 years of operation. On the other hand, Cd isotopes and concentrations measured in topsoils allowed identification of three main origins (industrial dust and slag and agriculture), assuming that all Cd ores are not fractionated, as suggested by terrestrial rocks so far analyzed, and calculation of their relative contributions for each sampling point. Understanding that this refinery context was an ideal situation for such a study, our results lead to the possibility of tracing sources of anthropogenic Cd and better constrain mixing processes, fluxes, transport, and phasing out of industrial input in nature.

77 FR 11390 - Delegation of National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Source Categories; Nevada

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-27

... Tanks. O Ethylene Oxide X X X Sterilization Facilities. Q Industrial Process Cooling X X Towers. R... Organic-Water Separators. WW Storage Vessels (Tanks)-- X X Control Level 2. XX Ethylene Manufacturing X X... Refractory Products X X Manufacturing. TTTTT Primary Magnesium Refining. X WWWWW Hospital Ethylene Oxide X X...

Processing maize flour and corn meal food products

PubMed Central

Gwirtz, Jeffrey A; Garcia-Casal, Maria Nieves

2014-01-01

Corn is the cereal with the highest production worldwide and is used for human consumption, livestock feed, and fuel. Various food technologies are currently used for processing industrially produced maize flours and corn meals in different parts of the world to obtain precooked refined maize flour, dehydrated nixtamalized flour, fermented maize flours, and other maize products. These products have different intrinsic vitamin and mineral contents, and their processing follows different pathways from raw grain to the consumer final product, which entail changes in nutrient composition. Dry maize mechanical processing creates whole or fractionated products, separated by anatomical features such as bran, germ, and endosperm. Wet maize processing separates by chemical compound classification such as starch and protein. Various industrial processes, including whole grain, dry milling fractionation, and nixtamalization, are described. Vitamin and mineral losses during processing are identified and the nutritional impacts outlined. Also discussed are the vitamin and mineral contents of corn. PMID:24329576

A membrane-integrated fermentation reactor system: its effects in reducing the amount of sub-raw materials for D-lactic acid continuous fermentation by Sporolactobacillus laevolacticus.

PubMed

Mimitsuka, Takashi; Na, Kyungsu; Morita, Ken; Sawai, Hideki; Minegishi, Shinichi; Henmi, Masahiro; Yamada, Katsushige; Shimizu, Sakayu; Yonehara, Tetsu

2012-01-01

Continuous fermentation by retaining cells with a membrane-integrated fermentation reactor (MFR) system was found to reduce the amount of supplied sub-raw material. If the amount of sub-raw material can be reduced, continuous fermentation with the MFR system should become a more attractive process for industrialization, due to decreased material costs and loads during the refinement process. Our findings indicate that the production rate decreased when the amount of the sub-raw material was reduced in batch fermentation, but did not decrease during continuous fermentation with Sporolactobacillus laevolacticus. Moreover, continuous fermentation with a reduced amount of sub-raw material resulted in a productivity of 11.2 g/L/h over 800 h. In addition, the index of industrial process applicability used in the MFR system increased by 6.3-fold as compared with the conventional membrane-based fermentation reactor previously reported, suggesting a potential for the industrialization of this D-lactic acid continuous fermentation process.

A New Method for Estimation of Emissions and Sources of Measurements Error in the Silicon Refining Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Næss, Mari k.; Kero, Ida; Tranell, Gabriella

2013-08-01

In the production of metallurgical grade silicon (MG-Si), fugitive emissions are a serious concern due to the health risks associated with the fumes formed in different parts of the production. The fumes are also a potential environmental hazard. Yet, the chemical composition of the fumes from most process steps in the silicon plant, such as oxidative refining ladle, remains unknown. This in turn constitutes a problem with respect to the correct assessment of the environmental impact and working conditions. A comprehensive industrial measurement campaign was performed at the Elkem Salten MG-Si production plant in Norway. Samples of the ingoing and outgoing mass flows were analyzed by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, with respect to 62 elements. In every step of the sampling and sample treatment processes, possible sources of error have been identified and quantified, including process variation, mass measurement accuracy, and contamination risk. Total measurement errors for all elements in all phases are established. The method is applied to estimate the order of magnitude of the elemental emissions via the fumes from the tapping and refining processes, with respect to production mass and year. The elements with higher concentrations in the fume than slag and refined silicon include Ag, Bi, Cd, Cu, In, K, Mg, Na, Pb, Rb, Se, Sn, Tl, and Zn: all being present in the ppm range. This work constitutes new and vital information to enable the correct assessment of the environmental impact and working conditions at an MG-Si plant.

Summary of flat-plate solar array project documentation. Abstracts of published documents, 1975 to June 1982

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Technologies that will enable the private sector to manufacture and widely use photovoltaic systems for the generation of electricity in residential, commercial, industrial, and government applications at a cost per watt that is competitive with other means is investigated. Silicon refinement processes, advanced silicon sheet growth techniques, solar cell development, encapsulation, automated fabrication process technology, advanced module/array design, and module/array test and evaluation techniques are developed.

The FoReVer Methodology: A MBSE Framework for Formal Verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baracchi, Laura; Mazzini, Silvia; Cimatti, Alessandro; Tonetta, Stefano; Garcia, Gerald

2013-08-01

The need for high level of confidence and operational integrity in critical space (software) systems is well recognized in the Space industry and has been addressed so far through rigorous System and Software Development Processes and stringent Verification and Validation regimes. The Model Based Space System Engineering process (MBSSE) derived in the System and Software Functional Requirement Techniques study (SSFRT) focused on the application of model based engineering technologies to support the space system and software development processes, from mission level requirements to software implementation through model refinements and translations. In this paper we report on our work in the ESA-funded FoReVer project where we aim at developing methodological, theoretical and technological support for a systematic approach to the space avionics system development, in phases 0/A/B/C. FoReVer enriches the MBSSE process with contract-based formal verification of properties, at different stages from system to software, through a step-wise refinement approach, with the support for a Software Reference Architecture.

Mobil lube dewaxing technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baker, C.L.; McGuiness, M.P.

1995-09-01

Currently, the lube refining industry is in a period of transition, with both hydroprocessing and catalytic dewaxing gathering momentum as replacements for solvent extraction and solvent dewaxing. In addition, lube product quality requirements have been increasing, both in the US and abroad. Mobil has developed a broad array of dewaxing catalytic technologies which can serve refiners throughout the stages of this transition. In the future, lube feedstocks which vary in source and wax content will become increasingly important, requiring an optimized system for highest performance. The Mobil Lube Dewaxing (MLDW) process is the work-horse of the catalytic dewaxing technologies, beingmore » a robust, low cost technology suitable for both solvent extracted and hydrocracked feeds. The Mobil Selective Dewaxing (MSDW) process has been recently introduced in response to the growth of hydroprocessing. MSDW requires either severely hydrotreated or hydrocracked feeds and provides improved lube yields and VI. For refiners with hydrocrackers and solvent dewaxing units, Mobil Wax Isomerization (MWI) technology can make higher VI base stocks to meet the growing demand for very high quality lube products. A review of these three technologies is presented in this paper.« less

Analysis of energy use and CO2 emissions in the U.S. refining sector, with projections for 2025.

PubMed

Hirshfeld, David S; Kolb, Jeffrey A

2012-04-03

This analysis uses linear programming modeling of the U.S. refining sector to estimate total annual energy consumption and CO(2) emissions in 2025, for four projected U.S. crude oil slates. The baseline is similar to the current U.S. crude slate; the other three contain larger proportions of higher density, higher sulfur crudes than the current or any previous U.S. crude slates. The latter cases reflect aggressive assumptions regarding the volumes of Canadian crudes in the U.S. crude slate in 2025. The analysis projects U.S. refinery energy use 3.7%-6.3% (≈ 0.13-0.22 quads/year) higher and refinery CO(2) emissions 5.4%-9.3% (≈ 0.014-0.024 gigatons/year) higher in the study cases than in the baseline. Refining heavier crude slates would require significant investments in new refinery processing capability, especially coking and hydrotreating units. These findings differ substantially from a recent estimate asserting that processing heavy oil or bitumen blends could increase industry CO(2) emissions by 1.6-3.7 gigatons/year.

Emulsified industrial oils recycling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gabris, T.

1982-04-01

The industrial lubricant market has been analyzed with emphasis on current and/or developing recycling and re-refining technologies. This task has been performed for the United States and other industrialized countries, specifically France, West Germany, Italy and Japan. Attention has been focused at emulsion-type fluids regardless of the industrial application involved. It was found that emulsion-type fluids in the United States represent a much higher percentage of the total fluids used than in other industrialized countries. While recycling is an active matter explored by the industry, re-refining is rather a result of other issues than the mere fact that oil canmore » be regenerated from a used industrial emulsion. To extend the longevity of an emulsion is a logical step to keep expenses down by using the emulsion as long as possible. There is, however, another important factor influencing this issue: regulations governing the disposal of such fluids. The ecological question, the respect for nature and the natural balances, is often seen now as everybody's task. Regulations forbid dumping used emulsions in the environment without prior treatment of the water phase and separation of the oil phase. This is a costly procedure, so recycling is attractive since it postpones the problem. It is questionable whether re-refining of these emulsions - as a business - could stand on its own if these emulsions did not have to be taken apart for disposal purposes. Once the emulsion is separated into a water and an oil phase, however, re-refining of the oil does become economical.« less

Market assessment overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Habib-Agahi, H.

1981-01-01

Market assessment, refined with analysis disaggregated from a national level to the regional level and to specific market applications, resulted in more accurate and detailed market estimates. The development of an integrated set of computer simulations, coupled with refined market data, allowed progress in the ability to evaluate the worth of solar thermal parabolic dish systems. In-depth analyses of both electric and thermal market applications of these systems are described. The following market assessment studies were undertaken: (1) regional analysis of the near term market for parabolic dish systems; (2) potential early market estimate for electric applications; (3) potential early market estimate for industrial process heat/cogeneration applications; and (4) selection of thermal and electric application case studies for fiscal year 1981.

Application specific beam profiles: new surface and thin-film refinement processes using beam shaping technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hauschild, Dirk

2017-02-01

Today, the use of laser photons for materials processing is a key technology in nearly all industries. Most of the applications use circular beam shapes with Gaussian intensity distribution that is given by the resonator of the laser or by the power delivery via optical fibre. These beam shapes can be typically used for material removal with cutting or drilling and for selective removal of material layers with ablation processes. In addition to the removal of materials, it is possible to modify and improve the material properties in case the dose of laser photons and the resulting light-material interaction addresses a defined window of energy and dwell-time. These process windows have typically dwell-times between µs and s because of using sintering, melting, thermal diffusion or photon induced chemical and physical reaction mechanisms. Using beam shaping technologies the laser beam profiles can be adapted to the material properties and time-temperature and the space-temperature envelopes can be modified to enable selective annealing or crystallization of layers or surfaces. Especially the control of the process energy inside the beam and at its edges opens a large area of laser applications that can be addressed only with an optimized spatial and angular beam profile with down to sub-percent intensity variation used in e.g. immersion lithography tools with ArF laser sources. LIMO will present examples for new beam shapes and related material refinement processes even on large surfaces and give an overview about new mechanisms in laser material processing for current and coming industrial applications.

77 FR 46125 - Sunoco, Inc., R&M, Refining Division, Marcus Hook, PA; Sunoco, Inc., 10 Industrial Hwy., MS4...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-02

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-81,145; TA-W-81,145A] Sunoco, Inc., R&M, Refining Division, Marcus Hook, PA; Sunoco, Inc., 10 Industrial Hwy., MS4 Building G, Lester, PA; Notice of Negative Determination on Reconsideration On April 30, 2012, the Department of Labor issued an Affirmative Determination Regarding...

77 FR 29362 - Sunoco, Inc., R&M Refining Division, Marcus Hook, PA; Sunoco, Inc., 10 Industrial Hwy, MS4...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-17

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-81,145; TA-W-81,145A] Sunoco, Inc., R&M Refining Division, Marcus Hook, PA; Sunoco, Inc., 10 Industrial Hwy, MS4 Building G, Lester, PA; Notice of Affirmative Determination Regarding Application for Reconsideration By application dated March 26, 2012, the United Steel Workers Union...

Technological Change and Its Labor Impact in Five Energy Industries. Coal Mining/Oil and Gas Extraction/Petroleum Refining/Petroleum Pipeline Transportation/Electric and Gas Utilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

This bulletin appraises major technological changes emerging in five American industries (coal mining, oil and gas extraction, petroleum refining, petroleum pipeline transportation, and electric and gas utilities) and discusses the impact of these changes on productivity and occupations over the next five to ten years. Its separate reports on each…

A technical analysis for cogeneration systems with potential applications in twelve California industrial plants. [energy saving heat-electricity utility systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moretti, V. C.; Davis, H. S.; Slonski, M. L.

1978-01-01

In a study sponsored by the State of California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, 12 industrial plants in five utility districts were surveyed to assess the potential applications of the cogeneration of heat and electricity in California industry. Thermodynamic calculations were made for each plant in determining the energy required to meet the existing electrical and steam demands. The present systems were then compared to conceptual cogeneration systems specified for each plant. Overall energy savings were determined for the cogeneration applications. Steam and gas turbine topping cycle systems were considered as well as bottoming cycle systems. Types of industries studied were: pulp and paper, timber, cement, petroleum refining, enhanced oil recovery, foods processing, steel and glass

Autohydrolysis Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Bioethanol Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Qiang

Autohydrolysis, a simple and environmental friendly process, has long been studied but often abandoned as a financially viable pretreatment for bioethanol production due to the low yields of fermentable sugars at economic enzyme dosages. The introduction of mechanical refining can generate substantial improvements for autohydrolysis process, making it an attractive pretreatment technology for bioethanol commercialization. In this study, several lignocellulosic biomass including wheat straw, switchgrass, corn stover, waste wheat straw have been subjected to autohydrolysis pretreatment followed by mechanical refining to evaluate the total sugar recovery at affordable enzyme dosages. Encouraging results have been found that using autohydrolysis plus refining strategy, the total sugar recovery of most feedstock can be as high as 76% at 4 FPU/g enzymes dosages. The mechanical refining contributed to the improvement of enzymatic sugar yield by as much as 30%. Three non-woody biomass (sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, and switchgrass) and three woody biomass (maple, sweet gum, and nitens) have been subjected to autohydrolysis pretreatment to acquire a fundamental understanding of biomass characteristics that affect the autohydrolysis and the following enzymatic hydrolysis. It is of interest to note that the nonwoody biomass went through substantial delignification during autohydrolysis compared to woody biomass due to a significant amount of p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. It has been found that hardwood which has a higher S/V ratio in the lignin structure tends to have a higher total sugar recovery from autohydrolysis pretreatment. The economics of bioethanol production from autohydrolysis of different feedstocks have been investigated. Regardless of different feedstocks, in the conventional design, producing bioethanol and co-producing steam and power, the minimum ethanol revenues (MER) required to generate a 12% internal rate of return (IRR) are high enough to discourage investors due to the high capital investment relative to low US ethanol price. Nevertheless, the economics of autohydrolysis can be substantially improved by upgrading the value of unhydrolyzed residues, such as the fuel pellets. Moreover, the utilization of proven technology and equipment renders autohydrolysis adaptable to pulp and paper industrial. Attractive economics have been found when autohydrolysis based bioethanol plant is co-located to a pulp and paper mill or the distressed pulp and paper mill is being repurposed to produce bioethanol. An alternative to autohydrolysis combined with refining, thermomechanical pulping (TMP) process has been evaluated using corn stover as the feedstock. A significant low solids yield after the pretreatment process has been observed due to the harsh condition operated and the limitation of lab equipment. But the TMP process has great potential to be employed as a pretreatment for bioethanol production in an industrial scale if the process is optimized.

Industrial waste materials and by-products as thermal energy storage (TES) materials: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutierrez, Andrea; Miró, Laia; Gil, Antoni; Rodríguez-Aseguinolaza, Javier; Barreneche, Camila; Calvet, Nicolas; Py, Xavier; Fernández, A. Inés; Grágeda, Mario; Ushak, Svetlana; Cabeza, Luisa F.

2016-05-01

A wide variety of potential materials for thermal energy storage (TES) have been identify depending on the implemented TES method, Sensible, latent or thermochemical. In order to improve the efficiency of TES systems more alternatives are continuously being sought. In this regard, this paper presents the review of low cost heat storage materials focused mainly in two objectives: on the one hand, the implementation of improved heat storage devices based on new appropriate materials and, on the other hand, the valorisation of waste industrial materials will have strong environmental, economic and societal benefits such as reducing the landfilled waste amounts, reducing the greenhouse emissions and others. Different industrial and municipal waste materials and by products have been considered as potential TES materials and have been characterized as such. Asbestos containing wastes, fly ashes, by-products from the salt industry and from the metal industry, wastes from recycling steel process and from copper refining process and dross from the aluminium industry, and municipal wastes (glass and nylon) have been considered. This work shows a great revalorization of wastes and by-product opportunity as TES materials, although more studies are needed to achieve industrial deployment of the idea.

The extractive metallurgy of gold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kongolo, K.; Mwema, M. D.

1998-12-01

Mössbauer spectroscopy has been successfully used in investigation of the gold compounds present in ores and the gold species which occur during the process metallurgy of this metal. This paper is a survey of the basic recovery methods and techniques used in extractive metallurgy of gold. Process fundamentals on mineral processing, ore leaching, zinc dust cementation, adsorption on activated carbon, electrowinning and refining are examined. The recovery of gold as a by-product of the copper industry is also described. Alternative processing methods are indicated in order to shed light on new interesting research topics where Mössbauer spectroscopy could be applied.

Particulates and fine dust removal: processes and equipment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sittig, M.

1977-01-01

Particulates and fine dust created by man's activities contribute significantly to all major aspects of air pollution. While the generation of natural fine dusts is also very large in some parts of the earth, industrially generated, particle-loaded air emissions may push the particulate level to a point where acceptable air quality standards are exceeded continuously. How to reduce such emissions at the source, and what processes and equipment to use, is the subject of this book, which is based on reports of federally-financed air pollution studies as well as U.S. patents. Following an introduction with an overview of industrial particulatemore » emissions, emission data and emission control processes are discussed for the following specific industries: airlines; asphalt; cement; coal; electric utilities; ferrous metals; fertilizer; food; forest products; paper; chemicals; nonferrous metals; nuclear; petroleum refining; stone and clay; and textiles. Conventional and innovative particle removal devices are described. The disposal of collected particles is discussed. The economic and energy consumption aspects of particulate control are presented. (LCL)« less

Wastewater Treatment Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Dana; Williams, Fred; Moffatt, Scott

Alcoa's Point Comfort, Texas industrial facility is a combination of a bauxite refining plant utilizing the Bayer process and an aluminum fluoride production plant. Due to the location's use of dry stack technology for bauxite residue disposal, the pond surface areas for evaporation are minimal compared to the rainfall catchment areas. This results in the periodic need to reduce accumulated volumes of storm water at the Residue Disposal Area (RDA).

Improved hydrocracker temperature control: Mobil quench zone technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sarli, M.S.; McGovern, S.J.; Lewis, D.W.

1993-01-01

Hydrocracking is a well established process in the oil refining industry. There are over 2.7 million barrels of installed capacity world-wide. The hydrocracking process comprises several families of highly exothermic reactions and the total adiabatic temperature rise can easily exceed 200 F. Reactor temperature control is therefore very important. Hydrocracking reactors are typically constructed with multiple catalyst beds in series. Cold recycle gas is usually injected between the catalyst beds to quench the reactions, thereby controlling overall temperature rise. The design of this quench zone is the key to good reactor temperature control, particularly when processing poorer quality, i.e., highermore » heat release, feeds. Mobil Research and Development Corporation (MRDC) has developed a robust and very effective quench zone technology (QZT) package, which is now being licensed to the industry for hydrocracking applications.« less

Options and processes for spent catalyst handling and utilization.

PubMed

Marafi, M; Stanislaus, A

2003-07-18

The quantity of spent hydroprocessing catalysts discarded as solid wastes in the petroleum refining industries has increased remarkably in recent years due to a rapid growth in the hydroprocessing capacity to meet the rising demand for low-sulfur fuels. Due to their toxic nature, spent hydroprocessing catalysts have been branded as hazardous wastes, and the refiners are experiencing pressure from environmental authorities to handle them safely. Several alternative methods such as reclamation of metals, rejuvenation and reuse, disposal in landfills and preparation of useful materials using spent catalysts as raw materials are available to deal with the spent catalyst problem. The technical feasibility as well as the environmental and economic aspects of these options are reviewed. In addition, details of two bench-scale processes, one for rejuvenation of spent hydroprocessing catalysts, and the other for producing non-leachable synthetic aggregate materials that were developed in this laboratory, are presented in this paper.

High temperature process steam application at the Southern Union Refining Company, Hobbs, New Mexico. Solar energy in the oil patch. Final report, Phase III: operation, maintenance, and performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilson, L.E.; McGuire, D.R.

1984-05-01

This final report summarizes the technical reports for Phase III of this project. The third phase included the operation, maintenance, upgrade and performance reporting of a 10,080 square foot Solar Industrial Process Heat System installed at the Famariss Energy Refinery of Southern Union Refining Company near Hobbs, New Mexico. This report contains a description of the upgraded system, and a summary of the overall operation, maintenance and performance of the installed system. The results of the upgrade activities can be seen in the last two months of operational data. Steam production was significantly greater in peak flow and monthly totalmore » than at any previous time. Also monthly total cost savings was greatly improved even though natural gas costs remain much lower than originally anticipated.« less

Naturally occurring 32Si and low-background silicon dark matter detectors

DOE PAGES

Orrell, John L.; Arnquist, Isaac J.; Bliss, Mary; ...

2018-02-10

Here, the naturally occurring radioisotope 32Si represents a potentially limiting background in future dark matter direct-detection experiments. We investigate sources of 32Si and the vectors by which it comes to reside in silicon crystals used for fabrication of radiation detectors. We infer that the 32Si concentration in commercial single-crystal silicon is likely variable, dependent upon the specific geologic and hydrologic history of the source (or sources) of silicon “ore” and the details of the silicon-refinement process. The silicon production industry is large, highly segmented by refining step, and multifaceted in terms of final product type, from which we conclude thatmore » production of 32Si-mitigated crystals requires both targeted silicon material selection and a dedicated refinement-through-crystal-production process. We review options for source material selection, including quartz from an underground source and silicon isotopically reduced in 32Si. To quantitatively evaluate the 32Si content in silicon metal and precursor materials, we propose analytic methods employing chemical processing and radiometric measurements. Ultimately, it appears feasible to produce silicon detectors with low levels of 32Si, though significant assay method development is required to validate this claim and thereby enable a quality assurance program during an actual controlled silicon-detector production cycle.« less

Naturally occurring 32Si and low-background silicon dark matter detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orrell, John L.; Arnquist, Isaac J.; Bliss, Mary; Bunker, Raymond; Finch, Zachary S.

2018-05-01

The naturally occurring radioisotope 32Si represents a potentially limiting background in future dark matter direct-detection experiments. We investigate sources of 32Si and the vectors by which it comes to reside in silicon crystals used for fabrication of radiation detectors. We infer that the 32Si concentration in commercial single-crystal silicon is likely variable, dependent upon the specific geologic and hydrologic history of the source (or sources) of silicon "ore" and the details of the silicon-refinement process. The silicon production industry is large, highly segmented by refining step, and multifaceted in terms of final product type, from which we conclude that production of 32Si-mitigated crystals requires both targeted silicon material selection and a dedicated refinement-through-crystal-production process. We review options for source material selection, including quartz from an underground source and silicon isotopically reduced in 32Si. To quantitatively evaluate the 32Si content in silicon metal and precursor materials, we propose analytic methods employing chemical processing and radiometric measurements. Ultimately, it appears feasible to produce silicon detectors with low levels of 32Si, though significant assay method development is required to validate this claim and thereby enable a quality assurance program during an actual controlled silicon-detector production cycle.

Naturally occurring 32Si and low-background silicon dark matter detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Orrell, John L.; Arnquist, Isaac J.; Bliss, Mary

Here, the naturally occurring radioisotope 32Si represents a potentially limiting background in future dark matter direct-detection experiments. We investigate sources of 32Si and the vectors by which it comes to reside in silicon crystals used for fabrication of radiation detectors. We infer that the 32Si concentration in commercial single-crystal silicon is likely variable, dependent upon the specific geologic and hydrologic history of the source (or sources) of silicon “ore” and the details of the silicon-refinement process. The silicon production industry is large, highly segmented by refining step, and multifaceted in terms of final product type, from which we conclude thatmore » production of 32Si-mitigated crystals requires both targeted silicon material selection and a dedicated refinement-through-crystal-production process. We review options for source material selection, including quartz from an underground source and silicon isotopically reduced in 32Si. To quantitatively evaluate the 32Si content in silicon metal and precursor materials, we propose analytic methods employing chemical processing and radiometric measurements. Ultimately, it appears feasible to produce silicon detectors with low levels of 32Si, though significant assay method development is required to validate this claim and thereby enable a quality assurance program during an actual controlled silicon-detector production cycle.« less

Electron Beam Melting and Refining of Metals: Computational Modeling and Optimization

PubMed Central

Vutova, Katia; Donchev, Veliko

2013-01-01

Computational modeling offers an opportunity for a better understanding and investigation of thermal transfer mechanisms. It can be used for the optimization of the electron beam melting process and for obtaining new materials with improved characteristics that have many applications in the power industry, medicine, instrument engineering, electronics, etc. A time-dependent 3D axis-symmetrical heat model for simulation of thermal transfer in metal ingots solidified in a water-cooled crucible at electron beam melting and refining (EBMR) is developed. The model predicts the change in the temperature field in the casting ingot during the interaction of the beam with the material. A modified Pismen-Rekford numerical scheme to discretize the analytical model is developed. These equation systems, describing the thermal processes and main characteristics of the developed numerical method, are presented. In order to optimize the technological regimes, different criteria for better refinement and obtaining dendrite crystal structures are proposed. Analytical problems of mathematical optimization are formulated, discretized and heuristically solved by cluster methods. Using important for the practice simulation results, suggestions can be made for EBMR technology optimization. The proposed tool is important and useful for studying, control, optimization of EBMR process parameters and improving of the quality of the newly produced materials. PMID:28788351

Naturally occurring 32 Si and low-background silicon dark matter detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Orrell, John L.; Arnquist, Isaac J.; Bliss, Mary

The naturally occurring radioisotope Si-32 represents a potentially limiting background in future dark matter direct-detection experiments. We investigate sources of Si-32 and the vectors by which it comes to reside in silicon crystals used for fabrication of radiation detectors. We infer that the Si-32 concentration in commercial single-crystal silicon is likely variable, dependent upon the specific geologic and hydrologic history of the source (or sources) of silicon “ore” and the details of the silicon-refinement process. The silicon production industry is large, highly segmented by refining step, and multifaceted in terms of final product type, from which we conclude that productionmore » of Si-32-mitigated crystals requires both targeted silicon material selection and a dedicated refinement-through-crystal-production process. We review options for source material selection, including quartz from an underground source and silicon isotopically reduced in Si-32. To quantitatively evaluate the Si-32 content in silicon metal and precursor materials, we propose analytic methods employing chemical processing and radiometric measurements. Ultimately, it appears feasible to produce silicon-based detectors with low levels of Si-32, though significant assay method development is required to validate this claim and thereby enable a quality assurance program during an actual controlled silicon-detector production cycle.« less

A refined 2010-based VOC emission inventory and its improvement on modeling regional ozone in the Pearl River Delta Region, China.

PubMed

Yin, Shasha; Zheng, Junyu; Lu, Qing; Yuan, Zibing; Huang, Zhijiong; Zhong, Liuju; Lin, Hui

2015-05-01

Accurate and gridded VOC emission inventories are important for improving regional air quality model performance. In this study, a four-level VOC emission source categorization system was proposed. A 2010-based gridded Pearl River Delta (PRD) regional VOC emission inventory was developed with more comprehensive source coverage, latest emission factors, and updated activity data. The total anthropogenic VOC emission was estimated to be about 117.4 × 10(4)t, in which on-road mobile source shared the largest contribution, followed by industrial solvent use and industrial processes sources. Among the industrial solvent use source, furniture manufacturing and shoemaking were major VOC emission contributors. The spatial surrogates of VOC emission were updated for major VOC sources such as industrial sectors and gas stations. Subsector-based temporal characteristics were investigated and their temporal variations were characterized. The impacts of updated VOC emission estimates and spatial surrogates were evaluated by modeling O₃ concentration in the PRD region in the July and October of 2010, respectively. The results indicated that both updated emission estimates and spatial allocations can effectively reduce model bias on O₃ simulation. Further efforts should be made on the refinement of source classification, comprehensive collection of activity data, and spatial-temporal surrogates in order to reduce uncertainty in emission inventory and improve model performance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A review of the processes and lab-scale techniques for the treatment of spent rechargeable NiMH batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Innocenzi, Valentina; Ippolito, Nicolò Maria; De Michelis, Ida; Prisciandaro, Marina; Medici, Franco; Vegliò, Francesco

2017-09-01

The purpose of this work is to describe and review the current status of the recycling technologies of spent NiMH batteries. In the first part of the work, the structure and characterization of NiMH accumulators are introduced followed by the description of the main scientific studies and the industrial processes. Various recycling routes including physical, pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical ones are discussed. The hydrometallurgical methods for the recovery of base metals and rare earths are mainly developed on the laboratory and pilot scale. The operating industrial methods are pyrometallurgical ones and are efficient only on the recovery of certain components of spent batteries. In particular fraction rich in nickel and other materials are recovered; instead the rare earths are lost in the slag and must be further refined by hydrometallurgical process to recover them. Considering the actual legislation regarding the disposal of spent batteries and the preservation of raw materials issues, implementations on laboratory scale and plant optimization studies should be conducted in order to overcome the industrial problems of the scale up for the hydrometallurgical processes.

Processing of fine grained AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel by cold rolling and high-temperature short-term annealing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naghizadeh, Meysam; Mirzadeh, Hamed

2018-05-01

An advanced thermomechanical process based on the formation and reversion of deformation-induced martensite was used to refine the grain size and enhance the hardness of an AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel. Both low and high reversion annealing temperatures and also the repetition of the whole thermomechanical cycle were considered. While a microstructure with average austenite grain size of a few micrometers was achieved based on cold rolling and high-temperature short-term annealing, an extreme grain refinement up to submicrometer regime was obtained by cold rolling followed by low-temperature long-term annealing. However, the required annealing time was found to be much longer, which negates its appropriateness for industrial production. While a magnificent grain refinement was achieved by one pass of the high-temperature thermomechanical process, the reduction in grain size was negligible by the repetition of the whole cycle. It was found that the hardness of the thermomechanically processed material is much higher than that of the as-received material. The results of the present work were shown to be compatible with the general trend of grain size dependence of hardness for AISI 304L stainless steel based on the Hall-Petch relationship. The results were also discussed based on the X-ray evaluation of dislocation density by modified Williamson-Hall plots.

HPI markets and strategies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ekolf, W.D.

1988-03-01

How the HPI and government react to new directions will not only set the course for the future of refining and marketing, it will have profound implications for the entire energy industry. Strategies developed by individual refiners and marketers in response to this changing environment will determine their future in the industry. In developing scenarios for the downstream, Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), has identified three forces that will determine the downstream playing field in the nineties: 1. Imbalances between market demands and refinery capacity will continue to promote intense competition and to depress margins, 2. Product and crude pricemore » volatility will be at least as great in the future as it has been in the last three years and 3. Renewed environmental concerns will add new capital investment burdens to the industry. The implications of these three forces on refiners are clear - being in the downstream business is likely to become increasingly expensive, competitive and risky. The author shares CERA's perspective on why these forces have evolved and, in turn, led to new strategies and developments in the industry. Then he outlines how we think these new themes may affect players in the industry. Finally, he summarizes some key uncertainties the future holds.« less

LSSA (Low-cost Silicon Solar Array) project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Methods are explored for economically generating electrical power to meet future requirements. The Low-Cost Silicon Solar Array Project (LSSA) was established to reduce the price of solar arrays by improving manufacturing technology, adapting mass production techniques, and promoting user acceptance. The new manufacturing technology includes the consideration of new silicon refinement processes, silicon sheet growth techniques, encapsulants, and automated assembly production being developed under contract by industries and universities.

Validation of optimization strategies using the linear structured production chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusiak, Jan; Morkisz, Paweł; Oprocha, Piotr; Pietrucha, Wojciech; Sztangret, Łukasz

2017-06-01

Different optimization strategies applied to sequence of several stages of production chains were validated in this paper. Two benchmark problems described by ordinary differential equations (ODEs) were considered. A water tank and a passive CR-RC filter were used as the exemplary objects described by the first and the second order differential equations, respectively. Considered in the work optimization problems serve as the validators of strategies elaborated by the Authors. However, the main goal of research is selection of the best strategy for optimization of two real metallurgical processes which will be investigated in an on-going projects. The first problem will be the oxidizing roasting process of zinc sulphide concentrate where the sulphur from the input concentrate should be eliminated and the minimal concentration of sulphide sulphur in the roasted products has to be achieved. Second problem will be the lead refining process consisting of three stages: roasting to the oxide, oxide reduction to metal and the oxidizing refining. Strategies, which appear the most effective in considered benchmark problems will be candidates for optimization of the mentioned above industrial processes.

Nonlinear Multiobjective MPC-Based Optimal Operation of a High Consistency Refining System in Papermaking

DOE PAGES

Li, Mingjie; Zhou, Ping; Wang, Hong; ...

2017-09-19

As one of the most important unit in the papermaking industry, the high consistency (HC) refining system is confronted with challenges such as improving pulp quality, energy saving, and emissions reduction in its operation processes. Here in this correspondence, an optimal operation of HC refining system is presented using nonlinear multiobjective model predictive control strategies that aim at set-point tracking objective of pulp quality, economic objective, and specific energy (SE) consumption objective, respectively. First, a set of input and output data at different times are employed to construct the subprocess model of the state process model for the HC refiningmore » system, and then the Wiener-type model can be obtained through combining the mechanism model of Canadian Standard Freeness and the state process model that determines their structures based on Akaike information criterion. Second, the multiobjective optimization strategy that optimizes both the set-point tracking objective of pulp quality and SE consumption is proposed simultaneously, which uses NSGA-II approach to obtain the Pareto optimal set. Furthermore, targeting at the set-point tracking objective of pulp quality, economic objective, and SE consumption objective, the sequential quadratic programming method is utilized to produce the optimal predictive controllers. In conclusion, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed methods can make the HC refining system provide a better performance of set-point tracking of pulp quality when these predictive controllers are employed. In addition, while the optimal predictive controllers orienting with comprehensive economic objective and SE consumption objective, it has been shown that they have significantly reduced the energy consumption.« less

Nonlinear Multiobjective MPC-Based Optimal Operation of a High Consistency Refining System in Papermaking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Mingjie; Zhou, Ping; Wang, Hong

As one of the most important unit in the papermaking industry, the high consistency (HC) refining system is confronted with challenges such as improving pulp quality, energy saving, and emissions reduction in its operation processes. Here in this correspondence, an optimal operation of HC refining system is presented using nonlinear multiobjective model predictive control strategies that aim at set-point tracking objective of pulp quality, economic objective, and specific energy (SE) consumption objective, respectively. First, a set of input and output data at different times are employed to construct the subprocess model of the state process model for the HC refiningmore » system, and then the Wiener-type model can be obtained through combining the mechanism model of Canadian Standard Freeness and the state process model that determines their structures based on Akaike information criterion. Second, the multiobjective optimization strategy that optimizes both the set-point tracking objective of pulp quality and SE consumption is proposed simultaneously, which uses NSGA-II approach to obtain the Pareto optimal set. Furthermore, targeting at the set-point tracking objective of pulp quality, economic objective, and SE consumption objective, the sequential quadratic programming method is utilized to produce the optimal predictive controllers. In conclusion, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed methods can make the HC refining system provide a better performance of set-point tracking of pulp quality when these predictive controllers are employed. In addition, while the optimal predictive controllers orienting with comprehensive economic objective and SE consumption objective, it has been shown that they have significantly reduced the energy consumption.« less

Industrial applications of new sulphur biotechnology.

PubMed

Janssen, A J; Ruitenberg, R; Buisman, C J

2001-01-01

The emission of sulphur compounds into the environment is undesirable because of their acidifying characteristics. The processing of sulphidic ores, oil refining and sulphuric acid production are major sources of SO2 emissions. Hydrogen sulphide is emitted into the environment as dissolved sulphide in wastewater or as H2S in natural gas, biogas, syngas or refinery gases. Waste streams containing sulphate are generated by many industries, including mining, metallurgical, pulp and paper and petrochemical industries. Applying process technologies that rely on the biological sulphur cycle can prevent environmental pollution. In nature sulphur compounds may cycle through a series of oxidation states (-2, 0, +2, +4, +6). Bacteria of a wide range of genera gain metabolic energy from either oxidising or reducing sulphur compounds. Paques B.V. develops and constructs reactor systems to remove sulphur compounds from aqueous and gaseous streams by utilising naturally occurring bacteria from the sulphur cycle. Due to the presence of sulphide, heavy metal removal is also achieved with very high removal efficiencies. Ten years of extensive laboratory and pilot plant research has, to date, resulted in the construction of over 30 full-scale installations. This paper presents key processes from the sulphur cycle and discusses recent developments about their application in industry.

Effects of chemical, physical, and technological processes on the nature of food allergens.

PubMed

Poms, Roland E; Anklam, Elke

2004-01-01

A review is presented of studies of different processing techniques and their effect on the allergenicity and antigenicity of certain allergenic foods. An overview of investigated technologies is given with regard to their impact on the protein structure and their potential application in the production of hypoallergenic foods. The use of physical processes (such as heating, high pressure, microparticulation, ultrafiltration, and irradiation), chemical processes (such as proteolysis, fermentation, and refining by extraction), and biotechnological approaches, as well as the effects of these processes on individual allergenic foods, are included. Additionally, the implications of food processing for food allergen analysis with respect to food safety assessment and industrial quality control are briefly discussed.

Mineral commodity profiles: Cadmium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butterman, W.C.; Plachy, Jozef

2004-01-01

Overview -- Cadmium is a soft, low-melting-point metal that has many uses. It is similar in abundance to antimony and bismuth and is the 63d element in order of crustal abundance. Cadmium is associated in nature with zinc (and, less closely, with lead and copper) and is extracted mainly as a byproduct of the mining and processing of zinc. In 2000, it was refined in 27 countries, of which the 8 largest accounted for two-thirds of world production. The United States was the third largest refiner after Japan and China. World production in 2000 was 19,700 metric tons (t) and U.S. production was 1,890 t. In the United States, one company in Illinois and another in Tennessee refined primary cadmium. A Pennsylvania company recovered cadmium from scrap, mainly spent nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries. The supply of cadmium in the world and in the United States appears to be adequate to meet future industrial needs; the United States has about 23 percent of the world reserve base.

Modelling the transport and decay processes of microbial tracers in a macro-tidal estuary.

PubMed

Abu-Bakar, Amyrhul; Ahmadian, Reza; Falconer, Roger A

2017-10-15

The Loughor Estuary is a macro-tidal coastal basin, located along the Bristol Channel, in the South West of the U.K. The maximum spring tidal range in the estuary is up to 7.5 m, near Burry Port Harbour. This estuarine region can experience severe coastal flooding during high spring tides, including extreme flooding of the intertidal saltmarshes at Llanrhidian, as well as the lower industrial and residential areas at Llanelli and Gowerton. The water quality of this estuarine basin needs to comply with the designated standards for safe recreational bathing and shellfish harvesting industries. The waterbody however, potentially receives overloading of bacterial inputs that enter the estuarine system from both point and diffuse sources. Therefore, a microbial tracer study was carried out to get a better understanding of the faecal bacteria sources and to enable a hydro-environmental model to be refined and calibrated for both advection and dispersion transport. A two-dimensional hydro-environmental model has been refined and extended to predict the highest water level covering the intertidal floodplains of the Loughor Estuary. The validated hydrodynamic model for both water levels and currents, was included with the injected mass of microbial tracer, i.e. MS2 coliphage from upstream of the estuary, and modelled as a non-conservative tracer over several tidal cycles through the system. The calibration and validation of the transport and decay of microbial tracer was undertaken, by comparing the model results and the measured data at two different sampling locations. The refined model developed as a part of this study, was used to acquire a better understanding of the water quality processes and the potential sources of bacterial pollution in the estuary. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cleanliness of Ti-bearing Al-killed ultra-low-carbon steel during different heating processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jian-long; Bao, Yan-ping; Wang, Min

2017-12-01

During the production of Ti-bearing Al-killed ultra-low-carbon (ULC) steel, two different heating processes were used when the converter tapping temperature or the molten steel temperature in the Ruhrstahl-Heraeus (RH) process was low: heating by Al addition during the RH decarburization process and final deoxidation at the end of the RH decarburization process (process-I), and increasing the oxygen content at the end of RH decarburization, heating and final deoxidation by one-time Al addition (process-II). Temperature increases of 10°C by different processes were studied; the results showed that the two heating processes could achieve the same heating effect. The T.[O] content in the slab and the refining process was better controlled by process-I than by process-II. Statistical analysis of inclusions showed that the numbers of inclusions in the slab obtained by process-I were substantially less than those in the slab obtained by process-II. For process-I, the Al2O3 inclusions produced by Al added to induce heating were substantially removed at the end of decarburization. The amounts of inclusions were substantially greater for process-II than for process-I at different refining stages because of the higher dissolved oxygen concentration in process-II. Industrial test results showed that process-I was more beneficial for improving the cleanliness of molten steel.

Methods for recovering precious metals from industrial waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canda, L.; Heput, T.; Ardelean, E.

2016-02-01

The accelerated rate of industrialization increases the demand for precious metals, while high quality natural resources are diminished quantitatively, with significant operating costs. Precious metals recovery can be successfully made from waste, considered to be secondary sources of raw material. In recent years, concerns and interest of researchers for more increasing efficient methods to recover these metals, taking into account the more severe environmental protection legislation. Precious metals are used in a wide range of applications, both in electronic and communications equipment, spacecraft and jet aircraft engines and for mobile phones or catalytic converters. The most commonly recovered precious metals are: gold from jewellery and electronics, silver from X- ray films and photographic emulsions, industrial applications (catalysts, batteries, glass/mirrors), jewellery; platinum group metals from catalytic converters, catalysts for the refining of crude oil, industrial catalysts, nitric acid manufacturing plant, the carbon-based catalyst, e-waste. An important aspect is the economic viability of recycling processes related to complex waste flows. Hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical routes are the most important ways of processing electrical and electronic equipment waste. The necessity of recovering precious metals has opened new opportunities for future research.

Dilemma for high-tech refiners

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The price difference between lighter and heavier crude oils, and between light and heavy refined products, amounts to the incentive for refiners to upgrade processing facilities. When that differential widens, the incentive to utilize lower price, lower quality crude is enhanced; when it narrows, the desirability of relying on light oil prices and supplies is intensified. The incentive to upgrade has been eroded ever since 1981 ushered in world-wide overproduction of crude oil. Lower demand due to recession met with increased pressure on producers to compete for market shares to maintain vital revenue levels - for private and national oilmore » companies alike. Light crude prices suffered, while heavy crude prices improved. As of mid-1984, the shrinkage of the price differential went into dormancy (see Energy Detente 8/8/84, A Hey-Day for Heavy Crudes) after both Mexico and Venezuela raised heavy oil prices by US $0.50 per barrel (bbl). Energy Detente refining netback data for the first half of October are presented for the US Gulf Coast and the US West Coast. The fuel price/tax series and the industrial fuel prices for October 1984 are included for countries of the Eastern Hemisphere.« less

Hazardous waste treatment for spent pot liner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xia; Ma, Lei

2018-01-01

The spent pot liner is the largest solid waste produced by the electrolytic aluminum industry, composed of a series of substances that accumulate in the containers with reduced aluminum during the process of bauxite purification and refining. More and more spent pot liner is accumulated and needs to be dealt with. This paper discusses the composition and harm of solid waste. This paper expounds the comprehensive utilization value and disposition of the waste pot liner.

Biological production of products from waste gases

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

2002-01-22

A method and apparatus are designed for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, and carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various products, such as organic acids, alcohols, hydrogen, single cell protein, and salts of organic acids by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified.

Current and future needs for developmental toxicity testing.

PubMed

Makris, Susan L; Kim, James H; Ellis, Amy; Faber, Willem; Harrouk, Wafa; Lewis, Joseph M; Paule, Merle G; Seed, Jennifer; Tassinari, Melissa; Tyl, Rochelle

2011-10-01

A review is presented of the use of developmental toxicity testing in the United States and international regulatory assessment of human health risks associated with exposures to pharmaceuticals (human and veterinary), chemicals (agricultural, industrial, and environmental), food additives, cosmetics, and consumer products. Developmental toxicology data are used for prioritization and screening of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, for evaluating and labeling of pharmaceuticals, and for characterizing hazards and risk of exposures to industrial and environmental chemicals. The in vivo study designs utilized in hazard characterization and dose-response assessment for developmental outcomes have not changed substantially over the past 30 years and have served the process well. Now there are opportunities to incorporate new technologies and approaches to testing into the existing assessment paradigm, or to apply innovative approaches to various aspects of risk assessment. Developmental toxicology testing can be enhanced by the refinement or replacement of traditional in vivo protocols, including through the use of in vitro assays, studies conducted in alternative nonmammalian species, the application of new technologies, and the use of in silico models. Potential benefits to the current regulatory process include the ability to screen large numbers of chemicals quickly, with the commitment of fewer resources than traditional toxicology studies, and to refine the risk assessment process through an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms of developmental toxicity and their relevance to potential human risk. As the testing paradigm evolves, the ability to use developmental toxicology data to meet diverse critical regulatory needs must be retained. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Microstructure and wear characterization of aluminum matrix composites reinforced with industrial waste fly ash particulates synthesized by friction stir processing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dinaharan, I., E-mail: dinaweld2009@gmail.com

Fly ash (FA) is a waste product of coal combustion in thermal power plants which is available in massive quantities all over the world causing land pollution. This paper reports the characterization of AA6061 aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) reinforced with FA particles synthesized using friction stir processing (FSP). The volume fraction of FA particles was varied from 0 to 18 in steps of 6. The prepared AMCs were characterized using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscattered diagram (EBSD). The wear rate was estimated using a pin-on-disc wear apparatus. FA particles were observed to be distributed homogeneouslymore » in the AMC irrespective of the location within the stir zone. The EBSD micrographs revealed remarkable grain refinement in the AMC. The incorporation of FA particles enhanced the microhardness and wear resistance of the AMC. The strengthening mechanisms of the AMC were discussed and correlated to the observed microstructures. The wear mechanisms were identified by characterizing the wear debris and worn surfaces. - Highlights: •Industrial waste fly ash was used to produce aluminum matrix composites. •Friction stir processing was used to produce AA6061/Fly Ash composite. •Fly ash particles refined the grains of aluminum matrix. •Fly ash particles enhanced the hardness and wear resistance. •Successful utilization of fly ash to make aluminum composites reduces land pollution.« less

Catalytic hydroprocessing of heavy oil feedstocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okunev, A. G.; Parkhomchuk, E. V.; Lysikov, A. I.; Parunin, P. D.; Semeikina, V. S.; Parmon, V. N.

2015-09-01

A grave problem of modern oil refining industry is continuous deterioration of the produced oil quality, on the one hand, and increase in the demand for motor fuels, on the other hand. This necessitates processing of heavy oil feedstock with high contents of sulfur, nitrogen and metals and the atmospheric residue. This feedstock is converted to light oil products via hydrogenation processes catalyzed by transition metal compounds, first of all, cobalt- or nickel-promoted molybdenum and tungsten compounds. The processing involves desulfurization, denitrogenation and demetallization reactions as well as reactions converting heavy hydrocarbons to lighter fuel components. The review discusses the mechanisms of reactions involved in the heavy feedstock hydroprocessing, the presumed structure and state of the catalytically active components and methods for the formation of supports with the desired texture. Practically used and prospective approaches to catalytic upgrading of heavy oil feedstock as well as examples of industrial processing of bitumen and vacuum residues in the presence of catalysts are briefly discussed. The bibliography includes 140 references.

The production of fine grained magnesium alloys through thermomechanical processing for the optimization of microstructural and mechanical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, John Paul

The low density and high strength to weight ratio of magnesium alloys makes them ideal candidates to replace many of the heavier steel and aluminum alloys currently used in the automotive and other industries. Although cast magnesium alloys components have a long history of use in the automotive industry, the integration of wrought magnesium alloys components has been hindered by a number of factors. Grain refinement through thermomechanical processing offers a possible solution to many of the inherent problems associated with magnesium alloys. This work explores the development of several thermomechanical processing techniques and investigates their impact on the microstructural and mechanical properties of magnesium alloys. In addition to traditional thermomechanical processing, this work includes the development of new severe plastic deformation techniques for the production of fine grain magnesium plate and pipe and develops a procedure by which the thermal microstructural stability of severely plastically deformed microstructures can be assessed.

An effective ostrich oil bleaching technique using peroxide value as an indicator.

PubMed

Palanisamy, Uma Devi; Sivanathan, Muniswaran; Radhakrishnan, Ammu Kutty; Haleagrahara, Nagaraja; Subramaniam, Thavamanithevi; Chiew, Gan Seng

2011-07-05

Ostrich oil has been used extensively in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. However, rancidity causes undesirable chemical changes in flavour, colour, odour and nutritional value. Bleaching is an important process in refining ostrich oil. Bleaching refers to the removal of certain minor constituents (colour pigments, free fatty acid, peroxides, odour and non-fatty materials) from crude fats and oils to yield purified glycerides. There is a need to optimize the bleaching process of crude ostrich oil prior to its use for therapeutic purposes. The objective of our study was to establish an effective method to bleach ostrich oil using peroxide value as an indicator of refinement. In our study, we showed that natural earth clay was better than bentonite and acid-activated clay to bleach ostrich oil. It was also found that 1 hour incubation at a 150 °C was suitable to lower peroxide value by 90%. In addition, the nitrogen trap technique in the bleaching process was as effective as the continuous nitrogen flow technique and as such would be the recommended technique due to its cost effectiveness.

Petroleum marketing monthly, April 1997 with data for January 1997

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1997-04-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, January 1998 with data for October 1997

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1998-01-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Demand and supply of hydrogen as chemical feedstock in USA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, C. J.; Tang, K.; Kelley, J. H.; Berger, B. J.

1979-01-01

Projections are made for the demand and supply of hydrogen as chemical feedstock in USA. Industrial sectors considered are petroleum refining, ammonia synthesis, methanol production, isocyanate manufacture, edible oil processing, coal liquefaction, fuel cell electricity generation, and direct iron reduction. Presently, almost all the hydrogen required is produced by reforming of natural gas or petroleum fractions. Specific needs and emphases are recommended for future research and development to produce hydrogen from other sources to meet the requirements of these industrial sectors. The data and the recommendations summarized in this paper are based on the Workshop 'Supply and Demand of Hydrogen as Chemical Feedstock' held at the University of Houston on December 12-14, 1977.

Study on nickel and vanadium removal in thermal conversion of oil sludge and oil shale sludge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sombral, L. G. S.; Pickler, A. C.; Aires, J. R.; Riehl, C. A.

2003-05-01

The petroleum refining processes and of oil shale industrialization generate solid and semi-solid residues. In those residues heavy metals are found in concentrations that vary according to the production sector. The destination of those residues is encouraging researches looking for new technologies that reach the specifications of environmental organisms, and are being developed and applied to the industry. In this work it is shown that the heavy metals concentrations, previously in the petroleum oily solid residues and in those of the oils shale, treated by low temperature thermal conversion, obtaining in both cases concentrations below Ippm to Nickel and below 5ppm to vanadium.

Biological production of ethanol from waste gases with Clostridium ljungdahlii

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

2000-01-01

A method and apparatus for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products is disclosed. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various product, such as organic acids, alcohols H.sub.2, SCP, and salts of organic acids by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified.

TIMES-SS--recent refinements resulting from an industrial skin sensitisation consortium.

PubMed

Patlewicz, G; Kuseva, C; Mehmed, A; Popova, Y; Dimitrova, G; Ellis, G; Hunziker, R; Kern, P; Low, L; Ringeissen, S; Roberts, D W; Mekenyan, O

2014-01-01

The TImes MEtabolism Simulator platform for predicting Skin Sensitisation (TIMES-SS) is a hybrid expert system, first developed at Bourgas University using funding and data from a consortium of industry and regulators. TIMES-SS encodes structure-toxicity and structure-skin metabolism relationships through a number of transformations, some of which are underpinned by mechanistic 3D QSARs. The model estimates semi-quantitative skin sensitisation potency classes and has been developed with the aim of minimising animal testing, and also to be scientifically valid in accordance with the OECD principles for (Q)SAR validation. In 2007 an external validation exercise was undertaken to fully address these principles. In 2010, a new industry consortium was established to coordinate research efforts in three specific areas: refinement of abiotic reactions in the skin (namely autoxidation) in the skin, refinement of the manner in which chemical reactivity was captured in terms of structure-toxicity rules (inclusion of alert reliability parameters) and defining the domain based on the underlying experimental data (study of discrepancies between local lymph node assay Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA) and Guinea Pig Maximisation Test (GPMT)). The present paper summarises the progress of these activities and explains how the insights derived have been translated into refinements, resulting in increased confidence and transparency in the robustness of the TIMES-SS predictions.

A Junior High School Industrial Technology Curriculum Project: A Final Evaluation of the Industrial Arts Curriculum Project (IACP), 1965-1971.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buffer, James J.; And Others

The objective of the Industrial Arts Curriculum Project (IACP) was to develop, refine, and institutionalize a new and relevant 2-year junior high industrial arts program. The study focused on "industrial technology," the knowledge of management, production, and personnel practices used by men to produce goods to satisfy their needs…

A new dawn for industrial photosynthesis.

PubMed

Robertson, Dan E; Jacobson, Stuart A; Morgan, Frederick; Berry, David; Church, George M; Afeyan, Noubar B

2011-03-01

Several emerging technologies are aiming to meet renewable fuel standards, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and provide viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Direct conversion of solar energy into fungible liquid fuel is a particularly attractive option, though conversion of that energy on an industrial scale depends on the efficiency of its capture and conversion. Large-scale programs have been undertaken in the recent past that used solar energy to grow innately oil-producing algae for biomass processing to biodiesel fuel. These efforts were ultimately deemed to be uneconomical because the costs of culturing, harvesting, and processing of algal biomass were not balanced by the process efficiencies for solar photon capture and conversion. This analysis addresses solar capture and conversion efficiencies and introduces a unique systems approach, enabled by advances in strain engineering, photobioreactor design, and a process that contradicts prejudicial opinions about the viability of industrial photosynthesis. We calculate efficiencies for this direct, continuous solar process based on common boundary conditions, empirical measurements and validated assumptions wherein genetically engineered cyanobacteria convert industrially sourced, high-concentration CO(2) into secreted, fungible hydrocarbon products in a continuous process. These innovations are projected to operate at areal productivities far exceeding those based on accumulation and refining of plant or algal biomass or on prior assumptions of photosynthetic productivity. This concept, currently enabled for production of ethanol and alkane diesel fuel molecules, and operating at pilot scale, establishes a new paradigm for high productivity manufacturing of nonfossil-derived fuels and chemicals.

Mechanisms of microstructure formation under the influence of ultrasonic vibrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rakita, Milan

Positive effects of ultrasound on crystallization have been known for almost 90 years. Application of ultrasound has been very successful in many industries, most notably in chemistry, creating a new branch of science - sonochemistry. However, ultrasonication has not found wide commercial application in the solidification processing. The reason for that is the complexity of underlying phenomena and the lack of predicting models which correlate processing parameters with the properties of a product. The purpose of this study is to give some contribution toward better understanding of mechanisms that lead to changes in the solidifying microstructure. It has been found that, under experimental conditions used in this work, cavitation-induced nucleation is the major contributor to the grain refinement. Ultrasonication at minimal supercoolings is expected to give maximal grain refinement. Dendrite fragmentation has not shown to be a significant contributor to the grain refinement. Dendrite fragmentation is maximal if done by bubbles that come in contact with the solidifying phase, or that are created there. Alloys/solutions with long solidification interval, or wide mushy zone, are expected to exhibit more dendrite fragmentation. Bubbles are recognized as a crucial feature in ultrasonication. Their size distribution in the liquid phase prior to ultrasonication dictates the cavitation threshold and intensity of cavitation. For the first time, radiation pressure has been recognized as potentially significant factor in grain refinement. In the experimental setup used in this study, acoustic pressure at the main (driving) frequency is not substantial to cause significant fragmentation, and only dendrites close to the sonotrode were fragmented. However, application of ultrasound with frequencies that are several times higher than the current industrial practice could substantially increase dendrite fragmentation. Appearance of fractional harmonics has also been recognized for the first time as potentially influential factor. The amplitude of pressure caused by these vibrations is quite sensible, and since resonant in nature, these pressure variations propagate throughout entire liquid volume. Although ultrasonication is a very efficient method for degassing melts, there is a risk of gas entrapment if ultrasound is applied during solidification. Heating can create unwanted effects during ultrasonication at small supercoolings.

40 CFR 261.3 - Definition of hazardous waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... discharged to the refinery oil recovery sewer before primary oil/water/solids separation—heat exchanger bundle cleaning sludge from the petroleum refining industry (EPA Hazardous Waste No. K050), crude oil... oil tank sediment and/or in-line filter/separation solids from petroleum refining operations (EPA...

40 CFR 261.3 - Definition of hazardous waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... discharged to the refinery oil recovery sewer before primary oil/water/solids separation—heat exchanger bundle cleaning sludge from the petroleum refining industry (EPA Hazardous Waste No. K050), crude oil... oil tank sediment and/or in-line filter/separation solids from petroleum refining operations (EPA...

40 CFR 261.3 - Definition of hazardous waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... discharged to the refinery oil recovery sewer before primary oil/water/solids separation—heat exchanger bundle cleaning sludge from the petroleum refining industry (EPA Hazardous Waste No. K050), crude oil... oil tank sediment and/or in-line filter/separation solids from petroleum refining operations (EPA...

Satisfaction of the Automotive Fleet Fuel Demand and Its Impact on the Oil Refining Industry

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-12-01

Because virtually all transportation fuels are based on petroleum, it is essential to include petroleum refining in any assessment of potential changes in the transportation system. A number of changes in the automotive fleet have been proposed to im...

Development of a performance-based industrial energy efficiency indicator for corn refining plants.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boyd, G. A.; Decision and Information Sciences; USEPA

2006-07-31

Organizations that implement strategic energy management programs have the potential to achieve sustained energy savings if the programs are carried out properly. A key opportunity for achieving energy savings that plant managers can take is to determine an appropriate level of energy performance by comparing their plant's performance with that of similar plants in the same industry. Manufacturing facilities can set energy efficiency targets by using performance-based indicators. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its ENERGY STAR{reg_sign} program, has been developing plant energy performance indicators (EPIs) to encourage a variety of U.S. industries to use energy more efficiently. Thismore » report describes work with the corn refining industry to provide a plant-level indicator of energy efficiency for facilities that produce a variety of products--including corn starch, corn oil, animal feed, corn sweeteners, and ethanol--for the paper, food, beverage, and other industries in the United States. Consideration is given to the role that performance-based indicators play in motivating change; the steps needed to develop indicators, including interacting with an industry to secure adequate data for an indicator; and the actual application and use of an indicator when complete. How indicators are employed in the EPA's efforts to encourage industries to voluntarily improve their use of energy is discussed as well. The report describes the data and statistical methods used to construct the EPI for corn refining plants. Individual equations are presented, as are the instructions for using them in an associated Excel spreadsheet.« less

Industrial steam systems and the energy-water nexus.

PubMed

Walker, Michael E; Lv, Zhen; Masanet, Eric

2013-11-19

This paper presents estimates for water consumption and steam generation within U.S. manufacturing industries. These estimates were developed through the integration of detailed, industry-level fuel use and operation data with an engineering-based steam system model. The results indicate that industrial steam systems consume approximately 3780 TBTU/yr (3.98 × 10(9) GJ/yr) to generate an estimated 2.9 trillion lb/yr (1.3 trillion kg/yr) of steam. Since a good portion of this steam is injected directly into plant processes, vented, leaked, or removed via blowdown, roughly 354 MGD of freshwater must be introduced to these systems as makeup. This freshwater consumption rate is approximately 11% of that for the entire U.S. manufacturing sector, or the total residential consumption rate of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the U.S. The majority of this consumption (>94%) can be attributed to the food, paper, petroleum refining, and chemicals industries. The results of the analyses presented herein provide previously unavailable detail on water consumption in U.S. industrial steam systems and highlight opportunities for combined energy and water savings.

Development Of Simulation Model For Fluid Catalytic Cracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Sobhan

2010-10-01

Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) is the most widely used secondary conversion process in the refining industry, for producing gasoline, olefins, and middle distillate from heavier petroleum fractions. There are more than 500 units in the world with a total processing capacity of about 17 to 20% of the crude capacity. FCC catalyst is the highest consumed catalyst in the process industry. On one hand, FCC is quite flexible with respect to it's ability to process wide variety of crudes with a flexible product yield pattern, and on the other hand, the interdependence of the major operating parameters makes the process extremely complex. An operating unit is self balancing and some fluctuations in the independent parameters are automatically adjusted by changing the temperatures and flow rates at different sections. However, a good simulation model is very useful to the refiner to get the best out of the process, in terms of selection of the best catalyst, to cope up with the day to day changing of the feed quality and the demands of different products from FCC unit. In addition, a good model is of great help in designing the process units and peripherals. A simple empirical model is often adequate to monitor the day to day operations, but they are not of any use in handling the other problems such as, catalyst selection or, design / modification of the plant. For this, a kinetic based rigorous model is required. Considering the complexity of the process, large number of chemical species undergoing "n" number of parallel and consecutive reactions, it is virtually impossible to develop a simulation model based on the kinetic parameters. The most common approach is to settle for a semi empirical model. We shall take up the key issues for developing a FCC model and the contribution of such models in the optimum operation of the plant.

Construction and Application of a Refined Hospital Management Chain.

PubMed

Yi, Lihua; Hao, Aimin; Hu, Minmin; Huang, Pei; Yuan, Huikang; Xing, Ming

2015-05-01

Gaining large scale success was quite common in the later period of industrialization for hospitals in China. Today, Chinese hospital management face such problems as service inefficiency, high human resources cost, and low rate of capital use. This study analyzes the refined management chain of the Wuxi No. 2 People's Hospital. This consists of six gears namely "organizational structure, clinical practice, outpatient service, medical technology, and nursing care and logistics" used to achieve maximum scale and benefits. The gears are based on "flat management system targets, chief of medical staff, centralized outpatient service, intensified medical examinations, vertical nursing management and socialized logistics". The hospital took innovative measures. The "one doctor-one patient-one clinic" was well accepted; "one dispensary" shorten the waiting time by 20 min. The 168 rear service hot line "made patients' lives easier; and a red wrist ribbon" for seriously ill patient was implemented to prioritize medical treatment. The core concepts of refined hospital management are optimizing flow process, reducing waste, improving efficiency, saving costs, and taking good care of patients as most important.

Developments in the Disposal of Residue from the Alumina Refining Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooling, D. J.

The disposal of residue forms an integral part of the alumina refining process. The refining of Western Australia bauxite, which is low grade ore by world standards, results in 2 dry tonnes of residue for every 1 tonne of alumina produced. The disposal of this residue contributes a significant proportion of the overall cost of producing alumina. The residue is also highly alkaline, and, if not contained in sealed impoundment areas, can impact on the local environment. It has been these two considerations, the cost of disposal and the potential impact of disposal on the environment, which have been the main driving forces behind changes to the way residue is stored. This paper traces the various residue disposal techniques adopted by Alcoa of Australia Limited from containment in large settling ponds, to splitting the coarse and fine fractions for separate disposal, to the storage of the fine mud fraction in base drained ponds, to the more recent pre-thickening of the fine mud fraction for disposal in solar drying ponds. The reasons for change and the problems encountered are reviewed, and possible future developments are discussed.

Optimization of Refining Craft for Vegetable Insulating Oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhu-Jun; Hu, Ting; Cheng, Lin; Tian, Kai; Wang, Xuan; Yang, Jun; Kong, Hai-Yang; Fang, Fu-Xin; Qian, Hang; Fu, Guang-Pan

2016-05-01

Vegetable insulating oil because of its environmental friendliness are considered as ideal material instead of mineral oil used for the insulation and the cooling of the transformer. The main steps of traditional refining process included alkali refining, bleaching and distillation. This kind of refining process used in small doses of insulating oil refining can get satisfactory effect, but can't be applied to the large capacity reaction kettle. This paper using rapeseed oil as crude oil, and the refining process has been optimized for large capacity reaction kettle. The optimized refining process increases the acid degumming process. The alkali compound adds the sodium silicate composition in the alkali refining process, and the ratio of each component is optimized. Add the amount of activated clay and activated carbon according to 10:1 proportion in the de-colorization process, which can effectively reduce the oil acid value and dielectric loss. Using vacuum pumping gas instead of distillation process can further reduce the acid value. Compared some part of the performance parameters of refined oil products with mineral insulating oil, the dielectric loss of vegetable insulating oil is still high and some measures are needed to take to further optimize in the future.

Synthetic and Biomass Alternate Fueling in Aviation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hendricks, R. C.; Bushnell, D. M.

2009-01-01

While transportation fueling can accommodate a broad range of alternate fuels, aviation fueling needs are specific, such as the fuel not freezing at altitude or become too viscous to flow properly or of low bulk energy density that shortens range. The fuel must also be compatible with legacy aircraft, some of which are more than 50 years old. Worldwide, the aviation industry alone uses some 85-95 billion gallons of hydrocarbon-based fossil fuel each year, which is about 10% of the transportation industry. US civil aviation alone consumes nearly 14 billion gallons. The enormity of the problem becomes overwhelming, and the aviation industry is taking alternate fueling issues very seriously. Biofuels (algae, cyanobacteria, halophytes, weeds that use wastelands, wastewater and seatwater), when properly sourced, have the capacity to be drop-in fuel replacements for petroleum fuels. As such, biojet from such sources solves the aviation CO2 emissions issue without the downsides of 'conventional' biofuels, such as competing with food and fresh water resources. Of the many current fundamental problems, the major biofuel problem is cost. Both research and development and creative engineering are required to reduce these biofuels costs. Research is also ongoing in several 'improvement' areas including refining/processing and biologics with greater disease resistance, greater bio-oil productivity, reduced water/nutrient requirements, etc. The authors' current research is aimed at aiding industry efforts in several areas. They are considering different modeling approaches, growth media and refining approaches, different biologic feedstocks, methods of sequestering carbon in the processes, fuel certification for aviation use and, overall, ensuring that biofuels are feasible from all aspects - operability, capacity, carbon cycle and financial. The authors are also providing common discussion grounds/opportunities for the various parties, disciplines and concerned organization to share both issues and potential ways for moving forward, and overall, trying to educate those concerned about the innate limitations of 'conventional' biofuels and the solutions provided by non-traditional feedstocks that used waste lands/water or saline/salt water have an immense capacity potential.

The production, properties, and applications of thermostable steryl glucosidases.

PubMed

Aguirre, Andres; Eberhardt, Florencia; Hails, Guillermo; Cerminati, Sebastian; Castelli, María Eugenia; Rasia, Rodolfo M; Paoletti, Luciana; Menzella, Hugo G; Peiru, Salvador

2018-02-21

Extremophilic microorganisms are a rich source of enzymes, the enzymes which can serve as industrial catalysts that can withstand harsh processing conditions. An example is thermostable β-glucosidases that are addressing a challenging problem in the biodiesel industry: removing steryl glucosides (SGs) from biodiesel. Steryl glucosidases (SGases) must be tolerant to heat and solvents in order to function efficiently in biodiesel. The amphipathic nature of SGs also requires enzymes with an affinity for water/solvent interfaces in order to achieve efficient hydrolysis. Additionally, the development of an enzymatic process involving a commodity such as soybean biodiesel must be cost-effective, necessitating an efficient manufacturing process for SGases. This review summarizes the identification of microbial SGases and their applications, discusses biodiesel refining processes and the development of analytical methods for identifying and quantifying SGs in foods and biodiesel, and considers technologies for strain engineering and process optimization for the heterologous production of a SGase from Thermococcus litoralis. All of these technologies might be used for the production of other thermostable enzymes. Structural features of SGases and the feasibility of protein engineering for novel applications are explored.

Advanced bulk processing of lightweight materials for utilization in the transportation sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milner, Justin L.

The overall objective of this research is to develop the microstructure of metallic lightweight materials via multiple advanced processing techniques with potentials for industrial utilization on a large scale to meet the demands of the aerospace and automotive sectors. This work focused on (i) refining the grain structure to increase the strength, (ii) controlling the texture to increase formability and (iii) directly reducing processing/production cost of lightweight material components. Advanced processing is conducted on a bulk scale by several severe plastic deformation techniques including: accumulative roll bonding, isolated shear rolling and friction stir processing to achieve the multiple targets of this research. Development and validation of the processing techniques is achieved through wide-ranging experiments along with detailed mechanical and microstructural examination of the processed material. On a broad level, this research will make advancements in processing of bulk lightweight materials facilitating industrial-scale implementation. Where accumulative roll bonding and isolated shear rolling, currently feasible on an industrial scale, processes bulk sheet materials capable of replacing more expensive grades of alloys and enabling low-temperature and high-strain-rate formability. Furthermore, friction stir processing to manufacture lightweight tubes, made from magnesium alloys, has the potential to increase the utilization of these materials in the automotive and aerospace sectors for high strength - high formability applications. With the increased utilization of these advanced processing techniques will significantly reduce the cost associated with lightweight materials for many applications in the transportation sectors.

Manufacture and prebiotic potential of oligosaccharides derived from industrial solid wastes.

PubMed

Gullón, Patricia; González-Muñoz, María Jesús; Parajó, Juan Carlos

2011-05-01

The solid waste obtained in malting industries when dehulling barley grains, which was mainly made up of barley husks, spent grains and grain fragments, was subjected to a double hydrothermal processing under selected conditions. The liquor from the second stage (containing xylooligosaccharides, XOS) was refined by membrane and ion exchange processing (with or without a previous endoxylanase treatment to reduce the XOS molecular weight). Three XOS concentrates with different purity and/or molecular weight distribution were fermented in vitro with faecal inocula to assess their prebiotic potential. Succinate, lactate, formiate, acetate, propionate and butyrate were generated in fermentations, confirming the prebiotic potential of the various products assayed. The purity of XOS concentrates did not play a significant role in fermentation, whereas the sample with shorter average degree of polymerization presented a faster fermentation kinetics and led to the highest concentration of lactic acid. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Use of Tribocharging in the Electrostatic Beneficiation of Lunar Simulant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trigwell, S.; Captain, J. G.; Arens, E. E.; Captain, J. E.; Quinn, J. W.; Calle, C. I.

2007-01-01

Any future lunar base needs materials to provide thermal and radiation protection. Many factors point to the use of lunar materials as industrial feedstocks. Sintering of full-scale bricks using whole lunar dust has been accomplished. Refinement of soil beneficial before processing means less energy. Triboelectric separation of coal from minerals, quartz from feldspar, and phosphorous from silica and iron ore successively achieved. The Lunar environment ideal for electrostatic separation (1) lack of moisture (2) lower gravitational pull (3) higher voltages in vacuum

The Persian Gulf Balance of Power and United States Foreign Policy Response.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-01

is a region which can and has changed rapidly and without notice. This project was sponsored by the Air University National Security Affairs Briefing... growing industry includes trade natural gas, aluminum smelting, plastics, fish processing and oil refining. (8:194) The GDP in 1982 was $4.0 bI Ion, (36...and this figure was growing at an estimated annual rate of US $4 to US $5 billion." (35:248) Recently Saudi Arabia has tried to diversify Its arms

Carbon/Attapulgite Composites as Recycled Palm Oil-Decoloring and Dye Adsorbents

PubMed Central

Tian, Guangyan; Zhu, Yongfeng; Zong, Li; Kang, Yuru; Wang, Aiqin

2018-01-01

Activated clay minerals have been widely used in the edible oil refining industry for decolorization of crude oil by adsorption, and so far many methods have been used to improve their decolorization efficiency. Herein, we successfully prepared a series of carbon/attapulgite (C/APT) composite adsorbents by a one-step in-situ carbonization process with natural starch (St) as the carbon source. It has been revealed that the adsorbent had better decolorization efficiency for crude palm oil than acid-activated APT. However, more than a million tons of decolorized waste is produced every year in the oil-refining industry, which was often treated as solid waste and has not yet been reutilized effectively. In order to explore a viable method to recycle and reuse the decolorant, the waste decolorant was further prepared into new C/APT adsorbents for the removal of dyes from wastewater, and then the dyes adsorbed on the adsorbent were used as the carbon sources to produce new C/APT adsorbents by a cyclic carbonization process. The results showed that the adsorbents prepared from the decolorized waste could remove more than 99.5% of the methylene blue (MB), methyl violet (MV), and malachite green (MG) dyes from the simulated wastewater with the dye concentration of 200 mg/L, and the C/APT–Re adsorbent consecutively regenerated five times using the adsorbed dyes as a carbon source still exhibit good adsorption efficiency for dyes. As a whole, this process opens a new avenue to develop efficient decolorants of palm oil and achieves recyclable utilization of decolored waste. PMID:29316634

Value driven innovation in medical device design: a process for balancing stakeholder voices.

PubMed

de Ana, F J; Umstead, K A; Phillips, G J; Conner, C P

2013-09-01

The innovation process has often been represented as a linear process which funnels customer needs through various business and process filters. This method may be appropriate for some consumer products, but in the medical device industry there are some inherent limitations to the traditional innovation funnel approach. In the medical device industry, there are a number of stakeholders who need to have their voices heard throughout the innovation process. Each stakeholder has diverse and unique needs relating to the medical device, the needs of one may highly affect the needs of another, and the relationships between stakeholders may be tenuous. This paper describes the application of a spiral innovation process to the development of a medical device which considers three distinct stakeholder voices: the Voice of the Customer, the Voice of the Business and the Voice of the Technology. The process is presented as a case study focusing on the front-end redesign of a class III medical device for an orthopedics company. Starting from project initiation and scope alignment, the process describes four phases, Discover, Envision, Create, and Refine, and concludes with value assessment of the final design features.

Environmental friendly technology for aluminum electrolytic capacitors recycling from waste printed circuit boards.

PubMed

Wang, Jianbo; Xu, Zhenming

2017-03-15

up to now, the recycling of e-waste should be developed towards more depth and refinement to promote industrial production of e-waste resource recovery. in the present study, the recycling of aluminum electrolytic capacitors (AECs) from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) is focused on. First of all, AECs are disassembled from WPCBs by a self-designed machine; meanwhile, the disassembled AECs are subjected to an integrated process, involving heating treatment, crushing, sieving, and magnetic separating, to recover aluminum and iron; finally, the off-gas and residue generated during the aforementioned processes are analyzed to evaluate environmental risks. The results indicate that 96.52% and 98.68% of aluminum and iron, respectively, can be recovered from AECs under the optimal condition. The off-gas generated during the process is mainly composed of elements of C, H, and O, indicating that the off-gas is non-toxic and could be re-utilized as clean energy source. The residue according with toxicity characteristics leaching standard can be landfilled safely in sanitary landfill site. The present study provides an environmentally friendly and industrial application potential strategy to recycle AECs to promote e-waste recycling industry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Building bridges, breaking barriers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gonzalez, R.G.

1996-05-01

Communication is one of the most important factors in determining the success of any enterprise. It is certain to rise to the forefront for the international refining and petrochemical industries as companies seek continuous improvement in their operations. Most industry participants have recently undergone a wave of business process re-engineering, integrating new people with new practices in more areas than ever before. Companies have broken down the old functional organizations within the plant in favor of asset teams, placed renewed emphasis on optimizing profits across the entire downstream value chain and extended their global businesses to include joint venture partners.more » The goal is to empower people to make better decisions in a more timely manner to positively impact performance.« less

Sequential chemical-biological processes for the treatment of industrial wastewaters: review of recent progresses and critical assessment.

PubMed

Guieysse, Benoit; Norvill, Zane N

2014-02-28

When direct wastewater biological treatment is unfeasible, a cost- and resource-efficient alternative to direct chemical treatment consists of combining biological treatment with a chemical pre-treatment aiming to convert the hazardous pollutants into more biodegradable compounds. Whereas the principles and advantages of sequential treatment have been demonstrated for a broad range of pollutants and process configurations, recent progresses (2011-present) in the field provide the basis for refining assessment of feasibility, costs, and environmental impacts. This paper thus reviews recent real wastewater demonstrations at pilot and full scale as well as new process configurations. It also discusses new insights on the potential impacts of microbial community dynamics on process feasibility, design and operation. Finally, it sheds light on a critical issue that has not yet been properly addressed in the field: integration requires complex and tailored optimization and, of paramount importance to full-scale application, is sensitive to uncertainty and variability in the inputs used for process design and operation. Future research is therefore critically needed to improve process control and better assess the real potential of sequential chemical-biological processes for industrial wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Additive Manufacturing of Porous Metal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dehoff, Ryan R.; Kirka, Michael M.

2017-06-01

Currently, helium is obtained through separation from natural gas. The current industrial process incurs significant costs and requires large energy resources to successfully achieve separation. Through utilizing Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies it is possible to reduce both of these burdens when refining helium gas. The ability to engineer porosity levels within Inconel 718 discs for controlled separation of helium from natural gas was investigated. Arrays of samples fabricated using the electron beam melting process were analyzed for their relative porosity density. Based upon the measurements, full scale discs were fabricated, and subsequently tested to determine their effectiveness in separating heliummore » from liquefied natural gas.« less

Value added product recovery from sludge generated during gum arabic refining process by vermicomposting.

PubMed

Das, Veena; Satyanarayan, Sanjeev; Satyanarayan, Shanta

2016-09-01

Gum arabic is multifunctional and used in food products, pharmaceutical, confectionery, cosmetic, printing and textile industry. Gum arabic has an excellent market and its production is being increased to meet the market demand. In the process, huge quantity of solid waste is generated during its refining process. An attempt has been made to vermicompost this organic waste using Eudrilus eugeniae. This research work is first of its kind. Literature on this substrate has not been reported anywhere else for vermicomposting. Results were excellent with volatile solid reduction of 51.34 %; C/N ratio reduced to 16.31 % indicating efficient loss of carbon as carbon dioxide during vermicomposting period. Manurial value, i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content in the range, required for the plants also increased. Porosity of 67.74 % and water holding capacity of 65.75 % were observed. The maturity of the vermicompost was evaluated through scanning electron microscopy wherein the complete conversion of large raw material particles into finer particles forming a uniform matrix with more surface area was observed indicating its efficient conversion. Microbial quality of vermicompost was also studied. The final vermicompost is free of fungal cells and pathogenic bacteria.

Mineral commodity profiles: Germanium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butterman, W.C.; Jorgenson, John D.

2005-01-01

Overview -- Germanium is a hard, brittle semimetal that first came into use a half-century ago as a semiconductor material in radar units and as the material from which the first transistor was made. Today it is used principally as a component of the glass in telecommunications fiber optics; as a polymerization catalyst for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a commercially important plastic; in infrared (IR) night vision devices; and as a semiconductor and substrate in electronics circuitry. Most germanium is recovered as a byproduct of zinc smelting, although it also has been recovered at some copper smelters and from the fly ash of coal-burning industrial powerplants. It is a highly dispersed element, associated primarily with base-metal sulfide ores. In the United States, germanium is recovered from zinc smelter residues and manufacturing scrap and is refined by two companies at four germanium refineries. One of the four refineries is dedicated to processing scrap. In 2000, producers sold zone-refined (high-purity) germanium at about $1,250 per kilogram and electronic-grade germanium dioxide (GeO2) at $800 per kilogram. Domestic refined production was valued at $22 million. Germanium is a critical component in highly technical devices and processes. It is likely to remain in demand in the future at levels at least as high as those of 2000. U.S. resources of germanium are probably adequate to meet domestic needs for several decades.

Effect of Rolling and Subsequent Annealing on Microstructure, Microtexture, and Properties of an Experimental Duplex Stainless Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, Arka; Patra, Sudipta; Chakrabarti, Debalay; Singh, Shiv Brat

2017-12-01

A lean duplex stainless steel (LDSS) has been prepared with low-N content and processed by different thermo-mechanical schedules, similar to the industrial processing that comprised hot-rolling, cold-rolling, and annealing treatments. The microstructure developed in the present study on low-N LDSS has been compared to that of high-N LDSS as reported in the literature. As N is an austenite stabilizer, lower-N content reduced the stability of austenite and the austenite content in low-N LDSS with respect to the conventional LDSS. Due to low stability of austenite in low-N LDSS, cold rolling resulted in strain-induced martensitic transformation and the reversion of martensite to austenite during subsequent annealing contributed to significant grain refinement within the austenite regions. δ-ferrite grains in low-N LDSS, on the other hand, are refined by extended recovery mechanism. Initial solidification texture (mainly cube texture) within the δ-ferrite region finally converted into gamma-fiber texture after cold rolling and annealing. Although MS-brass component dominated the austenite texture in low-N LDSS after hot rolling and cold rolling, that even transformed into alpha-fiber texture after the final annealing. Due to the significant grain refinement and formation of beneficial texture within both austenite and ferrite, good combination of strength and ductility has been achieved in cold-rolled and annealed sample of low-N LDSS steel.

Radiation Resistant Electrical Insulation Materials for Nuclear Reactors: Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duckworth, Robert C.; Aytug, Tolga; Paranthaman, M. Parans

The instrument and control cables in future nuclear reactors will be exposed to temperatures, dose rates, and accumulated doses exceeding those originally anticipated for the 40-year operational life of the nuclear power plant fleet. The use of nanocomposite dielectrics as insulating material for such cables has been considered a route to performance improvement. In this project, nanoparticles were developed and successfully included in three separate material systems [cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA/XLPVA), cross-linked polyethylene (PE/XLPE), and polyimide (PI)], and the chemical, electrical, and mechanical performance of each was analyzed as a function of environmental exposure and composition. Improvements were found inmore » each material system; however, refinement of each processing pathway is needed, and the consequences of these refinements in the context of thermal, radiation, and moisture exposures should be evaluated before transferring knowledge to industry.« less

Combining density functional theory (DFT) and pair distribution function (PDF) analysis to solve the structure of metastable materials: the case of metakaolin.

PubMed

White, Claire E; Provis, John L; Proffen, Thomas; Riley, Daniel P; van Deventer, Jannie S J

2010-04-07

Understanding the atomic structure of complex metastable (including glassy) materials is of great importance in research and industry, however, such materials resist solution by most standard techniques. Here, a novel technique combining thermodynamics and local structure is presented to solve the structure of the metastable aluminosilicate material metakaolin (calcined kaolinite) without the use of chemical constraints. The structure is elucidated by iterating between least-squares real-space refinement using neutron pair distribution function data, and geometry optimisation using density functional modelling. The resulting structural representation is both energetically feasible and in excellent agreement with experimental data. This accurate structural representation of metakaolin provides new insight into the local environment of the aluminium atoms, with evidence of the existence of tri-coordinated aluminium. By the availability of this detailed chemically feasible atomic description, without the need to artificially impose constraints during the refinement process, there exists the opportunity to tailor chemical and mechanical processes involving metakaolin and other complex metastable materials at the atomic level to obtain optimal performance at the macro-scale.

NASA Occupational Health Program FY98 Self-Assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brisbin, Steven G.

1999-01-01

The NASA Functional Management Review process requires that each NASA Center conduct self-assessments of each functional area. Self-Assessments were completed in June 1998 and results were presented during this conference session. During FY 97 NASA Occupational Health Assessment Team activities, a decision was made to refine the NASA Self-Assessment Process. NASA Centers were involved in the ISO registration process at that time and wanted to use the management systems approach to evaluate their occupational health programs. This approach appeared to be more consistent with NASA's management philosophy and would likely confer status needed by Senior Agency Management for the program. During FY 98 the Agency Occupational Health Program Office developed a revised self-assessment methodology based on the Occupational Health and Safety Management System developed by the American Industrial Hygiene Association. This process was distributed to NASA Centers in March 1998 and completed in June 1998. The Center Self Assessment data will provide an essential baseline on the status of OHP management processes at NASA Centers. That baseline will be presented to Enterprise Associate Administrators and DASHO on September 22, 1998 and used as a basis for discussion during FY 99 visits to NASA Centers. The process surfaced several key management system elements warranting further support from the Lead Center. Input and feedback from NASA Centers will be essential to defining and refining future self assessment efforts.

Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement in the United States Petroleum Refining Industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morrow, William R.; Marano, John; Sathaye, Jayant

2013-02-01

Adoption of efficient process technologies is an important approach to reducing CO 2 emissions, in particular those associated with combustion. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among the most cost-effective approaches that any refiner can take, improving productivity while reducing emissions. Therefore, careful analysis of the options and costs associated with efficiency measures is required to establish sound carbon policies addressing global climate change, and is the primary focus of LBNL’s current petroleum refining sector analysis for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The analysis is aimed at identifying energy efficiency-related measures and developing energy abatement supply curves andmore » CO 2 emissions reduction potential for the U.S. refining industry. A refinery model has been developed for this purpose that is a notional aggregation of the U.S. petroleum refining sector. It consists of twelve processing units and account s for the additional energy requirements from steam generation, hydrogen production and water utilities required by each of the twelve processing units. The model is carbon and energy balanced such that crud e oil inputs and major refinery sector outputs (fuels) are benchmarked to 2010 data. Estimates of the current penetration for the identified energy efficiency measures benchmark the energy requirements to those reported in U.S. DOE 2010 data. The remaining energy efficiency potential for each of the measures is estimated and compared to U.S. DOE fuel prices resulting in estimates of cost- effective energy efficiency opportunities for each of the twelve major processes. A combined cost of conserved energy supply curve is also presented along with the CO 2 emissions abatement opportunities that exist in the U.S. petroleum refinery sector. Roughly 1,200 PJ per year of primary fuels savings and close to 500 GWh per y ear of electricity savings are potentially cost-effective given U.S. DOE fuel price forecasts. This represents roughly 70 million metric tonnes of CO 2 emission reductions assuming 2010 emissions factor for grid electricity. Energy efficiency measures resulting in an additional 400 PJ per year of primary fuels savings and close to 1,700 GWh per year of electricity savings, and an associated 24 million metric tonnes of CO 2 emission reductions are not cost-effective given the same assumption with respect to fuel prices and electricity emissions factors. Compared to the modeled energy requirements for the U.S. petroleum refining sector, the cost effective potential represents a 40% reduction in fuel consumption and a 2% reduction in electricity consumption. The non-cost-effective potential represents an additional 13% reduction in fuel consumption and an additional 7% reduction in electricity consumption. The relative energy reduction potentials are mu ch higher for fuel consumption than electricity consumption largely in part because fuel is the primary energy consumption type in the refineries. Moreover, many cost effective fuel savings measures would increase electricity consumption. The model also has the potential to be used to examine the costs and benefits of the other CO 2 mitigation options, such as combined heat and power (CHP), carbon capture, and the potential introduction of biomass feedstocks. However, these options are not addressed in this report as this report is focused on developing the modeling methodology and assessing fuels savings measures. These opportunities to further reduce refinery sector CO 2 emissions and are recommended for further research and analysis.« less

Cost-benefit analysis of copper recovery in remediation projects: A case study from Sweden.

PubMed

Volchko, Yevheniya; Norrman, Jenny; Rosén, Lars; Karlfeldt Fedje, Karin

2017-12-15

Contamination resulting from past industrial activity is a problem throughout the world and many sites are severely contaminated by metals. Advances in research in recent years have resulted in the development of technologies for recovering metal from metal-rich materials within the framework of remediation projects. Using cost-benefit analysis (CBA), and explicitly taking uncertainties into account, this paper evaluates the potential social profitability of copper recovery as part of four remediation alternatives at a Swedish site. One alternative involves delivery of copper-rich ash to a metal production company for refining. The other three alternatives involve metal leaching from materials and sale of the resulting metal sludge for its further processing at a metal production company using metallurgical methods. All the alternatives are evaluated relative to the conventional excavation and disposal method. Metal recovery from the ash, metal sludge sale, and disposal of the contaminated soil and the ash residue at the local landfill site, was found to be the best remediation alternative. However, given the present conditions, its economic potential is low relative to the conventional excavation and disposal method but higher than direct disposal of the copper-rich ash for refining. Volatile copper prices, the high cost of processing equipment, the highly uncertain cost of the metal leaching and washing process, coupled with the substantial project risks, contribute most to the uncertainties in the CBA results for the alternatives involving metal leaching prior to refining. However, investment in processing equipment within the framework of a long-term investment project, production of safe, reusable soil residue, and higher copper prices on the metal market, can make metal recovery technology socially profitable. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mapping the Limitations of Breakthrough Analysis in Fixed-Bed Adsorption

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knox, James Clinton

2017-01-01

The separation of gases through adsorption plays an important role in the chemical processing industry, where the separation step is often the costliest part of a chemical process and thus worthy of careful study and optimization. This work developed a number of new, archival aspects on the computer simulations used for the refinement and design of these gas adsorption processes: 1. Presented a new approach to fit the undetermined heat and mass transfer coefficients in the axially dispersed plug flow equation and associated balance equations 2. Examined and described the conditions where non-physical simulation results can arise 3. Presented an approach to determine the limits of the axial dispersion and LDF mass transfer terms above which non-physical simulation results occur.

A comparative assessment of resource efficiency in petroleum refining

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Han, Jeongwoo; Forman, Grant S.; Elgowainy, Amgad

Because of increasing environmental and energy security concerns, a detailed understanding of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the petroleum refining industry is critical for fair and equitable energy and environmental policies. To date, this has proved challenging due in part to the complex nature and variability within refineries. In an effort to simplify energy and emissions refinery analysis, we delineated LP modeling results from 60 large refineries from the US and EU into broad categories based on crude density (API gravity) and heavy product (HP) yields. Product-specific efficiencies and process fuel shares derived from this study weremore » incorporated in Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET life-cycle model, along with regional upstream GHG intensities of crude, natural gas and electricity specific to the US and EU regions. The modeling results suggest that refineries that process relatively heavier crude inputs and have lower yields of HPs generally have lower energy efficiencies and higher GHG emissions than refineries that run lighter crudes with lower yields of HPs. The former types of refineries tend to utilize energy-intensive units which are significant consumers of utilities (heat and electricity) and hydrogen. Among the three groups of refineries studied, the major difference in the energy intensities is due to the amount of purchased natural gas for utilities and hydrogen, while the sum of refinery feed inputs are generally constant. These results highlight the GHG emissions cost a refiner pays to process deep into the barrel to produce more of the desirable fuels with low carbon to hydrogen ratio.« less

A Comparative Assessment of Resource Efficiency in Petroleum Refining

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Han, Jeongwoo; Forman, G; Elgowainy, Amgad

2015-10-01

Because of increasing environmental and energy security concerns, a detailed understanding of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the petroleum refining industry is critical for fair and equitable energy and environmental policies. To date, this has proved challenging due in part to the complex nature and variability within refineries. In an effort to simplify energy and emissions refinery analysis, we delineated LP modeling results from 60 large refineries from the US and EU into broad categories based on crude density (API gravity) and heavy product (HP) yields. Product-specific efficiencies and process fuel shares derived from this study weremore » incorporated in Argonne National Laboratory's GREET life-cycle model, along with regional upstream GHG intensities of crude, natural gas and electricity specific to the US and EU regions. The modeling results suggest that refineries that process relatively heavier crude inputs and have lower yields of HPs generally have lower energy efficiencies and higher GHG emissions than refineries that run lighter crudes with lower yields of HPs. The former types of refineries tend to utilize energy-intensive units which are significant consumers of utilities (heat and electricity) and hydrogen. Among the three groups of refineries studied, the major difference in the energy intensities is due to the amount of purchased natural gas for utilities and hydrogen, while the sum of refinery feed inputs are generally constant. These results highlight the GHG emissions cost a refiner pays to process deep into the barrel to produce more of the desirable fuels with low carbon to hydrogen ratio. (c) 2015 Argonne National Laboratory. Published by Elsevier Ltd.« less

A comparative assessment of resource efficiency in petroleum refining

DOE PAGES

Han, Jeongwoo; Forman, Grant S.; Elgowainy, Amgad; ...

2015-03-25

Because of increasing environmental and energy security concerns, a detailed understanding of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the petroleum refining industry is critical for fair and equitable energy and environmental policies. To date, this has proved challenging due in part to the complex nature and variability within refineries. In an effort to simplify energy and emissions refinery analysis, we delineated LP modeling results from 60 large refineries from the US and EU into broad categories based on crude density (API gravity) and heavy product (HP) yields. Product-specific efficiencies and process fuel shares derived from this study weremore » incorporated in Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET life-cycle model, along with regional upstream GHG intensities of crude, natural gas and electricity specific to the US and EU regions. The modeling results suggest that refineries that process relatively heavier crude inputs and have lower yields of HPs generally have lower energy efficiencies and higher GHG emissions than refineries that run lighter crudes with lower yields of HPs. The former types of refineries tend to utilize energy-intensive units which are significant consumers of utilities (heat and electricity) and hydrogen. Among the three groups of refineries studied, the major difference in the energy intensities is due to the amount of purchased natural gas for utilities and hydrogen, while the sum of refinery feed inputs are generally constant. These results highlight the GHG emissions cost a refiner pays to process deep into the barrel to produce more of the desirable fuels with low carbon to hydrogen ratio.« less

The lead and lead-acid battery industries during 2002 and 2007 in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, H. Y.; Li, A. J.; Finlow, D. E.

In the past 15 years, the center of the international lead market has shifted to China. China has become the largest producer of raw and refined lead, plus the largest consumer. This paper reviews the status of the lead and lead-acid battery industries in China, including lead mining, lead refining, secondary lead production, the lead-acid battery industry, new opportunities for lead-acid batteries, and the environmental problems associated with lead and lead-acid batteries. The output of raw and refined lead has increased annually in China, and now accounts for more than 30% of the world total. As a result of a change in the Chinese government's policy regarding the export of lead, plus an increase in the price of lead, the profits of Chinese lead manufacturers were significantly reduced, the trade deficit of the Chinese lead industry increased, the operating rates of lead smelter enterprises greatly reduced, and some small enterprises were forced to shut down. At the present time, an increasing number of enterprises have begun to produce secondary lead, and the scale of production has expanded from tens of tons to tens of thousands of tons. In 2006, the output of secondary lead in China reached 700,000 tons, but outdated technology and equipment limited development of the secondary lead industry. Because of serious pollution problems, raw material shortages, and fierce price competition in the battery market, changes in the development of the lead-acid battery industry have been dramatic; approximately one thousand medium-sized and small lead-acid battery producers have been closed in the past 3 years. The output of large lead-acid battery enterprises has not been reduced, however, as a result of their manufacturing technology and equipment being comparable to those in other advanced industrial countries. In China, the flourishing development of electric bicycles, electric tricycles, and photovoltaic energy systems should provide ongoing opportunities for the lead-acid battery industry.

Status of H-Coal commercial activities. [Kentucky

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hicks, H.N. Jr.

1981-01-01

The H-Coal process is a development of Hydrocarbon Research, Inc. (HRI). It converts coal by catalytic hydrogenation to substitutes for petroleum ranging from a low sulfur fuel oil to an all distillate synthetic crude, the latter representing a potential source of raw material for the petrochemical industry. The process is a related application to HRI's H-Oil process which is used commercially for the desulfurization of residual oils from crude oil refining. A large scale pilot plant was constructed at Catlettsburg, Kentucky that is designed to process 200 to 600 TPD of coal. The paper includes an update on the keymore » activities associated with the Breckinridge Project: Pilot Plant H-Coal at Catlettsburg, Kentucky; commercial design activities in Houston; and permit and EIS activities for the Addison, Kentucky plant site.« less

Evaluation of corrosion products formed by sulfidation as inhibitors of the naphthenic corrosion of AISI-316 steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanabria-Cala, J. A.; Montañez, N. D.; Laverde Cataño, D.; Y Peña Ballesteros, D.; Mejía, C. A.

2017-12-01

Naphthenic acids present in oil from most regions worldwide currently stand as the main responsible for the naphthenic corrosion problems, affecting the oil-refining industry. The phenomenon of sulfidation, accompanying corrosion processes brought about by naphthenic acids in high-temperature refining plant applications, takes place when the combination of sulfidic acid (H2S) with Fe forms layers of iron sulphide (FeS) on the material surface, layers with the potential to protect the material from attack by other corrosive species like naphthenic acids. This work assessed corrosion products formed by sulfidation as inhibitors of naphthenic corrosion rate in AISI-316 steel exposed to processing conditions of simulated crude oil in a dynamic autoclave. Calculation of the sulfidation and naphthenic corrosion rates were determined by gravimetry. The surfaces of the AISI-316 gravimetric coupons exposed to acid systems; were characterized morphologically by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) combined with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). One of the results obtained was the determination of an inhibiting effect of corrosion products at 250 and 300°C, where lower corrosion rate levels were detected. For the temperature of 350°C, naphthenic corrosion rates increased due to deposition of naphthenic acids on the areas where corrosion products formed by sulfidation have lower homogeneity and stability on the surface, thus accelerating the destruction of AISI-316 steel. The above provides an initial contribution to oil industry in search of new alternatives to corrosion control by the attack of naphthenic acids, from the formation of FeS layers on exposed materials in the processing of heavy crude oils with high sulphur content.

Effect of Ultra-Fast Cooling on Microstructure and Properties of High Strength Steel for Shipbuilding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Cheng; Ye, Qibin; Yan, Ling

The effect of ultra-fast cooling(UFC) and conventional accelerated cooling(AcC) on the mechanical properties and microstructure of controlled rolled AH32 grade steel plates on industrial scale were compared using tensile test, Charpy impact test, welding thermal simulation, and microscopic analysis. The results show that the properties of the plate produced by UFC are improved considerably comparing to that by AcC. The yield strength is increased with 54 MPa without deterioration in the ductility and the impact energy is improved to more than 260 J at -60 °C with much lower ductile-to-brittle transition temperature(DBTT). The ferrite grain size is refined to ASTM No. 11.5 in the UFC steel with uniform microstructure throughout the thickness direction, while that of the AcC steel is ASTM No. 9.5. The analysis of nucleation kinetics of α-ferrite indicates that the microstructure is refined due to the increased nucleation rate of α-ferrite by much lower γ→α transition temperature through the UFC process. The Hall-Petch effect is quantified for the improvement of the strength and toughness of the UFC steel attributed to the grain refinement.

Naval Air Systems Command-Naval Research Laboratory Workshop on Basic Research Needs for Synthetic Hydrocarbon Jet Aircraft Fuels Held at Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC on June 15 and 16, 1978

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-01-01

required for the trans- portation industry and particularly as required by our mobile defense systems. For the production of transportation fuels...nature of the refinery feedstock and the requirements of the market place which is being targeted for product distribution. As with refining, the end...arsenic levels. The nitrogen and oxygen levels dictate a higher hydro- processing severity to make stable products . Due to the small yield of 6500F

Hydrocarbon-soluble low-melting corrosion inhibitor TAL-3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nesterenko, S.A.; Sorokin, V.I.; Naumenko, O.V.

1987-03-01

The inhibitor TAL-3 is intended for the corrosion protection of metals that come into contact with two-phase systems of the hydrocarbon-water type. It is applicable to the service conditions of equipment and pipelines of the petroleum and petroleum refining industries. The purpose of this paper was to electrochemically assess its solubility in such systems and its inhibitory properties on samples of 08kp steel toward the effects of refinery and oil field waste water and process emulsions both on the laboratory scale and in field tests.

Trends in added sugar supply and consumption in Australia: there is an Australian Paradox.

PubMed

Barclay, Alan W; Brand-Miller, Jennie C

2013-09-30

In 2011, Barclay and Brand-Miller reported the observation that trends in refined sugar consumption in Australia were the inverse of trends in overweight and obesity (The Australian Paradox). Rikkers et al. claim that the Australian Paradox is based on incomplete data because the sources utilised did not incorporate estimates for imported processed foods. This assertion is incorrect. Indeed, national nutrition surveys, sugar consumption data from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian beverage industry data all incorporated data on imported products.

Self-reported Occupational Exposures Relevant for Cancer among 28,000 Offshore Oil Industry Workers Employed between 1965 and 1999

PubMed Central

Stenehjem, Jo S; Friesen, Melissa C; Eggen, Tone; Kjærheim, Kristina; Bråtveit, Magne; Grimsrud, Tom K

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine self-reported frequency of occupational exposure reported by 28,000 Norwegian offshore oil workers in a 1998 survey. Predictors of self-reported exposure frequency were identified to aid future refinements of an expert-based job-exposure-time matrix (JEM). We focus here on reported frequencies for skin contact with oil and diesel, exposure to oil vapor from shaker, to exhaust fumes, vapor from mixing chemicals used for drilling, natural gas, chemicals used for water injection and processing, and to solvent vapor. Exposure frequency was reported by participants as the exposed proportion of the work shift, defined by six categories, in their current or last position offshore (between 1965 and 1999). Binary Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to examine the probabilities of reporting frequent exposure (≥¼ vs. <¼ of work shift) according to main activity, time period, supervisory position, type of company, type of installation, work schedule, and education. Holding a non-supervisory position, working shifts, being employed in the early period of the offshore industry, and having only compulsory education increased the probability of reporting frequent exposure. The identified predictors and group-level patterns may aid future refinement of the JEM previously developed for the present cohort. PMID:25671393

Self-reported Occupational Exposures Relevant for Cancer among 28,000 Offshore Oil Industry Workers Employed between 1965 and 1999.

PubMed

Stenehjem, Jo S; Friesen, Melissa C; Eggen, Tone; Kjærheim, Kristina; Bråtveit, Magne; Grimsrud, Tom K

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine self-reported frequency of occupational exposure reported by 28,000 Norwegian offshore oil workers in a 1998 survey. Predictors of self-reported exposure frequency were identified to aid future refinements of an expert-based job-exposure-time matrix (JEM). We focus here on reported frequencies for skin contact with oil and diesel; exposure to oil vapor from shaker, to exhaust fumes, vapor from mixing chemicals used for drilling, natural gas, chemicals used for water injection and processing, and to solvent vapor. Exposure frequency was reported by participants as the exposed proportion of the work shift, defined by six categories, in their current or last position offshore (between 1965 and 1999). Binary Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to examine the probabilities of reporting frequent exposure (≥¼ vs. <¼ of work shift) according to main activity, time period, supervisory position, type of company, type of installation, work schedule, and education. Holding a non-supervisory position, working shifts, being employed in the early period of the offshore industry, and having only compulsory education increased the probability of reporting frequent exposure. The identified predictors and group-level patterns may aid future refinement of the JEM previously developed for the present cohort.

Petroleum marketing monthly, September 1994

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum product sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensuresmore » the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.« less

Strengthening and Improving Yield Asymmetry of Magnesium Alloys by Second Phase Particle Refinement Under the Guidance of Integrated Computational Materials Engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Dongsheng; Lavender, Curt

2015-05-08

Improving yield strength and asymmetry is critical to expand applications of magnesium alloys in industry for higher fuel efficiency and lower CO 2 production. Grain refinement is an efficient method for strengthening low symmetry magnesium alloys, achievable by precipitate refinement. This study provides guidance on how precipitate engineering will improve mechanical properties through grain refinement. Precipitate refinement for improving yield strengths and asymmetry is simulated quantitatively by coupling a stochastic second phase grain refinement model and a modified polycrystalline crystal viscoplasticity φ-model. Using the stochastic second phase grain refinement model, grain size is quantitatively determined from the precipitate size andmore » volume fraction. Yield strengths, yield asymmetry, and deformation behavior are calculated from the modified φ-model. If the precipitate shape and size remain constant, grain size decreases with increasing precipitate volume fraction. If the precipitate volume fraction is kept constant, grain size decreases with decreasing precipitate size during precipitate refinement. Yield strengths increase and asymmetry approves to one with decreasing grain size, contributed by increasing precipitate volume fraction or decreasing precipitate size.« less

Process for solvent refining of coal using a denitrogenated and dephenolated solvent

DOEpatents

Garg, Diwakar; Givens, Edwin N.; Schweighardt, Frank K.

1984-01-01

A process is disclosed for the solvent refining of non-anthracitic coal at elevated temperatures and pressure in a hydrogen atmosphere using a hydrocarbon solvent which before being recycled in the solvent refining process is subjected to chemical treatment to extract substantially all nitrogenous and phenolic constituents from the solvent so as to improve the conversion of coal and the production of oil in the solvent refining process. The solvent refining process can be either thermal or catalytic. The extraction of nitrogenous compounds can be performed by acid contact such as hydrogen chloride or fluoride treatment, while phenolic extraction can be performed by caustic contact or contact with a mixture of silica and alumina.

Modest Labor-Management Bargains Continue in 1984 Despite the Recovery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruben, George

1985-01-01

Major collective bargaining agreements in 1984 resulted in modest settlements, due to concern about foreign competition, domestic deregulation, and inflation. Agreements occurred in the following industries: auto, soft coal, airlines, aircraft and aerospace, construction, petroleum refining, longshore industry, railroads, trucking, steel, West…

Optimization of palm oil physical refining process for reduction of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) ester formation.

PubMed

Zulkurnain, Musfirah; Lai, Oi Ming; Tan, Soo Choon; Abdul Latip, Razam; Tan, Chin Ping

2013-04-03

The reduction of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) ester formation in refined palm oil was achieved by incorporation of additional processing steps in the physical refining process to remove chloroester precursors prior to the deodorization step. The modified refining process was optimized for the least 3-MCPD ester formation and acceptable refined palm oil quality using response surface methodology (RSM) with five processing parameters: water dosage, phosphoric acid dosage, degumming temperature, activated clay dosage, and deodorization temperature. The removal of chloroester precursors was largely accomplished by increasing the water dosage, while the reduction of 3-MCPD esters was a compromise in oxidative stability and color of the refined palm oil because some factors such as acid dosage, degumming temperature, and deodorization temperature showed contradictory effects. The optimization resulted in 87.2% reduction of 3-MCPD esters from 2.9 mg/kg in the conventional refining process to 0.4 mg/kg, with color and oil stability index values of 2.4 R and 14.3 h, respectively.

Comparison of oil refining and biodiesel production process between screw press and n-hexane techniques from beauty leaf feedstock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhuiya, M. M. K.; Rasul, M. G.; Khan, M. M. K.; Ashwath, N.

2016-07-01

The Beauty Leaf Tree (Callophylum inophyllum) is regarded as an alternative source of energy to produce 2nd generation biodiesel due to its potentiality as well as high oil yield content in the seed kernels. The treating process is indispensable during the biodiesel production process because it can augment the yield as well as quality of the product. Oil extracted from both mechanical screw press and solvent extraction using n-hexane was refined. Five replications each of 25 gm of crude oil for screw press and five replications each of 25 gm of crude oil for n-hexane were selected for refining as well as biodiesel conversion processes. The oil refining processes consists of degumming, neutralization as well as dewaxing. The degumming, neutralization and dewaxing processes were performed to remove all the gums (phosphorous-based compounds), free fatty acids, and waxes from the fresh crude oil before the biodiesel conversion process carried out, respectively. The results indicated that up to 73% and 81% of mass conversion efficiency of the refined oil in the screw press and n-hexane refining processes were obtained, respectively. It was also found that up to 88% and 90% of biodiesel were yielded in terms of mass conversion efficiency in the transesterification process for the screw press and n-hexane techniques, respectively. While the entire processes (refining and transesterification) were considered, the conversion of beauty leaf tree (BLT) refined oil into biodiesel was yielded up to 65% and 73% of mass conversion efficiency for the screw press and n-hexane techniques, respectively. Physico-chemical properties of crude and refined oil, and biodiesel were characterized according to the ASTM standards. Overall, BLT has the potential to contribute as an alternative energy source because of high mass conversion efficiency.

Role of RIS/APC for manufacturing RFG/LSD. [Refinery Information Systems/Advanced Process Control, ReFormulated Gasoline/Low Sulfur Diesels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Latour, P.R.

Revolutionary changes in quality specifications (number, complexity, uncertainty, economic sensitivity) for reformulated gasolines (RFG) and low-sulfur diesels (LSD) are being addressed by powerful, new, computer-integrated manufacturing technology for Refinery Information Systems and Advanced Process Control (RIS/APC). This paper shows how the five active RIS/APC functions: performance measurement, optimization, scheduling, control and integration are used to manufacture new, clean fuels competitively. With current industry spending for this field averaging 2 to 3 cents/bbl crude, many refineries can capture 50 to 100 cents/bbl if the technology is properly employed and sustained throughout refining operations, organizations, and businesses.

Electrostatic Separator for Beneficiation of Lunar Soil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quinn, Jacqueline; Arens, Ellen; Trigwell, Steve; Captain, James

2010-01-01

A charge separator has been constructed for use in a lunar environment that will allow for separation of minerals from lunar soil. In the present experiments, whole lunar dust as received was used. The approach taken here was that beneficiation of ores into an industrial feedstock grade may be more efficient. Refinement or enrichment of specific minerals in the soil before it is chemically processed may be more desirable as it would reduce the size and energy requirements necessary to produce the virgin material, and it may significantly reduce the process complexity. The principle is that minerals of different composition and work function will charge differently when tribocharged against different materials, and hence be separated in an electric field.

Magnesium Recycling of Partially Oxidized, Mixed Magnesium-Aluminum Scrap through Combined Refining and Solid Oxide Membrane Electrolysis Processes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xiaofei Guan; Peter A. Zink; Uday B. Pal

2012-01-01

Pure magnesium (Mg) is recycled from 19g of partially oxidized 50.5wt.% Mg-Aluminum (Al) alloy. During the refining process, potentiodynamic scans (PDS) were performed to determine the electrorefining potential for magnesium. The PDS show that the electrorefining potential increases over time as the magnesium content inside the Mg-Al scrap decreases. Up to 100% percent of magnesium is refined from the Mg-Al scrap by a novel refining process of dissolving magnesium and its oxide into a flux followed by vapor phase removal of dissolved magnesium and subsequently condensing the magnesium vapor. The solid oxide membrane (SOM) electrolysis process is employed in themore » refining system to enable additional recycling of magnesium from magnesium oxide (MgO) in the partially oxidized Mg-Al scrap. The combination of the refining and SOM processes yields 7.4g of pure magnesium.« less

European downstream oil industry safety performance : statistical summary of reported incidents, 1996

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-12-01

This report is the third by CONCAWE reviewing the safety performance of the downstream oil industry in Western Europe. It includes the results of 28 companies which together represent over 90% of the oil refining capacity in Europe. It is therefore a...

Bridging the Gap Between Validation and Implementation of Non-Animal Veterinary Vaccine Potency Testing Methods

PubMed Central

Dozier, Samantha; Brown, Jeffrey; Currie, Alistair

2011-01-01

Simple Summary Many vaccines are tested for quality in experiments that require the use of large numbers of animals in procedures that often cause significant pain and distress. Newer technologies have fostered the development of vaccine quality control tests that reduce or eliminate the use of animals, but the availability of these newer methods has not guaranteed their acceptance by regulators or use by manufacturers. We discuss a strategic approach that has been used to assess and ultimately increase the use of non-animal vaccine quality tests in the U.S. and U.K. Abstract In recent years, technologically advanced high-throughput techniques have been developed that replace, reduce or refine animal use in vaccine quality control tests. Following validation, these tests are slowly being accepted for use by international regulatory authorities. Because regulatory acceptance itself has not guaranteed that approved humane methods are adopted by manufacturers, various organizations have sought to foster the preferential use of validated non-animal methods by interfacing with industry and regulatory authorities. After noticing this gap between regulation and uptake by industry, we began developing a paradigm that seeks to narrow the gap and quicken implementation of new replacement, refinement or reduction guidance. A systematic analysis of our experience in promoting the transparent implementation of validated non-animal vaccine potency assays has led to the refinement of our paradigmatic process, presented here, by which interested parties can assess the local regulatory acceptance of methods that reduce animal use and integrate them into quality control testing protocols, or ensure the elimination of peripheral barriers to their use, particularly for potency and other tests carried out on production batches. PMID:26486625

The removal of precious metals by conductive polymer filtration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cournoyer, M.E.

The growing demand for platinum-group metals (PGM) within the DOE complex and in industry, the need for modern and clean processes, and the increasing volume of low-grade material for secondary PGM recovery has a direct impact on the industrial practice of recovering and refining precious metals. There is a tremendous need for advanced metal ion recovery and waste minimization techniques, since the currently used method of precipitation-dissolution is inadequate. Los Alamos has an integrated program in ligand-design and separations chemistry which has developed and evaluated a series of water- soluble metal-binding polymers for recovering actinides and toxic metals from varietymore » of process streams. A natural extension of this work is to fabricate these metal-selective polymers into membrane based separation unites, i.e., hollow-fiber membranes. In the present investigation, the material for a novel hollow-fiber membrane is characterized and its selectivity for PGM reported. Energy and waste savings and economic competitiveness are also described.« less

Estimates of electricity requirements for the recovery of mineral commodities, with examples applied to sub-Saharan Africa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bleiwas, Donald I.

2011-01-01

To produce materials from mine to market it is necessary to overcome obstacles that include the force of gravity, the strength of molecular bonds, and technological inefficiencies. These challenges are met by the application of energy to accomplish the work that includes the direct use of electricity, fossil fuel, and manual labor. The tables and analyses presented in this study contain estimates of electricity consumption for the mining and processing of ores, concentrates, intermediate products, and industrial and refined metallic commodities on a kilowatt-hour per unit basis, primarily the metric ton or troy ounce. Data contained in tables pertaining to specific currently operating facilities are static, as the amount of electricity consumed to process or produce a unit of material changes over time for a great number of reasons. Estimates were developed from diverse sources that included feasibility studies, company-produced annual and sustainability reports, conference proceedings, discussions with government and industry experts, journal articles, reference texts, and studies by nongovernmental organizations.

Bioremediation of trace organic compounds found in precious metals refineries' wastewaters: a review of potential options.

PubMed

Barbosa, V L; Tandlich, R; Burgess, J E

2007-07-01

Platinum group metal (PGM) refining processes produce large quantities of wastewater, which is contaminated with the compounds that make up the solvents/extractants mixtures used in the process. These compounds often include solvesso, beta-hydroxyxime, amines, amides and methyl isobutyl ketone. A process to clean up PGM refinery wastewaters so that they could be re-used in the refining process would greatly contribute to continual water storage problems and to cost reduction for the industry. Based on the concept that organic compounds that are produced biologically can be destroyed biologically, the use of biological processes for the treatment of organic compounds in other types of waste stream has been favoured in recent years, owing to their low cost and environmental acceptability. This review examines the available biotechnologies and their effectiveness for treating compounds likely to be contained in precious metal extraction process wastewaters. The processes examined include: biofilters, fluidized bed reactors, trickle-bed bioreactors, bioscrubbers, two-phase partitioning bioreactors, membrane bioreactors and activated sludge. Although all processes examined showed adequate to excellent removal of organic compounds from various gaseous and fewer liquid waste streams, there was a variation in their effectiveness. Variations in performance of laboratory-scale biological processes are probably due to the inherent change in the microbial population composition due to selection pressure, environmental conditions and the time allowed for adaptation to the organic compounds. However, if these factors are disregarded, it can be established that activated sludge and membrane bioreactors are the most promising processes for use in the treatment of PGM refinery wastewaters.

Six decades of industrial water treatment (1915-1975)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maguire, J.J.

1976-01-01

An extensive account of water treatment beginning with the internal treatment of boiler water used for steam generation in the teens to the later treatment of cooling water and industrial process water. In the teens external softening of boiler makeup water was recommended by various processes. In the twenties water problems intensified and research on boiler water scaling began and continued through the thirties. The mechanism of scale formation was studied, and a new Navy boiler compound was adopted. Langelier's Saturation Index work in 1936 served as a basis for early control of scaling by cooling water. In the fortiesmore » other controls and removers were recommended, and antifoam patents issued. In 1950 Berk proved nitrate an effective inhibitor, and in 1951 influence of boiler design and operation on steam contamination was presented. Internal chemical treatment programs continued to be refined in the sixties with synthetic dispersing agents, and Chelant treatments continued to dominate the seventies, with inspection times extended 2-3 years by their use. Besides treatment of industrial waters, evaluation of results also demanded attention and water quality standards were of concern. Research continues to develop more effective synthetic and naturally-occurring organic agents.« less

General Subject 2. Report to ICUMSA on the determination of carry-over alpha-amylase activity in white and refined sugars by a spectrophotometric method

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A report is given on a new industrial method for the determination of carry-over alpha-amylase activity in raw and refined sugars, as well as a recommendation. In recent years, there has been increased concern over carry-over activity of mostly high temperature (HT) and very high temperature (VHT) s...

METHANE EMISSIONS FROM THE U.S. PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

EPA Science Inventory

The report quantifies methane (CH4) emissions from the U.S. petroleum industry by identifying sources of CH4 from the production, transportation, and refining of oil. Emissions are reported for the base year 1993 and for the years 1986 through 1992, based on adjustments to the ba...

CIM - A Manufacturing Paradigm (Le CIM - Un Nouveau Modele Industriel),

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-07-01

The Industrial Revolution was based on the paradigm of the division of labour into areas of specialization. Manufacturers and, indeed, most...enterprises have refined the Industrial Revolution model - we now live in the age of the specialist. However, the specialist model has reached its limit for

Industrial garnet

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olson, D.W.

2010-01-01

In 2009, U.S. production of crude garnet concentrate for industrial use was estimated to be 56.5 kt (62,300 st), valued at about $8.85 million. This was a 10-percent decrease in quantity compared with 2008 production. Refined garnet material sold or used was 28 kt (31,000 st) valued at $7.96 million.

Traditional Occupational Analysis and Contemporary CBVE Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duenk, Lester G.

Trade and industrial educators were pioneers in the development and practice of occupational analysis as utilized in curriculum development and improvement. In the 1940s, Verne C. Fryklund refined the existing system of occupational analysis and introduced it into public school industrial arts educational programs. The basic concept of Fryklund's…

Engineering industrial oil biosynthesis: cloning and characterization of Kennedy pathway acyltransferases from novel oilseed species

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

For more than twenty years, various industrial, governmental, and academic laboratories have developed and refined genetic engineering strategies aimed at manipulating lipid metabolism in plants and microbes. The goal of these projects is to produce renewable specialized oils that can effectively c...

Refining and blending of aviation turbine fuels.

PubMed

White, R D

1999-02-01

Aviation turbine fuels (jet fuels) are similar to other petroleum products that have a boiling range of approximately 300F to 550F. Kerosene and No.1 grades of fuel oil, diesel fuel, and gas turbine oil share many similar physical and chemical properties with jet fuel. The similarity among these products should allow toxicology data on one material to be extrapolated to the others. Refineries in the USA manufacture jet fuel to meet industry standard specifications. Civilian aircraft primarily use Jet A or Jet A-1 fuel as defined by ASTM D 1655. Military aircraft use JP-5 or JP-8 fuel as defined by MIL-T-5624R or MIL-T-83133D respectively. The freezing point and flash point are the principle differences between the finished fuels. Common refinery processes that produce jet fuel include distillation, caustic treatment, hydrotreating, and hydrocracking. Each of these refining processes may be the final step to produce jet fuel. Sometimes blending of two or more of these refinery process streams are needed to produce jet fuel that meets the desired specifications. Chemical additives allowed for use in jet fuel are also defined in the product specifications. In many cases, the customer rather than the refinery will put additives into the fuel to meet their specific storage or flight condition requirements.

Petroleum marketing monthly with data for May 1997

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1997-08-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures themore » accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.« less

Review of Biojet Fuel Conversion Technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Wei-Cheng; Tao, Ling; Markham, Jennifer

Biomass-derived jet (biojet) fuel has become a key element in the aviation industry’s strategy to reduce operating costs and environmental impacts. Researchers from the oil-refining industry, the aviation industry, government, biofuel companies, agricultural organizations, and academia are working toward developing commercially viable and sustainable processes that produce long-lasting renewable jet fuels with low production costs and low greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, jet fuels must meet ASTM International specifications and potentially be a 100% drop-in replacement for the current petroleum jet fuel. The combustion characteristics and engine tests demonstrate the benefits of running the aviation gas turbine with biojet fuels. Inmore » this study, the current technologies for producing renewable jet fuels, categorized by alcohols-to-jet, oil-to-jet, syngas-to-jet, and sugar-to-jet pathways, are reviewed. The main challenges for each technology pathway, including feedstock availability, conceptual process design, process economics, life-cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, and commercial readiness, are discussed. Although the feedstock price and availability and energy intensity of the process are significant barriers, biomass-derived jet fuel has the potential to replace a significant portion of conventional jet fuel required to meet commercial and military demand.« less

Simulation of Pressure-swing Distillation for Separation of Ethyl Acetate-Ethanol-Water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jing; Zhou, Menglin; Wang, Yujie; Zhang, Xi; Wu, Gang

2017-12-01

In the light of the azeotrope of ethyl acetate-ethanol-water, a process of pressure-swing distillation is proposed. The separation process is simulated by Aspen Plus, and the effects of theoretical stage number, reflux ratio and feed stage about the pressure-swing distillation are optimized. Some better process parameters are as follows: for ethyl acetate refining tower, the pressure is 500.0 kPa, theoretical stage number is 16, reflux ratio is 0.6, feed stage is 5; for crude ethanol tower, the pressure is 101.3 kPa, theoretical stage number is 15, reflux ratio is 0.3, feed stage is 4; for ethanol tower, the pressure is 101.3 kPa, theoretical stage number is 25, reflux ratio is 1.2, feed stage is 10. The mass fraction of ethyl acetate in the bottom of the ethyl acetate refining tower reaches 0.9990, the mass fraction of ethanol in the top of the ethanol tower tower reaches 0.9017, the mass fraction of water in the bottom of the ethanol tower tower reaches 0.9622, and there is also no ethyl acetate in the bottom of the ethanol tower. With laboratory tests, experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation results, which indicates that the separation of ethyl acetate ethanol water can be realized by the pressure-swing distillation separation process. Moreover, it has certain practical significance to industrial practice.

Presence of Tungsten-Containing Fibers in Tungsten Refining and Manufacturing Processes

PubMed Central

Mckernan, John L.; Toraason, Mark A.; Fernback, Joseph E.; Petersen, Martin R.

2009-01-01

In tungsten refining and manufacturing processes, a series of tungsten oxides are typically formed as intermediates in the production of tungsten powder. The present study was conducted to characterize airborne tungsten-containing fiber dimensions, elemental composition and concentrations in the US tungsten refining and manufacturing industry. During the course of normal employee work activities, seven personal breathing zone and 62 area air samples were collected and analyzed using National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) fiber sampling and counting methods to determine dimensions, composition and airborne concentrations of fibers. Mixed models were used to identify relationships between potential determinants and airborne fiber concentrations. Results from transmission electron microscopy analyses indicated that airborne fibers with length >0.5 μm, diameter >0.01 μm and aspect ratios ≥3:1 were present on 35 of the 69 air samples collected. Overall, the airborne fibers detected had a geometric mean length ≈3 μm and diameter ≈0.3 μm. Ninety-seven percent of the airborne fibers identified were in the thoracic fraction (i.e. aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm). Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry results indicated that airborne fibers prior to the carburization process consisted primarily of tungsten and oxygen, with other elements being detected in trace quantities. Based on NIOSH fiber counting ‘B’ rules (length > 5 μm, diameter < 3 μm and aspect ratio ≥ 5:1), airborne fiber concentrations ranged from below the limit of detection to 0.085 fibers cm−3, with calcining being associated with the highest airborne concentrations. The mixed model procedure indicated that process temperature had a marginally significant relationship to airborne fiber concentration. This finding was expected since heated processes such as calcining created the highest airborne fiber concentrations. The finding of airborne tungsten-containing fibers in this occupational setting needs to be confirmed in similar settings and demonstrates the need to obtain information on the durability and associated health effects of these fibers. PMID:19126624

Comparison Between Different Processing Schedules for the Development of Ultrafine-Grained Dual-Phase Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karmakar, Anish; Sivaprasad, S.; Nath, S. K.; Misra, R. D. K.; Chakrabarti, Debalay

2014-05-01

A comparative study was carried out on the development of ultrafine-grained dual-phase (DP) (ferrite-martensite) structures in a low-carbon microalloyed steel processed using two thermomechanical processing routes, (i) intercritical deformation and (ii) warm-deformation and intercritical annealing. The samples were deformed using Gleeble3500® simulator, maintaining a constant total strain ( ɛ = 1) and strain rate ( = 1/s). Evolution of microstructure and micro-texture was investigated by SEM, TEM, and EBSD. Ultrafine-grained DP structures could be formed by careful selection of deformation temperature, T def (for intercritical deformation) or annealing temperature, T anneal (for warm-deformation and annealing). Overall, the ferrite grain sizes ranged from 1.5 to 4.0 μm, and the sizes and fractions of the uniformly distributed fine-martensitic islands ranged from 1.5 to 3.0 μm and 15 to 45 pct, respectively. Dynamic strain-induced austenite-to-ferrite transformation followed by continuous (dynamic) recrystallization of the ferrite dictated the grain refinement during intercritical deformation, while, continuous (static) recrystallization by pronounced recovery dictated the grain refinement during the warm-deformation and the annealing. Regarding intercritical deformation, the samples cooled to T def indicated finer grain size compared with the samples heated to T def, which are explained in terms of the effects of strain partitioning on the ferrite and the heating during deformation. Alpha-fiber components dominated the texture in all the samples, and the fraction of high-angle boundaries (with >15 deg misorientation) increased with the increasing T def or T anneal, depending on the processing schedule. Fine carbide particles, microalloyed precipitates and austenitic islands played important roles in defining the mechanism of grain refinement that involved retarding conventional ferrite recrystallization and ferrite grain growth. With regard to the intercritical deformation, warm-deformation followed by annealing is a simpler process to control in the rolling mill; however, the need for high-power rolling mill and controlled annealing facility imposes industrial challenges.

Magnesium Recycling of Partially Oxidized, Mixed Magnesium-Aluminum Scrap Through Combined Refining and Solid Oxide Membrane (SOM) Electrolysis Processes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guan, Xiaofei; Zink, Peter; Pal, Uday

2012-03-11

Pure magnesium (Mg) is recycled from 19g of partially oxidized 50.5wt.%Mg-Aluminum (Al) alloy. During the refining process, potentiodynamic scans (PDS) were performed to determine the electrorefining potential for magnesium. The PDS show that the electrorefining potential increases over time as the Mg content inside the Mg-Al scrap decreases. Up to 100% percent of magnesium is refined from the Mg-Al scrap by a novel refining process of dissolving magnesium and its oxide into a flux followed by vapor phase removal of dissolved magnesium and subsequently condensing the magnesium vapors in a separate condenser. The solid oxide membrane (SOM) electrolysis process ismore » employed in the refining system to enable additional recycling of magnesium from magnesium oxide (MgO) in the partially oxidized Mg-Al scrap. The combination of the refining and SOM processes yields 7.4g of pure magnesium; could not collect and weigh all of the magnesium recovered.« less

Occurrence of 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters in edible oils in the United States.

PubMed

MacMahon, Shaun; Begley, Timothy H; Diachenko, Gregory W

2013-01-01

Fatty acid esters of 3-monochloropropanediol (3-MCPD) and glycidol are processing contaminants found in a wide range of edible oils. While both 3 MCPD and glycidol have toxicological properties that at present has concerns for food safety, the published occurrence data are limited. Occurrence information is presented for the concentrations of 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters in 116 retail and/or industrial edible oils and fats using LC-MS/MS analysis of intact esters. The concentrations for bound 3-MCPD ranged from below the limit of quantitation (

Components of sustainability considerations in management of petrochemical industries.

PubMed

Aryanasl, Amir; Ghodousi, Jamal; Arjmandi, Reza; Mansouri, Nabiollah

2017-06-01

Sustainability comprises three pillars of social, environmental, and economic aspects. Petrochemical industry has a great inter-related complex impact on social and economic development of societies and adverse impact on almost all environmental aspects and resource depletion in many countries, which make sustainability a crucial issue for petrochemical industries. This study was conducted to propose components of sustainability considerations in management of petrochemical industries.A combination of exploratory study-to prepare a preliminary list of components of sustainable business in petrochemical industries based on review of literature and Delphi-to obtain experts' view on this preliminary list and provide a detailed list of components and sub-components that should be addressed to bring sustainability to petrochemical industries, were used.Two sets of components were provided. First general components, which include stakeholders (staffs, society, and environment) with four sub-components, financial resources with 11 sub-components, improvement of design and processes with nine sub-components, policy and strategy of cleaner production with seven sub-components and leadership with seven sub-components. The second operational components included raw material supply and preparation with five, synthesis with ten, product separation and refinement with nine, product handling and storage with five, emission abatement with eight, and improvement of technology and equipment with 16 sub-components.

Greening Industrial Production through Waste Recovery: "Comprehensive Utilization of Resources" in China.

PubMed

Zhu, Junming; Chertow, Marian R

2016-03-01

Using nonhazardous wastes as inputs to production creates environmental benefits by avoiding disposal impacts, mitigating manufacturing impacts, and conserving virgin resources. China has incentivized reuse since the 1980s through the "Comprehensive Utilization of Resources (CUR)" policy. To test whether and to what extent environmental benefits are generated, 862 instances in Jiangsu, China are analyzed, representing eight industrial sectors and 25 products that qualified for tax relief through CUR. Benefits are determined by comparing life cycle inventories for the same product from baseline and CUR-certified production, adjusted for any difference in the use phase. More than 50 million tonnes of solid wastes were reused, equivalent to 51% of the provincial industrial total. Benefits included reduction of 161 petajoules of energy, 23 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 75 000 tonnes of SO2 equivalent, 33 000 tonnes of NOX, and 28 000 tonnes of PM10 equivalent, which were 2.5%-7.3% of the provincial industrial consumption and emissions. The benefits vary substantially across industries, among products within the same industry, and when comparing alternative reuse processes for the same waste. This first assessment of CUR results shows that CUR has established a firm foundation for a circular economy, but also suggest additional opportunities to refine incentives under CUR to increase environmental gain.

Separation of Lead from Crude Antimony by Pyro-Refining Process with NaPO3 Addition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Longgang; Hu, Yuejie; Xia, Zhimei; Chen, Yongming

2016-06-01

The main purpose of this study was to separate lead from crude antimony through an oxidation pyro-refining process and by using sodium metaphosphate as a lead elimination reagent. The process parameters that will affect the refining results were optimized experimentally under controlled conditions, such as the sodium metaphosphate charging dosage, the refining temperature and duration, and the air flow rate, to determine their effect on the lead content in refined antimony and the lead removal rate. A minimum lead content of 0.0522 wt.% and a 98.6% lead removal rate were obtained under the following optimal conditions: W_{{{NaPO}_{{3}} }} = 15% W Sb (where W represents weight), a refining temperature of 800°C, a refining time of 30 min, and an air flow rate of 3 L/min. X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy showed that high-purity antimony was obtained. The smelting operation is free from smoke or ammonia pollution when using monobasic sodium phosphate or ammonium dihydrogen phosphate as the lead elimination reagent. However, this refining process can also remove a certain amount of sulfur, cobalt, and silicon simultaneously, and smelting results also suggest that sodium metaphosphate can be used as a potential lead elimination reagent for bismuth and copper refining.

Hierarchical prediction of industrial water demand based on refined Laspeyres decomposition analysis.

PubMed

Shang, Yizi; Lu, Shibao; Gong, Jiaguo; Shang, Ling; Li, Xiaofei; Wei, Yongping; Shi, Hongwang

2017-12-01

A recent study decomposed the changes in industrial water use into three hierarchies (output, technology, and structure) using a refined Laspeyres decomposition model, and found monotonous and exclusive trends in the output and technology hierarchies. Based on that research, this study proposes a hierarchical prediction approach to forecast future industrial water demand. Three water demand scenarios (high, medium, and low) were then established based on potential future industrial structural adjustments, and used to predict water demand for the structural hierarchy. The predictive results of this approach were compared with results from a grey prediction model (GPM (1, 1)). The comparison shows that the results of the two approaches were basically identical, differing by less than 10%. Taking Tianjin, China, as a case, and using data from 2003-2012, this study predicts that industrial water demand will continuously increase, reaching 580 million m 3 , 776.4 million m 3 , and approximately 1.09 billion m 3 by the years 2015, 2020 and 2025 respectively. It is concluded that Tianjin will soon face another water crisis if no immediate measures are taken. This study recommends that Tianjin adjust its industrial structure with water savings as the main objective, and actively seek new sources of water to increase its supply.

Rheological properties and bread quality of frozen yeast-dough with added wheat fiber.

PubMed

Adams, Vivian; Ragaee, Sanaa M; Abdel-Aal, El-Sayed M

2017-01-01

The rheological characteristics of frozen dough are of great importance in bread-making quality. The effect of addition of commercial wheat aleurone and bran on rheological properties and final bread quality of frozen dough was studied. Wheat aleurone (A) and bran (B) containing 240 g kg -1 and 200 g kg -1 arabinoxylan (AX), respectively, were incorporated into refined wheat flour at 150 g kg -1 substitution level (composite A and B, respectively). Dough samples of composite A and B in addition to two reference dough samples, refined flour (ref A) and whole wheat flour (ref B) were stored at -18°C for 9 weeks. Frozen stored composite dough samples contained higher amounts of bound water, less freezable water and exhibited fewer modifications in gluten network during frozen storage based on data from differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Bread made from composite frozen dough had higher loaf volume compared to ref A or ref B throughout the storage period. The incorporation of wheat fiber into refined wheat flour produced dough with minimum alterations in its rheological properties during 9 weeks of frozen storage compared to refined and 100% wheat flour dough samples. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Lipase catalyzed synthesis of neutral glycerides rich in micronutrients from rice bran oil fatty acid distillate.

PubMed

Nandi, Sumit; Gangopadhyay, Sarbani; Ghosh, Santinath

2008-01-01

Neutral glycerides with micronutrients like sterols, tocopherols and squalene may be prepared from cheap raw material like rice bran oil fatty acid distillate (RBO FAD). RBO FAD is an important byproduct of vegetable oil refining industries in the physical refining process. Glycerides like triacylglycerols (TAG), diacylglycerols (DAG) and monoacylglycerols (MAG) containing significant amounts of unsaponifiable matter like sterols, tocopherols and hydrocarbons (mainly squalene) may certainly be considered as novel functional food ingredients. Fatty acids present in RBO FAD were esterified with glycerol of varying amount (1:0.33, 1:0.5, 1:1 and 1:1.5 of FAD : glycerol ratio) for 8 h using non-specific enzyme NS 40013 (Candida antartica). After esterification the product mixture containing mono, di- and triglycerides was purified by molecular distillation to remove excess free fatty acids and also other volatile undesirable components. The purified product containing sterols, tocopherols and squalene can be utilized in various food formulations.

Industrial contributions of arsenic to the environment.

PubMed Central

Nelson, K W

1977-01-01

Arsenic is present in all copper, lead, and zinc sulfide ores and is carried along with those metals in the mining, milling and concentrating process. Separation, final concentration and refining of by-product arsenic as the trioxide is achieved at smelters. Arsenic is the essential consistent element of many compounds important and widely used in agriculture and wood preservation. Lesser amounts are used in metal alloys, glass-making, and feed additives. There is no significant recycling. Current levels of arsenic emissions to the atmosphere from smelters and power plants and ambient air concentrations are given as data of greatest environmental interest. PMID:908308

Trends in added sugar supply and consumption in Australia: there is an Australian Paradox

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

In 2011, Barclay and Brand-Miller reported the observation that trends in refined sugar consumption in Australia were the inverse of trends in overweight and obesity (The Australian Paradox). Rikkers et al. claim that the Australian Paradox is based on incomplete data because the sources utilised did not incorporate estimates for imported processed foods. This assertion is incorrect. Indeed, national nutrition surveys, sugar consumption data from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian beverage industry data all incorporated data on imported products. PMID:24079329

Practical Advances in Petroleum Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, Chang S.; Robinson, Paul R.

"This comprehensive book by Robinson and Hsu will certainly become the standard text book for the oil refining business...[A] must read for all who are associated with oil refining." - Dr. Walter Fritsch, Senior Vice President Refining, OMV "This book covers a very advanced horizon of petroleum processing technology. For all refiners facing regional and global environmental concerns, and for those who seek a more sophisticated understanding of the refining of petroleum resources, this book has been long in coming." - Mr. Naomasa Kondo, Cosmo Oil Company, Ltd.

European downstream oil industry safety performance : statistical summary of reported incidents, 1997 and overview 1993 to 1997

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-10-01

This report is the fourth by CONCAWE reviewing the safety performance of the downstream ol industry in Western Europe. It includes the results of 27 companies which together represent over 90% of the oil refining capacity in the region. Of the 27 com...

Labor Market Slackens for New Science and Engineering Graduates. Science Resources Studies Highlights.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. Div. of Science Resources Studies.

Recent recruiting experiences of firms that employ scientific and engineering (S/E) personnel were determined in a followup to a 1981 survey. The following industries, which employ almost three-fourths of the scientists and engineers in private industry, were included in the survey: mining, construction, petroleum refining and extraction,…

77 FR 22226 - Regulation of Oil-Bearing Hazardous Secondary Materials From the Petroleum Refining Industry...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-13

... does not expect adverse effects on human health or the environment from this regulation. EPA finds that... Petroleum Institute (API) (docket item EPA-HQ- RCRA-2008-0808-0010) and the Metals Industries Recycling... on potentially affecting the use of waste reduction and recycling activities. Neither report...

40 CFR Appendix A to Part 122 - NPDES Primary Industry Categories

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... coating Copper forming Electrical and electronic components Electroplating Explosives manufacturing... chemicals manufacturing Paint and ink formulation Pesticides Petroleum refining Pharmaceutical preparations...

40 CFR Appendix A to Part 122 - NPDES Primary Industry Categories

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... coating Copper forming Electrical and electronic components Electroplating Explosives manufacturing... chemicals manufacturing Paint and ink formulation Pesticides Petroleum refining Pharmaceutical preparations...

40 CFR Appendix A to Part 122 - NPDES Primary Industry Categories

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... coating Copper forming Electrical and electronic components Electroplating Explosives manufacturing... chemicals manufacturing Paint and ink formulation Pesticides Petroleum refining Pharmaceutical preparations...

40 CFR Appendix A to Part 122 - NPDES Primary Industry Categories

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... coating Copper forming Electrical and electronic components Electroplating Explosives manufacturing... chemicals manufacturing Paint and ink formulation Pesticides Petroleum refining Pharmaceutical preparations...

Yield Asymmetry Design of Magnesium Alloys by Integrated Computational Materials Engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Dongsheng; Joshi, Vineet V.; Lavender, Curt A.

2013-11-01

Deformation asymmetry of magnesium alloys is an important factor on machine design in automobile industry. Represented by the ratio of compressive yield stress (CYS) against tensile yield stress (TYS), deformation asymmetry is strongly related to microstructure, characterized by texture and grain size. Modified intermediate phi-model, a polycrystalline viscoplasticity model, is used to predict the deformation behavior of magnesium alloys with different grain sizes. Validated with experimental results, integrated computational materials engineering is applied to find out the route in achieving desired asymmetry by thermomechanical processing. In some texture, for example, rolled texture, CYS/TYS is smaller than 1 under different loadingmore » directions. In some texture, for example, extruded texture, asymmetry is large along normal direction. Starting from rolled texture, the asymmetry will increased to close to 1 along rolling direction after compressed to a strain of 0.2. Our model shows that grain refinement increases CYS/TYS. Besides texture control, grain refinement can also optimize the yield asymmetry. After the grain size decreased to a critical value, CYS/TYS reaches to 1 since CYS increases much faster than TYS. By tailoring the microstructure using texture control and grain refinement, it is achievable to optimize yield asymmetry in wrought magnesium alloys.« less

Yield asymmetry design of magnesium alloys by integrated computational materials engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Dongsheng; Joshi, Vineet; Lavender, Curt

2013-11-01

Deformation asymmetry of magnesium alloys is an important factor on machine design in the automobile industry. Represented by the ratio of compressive yield stress (CYS) against tensile yield stress (TYS), deformation asymmetry is strongly related to texture and grain size. A polycrystalline viscoplasticity model, modified intermediate Φ-model, is used to predict the deformation behavior of magnesium alloys with different grain sizes. Validated with experimental results, integrated computational materials engineering is applied to find out the route in achieving desired asymmetry via thermomechanical processing. For example, CYS/TYS in rolled texture is smaller than 1 under different loading directions. In other textures,more » such as extruded texture, CYS/TYS is large along the normal direction. Starting from rolled texture, asymmetry will increase to close to 1 along the rolling direction after being compressed to a strain of 0.2. Our modified Φ-model also shows that grain refinement increases CYS/TYS. Along with texture control, grain refinement also can optimize the yield asymmetry. After the grain size decreases to a critical value, CYS/TYS reaches to 1 because CYS increases much faster than TYS. By tailoring the microstructure using texture control and grain refinement, it is achievable to optimize yield asymmetry in wrought magnesium alloys.« less

Application of statistical methods to reveal and remove the causes of welding of coil laps upon annealing of cold-rolled steel strips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garber, E. A.; Diligenskii, E. V.; Antonov, P. V.; Shalaevskii, D. L.; Dyatlov, I. A.

2017-09-01

The factors of the process of production of cold-rolled steel strips that promote and hinder the appearance of a coil lap welding defect upon annealing in bell-type furnaces are analyzed using statistical methods. The works dealing with this problem are analytically reviewed to reveal the problems to be studied and refined. The ranking of the technological factors according to the significance of their influence on the probability of appearance of this defect is determined and supported by industrial data, and a regression equation is derived to calculate this probability. The process of production is improved to minimize the rejection of strips caused by the welding of coil laps.

Coal gasification systems engineering and analysis. Appendix E: Cost estimation and economic evaluation methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The cost estimation and economic evaluation methodologies presented are consistent with industry practice for assessing capital investment requirements and operating costs of coal conversion systems. All values stated are based on January, 1980 dollars with appropriate recognition of the time value of money. Evaluation of project economic feasibility can be considered a two step process (subject to considerable refinement). First, the costs of the project must be quantified and second, the price at which the product can be manufacturd must be determined. These two major categories are discussed. The summary of methodology is divided into five parts: (1) systems costs, (2)instant plant costs, (3) annual operating costs, (4) escalation and discounting process, and (5) product pricing.

[Research on contribution decomposition by industry to China's carbon intensity reduction and carbon emission growth].

PubMed

Jiang, Jing-Jing; Ye, Bin; Ji, Jun-Ping; Ma, Xiao-Ming

2014-11-01

The binding carbon intensity index and the pilot "cap-and-trade" emission trading scheme are two important approaches currently applied by China to mitigate its greenhouse gases emissions. It is of great significance to research the influence mechanism of related factors by industry on the dynamics of national carbon intensity and emission, not only for setting industry-specified intensity reduction target but also for setting industry coverage of the ETS. Two LMDI models were applied in this paper to decompose industry contributions to the changes of China's carbon intensity and carbon emission during the period of 1996-2010. Empirical results showed that: The decline of national carbon intensity was jointly determined by the changes of carbon intensities and the added value proportions of all industries, and the impact of industry carbon intensities was larger. The increase of national carbon emission was jointly determined by the changes of carbon intensities and the added value of all industries. The former had inhibitory effect whist the latter had decisive promoting effect. The five industries making the largest contribution to the changes of national carbon emission and carbon intensity included industries of electricity, nonmetal mineral, ferrous metal, transportation service, chemical materials, which were followed by the industries of agriculture, coal mining and processing, petroleum and natural gas extraction. Petroleum refining and coking industry and construction industry made small contribution to the decline of national carbon intensity, but made large contribution to the growth of national carbon emission. The contributions of service industries to national carbon emission growth showed a rising trend, especially those of transportation service industry, wholesaling, retailing and catering service industry.

Multi objective multi refinery optimization with environmental and catastrophic failure effects objectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khogeer, Ahmed Sirag

2005-11-01

Petroleum refining is a capital-intensive business. With stringent environmental regulations on the processing industry and declining refining margins, political instability, increased risk of war and terrorist attacks in which refineries and fuel transportation grids may be targeted, higher pressures are exerted on refiners to optimize performance and find the best combination of feed and processes to produce salable products that meet stricter product specifications, while at the same time meeting refinery supply commitments and of course making profit. This is done through multi objective optimization. For corporate refining companies and at the national level, Intea-Refinery and Inter-Refinery optimization is the second step in optimizing the operation of the whole refining chain as a single system. Most refinery-wide optimization methods do not cover multiple objectives such as minimizing environmental impact, avoiding catastrophic failures, or enhancing product spec upgrade effects. This work starts by carrying out a refinery-wide, single objective optimization, and then moves to multi objective-single refinery optimization. The last step is multi objective-multi refinery optimization, the objectives of which are analysis of the effects of economic, environmental, product spec, strategic, and catastrophic failure. Simulation runs were carried out using both MATLAB and ASPEN PIMS utilizing nonlinear techniques to solve the optimization problem. The results addressed the need to debottleneck some refineries or transportation media in order to meet the demand for essential products under partial or total failure scenarios. They also addressed how importing some high spec products can help recover some of the losses and what is needed in order to accomplish this. In addition, the results showed nonlinear relations among local and global objectives for some refineries. The results demonstrate that refineries can have a local multi objective optimum that does not follow the same trends as either global or local single objective optimums. Catastrophic failure effects on refinery operations and on local objectives are more significant than environmental objective effects, and changes in the capacity or the local objectives follow a discrete behavioral pattern, in contrast to environmental objective cases in which the effects are smoother. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Computer simulation of refining process of a high consistency disc refiner based on CFD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ping; Yang, Jianwei; Wang, Jiahui

2017-08-01

In order to reduce refining energy consumption, the ANSYS CFX was used to simulate the refining process of a high consistency disc refiner. In the first it was assumed to be uniform Newton fluid of turbulent state in disc refiner with the k-ɛ flow model; then meshed grids and set the boundary conditions in 3-D model of the disc refiner; and then was simulated and analyzed; finally, the viscosity of the pulp were measured. The results show that the CFD method can be used to analyze the pressure and torque on the disc plate, so as to calculate the refining power, and streamlines and velocity vectors can also be observed. CFD simulation can optimize parameters of the bar and groove, which is of great significance to reduce the experimental cost and cycle.

Oxidative stability of refined olive and sunflower oils supplemented with lycopene-rich oleoresin from tomato peels industrial by-product, during accelerated shelf-life storage.

PubMed

Kehili, Mouna; Choura, Sirine; Zammel, Ayachi; Allouche, Noureddine; Sayadi, Sami

2018-04-25

Tomato peels by-product from a Tunisian industry was used for the extraction of lycopene-rich oleoresin using hexane solvent maceration. Tomato peels oleoresin, TPO, exhibited competitive free radicals scavenging activity with synthetic antioxidants. The efficacy of TPO in stabilizing refined olive (ROO) and sunflower (RSO) oils was investigated for five months, under accelerated shelf-life, compared to the synthetic antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). TPO was added to ROO and RSO at four different concentrations, namely 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 µg/g and BHT standard at 200 µg/g. Lipid oxidation was tracked by measuring the peroxide value, acidity, conjugated dienes and trienes. Results suggested the highest efficiency of 250 µg/g and 2000 µg/g of TPO, referring to 5 µg/g and 40 µg/g of lycopene, for the oxidative stabilization of ROO and RSO, respectively. The protective effect of TPO against the primary oxidation of these refined oils was significantly correlated to their lycopene contents. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Silicon material technology status. [assessment for electronic and photovoltaic applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lutwack, R.

1983-01-01

Silicon has been the basic element for the electronic and photovoltaic industries. The use of silicon as the primary element for terrestrial photovoltaic solar arrays is projected to continue. The reasons for this projection are related to the maturity of silicon technology, the ready availability of extremely pure silicon, the performance of silicon solar cells, and the considerable present investment in technology and manufacturing facilities. The technologies for producing semiconductor grade silicon and, to a lesser extent, refined metallurgical grade silicon are considered. It is pointed out that nearly all of the semiconductor grade silicon is produced by processes based on the Siemens deposition reactor, a technology developed 26 years ago. The state-of-the-art for producing silicon by this process is discussed. It is expected that efforts to reduce polysilicon process costs will continue.

Magnetic losses reduction in grain oriented silicon steel by pulse and continuous fiber laser processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petryshynets, Ivan; Kováč, František; Puchý, Viktor; Šebek, Martin; Füzer, Ján; Kollár, Peter

2018-04-01

The present paper shows the impact of different laser scribing conditions on possible reduction of magnetic losses in grain oriented electrical steel sheets. The experimental Fe-3%Si steel was taken from industrial line after final box annealing. The surface of investigated steel was subjected to fiber laser processing using both pulse and continuous scribing regimes in order to generate residual thermal stresses inducing the magnetic domains structure refinement. The magnetic losses of experimental samples before and after individual laser scribing regimes were tested in AC magnetic field with 50Hz frequency and induction of 1.5T. The most significant magnetic losses reduction of 38% was obtained at optimized conditions of continuous laser scribing regime. A semi quantitative relationship has been found between the domain patterns and the used fiber laser processing.

Curves and Surfaces

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-01

Morten Dohlen Center for Industrial Rcsearch(SI), Box 124 Blindern, 0314 Oslo 3, Norway. Abstract. The combination of refinement and decomposition...of Technology Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Section Mechanical Engineering Design Jaffalaan 9 NL-2628 BX Delft The Netherlands louwe...OF A GIVEN SET OF POINTS Leonardo Traversoni Dominguez Division de Ciencias Basicas e Ingenieria Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (Iztapalapa) ap

Imaging-based optical caliper for objects in hot manufacturing processes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Howard

OG Technologies, Inc. (OGT), in conjunction with its industrial and academic partners, proposes to develop an Imaging-Based Optical Caliper (hereafter referred to as OC) for Objects in Hot Manufacturing Processes. The goal is to develop and demonstrate the OC with the synergy of OGT's current technological pool and other innovations to provide a light weight, robust, safe and accurate portable dimensional measurement device for hot objects with integrated wireless communication capacity to enable real time process control. The technical areas of interest in this project are the combination of advanced imaging, Sensor Fusion, and process control. OGT believes that themore » synergistic interactions between its current set of technologies and other innovations could deliver products that are viable and have high impact in the hot manufacture processes, such as steel making, steel rolling, open die forging, and glass industries, resulting in a new energy efficient control paradigm in the operations through improved yield, prolonged tool life and improved quality. In-line dimension measurement and control is of interest to the steel makers, yet current industry focus is on the final product dimension only instead of whole process due to the limit of man power, system cost and operator safety concerns. As sensor technologies advances, the industry started to see the need to enforce better dimensional control throughout the process, but lack the proper tools to do so. OGT along with its industrial partners represent the indigenous effort of technological development to serve the US steel industry. The immediate market that can use and get benefited from the proposed OC is the Steel Industry. The deployment of the OC has the potential to provide benefits in reduction of energy waste, CO2 emission, waste water amount, toxic waste, and so forth. The potential market after further expended function includes Hot Forging and Freight Industries. The OC prototypes were fabricated, and were progressively tested on-site in several steel mill and hot forging facilities for evaluation. Software refinements and new calibration procedures were also carried out to overcome the discovered glitches. Progress was presented to the hot manufacture facilities worldwide. Evidence showed a great interest and practical need for this product. OGT is in the pilot commercialization mode for this new development. The R&D team also successfully developed a 3D measurement function with no additional investment of hardware or equipment to measure low or room temperature object dimensions. Several tests were conducted in the reality environment to evaluate the measurement results. This new application will require additional development in product design.« less

Microstructural features of friction stir welded dissimilar Aluminium alloys AA2219-AA7475

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaman Khan, Noor; Ubaid, Mohammed; Siddiquee, Arshad Noor; Khan, Zahid A.; Al-Ahmari, Abdulrahman; Chen, Xizhang; Haider Abidi, Mustufa

2018-05-01

High strength, good corrosion resistance, light weight make aluminium alloys a material of choice in many industrial sectors like aerospace, marine etc. Problems associated with welding of these alloys by fusion welding processes restricted their use in various industries. Friction stir welding (FSW), a clean solid-state joining process, easily overcomes various difficulties encountered during conventional fusion welding processes. In the present work, the effect of rotational speed (710 rpm, 900 rpm and 1120 rpm) on micro-hardness distribution and microstructure of FSWed dissimilar aluminium alloy joints were analyzed. Plates of AA7475-T761 and AA2219-O having thickness of 2.5 mm were welded by fixing AA7475 on retreating side (RS) and AA2219 on advancing side (AS). Welded joints were characterized by Vickers micro-hardness testing, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM). Results revealed that rotational speed significantly affects the micro-hardness due to increase in grain size, coarsening and dissolution of strengthening precipitates and re-precipitation. Higher micro-hardness values were observed in stir zone due to grain refinement and re-precipitation. Minimum micro-hardness value was observed at the TMAZ/HAZ of advancing side due to thermal softening.

Optimizing Biorefinery Design and Operations via Linear Programming Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Talmadge, Michael; Batan, Liaw; Lamers, Patrick

The ability to assess and optimize economics of biomass resource utilization for the production of fuels, chemicals and power is essential for the ultimate success of a bioenergy industry. The team of authors, consisting of members from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), has developed simple biorefinery linear programming (LP) models to enable the optimization of theoretical or existing biorefineries. The goal of this analysis is to demonstrate how such models can benefit the developing biorefining industry. It focuses on a theoretical multi-pathway, thermochemical biorefinery configuration and demonstrates how the biorefinery can use LPmore » models for operations planning and optimization in comparable ways to the petroleum refining industry. Using LP modeling tools developed under U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (DOE-BETO) funded efforts, the authors investigate optimization challenges for the theoretical biorefineries such as (1) optimal feedstock slate based on available biomass and prices, (2) breakeven price analysis for available feedstocks, (3) impact analysis for changes in feedstock costs and product prices, (4) optimal biorefinery operations during unit shutdowns / turnarounds, and (5) incentives for increased processing capacity. These biorefinery examples are comparable to crude oil purchasing and operational optimization studies that petroleum refiners perform routinely using LPs and other optimization models. It is important to note that the analyses presented in this article are strictly theoretical and they are not based on current energy market prices. The pricing structure assigned for this demonstrative analysis is consistent with $4 per gallon gasoline, which clearly assumes an economic environment that would favor the construction and operation of biorefineries. The analysis approach and examples provide valuable insights into the usefulness of analysis tools for maximizing the potential benefits of biomass utilization for production of fuels, chemicals and power.« less

Recovery of Silver and Gold from Copper Anode Slimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ailiang; Peng, Zhiwei; Hwang, Jiann-Yang; Ma, Yutian; Liu, Xuheng; Chen, Xingyu

2015-02-01

Copper anode slimes, produced from copper electrolytic refining, are important industrial by-products containing several valuable metals, particularly silver and gold. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the development of the extraction processes for recovering silver and gold from conventional copper anode slimes. Existing processes, namely pyrometallurgical processes, hydrometallurgical processes, and hybrid processes involving the combination of pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical technologies, are discussed based in part on a review of the form and characteristics of silver and gold in copper anode slimes. The recovery of silver and gold in pyrometallurgical processes is influenced in part by the slag and matte/metal chemistry and related characteristics, whereas the extraction of these metals in hydrometallurgical processes depends on the leaching reagents used to break the structure of the silver- and gold-bearing phases, such as selenides. By taking advantage of both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical techniques, high extraction yields of silver and gold can be obtained using such combined approaches that appear promising for efficient extraction of silver and gold from copper anode slimes.

INSCAN PRO: a fast ultraviolet spectrometer design approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myer, Brian Walker; Dias, João. Mendanha

2013-11-01

Spectroscopy diagnostic techniques have applications in such diverse areas as mechanical and aerospace engineering, physical chemistry, optics, food and pharmaceutical industries. However, the technological state-of-the-art spectrometers do not allow very fast processes to be evaluated or controlled. This ability is crucial in the optimization of industrial processes (welding, burning flames, spark ignition, pulsed radiolysis…) where more theoretical-experimental analysis should be performed. The INSCAN project aims to overcome this technological limitation, to satisfy needs in academia and industrial markets, by developing a compact spectrometer with focal lengths less than 200 mm, taking into account three important aspects: acquisition rate of approximately 10 kHz spectra, spectral resolution on the order of 0.1 nm and operating in the spectral range 200 nm to 700 nm. Initial work is described on the optical design of the device and several possible approaches to achieve the specifications are considered. To guide the first order design, we relate the optical linewidth, spectral bandwidth and imaging properties to component characteristics. The symmetrical Czerny-Turner optical mount was chosen for its flexibility and elaborated using ZEMAX. Predictions made based on the simulated system are compared with calibration and characterization measurements on an experimental test bench used to refine the model assumptions.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products aremore » presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.« less

Development of a stationary carbon emission inventory for Shanghai using pollution source census data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xianzhe; Jiang, Ping; Zhang, Yan; Ma, Weichun

2016-12-01

This study utilizes 521,631 activity data points from the 2007 Shanghai Pollution Source Census to compile a stationary carbon emission inventory for Shanghai. The inventory generated from our dataset shows that a large portion of Shanghai's total energy use consists of coal-oriented energy consumption. The electricity and heat production industries, iron and steel mills, and the petroleum refining industry are the main carbon emitters. In addition, most of these industries are located in Baoshan District, which is Shanghai's largest contributor of carbon emissions. Policy makers can use the enterpriselevel carbon emission inventory and the method designed in this study to construct sound carbon emission reduction policies. The carbon trading scheme to be established in Shanghai based on the developed carbon inventory is also introduced in this paper with the aim of promoting the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon trading. Moreover, we believe that it might be useful to consider the participation of industries, such as those for food processing, beverage, and tobacco, in Shanghai's carbon trading scheme. Based on the results contained herein, we recommend establishing a comprehensive carbon emission inventory by inputting data from the pollution source census used in this study.

A brief history of the American radium industry and its ties to the scientific community of its early twentieth century

USGS Publications Warehouse

Landa, E.R.

1993-01-01

Federally funded remedial action projects are presently underway in New Jersey and Colorado at sites containing 226Ra and other radionuclides from radium-uranium ore extraction plants that operated during the early twentieth century. They are but the latest chapter in the story of an American industry that emerged and perished in the span of three decades. Major extraction plants were established in or near Denver (CO), Pittsburgh (PA), and New York City (NY) to process radium from ore that came largely from the carnotite deposits of western Colorado and eastern Utah. The staffs of these plants included some of the finest chemists and physicists in the nation, and the highly-refined radium products found a variety of uses in medicine and industry. The discovery of high-grade pitchblende ores in the Belgian Congo and the subsequent opening of an extraction plant near Antwerp, Belgium, in 1992, however, created an economic climate that put an end to the American radium industry. The geologic, chemical, and engineering information gathered during this era formed the basis of the uranium industry of the later part of the century, while the tailings and residues came to be viewed as environmental problems during the same period.

Energy index decomposition methodology at the plant level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumphai, Wisit

Scope and method of study. The dissertation explores the use of a high level energy intensity index as a facility-level energy performance monitoring indicator with a goal of developing a methodology for an economically based energy performance monitoring system that incorporates production information. The performance measure closely monitors energy usage, production quantity, and product mix and determines the production efficiency as a part of an ongoing process that would enable facility managers to keep track of and, in the future, be able to predict when to perform a recommissioning process. The study focuses on the use of the index decomposition methodology and explored several high level (industry, sector, and country levels) energy utilization indexes, namely, Additive Log Mean Divisia, Multiplicative Log Mean Divisia, and Additive Refined Laspeyres. One level of index decomposition is performed. The indexes are decomposed into Intensity and Product mix effects. These indexes are tested on a flow shop brick manufacturing plant model in three different climates in the United States. The indexes obtained are analyzed by fitting an ARIMA model and testing for dependency between the two decomposed indexes. Findings and conclusions. The results concluded that the Additive Refined Laspeyres index decomposition methodology is suitable to use on a flow shop, non air conditioned production environment as an energy performance monitoring indicator. It is likely that this research can be further expanded in to predicting when to perform a recommissioning process.

Application of ultrasound and air stripping for the removal of aromatic hydrocarbons from spent sulfidic caustic for use in autotrophic denitrification as an electron donor.

PubMed

Lee, Jae-Ho; Park, Jeung-Jin; Choi, Gi-Choong; Byun, Im-Gyu; Park, Tae-Joo; Lee, Tae-Ho

2013-01-01

Spent sulfidic caustic (SSC) produced from petroleum industry can be reused to denitrify nitrate-nitrogen via a biological nitrogen removal process as an electron donor for sulfur-based autotrophic denitrification, because it has a large amount of dissolved sulfur. However, SSC has to be refined because it also contains some aromatic hydrocarbons, typically benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX) and phenol that are recalcitrant organic compounds. In this study, laboratory-scale ultrasound irradiation and air stripping treatment were applied in order to remove these aromatic hydrocarbons. In the ultrasound system, both BTEX and phenol were exponentially removed by ultrasound irradiation during 60 min of reaction time to give the greatest removal efficiency of about 80%. Whereas, about 95% removal efficiency of BTEX was achieved, but not any significant phenol removal, within 30 min in the air stripping system, indicating that air stripping was a more efficient method than ultrasound irradiation. However, since air stripping did not remove any significant phenol, an additional process for degrading phenol was required. Accordingly, we applied a combined ultrasound and air stripping process. In these experiments, the removal efficiencies of BTEX and phenol were improved compared to the application of ultrasound and air stripping alone. Thus, the combined ultrasound and air stripping treatment is appropriate for refining SSC.

Biosorptive recovery of platinum from platinum group metal refining wastewaters by immobilised Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Mack, C L; Wilhelmi, B; Duncan, J R; Burgess, J E

2011-01-01

The process of platinum group metal (PGM) refining can be up to 99.99% efficient at best, and although it may seem small, the amount of valuable metal lost to waste streams is appreciable enough to warrant recovery. The method currently used to remove entrained metal ions from refinery wastewaters, chemical precipitation, is not effective for selective recovery of PGMs. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been found capable of sorbing numerous precious and base metals, and is a cheap and abundant source of biomass. In this investigation, S. cerevisiae was immobilised using polyethyleneimine and glutaraldehyde to produce a suitable sorbent, capable of high platinum uptake (150-170 mg/g) at low pH (<2). The sorption mechanism was found to be a chemical reaction, which made effective desorption impossible. When applied to PGM refinery wastewater, two key wastewater characteristics limited the success of the sorption process; high inorganic ion content and complex speciation of the platinum ions. The results proved the concept principle of platinum recovery by immobilised yeast biosorption and indicated that a more detailed understanding of the platinum speciation within the wastewater is required before biosorption can be applied. Overall, the sorption of platinum by the S. cerevisiae sorbent was demonstrated to be highly effective in principle, but the complexity of the wastewater requires that pretreatment steps be taken before the successful application of this process to industrial wastewater.

Combination of dynamic transformation and dynamic recrystallization for realizing ultrafine-grained steels with superior mechanical properties

PubMed Central

Zhao, Lijia; Park, Nokeun; Tian, Yanzhong; Shibata, Akinobu; Tsuji, Nobuhiro

2016-01-01

Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) is an important grain refinement mechanism to fabricate steels with high strength and high ductility (toughness). The conventional DRX mechanism has reached the limitation of refining grains to several microns even though employing high-strain deformation. Here we show a DRX phenomenon occurring in the dynamically transformed (DT) ferrite, by which the required strain for the operation of DRX and the formation of ultrafine grains is significantly reduced. The DRX of DT ferrite shows an unconventional temperature dependence, which suggests an optimal condition for grain refinement. We further show that new strategies for ultra grain refinement can be evoked by combining DT and DRX mechanisms, based on which fully ultrafine microstructures having a mean grain size down to 0.35 microns can be obtained without high-strain deformation and exhibit superior mechanical properties. This study will open the door to achieving optimal grain refinement to nanoscale in a variety of steels requiring no high-strain deformation in practical industrial application. PMID:27966603

An approach for prominent enhancement of the quality of konjac flour: dimethyl sulfoxide as medium.

PubMed

Ye, Ting; Wang, Ling; Xu, Wei; Liu, Jinjin; Wang, Yuntao; Zhu, Kunkun; Wang, Sujuan; Li, Bin; Wang, Chao

2014-01-01

In this paper, an approach to improve several konjac flour (KF) qualities by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) addition using various concentrations at different temperature levels was proposed. Also, various properties of native and refined KF, including transparency, chemical composition and rheological properties have been investigated. The results showed that the KF refined by 75% DMSO achieved 27.7% improvement in transparency, 99.7% removal of starch, 99.4% removal of soluble sugar, and 98.2% removal of protein as well as more satisfactory viscosity stability. In addition, the morphology structure of refined KF showed a significant difference compared with the native one as observed using the SEM, which is promising for further industrial application. Furthermore, the rheological properties of both native and refined konjac sols were studied and the results showed that DMSO refinement is an effective and alternative approach to improve the qualities of KF in many aspects. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Grain Refinement of Al-Si Hypoeutectic Alloys by Al3Ti1B Master Alloy and Ultrasonic Treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Gui; Wang, Eric Qiang; Prasad, Arvind; Dargusch, Matthew; StJohn, David H.

Al-Si alloys are widely used in automotive and aerospace industries due to their excellent castability, high strength to weight ratio and good corrosion resistance. However, Si poisoning severely limits the degree of grain refinement with the grain size becoming larger as the Si content increases. Generally the effect of Si poisoning is reduced by increasing the amount of master alloy added to the melt during casting. However, an alternative approach is physical grain refinement through the application of an external force (e.g. mechanical or electromagnetic stirring, intensive shearing and ultrasonic irradiation). This work compares the grain refining efficiency of three approaches to the grain refinement of a range of hypoeutectic Al-Si alloys by (i) the addition of A13Ti1B master alloy, (ii) the application of Ultrasonic Treatment (UT) and (iii) the combined addition of A13Ti1B master alloy and the application of UT.

Soil-borne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in El Paso, Texas: Analysis of a potential problem in the United States/Mexico border region

PubMed Central

De La Torre-Roche, Roberto J.; Lee, Wen-Yee; Campos-Díaz, Sandra I.

2009-01-01

Ultrasonic extraction followed by Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) and thermal desorption inline coupled with Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (TD/GC/MS)was used to perform a comprehensive determination of soil-borne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in El Paso, Texas. The method provided good sensitivity and faster processing time for the analysis. The total PAHs in El Paso soil ranged from 0.1 to 2225.5 µg kg−1. Although the majority of PAH concentrations did not exceed the soil screening levels regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the existence of PAHs in this ecosystem is ubiquitous. Naphthalene were found in 100% of the soil samples; while the heavy PAHs (five- and six-ring) were not often detected and mostly remained in closer proximity to industrial areas and major traffic points. The results ruled out the possibility of petroleum refining as the significant source of local soil-borne PAH contamination, but they suggested that the PAHs found in El Paso soil were closely linked to human activities and possible other industrial processes. PMID:18768257

Quality characteristics of Bali sardinella (Sardinella lemuru) oil purified with bentonite as an adsorbent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nadhiro, U.; Subekti, S.; Tjahjaningsih, W.; Patmawati

2018-04-01

Crude fish oil extracted from fish canning industry a low quality, therefore refining process is required to obtain feasible fish oil for food purposes. Purification of fish oil can through steps of degumming, neutralization, and bleaching by using bentonite as the adsorbent. This study aims to analyze the results of the purification process of crude fish oil by-product of canning industry of lemuru fish by using bentonite adsorbent with different concentrations. The method used was an experimental method by descriptive data analysis. The results showed that the highest yield (33.418 %) obtained from oil purification of lemuru with bentonite concentration of 6 % are classified as follows: free fatty acid content of 0.265 %, peroxide value of 6.343 mEq / kg, produce clarity 60.275 % T, 88.075 % T, 87.5 % T, 87.425 % T, 87.975 % T at a wavelength (λ) of 450 nm, 550 nm, 620 nm, 665 nm, 700 nm, para-anisidine value of 3.725 mEq / kg; and value of oxidation total of 16.41 meq / kg.

Study of Selected Petroleum Refining Residuals

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The document describes EPA's approach to conducting the industry study required by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)/EPA consent decree and characterizes the study residuals and how they are managed.

Minerals Yearbook, volume II, Area Reports—Domestic

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2018-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included.Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic, contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals.Volume III, Area Reports: International, is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section.The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

Minerals Yearbook, volume I, Metals and Minerals

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2018-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included.Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic, contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals.Volume III, Area Reports: International, is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section.The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

Minerals Yearbook, volume III, Area Reports—International

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2018-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included.Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic, contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals.Volume III, Area Reports: International, is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section.The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

Energy efficiency improvement and cost saving opportunities for the Corn Wet Milling Industry: An ENERGY STAR Guide for Energy and Plant Managers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Galitsky, Christina; Worrell, Ernst; Ruth, Michael

2003-07-01

Corn wet milling is the most energy intensive industry within the food and kindred products group (SIC 20), using 15 percent of the energy in the entire food industry. After corn, energy is the second largest operating cost for corn wet millers in the United States. A typical corn wet milling plant in the United States spends approximately $20 to $30 million per year on energy, making energy efficiency improvement an important way to reduce costs and increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy-price volatility. This report shows energy efficiency opportunities available for wet corn millers. It beginsmore » with descriptions of the trends, structure and production of the corn wet milling industry and the energy used in the milling and refining process. Specific primary energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies of plants and references to technical literature are provided. If available, typical payback periods are also listed. The report draws upon the experiences of corn, wheat and other starch processing plants worldwide for energy efficiency measures. The findings suggest that given available resources and technology, there are opportunities to reduce energy consumption cost-effectively in the corn wet milling industry while maintaining the quality of the products manufactured. Further research on the economics of the measures, as well as the applicability of these to different wet milling practices, is needed to assess the feasibility of implementation of selected technologies at individual plants.« less

Producing thin strips by twin-roll casting—part I: Process aspects and quality issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ben Q.

1995-05-01

This two-part paper discusses recent advances in research and development for the direct production of coilable thin strips by twin-roll casting in both the aluminum and steel industries. While the former is empowering the casters to approach the theoretical productivity limit, the latter is striving to put pilot casters into commercial operation. These intensive R&D efforts are derived from the advantages, both economic and metallurgical, offered by the process. As twin-roll casting combines solidification and hot rolling into a single operation, the process requires low capital investment and low operational cost. Also, because of the high solidification rate attained in the process, the thin strips produced have a refined metallurgical structure, characterized by columnar and equiaxed zones with fine intermetallic particles. The enthusiasm about twin-roll casting is now being spread worldwide. This paper focuses on the process aspects and quality control of twin-roll casting. Part II, which will appear in the August issue, will review process modeling and pilot-plant development activities.

Industrial Hardening: 1981 Technical Status-Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-09-01

preparedness for nuclear disaster ), establish additional industry contacts (through which to test and evaluate the new inputs and refinements), and...handling and control of toxic (and hazardous) materials in a nuclear disaster situation are desirable. In line with our strategy to seek overlapping...earthquake preparedness that apply to a nuclear disaster requires an analysis that is less direct than comparing ground shock. Earthquake-generated

Life science payloads planning study. [for space shuttle orbiters and spacelab

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, W. G.; Wells, G. W.

1977-01-01

Preferred approaches and procedures were defined for integrating the space shuttle life sciences payload from experiment solicitation through final data dissemination at mission completion. The payloads operations plan was refined and expended to include current information. The NASA-JSC facility accommodations were assessed, and modifications recommended to improve payload processing capability. Standard format worksheets were developed to permit rapid location of experiment requirements and a Spacelab mission handbook was developed to assist potential life sciences investigators at academic, industrial, health research, and NASA centers. Practical, cost effective methods were determined for accommodating various categories of live specimens during all mission phases.

Refining of plant oils to chemicals by olefin metathesis.

PubMed

Chikkali, Samir; Mecking, Stefan

2012-06-11

Plant oils are attractive substrates for the chemical industry. Their scope for the production of chemicals can be expanded by sophisticated catalytic conversions. Olefin metathesis is an example, which also illustrates generic issues of "biorefining" to chemicals. Utilization on a large scale requires high catalyst activities, which influences the choice of the metathesis reaction. The mixture of different fatty acids composing a technical-grade plant oil substrate gives rise to a range of products. This decisively determines possible process schemes, and potentially provides novel chemicals and intermediates not employed to date. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Water requirements of the copper industry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mussey, Orville Durey

1961-01-01

The copper industry in 1955 used about 330 million gallons of water per day in the mining and manufacturing of primary copper. This amount is about 0.3 percent of the total estimated withdrawals of industrial water in the United States in 1955. These facts were determined by a survey, in 1956, of the amount and chemical quality of the water used by the copper industry. A large part of this water was used in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, where about five-sixths of the domestic copper is mined. Much of the remaining water use was near New York City where most of the electrolytic refineries are located, and the rest of the water was used in widely scattered places. A little more than 100,000 gallons of water per ton of copper was used in the production of copper from domestic ores. Of this amount about 70,000 gallons per ton was used in mining and concentrating the ore, and about 30,000 gallons per ton was used to reduce the concentrate to refined copper. In areas where water was scarce or expensive, the unit water use was a little more than half the average. About 60 mgd (million gallons per day) or 18 percent of the water was used consumptively, and nearly all of the consumptive use occurred in the water-short areas of the West. Of the water used in mining and manufacturing primary copper 75 percent was surface water and 25 percent was ground water, 89 percent of this water was self-supplied by the copper companies and 11 percent came from public supplies. Much of the water used in producing primary copper was of comparatively poor quality; about 46 percent was saline containing 1,000 ppm (parts per million) or more of dissolved solids and 54 percent was fresh. Water that is used for concentration of copper ores by flotation or even any water that comes in contact with the ore at any time before it reaches the flotation plant must be free of petroleum products because they interfere with the flotation process. The water used in mining and ore concentration was higher in dissolved solids and was harder than the water used in smelting and refining. Water used in mining and ore concentration had a median dissolved solids content of about 400 ppm and a median hardness (as CaCO3) of about 200 ppm. The median values for water used in smelting and refining were only half these amounts.

An odor flux model for cattle feedlots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ormerod, R.J.

1994-12-31

Odor nuisance associated with cattle feedlots has been an issue of major interest and concern to regulators, rural communities and the beef industry in Australia over the past decade. Methods of assessing the likely impacts of new feedlots on community odor exposure are still being developed, but in the past few years much has been learnt about the processes of odor generation, flux and dispersion as well as the acceptability of feedlot odor to exposed communities. This paper outlines a model which simulates the complex physical and chemical processes leading to odor emissions in a simple and practical framework. Themore » model, named BULSMEL, has been developed as a response to regulatory requirements for quantitative assessments of odor impact. It will continue to be refined as more data are gathered.« less

Convergence of the Bouguer-Beer law for radiation extinction in particulate media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frankel, A.; Iaccarino, G.; Mani, A.

2016-10-01

Radiation transport in particulate media is a common physical phenomenon in natural and industrial processes. Developing predictive models of these processes requires a detailed model of the interaction between the radiation and the particles. Resolving the interaction between the radiation and the individual particles in a very large system is impractical, whereas continuum-based representations of the particle field lend themselves to efficient numerical techniques based on the solution of the radiative transfer equation. We investigate radiation transport through discrete and continuum-based representations of a particle field. Exact solutions for radiation extinction are developed using a Monte Carlo model in different particle distributions. The particle distributions are then projected onto a concentration field with varying grid sizes, and the Bouguer-Beer law is applied by marching across the grid. We show that the continuum-based solution approaches the Monte Carlo solution under grid refinement, but quickly diverges as the grid size approaches the particle diameter. This divergence is attributed to the homogenization error of an individual particle across a whole grid cell. We remark that the concentration energy spectrum of a point-particle field does not approach zero, and thus the concentration variance must also diverge under infinite grid refinement, meaning that no grid-converged solution of the radiation transport is possible.

Diffuse interface simulation of bubble rising process: a comparison of adaptive mesh refinement and arbitrary lagrange-euler methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ye; Cai, Jiejin; Li, Qiong; Yin, Huaqiang; Yang, Xingtuan

2018-06-01

Gas-liquid two phase flow exists in several industrial processes and light-water reactors (LWRs). A diffuse interface based finite element method with two different mesh generation methods namely, the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) and the Arbitrary Lagrange Euler (ALE) methods is used to model the shape and velocity changes in a rising bubble. Moreover, the calculating speed and mesh generation strategies of AMR and ALE are contrasted. The simulation results agree with the Bhagat's experiments, indicating that both mesh generation methods can simulate the characteristics of bubble accurately. We concluded that: the small bubble rises as elliptical with oscillation, whereas a larger bubble (11 mm > d > 7 mm) rises with a morphology between the elliptical and cap type with a larger oscillation. When the bubble is large (d > 11 mm), it rises up as a cap type, and the amplitude becomes smaller. Moreover, it takes longer to achieve the stable shape from the ellipsoid to the spherical cap type with the increase of the bubble diameter. The results also show that for smaller diameter case, the ALE method uses fewer grids and has a faster calculation speed, but the AMR method can solve the case of a large geometry deformation efficiently.

Industrial garnet

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olson, D.W.

2006-01-01

In 2005, US production of crude garnet concentrate for industrial use was 28.4 kt valued at $3.05 million. Refined garnet material sold or used was 30.4 kt valued at $10 million. For the year, the US was one of the world's leading consumers of industrial garnet. Domestic values for crude concentrates for different applications ranged from about $53 to $120/t. In the short term, excess production capacity, combined with suppliers that vary in quality, grain size and mineral type, will keep prices down.

Industrial garnet

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olson, D.W.

2000-01-01

The state of the global industrial garnet industry in 1999 is discussed. Industrial garnet mined in the U.S., which accounts for approximately one-third of the world's total, is usually a solid-solution of almandine and pyrope. The U.S. is the largest consumer of industrial garnet, using an estimated 47,800 st in 1999 as an abrasive and as a filtration medium in the petroleum industry, filtration plants, aircraft and motor vehicle manufacture, shipbuilding, wood furniture finishing operations, electronic component manufacture, ceramics manufacture, and glass production. Prices for crude concentrates ranged from approximately $50 to $110/st and refined garnet from $50 to $215/st in 1999, depending on type, source, quantity purchased, quality, and application.

Application of Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials in Oil and Gas Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nabhani, Nader; Emami, Milad; Moghadam, A. B. Taghavi

2011-12-01

Micro and nano technologies have already contributed significantly to technological advances in a number of industries, including electronics, biomedical, pharmaceutical, materials and manufacturing, aerospace, photography and more recently the energy industries. Micro and nanotechnologies have the potential to introduce revolutionary changes in several areas of the oil and gas industries such as exploration, drilling, production, refining and distribution. For example, nanosensors might provide more detailed and accurate information about reservoirs and smart fluids for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and drilling. This paper examines and documents applicable nanotechnology base products that can improve the competitiveness of the oil and gas industry. The future challenges of nanotechnology application in the oil and gas industry are also discussed.

Petroleum marketing monthly, June 1994

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-06-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products aremore » presented in five sections: Summary Statistics; Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption. The feature article is entitled ``The Second Oxygenated Gasoline Season.`` 7 figs., 50 tabs.« less

Petroleum marketing monthly, February 1999 with data for November 1998

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1999-02-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products aremore » presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in six sections: Initial Estimates; Summary Statistics; Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.« less

Petroleum marketing monthly, March 1999 with data for December 1998

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1999-03-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products aremore » presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.« less

Petroleum: An Energy Profile 1999

EIA Publications

1999-01-01

Explains in layman's terms the major components and operations of the U.S. petroleum industry that include: petroleum products, resources and reserves, drilling and exploration, refining, storage and transportation, imports, exports, and petroleum marketing.

Grain Refinement and Improvement of Solidification Defects in Direct-Chill Cast Billets of A4032 Alloy by Melt Conditioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hu-Tian; Zhao, Pizhi; Yang, Rongdong; Patel, Jayesh B.; Chen, Xiangfu; Fan, Zhongyun

2017-10-01

Melt-conditioned, direct-chill (MC-DC) casting is an emerging technology to manipulate the solidification process by melt conditioning via intensive shearing in the sump during DC casting to tailor the solidification microstructure and defect formation. When using MC-DC casting technology in an industrial scale DC cast billet of an A4032 aluminum alloy, significant grain refinement and uniform microstructure can be achieved in the primary α-Al phase with fine secondary dendritic arm spacing (SDAS). Improved macrosegregation is quantitatively characterized and correlated with the suppression of channel segregation. The mechanisms for the prevention of channel segregation are attributed to the increased local cooling rate in the liquid-solid phase region in the sump and the formation of fine equiaxed dendritic grains under intensive melt shearing during MC-DC casting. A critical cooling rate has been identified to be around 0.5 to 1 K/s (°C/s) for the channel segregation to happen in the investigated alloy based on quantitative metallographic results of SDAS. Reduction and refinement of microporosity is attributed to the improved permeability in the liquid-solid phase region estimated by the Kozeny-Carman relationship. The potential improvement in the mechanical properties achievable in MC-DC cast billets is indicated by the finer and more uniform forging streamline in the forgings of MC-DC cast billet.

Glycidyl fatty acid esters in refined edible oils: A review on formation, occurrence, analysis, and elimination methods

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Glycidyl fatty acid esters (GEs), one of the main contaminants in processed oil, are mainly formed during the deodorization step in the oil refining process of edible oils and therefore occur in almost all refined edible oils. GEs are potential carcinogens, due to the fact that they hydrolyze into t...

Development of a security vulnerability assessment process for the RAMCAP chemical sector.

PubMed

Moore, David A; Fuller, Brad; Hazzan, Michael; Jones, J William

2007-04-11

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Directorate of Information Analysis & Infrastructure Protection (IAIP), Protective Services Division (PSD), contracted the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Innovative Technologies Institute, LLC (ASME ITI, LLC) to develop guidance on Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Asset Protection (RAMCAP). AcuTech Consulting Group (AcuTech) has been contracted by ASME ITI, LLC, to provide assistance by facilitating the development of sector-specific guidance on vulnerability analysis and management for critical asset protection for the chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) sectors. This activity involves two key tasks for these three sectors: Development of a screening to supplement DHS understanding of the assets that are important to protect against terrorist attack and to prioritize the activities. Development of a standard security vulnerability analysis (SVA) framework for the analysis of consequences, vulnerabilities, and threats. This project involves the cooperative effort of numerous leading industrial companies, industry trade associations, professional societies, and security and safety consultants representative of those sectors. Since RAMCAP is a voluntary program for ongoing risk management for homeland security, sector coordinating councils are being asked to assist in communicating the goals of the program and in encouraging participation. The RAMCAP project will have a profound and positive impact on all sectors as it is fully developed, rolled-out and implemented. It will help define the facilities and operations of national and regional interest for the threat of terrorism, define standardized methods for analyzing consequences, vulnerabilities, and threats, and describe best security practices of the industry. This paper will describe the results of the security vulnerability analysis process that was developed and field tested for the chemical manufacturing sector. This method was developed through the cooperation of the many organizations and the individuals involved from the chemical sector RAMCAP development activities. The RAMCAP SVA method is intended to provide a common basis for making vulnerability assessments and risk-based decisions for homeland security. Mr. Moore serves as the coordinator for the chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and LNG sectors for the RAMCAP project and Dr. Jones is the chief technology officer for ASME-ITI, LLC for RAMCAP.

Health hazards of China's lead-acid battery industry: a review of its market drivers, production processes, and health impacts.

PubMed

van der Kuijp, Tsering Jan; Huang, Lei; Cherry, Christopher R

2013-08-03

Despite China's leaded gasoline phase out in 2000, the continued high rates of lead poisoning found in children's blood lead levels reflect the need for identifying and controlling other sources of lead pollution. From 2001 to 2007, 24% of children in China studied (N = 94,778) were lead poisoned with levels exceeding 100 μg/L. These levels stand well above the global average of 16%. These trends reveal that China still faces significant public health challenges, with millions of children currently at risk of lead poisoning. The unprecedented growth of China's lead-acid battery industry from the electric bike, automotive, and photovoltaic industries may explain these persistently high levels, as China remains the world's leading producer, refiner, and consumer of both lead and lead-acid batteries.This review assesses the role of China's rising lead-acid battery industry on lead pollution and exposure. It starts with a synthesis of biological mechanisms of lead exposure followed by an analysis of the key technologies driving the rapid growth of this industry. It then details the four main stages of lead battery production, explaining how each stage results in significant lead loss and pollution. A province-level accounting of each of these industrial operations is also included. Next, reviews of the literature describe how this industry may have contributed to mass lead poisonings throughout China. Finally, the paper closes with a discussion of new policies that address the lead-acid battery industry and identifies policy frameworks to mitigate exposure.This paper is the first to integrate the market factors, production processes, and health impacts of China's growing lead-acid battery industry to illustrate its vast public health consequences. The implications of this review are two-fold: it validates calls for a nationwide assessment of lead exposure pathways and levels in China as well as for a more comprehensive investigation into the health impacts of the lead-acid battery industry. The continuous growth of this industry signals the urgent need for effective regulatory action to protect the health and lives of China's future generations.

Health hazards of China’s lead-acid battery industry: a review of its market drivers, production processes, and health impacts

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Despite China’s leaded gasoline phase out in 2000, the continued high rates of lead poisoning found in children’s blood lead levels reflect the need for identifying and controlling other sources of lead pollution. From 2001 to 2007, 24% of children in China studied (N = 94,778) were lead poisoned with levels exceeding 100 μg/L. These levels stand well above the global average of 16%. These trends reveal that China still faces significant public health challenges, with millions of children currently at risk of lead poisoning. The unprecedented growth of China’s lead-acid battery industry from the electric bike, automotive, and photovoltaic industries may explain these persistently high levels, as China remains the world’s leading producer, refiner, and consumer of both lead and lead-acid batteries. This review assesses the role of China’s rising lead-acid battery industry on lead pollution and exposure. It starts with a synthesis of biological mechanisms of lead exposure followed by an analysis of the key technologies driving the rapid growth of this industry. It then details the four main stages of lead battery production, explaining how each stage results in significant lead loss and pollution. A province-level accounting of each of these industrial operations is also included. Next, reviews of the literature describe how this industry may have contributed to mass lead poisonings throughout China. Finally, the paper closes with a discussion of new policies that address the lead-acid battery industry and identifies policy frameworks to mitigate exposure. This paper is the first to integrate the market factors, production processes, and health impacts of China’s growing lead-acid battery industry to illustrate its vast public health consequences. The implications of this review are two-fold: it validates calls for a nationwide assessment of lead exposure pathways and levels in China as well as for a more comprehensive investigation into the health impacts of the lead-acid battery industry. The continuous growth of this industry signals the urgent need for effective regulatory action to protect the health and lives of China’s future generations. PMID:23915167

Identification of the odour and chemical composition of alumina refinery air emissions.

PubMed

Coffey, P S; Ioppolo-Armanios, M

2004-01-01

Alcoa World Alumina Australia has undertaken comprehensive air emissions monitoring aimed at characterising and quantifying the complete range of emissions to the atmosphere from Bayer refining of alumina at its Western Australian refineries. To the best of our knowledge, this project represents the most complete air emissions inventory of a Bayer refinery conducted in the worldwide alumina industry. It adds considerably to knowledge of air emission factors available for use in emissions estimation required under national pollutant release and transfer registers (NPRTs), such as the Toxic Releases Inventory, USA, and the National Pollutant Inventory, Australia. It also allows the preliminary identification of the key chemical components responsible for characteristic alumina refinery odours and the contribution of these components to the quality, or hedonic tone, of the odours. The strength and acceptability of refinery odours to employees and neighbours appears to be dependent upon where and in what proportion the odorous gases have been emitted from the refineries. This paper presents the results of the programme and develops a basis for classifying the odour properties of the key emission sources in the alumina-refining process.

Utilization of agroindustrial residues for lipase production by solid-state fermentation

PubMed Central

Damaso, Mônica Caramez Triches; Passianoto, Moisés Augusto; de Freitas, Sidinéa Cordeiro; Freire, Denise Maria Guimarães; Lago, Regina Celi Araujo; Couri, Sonia

2008-01-01

The aim of this work was to produce lipases by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using, as substrate, agroindustrial residue supplemented with by-products from corn oil refining process or olive oil. For a group of ten fungi strains selected in the first steps, the lipase activity obtained by SSF varied from 7.7 to 58.6 U/g of dry substrate (gds). Among the evaluated strains, the Aspergillus niger mutant 11T53A14 was selected by presenting the best enzymatic production. For the fermentation tests, two substrates were also investigated: wheat bran and corn cob, both supplemented with olive oil. The best results were obtained with wheat bran. Additionally, three industrial by-products from corn oil refining (soapstock, stearin and fatty acids) were evaluated as substitutes to the olive oil in the function of lipases production inducer. Among them, soapstock and stearin were the best inducers, whereas fatty acids presented an inhibitor effect. The highest lipase activities using soapstock, stearin and fatty acids were 62.7 U/gds, 37.7 U/gds and 4.1 U/gds, respectively. PMID:24031288

Manufacturing Industries with High Concentrations of Scientists and Engineers Lead in 1965-77 Employment Growth. Science Resources Studies Highlights, April 20, 1979.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. Div. of Science Resources Studies.

Presented are the results of a survey of over 100,000 manufacturing establishments, conducted for the National Science Foundation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, covering average annual employment for calendar year 1977. Industries whose relative concentration of scientists and engineers was high in 1977, such as petroleum refining, chemicals,…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Melancon, R.

In June, 1995, the National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA) adhoc committee on Contractor Safety Training, turned over the task of developing reciprocity agreements with all Contractor Safety Training Councils to the Executive Directors of each of the Council`s. The Council representatives were to develop these agreements based on the NPRA adhoc committee training objectives that were developed jointly by representatives of the petroleum industry, chemical industry, contractors and the Council`s.

40 CFR 409.30 - Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... liquid cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.30 Section 409.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.30 Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining...

40 CFR 409.30 - Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... liquid cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.30 Section 409.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.30 Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining...

40 CFR 409.30 - Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... liquid cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.30 Section 409.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.30 Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining...

40 CFR 409.30 - Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... liquid cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.30 Section 409.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.30 Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining...

40 CFR 409.30 - Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... liquid cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.30 Section 409.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.30 Applicability; description of the liquid cane sugar refining...

Effect of Temperature and Process on Quantity and Composition of Laboratory-generated Bitumen Emissions.

PubMed

Bolliet, Christophe; Kriech, Anthony J; Juery, Catherine; Vaissiere, Mathieu; Brinton, Michael A; Osborn, Linda V

2015-01-01

In this study we investigated the impact of temperature on emissions as related to various bitumen applications and processes used in commercial products. Bitumen emissions are very complex and can be influenced in quantity and composition by differences in crude source, refining processes, application temperature, and work practices. This study provided a controlled laboratory environment to study five bitumen test materials from three European refineries; three paving grade, one used for primarily roofing and some paving applications, and one oxidized industrial specialty bitumen. Emissions were generated at temperatures between 140°C and 230°C based on typical application temperatures of each product. Emissions were characterized by aerodynamic particle size, total organic matter (TOM), simulated distillation, 40 individual PACs, and fluorescence (FL-PACs) spectroscopy. Results showed that composition of bitumen emissions is influenced by temperature under studied experimental conditions. A distinction between the oxidized bitumen with flux oil (industrial specialty bitumen) and the remaining bitumens was observed. Under typical temperatures used for paving (150°C-170°C), the TOM and PAC concentrations in the emissions were low. However, bitumen with flux oil produced significantly higher emissions at 230°C, laden with high levels of PACs. Flux oil in this bitumen mixture enhanced release of higher boiling-ranged compounds during application conditions. At 200°C and below, concentrations of 4-6 ring PACs were ≤6.51 μg/m(3) for all test materials, even when flux oil was used. Trends learned about emission temperature-process relationships from this study can be used to guide industry decisions to reduce worker exposure during processing and application of hot bitumen.

Petroleum marketing annual 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1995-01-01

The Petroleum Marketing Annual (PMA) contains statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the free-on-board (f.o.b.) and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented. For this publication, all estimates have been recalculated since their earlier publication in the Petroleummore » Marketing Monthly (PMM). These calculations made use of additional data and corrections that were received after the PMM publication dates.« less

Valorization of industrial waste and by-product streams via fermentation for the production of chemicals and biopolymers.

PubMed

Koutinas, Apostolis A; Vlysidis, Anestis; Pleissner, Daniel; Kopsahelis, Nikolaos; Lopez Garcia, Isabel; Kookos, Ioannis K; Papanikolaou, Seraphim; Kwan, Tsz Him; Lin, Carol Sze Ki

2014-04-21

The transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a bio-based economy necessitates the exploitation of synergies, scientific innovations and breakthroughs, and step changes in the infrastructure of chemical industry. Sustainable production of chemicals and biopolymers should be dependent entirely on renewable carbon. White biotechnology could provide the necessary tools for the evolution of microbial bioconversion into a key unit operation in future biorefineries. Waste and by-product streams from existing industrial sectors (e.g., food industry, pulp and paper industry, biodiesel and bioethanol production) could be used as renewable resources for both biorefinery development and production of nutrient-complete fermentation feedstocks. This review focuses on the potential of utilizing waste and by-product streams from current industrial activities for the production of chemicals and biopolymers via microbial bioconversion. The first part of this review presents the current status and prospects on fermentative production of important platform chemicals (i.e., selected C2-C6 metabolic products and single cell oil) and biopolymers (i.e., polyhydroxyalkanoates and bacterial cellulose). In the second part, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of waste and by-product streams from existing industrial sectors are presented. In the third part, the techno-economic aspects of bioconversion processes are critically reviewed. Four case studies showing the potential of case-specific waste and by-product streams for the production of succinic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoates are presented. It is evident that fermentative production of chemicals and biopolymers via refining of waste and by-product streams is a highly important research area with significant prospects for industrial applications.

Minerals Yearbook, volume III, Area Reports—International—Africa and the Middle East

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2018-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included.Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic, contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals.Volume III, Area Reports: International, is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section.The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

Minerals Yearbook, volume III, Area Reports—International—Asia and the Pacific

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geological Survey, U.S.

2018-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included.Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic, contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals.Volume III, Area Reports: International, is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section.The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

Minerals Yearbook, volume III, Area Reports—International—Latin America and Canada

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2018-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included.Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic, contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals.Volume III, Area Reports: International, is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section.The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

Minerals Yearbook, volume III, Area Reports—International—Europe and Central Eurasia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geological Survey, U.S.

2018-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included.Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic, contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals.Volume III, Area Reports: International, is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section.The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

40 CFR Table 1 of Subpart Aaaaaaa... - Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 15 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing... Area Sources: Asphalt Processing and Asphalt Roofing Manufacturing Other Requirements and Information... of Part 63—Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations For * * * You must meet the...

40 CFR Table 1 of Subpart Aaaaaaa... - Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 15 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing... Area Sources: Asphalt Processing and Asphalt Roofing Manufacturing Other Requirements and Information... of Part 63—Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations For * * * You must meet the...

40 CFR Table 1 of Subpart Aaaaaaa... - Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 14 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing... Area Sources: Asphalt Processing and Asphalt Roofing Manufacturing Other Requirements and Information... of Part 63—Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations For * * * You must meet the...

40 CFR Table 1 of Subpart Aaaaaaa... - Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 15 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing... Area Sources: Asphalt Processing and Asphalt Roofing Manufacturing Other Requirements and Information... of Part 63—Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations For * * * You must meet the...

40 CFR Table 1 of Subpart Aaaaaaa... - Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 14 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing... Area Sources: Asphalt Processing and Asphalt Roofing Manufacturing Other Requirements and Information... of Part 63—Emission Limits for Asphalt Processing (Refining) Operations For * * * You must meet the...

Mesh Convergence Requirements for Composite Damage Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davila, Carlos G.

2016-01-01

The ability of the finite element method to accurately represent the response of objects with intricate geometry and loading renders the finite element method as an extremely versatile analysis technique for structural analysis. Finite element analysis is routinely used in industry to calculate deflections, stress concentrations, natural frequencies, buckling loads, and much more. The method works by discretizing complex problems into smaller, simpler approximations that are valid over small uniform domains. For common analyses, the maximum size of the elements that can be used is often be determined by experience. However, to verify the quality of a solution, analyses with several levels of mesh refinement should be performed to ensure that the solution has converged. In recent years, the finite element method has been used to calculate the resistance of structures, and in particular that of composite structures. A number of techniques such as cohesive zone modeling, the virtual crack closure technique, and continuum damage modeling have emerged that can be used to predict cracking, delaminations, fiber failure, and other composite damage modes that lead to structural collapse. However, damage models present mesh refinement requirements that are not well understood. In this presentation, we examine different mesh refinement issues related to the representation of damage in composite materials. Damage process zone sizes and their corresponding mesh requirements will be discussed. The difficulties of modeling discontinuities and the associated need for regularization techniques will be illustrated, and some unexpected element size constraints will be presented. Finally, some of the difficulties in constructing models of composite structures capable of predicting transverse matrix cracking will be discussed. It will be shown that to predict the initiation and propagation of transverse matrix cracks, their density, and their saturation may require models that are significantly more refined than those that have been contemplated in the past.

Additive Manufacturing of High-Performance 316L Stainless Steel Nanocomposites via Selective Laser Melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

AlMangour, Bandar Abdulaziz

Austenitic 316L stainless steel alloy is an attractive industrial material combining outstanding corrosion resistance, ductility, and biocompatibility, with promising structural applications and biomedical uses. However, 316L has low strength and wear resistance, limiting its high-performance applicability. Adding secondary hard nanoscale reinforcements to steel matrices, thereby forming steel-matrix nanocomposites (SMCs), can overcome these problems, improving the performance and thereby the applicability of 316L. However, SMC parts with complex-geometry cannot be easily achieved limiting its application. This can be avoided through additive manufacturing (AM) by generating layer-by-layer deposition using computer-aided design data. Expanding the range of AM-applicable materials is necessary to fulfill industrial demand. This dissertation presents the characteristics of new AM-processed high-performance 316L-matrix nanocomposites with nanoscale TiC or TiB2 reinforcements, addressing specific aspects of material design, process control and optimization, and physical metallurgy theory. The nanocomposites were prepared by high-energy ball-milling and consolidated by AM selective laser melting (SLM). Continuous and refined ring-like network structures were obtained with homogenously distributed reinforcements. Additional grain refinement occurred with reinforcement addition, attributed to nanoparticles acting as nuclei for heterogeneous nucleation. The influence of reinforcement content was first investigated; mechanical and tribological behaviors improved with increased reinforcement contents. The compressive yield strengths of composites with TiB2 or TiC reinforcements were approximately five or two times those of 316L respectively. Hot isostatic pressing post-treatment effectively eliminated major cracks and pores in SLM-fabricated components. The effects of the SLM processing parameters on the microstructure and mechanical performance were also investigated. Laser re-melting through double-scanning created higher-density SLM-processed parts with improved mechanical properties but longer production times. Certain scanning patterns minimized texture, creating near-isotropic structures. The energy density eta crucially improved densification at the expense of increased grain size, causing mechanical behavior tradeoffs. It also influenced the size and dispersion state of TiC. In-situ SMCs were fabricated by SLM, an encouraging low-cost processing approach for high-performance parts. Interestingly, in-situ SMCs exhibited higher microhardness values in comparison to the ex-situ composites under fixed SLM processing conditions because of fine, uniform reinforcement distribution. The developed nanocomposites show promise as high-performance materials. Future research is suggested for strategic material developments.

40 CFR 409.21 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.21... (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

40 CFR 409.21 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.21... (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

40 CFR 409.21 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.21... (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

40 CFR 409.21 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.21... (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

Commercial industry on the horizon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belcher, J.

2000-01-01

About 5,000 Tcf of stranded gas reserves exist worldwide--gas that is not economically feasible to recover and move to market through pipelines. For oil producers, this is problematic for a number of reasons. What do you do with associated gas when environmental regulations worldwide are banning flaring due to concerns over greenhouse gas emissions? Reinjection is costly and may not be the best solution in every reservoir. While many producers have enormous gas reserves, they are of no value if that gas is just sitting in the ground with no potential markets at hand. How can you monetize these reserves?more » A potential solution to the problem of stranded gas reserves is GTL processing. This process takes methane and converts it to synthesis gas, uses the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process to convert the synthesis gas to syncrude, and upgrades the syncrude to various hydrocarbon chains to produce a variety of refined products. Three recent developments favor commercial GTL development: environmental regulations are creating a premium for ultraclean fuels; new technology is lowering the capital costs and operating costs of GTL development; and world oil prices have risen above $20/bbl. Therefore, the oil and gas industry is taking a serious look at commercialization of GTL.« less

A Tailored Ontology Supporting Sensor Implementation for the Maintenance of Industrial Machines.

PubMed

Maleki, Elaheh; Belkadi, Farouk; Ritou, Mathieu; Bernard, Alain

2017-09-08

The longtime productivity of an industrial machine is improved by condition-based maintenance strategies. To do this, the integration of sensors and other cyber-physical devices is necessary in order to capture and analyze a machine's condition through its lifespan. Thus, choosing the best sensor is a critical step to ensure the efficiency of the maintenance process. Indeed, considering the variety of sensors, and their features and performance, a formal classification of a sensor's domain knowledge is crucial. This classification facilitates the search for and reuse of solutions during the design of a new maintenance service. Following a Knowledge Management methodology, the paper proposes and develops a new sensor ontology that structures the domain knowledge, covering both theoretical and experimental sensor attributes. An industrial case study is conducted to validate the proposed ontology and to demonstrate its utility as a guideline to ease the search of suitable sensors. Based on the ontology, the final solution will be implemented in a shared repository connected to legacy CAD (computer-aided design) systems. The selection of the best sensor is, firstly, obtained by the matching of application requirements and sensor specifications (that are proposed by this sensor repository). Then, it is refined from the experimentation results. The achieved solution is recorded in the sensor repository for future reuse. As a result, the time and cost of the design process of new condition-based maintenance services is reduced.

Study on the Control of Cleanliness for X90 Pipeline in the Secondary Refining Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Ren Sheng; Liu, Jin Gang; Li, Zhan Jun

X90 pipeline steel requires ultra low for sulfur content and gas content in the smelting process. The secondary refining process is very important for X90 pipeline in smelting process and the control of cleanliness is the key for the secondary refining process in the steelmaking process for Pretreatment of hot metal → LD → LF refining → RH refining → Calcium treatment → CC. In the current paper, the cleanliness control method of secondary refining was analyzed for the evolution of non-metallic inclusions in the secondary refining prcess and related changes for composition in steel. The size, composition and the type of the non-metallic inclusions were analyzed by aspex explorer automated scanning electron microscope in X90 pipeline samples for 20mm * 25mm * 25mm by the line cutting. The results show that the number of non-metallic inclusions in steel decrease from the beginning of the LF refining to the RH refining. In the composition of the Non-metallic inclusions, the initial non-metallic inclusions of alumina is converted to two comple-type non-metallic inclusions. Most of them, the non-metallic inclusions were composed by the calcium aluminate and CaS. The others are that the spinel is the core, peripheral parcels calcium aluminate nonmetallic inclusions for complex-type non-metallic inclusions. For the size of the non-metallic inclusions, the non-metallic inclusions for size larger than 100µm is converted to 5 20µm based small size non-metallic inclusions. While the S content of the steel decreased from 0.012% to 0.0012% or less, Al content is kept at between 0.025% to 0.035% and the quality for the casting slab satisfies the requirement of the steel. The ratings for various types of the non-metallic inclusions are 1.5 or less. The control strategy for the inclusions in 90 pipeline is small size, diffuse distribution and little amount of the deformation after rolling. On the contrary, the specific chemical composition of the inclusions is not important, single component in the inclusions is better.

40 CFR 409.31 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.31... (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

iss031e143143

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-06-19

ISS031-E-143143 (19 June 2012) --- Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia at night is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 31 crew member on the International Space Station. The city of Al Jubayl (or Jubail) is located on the Saudi Arabian coastline of the Persian Gulf. The city has a history extending back more than 7,000 years, but since 1975 it has been associated with the heavy industries of petrochemical refining and production, fertilizer production and steel works. At night, these industrial areas form a brightly lit region (center) to the south of the residential and commercial center of Al Jubayl (characterized by green-gray lighting). An artificial peninsula extending into the Persian Gulf to the northeast hosts supertanker docks and petroleum storage facilities. The Persian Gulf to the north and northeast is devoid of lights; likewise, the open desert to the south-southeast provides a stark contrast to the well-lit urban and industrial areas. A bright circle of light located within the heavy industrial area (center) cannot be resolved in this photograph, but is likely a concentration of lights associated with ongoing processing or construction activities. The approximate scale of the feature ? hundreds of meters in diameter ? is consistent with multiple stationary light sources, particularly if the light from those sources is accentuated due to the camera?s low light settings.

Mineral resource of the month: platinum group metals

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loferski, Patricia J.

2010-01-01

The article focuses on platinum group metals (PGMs) and their properties. According to the author, PGMs, which include iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium, are among the rarest mineral commodities in the Earth's crust. PGMs are primarily used as catalytic converters that clean harmful exhaust from vehicle engines. They are also used in the chemical industry as catalysts in the production of nitric acid and in the petroleum refining industry.

Summary of flat-plate solar array project documentation: Abstracts of published documents, 1975-1986, revision 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phillips, M. J.

1986-01-01

Abstracts of final reports, or the latest quarterly or annual, of the Flat-Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project Contractor of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in-house activities are presented. Also presented is a list of proceedings and publications, by author, of work connected with the project. The aim of the program has been to stimulate the development of technology that will enable the private sector to manufacture and widely use photovoltaic systems for the generation of electricity in residential, commercial, industrial, and Government applications at a cost per watt that is competitive with utility generated power. FSA Project activities have included the sponsoring of research and development efforts in silicon refinement processes, advanced silicon sheet growth techniques, higher efficiency solar cells, solar cell/module fabrication processes, encapsulation, module/array engineering and reliability, and economic analyses.

Commercial Implementation of Ultrasonic Velocity Imaging Methods via Cooperative Agreement Between NASA Lewis Research Center and Sonix, Inc.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, Don J.; Hendricks, J. Lynne; Whalen, Mike F.; Bodis, James R.; Martin, Katherine

1996-01-01

This article describes the commercial implementation of ultrasonic velocity imaging methods developed and refined at NASA Lewis Research Center on the Sonix c-scan inspection system. Two velocity imaging methods were implemented: thickness-based and non-thickness-based reflector plate methods. The article demonstrates capabilities of the commercial implementation and gives the detailed operating procedures required for Sonix customers to achieve optimum velocity imaging results. This commercial implementation of velocity imaging provides a 100x speed increase in scanning and processing over the lab-based methods developed at LeRC. The significance of this cooperative effort is that the aerospace and other materials development-intensive industries which use extensive ultrasonic inspection for process control and failure analysis will now have an alternative, highly accurate imaging method commercially available.

Biological production of acetic acid from waste gases with Clostridium ljungdahlii

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

1998-01-01

A method and apparatus for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration.

Clostridium stain which produces acetic acid from waste gases

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

1997-01-01

A method and apparatus for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration.

Clostridium strain which produces acetic acid from waste gases

DOEpatents

Gaddy, J.L.

1997-01-14

A method and apparatus are disclosed for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration. 4 figs.

Chemical Manufacturing and Refining Industry Legitimacy: Reflective Management, Trust, Precrisis Communication to Achieve Community Efficacy.

PubMed

Heath, Robert L; Lee, Jaesub

2016-06-01

Calls for emergency right-to-know in the 1980s, and, in the 1990s, risk management planning, motivated U.S. chemical manufacturing and refining industries to operationalize a three-pronged approach to risk minimization and communication: reflective management to increase legitimacy, operational safety programs to raise trust, and community engagement designed to facilitate citizens' emergency response efficacy. To assess these management, operational, and communication initiatives, communities (often through Local Emergency Planning Committees) monitored the impact of such programs. In 2012, the fourth phase of a quasi-longitudinal study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of operational change and community outreach in one bellwether community. This study focuses on legitimacy, trust, and response efficacy to suggest that an industry can earn legitimacy credits by raising its safety and environmental impact standards, by building trust via that change, and by communicating emergency response messages to near residents to raise their response efficacy. As part of its campaign to demonstrate its concern for community safety through research, planning, and implementation of safe operations and viable emergency response systems, this industry uses a simple narrative of risk/emergency response-shelter-in-place-communicated by a spokes-character: Wally Wise Guy. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

40 CFR 409.21 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409... raw material (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

Effect of key parameters on the selective acid leach of nickel from mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, Kelly; Hawker, William; Vaughan, James

2017-01-01

Mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitate (MHP) is a relatively recent intermediate product in primary nickel production. The material is now being produced on a large scale (approximately 60,000 t/y Ni as MHP) at facilities in Australia (Ravensthorpe, First Quantum Minerals) and Papua New Guinea (Ramu, MCC/Highlands Pacific). The University of Queensland Hydrometallurgy research group developed a new processing technology to refine MHP based on a selective acid leach. This process provides a streamlined route to obtaining a high purity nickel product compared with conventional leaching / solvent extraction processes. The selective leaching of nickel from MHP involves stabilising manganese and cobalt into the solid phase using an oxidant. This paper describes a batch reactor study investigating the timing of acid and oxidant addition on the rate and extent of nickel, cobalt, manganese leached from industrial MHP. For the conditions studied, it is concluded that the simultaneous addition of acid and oxidant provide the best process outcomes.

Formation and mechanism of nanocrystalline AZ91 powders during HDDR processing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Yafen; Fan, Jianfeng, E-mail: fanjianfeng@tyu

2017-03-15

Grain sizes of AZ91 alloy powders were markedly refined to about 15 nm from 100 to 160 μm by an optimized hydrogenation-disproportionation-desorption-recombination (HDDR) process. The effect of temperature, hydrogen pressure and processing time on phase and microstructure evolution of AZ91 alloy powders during HDDR process was investigated systematically by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The optimal HDDR process for preparing nanocrystalline Mg alloy powders is hydriding at temperature of 350 °C under 4 MPa hydrogen pressure for 12 h and dehydriding at 350 °C for 3 h in vacuum. A modified unreacted coremore » model was introduced to describe the mechanism of grain refinement of during HDDR process. - Highlights: • Grain size of the AZ91 alloy powders was significantly refined from 100 μm to 15 nm. • The optimal HDDR technology for nano Mg alloy powders is obtained. • A modified unreacted core model of grain refinement mechanism was proposed.« less

Post-treatment mechanical refining as a method to improve overall sugar recovery of steam pretreated hybrid poplar.

PubMed

Dou, Chang; Ewanick, Shannon; Bura, Renata; Gustafson, Rick

2016-05-01

This study investigates the effect of mechanical refining to improve the sugar yield from biomass processed under a wide range of steam pretreatment conditions. Hybrid poplar chips were steam pretreated using six different conditions with or without SO2. The resulting water insoluble fractions were subjected to mechanical refining. After refining, poplar pretreated at 205°C for 10min without SO2 obtained a 32% improvement in enzymatic hydrolysis and achieved similar overall monomeric sugar recovery (539kg/tonne) to samples pretreated with SO2. Refining did not improve hydrolyzability of samples pretreated at more severe conditions, nor did it improve the overall sugar recovery. By maximizing overall sugar recovery, refining could partially decouple the pretreatment from other unit operations, and enable the use of low temperature, non-sulfur pretreatment conditions. The study demonstrates the possibility of using post-treatment refining to accommodate potential pretreatment process upsets without sacrificing sugar yields. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advancing Commercialization of Algal Biofuel through Increased Biomass Productivity and Technical Integration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anton, David

The proposed project built on the foundation of over several years years of intensive and ground-breaking R&D work at Cellana's Kona Demonstration Facility (KDF). Phycological and engineering solutions were provided to tackle key cultivation issues and technical barriers limiting algal biomass productivity identified through work conducted outdoors at industrial (1 acre) scale. The objectives of this project were to significantly improve algal biomass productivity and reduce operational cost in a seawater-based system, using results obtained from two top-performing algal strains as the baseline while technically advancing and more importantly, integrating the various unit operations involved in algal biomass production, processing,more » and refining.« less

Assurance of COTS Boards for Space Flight. Part 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plante, Jeannette; Helmold, Norm; Eveland, Clay

1998-01-01

Space Flight hardware and software designers are increasingly turning to Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products in hopes of meeting the demands imposed on them by projects with short development cycle times. The Technology Validation Assurance (TVA) team at NASA GSFC has embarked on applying a method for inserting COTS hardware into the Spartan 251 spacecraft. This method includes Procurement, Characterization, Ruggedization/Remediation and Verification Testing process steps which are intended to increase the uses confidence in the hardware's ability to function in the intended application for the required duration. As this method is refined with use, it has the potential for becoming a benchmark for industry-wide use of COTS in high reliability systems.

Integrated process for the solvent refining of coal

DOEpatents

Garg, Diwakar

1983-01-01

A process is set forth for the integrated liquefaction of coal by the catalytic solvent refining of a feed coal in a first stage to liquid and solid products and the catalytic hydrogenation of the solid product in a second stage to produce additional liquid product. A fresh inexpensive, throw-away catalyst is utilized in the second stage hydrogenation of the solid product and this catalyst is recovered and recycled for catalyst duty in the solvent refining stage without any activation steps performed on the used catalyst prior to its use in the solvent refining of feed coal.

Neutron diffraction studies for realtime leaching of catalytic Ni

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Iles, Gail N., E-mail: gail.iles@helmholtz-berlin.de; Reinhart, Guillaume, E-mail: guillaume.reinhart@im2np.fr; Institut Laue-Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, BP 156, 38042 Grenoble

2014-07-21

The leaching of Al from intermetallic samples of Nickel Aluminium alloys to form Raney-type nickel catalysts is widely used in the hydrogenation industry, however, little is known of the leaching process itself. In this study, the leaching of Al was measured in realtime, in situ, using the high-flux powder neutron diffractometer, D20, at the Institut Laue-Langevin. Despite the liberation of hydrogen and effervescent nature of the reaction the transformation of the dry powder phases into Raney-type Ni was determined. Samples produced by gas-atomisation were found to leach faster than those produced using the cast and crushed technique. Regardless of processingmore » route of the precursor powder, the formation of spongy-Ni occurs almost immediately, while Ni{sub 2}Al{sub 3} and NiAl{sub 3} continue to transform over longer periods of time. Small-angle scattering and broadening of the diffraction peaks is an evidence for the formation of the smaller Ni particles. Understanding the kinetics of the leaching process will allow industry to refine production of catalysts for optimum manufacturing time while knowledge of leaching dynamics of powders produced by different manufacturing techniques will allow further tailoring of catalytic materials.« less

Process integration of crude oil distillation with technological and economic restrictions.

PubMed

Ulyev, Leonid; Vasiliev, Mikhail; Boldyryev, Stanislav

2018-09-15

The petrochemical industry is one of the most important industries in the world economy. In the largest oil-producing countries, more than half of GDP is generated by hydrocarbons production and refining. Reduction of oil prices and new environmental regulations are forcing petrochemical companies to improve their energy efficiency. Improvement of the energy efficiency of Crude oil distillation process at atmospheric vacuum distillation unit (AVDU) with a capacity of 3.3 million ton per year is considered in this paper. The amount of fuel spent for reprocessing of one ton of crude oil has been defined and it is 3.79 kg of natural gas. This paper shows the ways to achieve the objectives of retrofit in the context of administrative and technical restrictions. The retrofit goal was achieved by the retrofit of the heat exchange network, which allowed reducing gas consumption by 0.98 t/h (natural gas). The provided case studies show the pathway for efficient retrofit of crude oil distillation and most profitable ways for investment taking into account various administrative and technical constraints. The results of this work allow achieving reduction of energy consumption by 26%. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Precipitation process in a Mg–Gd–Y alloy grain-refined by Al addition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dai, Jichun; CAST Cooperative Research Centre, Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Victoria 3800; Zhu, Suming, E-mail: suming.zhu@monash.edu

2014-02-15

The precipitation process in Mg–10Gd–3Y (wt.%) alloy grain-refined by 0.8 wt.% Al addition has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The alloy was given a solution treatment at 520 °C for 6 h plus 550 °C for 7 h before ageing at 250 °C. Plate-shaped intermetallic particles with the 18R-type long-period stacking ordered structure were observed in the solution-treated state. Upon isothermal ageing at 250 °C, the following precipitation sequence was identified for the α-Mg supersaturated solution: β″ (D0{sub 19}) → β′ (bco) → β{sub 1} (fcc) → β (fcc). The observed precipitation process and age hardening response in themore » Al grain-refined Mg–10Gd–3Y alloy are compared with those reported in the Zr grain-refined counterpart. - Highlights: • The precipitation process in Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.8Al (wt.%) alloy has been investigated. • Particles with the 18R-type LPSO structure were observed in the solution state. • Upon ageing at 250 °C, the precipitation sequence is: β″ → β′ → β1 (fcc) → β. • The Al grain-refined alloy has a lower hardness than the Zr refined counterpart.« less

Memory Metals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

Under contract to NASA during preparations for the space station, Memry Technologies Inc. investigated shape memory effect (SME). SME is a characteristic of certain metal alloys that can change shape in response to temperature variations. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Memry used its NASA-acquired expertise to produce a line of home and industrial safety products, and refined the technology in the mid-1990s. Among the new products they developed are three MemrySafe units which prevent scalding from faucets. Each system contains a small valve that reacts to temperature, not pressure. When the water reaches dangerous temperatures, the unit reduces the flow to a trickle; when the scalding temperature subsides, the unit restores normal flow. Other products are the FIRECHEK 2 and 4, heat-activated shutoff valves for industrial process lines, which sense excessive heat and cut off pneumatic pressure. The newest of these products is Memry's Demand Management Water Heater which shifts the electricity requirement from peak to off-peak demands, conserving energy and money.

40 CFR 80.1339 - Who is not eligible for the provisions for small refiners?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... eligible for the hardship provisions for small refiners: (a) A refiner with one or more refineries built... employees or crude capacity is due to operational changes at the refinery or a company sale or... refinery processing units. (e)(1) A small refiner approved under § 80.1340 that subsequently ceases...

Study of variation grain size in desulfurization process of calcined petroleum coke

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pintowantoro, Sungging; Setiawan, Muhammad Arif; Abdul, Fakhreza

2018-04-01

Indonesia is a country with abundant natural resources, such as mineral mining and petroleum. In petroleum processing, crude oil can be processed into a source of fuel energy such as gasoline, diesel, oil, petroleum coke, and others. One of crude oil potentials in Indonesia is petroleum coke. Petroleum coke is a product from oil refining process. Sulfur reducing process in calcined petroleum cokes can be done by desulfurization process. The industries which have potential to become petroleum coke processing consumers are industries of aluminum smelting (anode, graphite block, carbon mortar), iron riser, calcined coke, foundry coke, etc. Sulfur reducing process in calcined petroleum coke can be done by thermal desulfurization process with alkaline substance NaOH. Desulfurization of petroleum coke process can be done in two ways, which are thermal desulfurization and hydrodesulphurization. This study aims to determine the effect of various grain size on sulfur, carbon, and chemical bond which contained by calcined petroleum coke. The raw material use calcined petroleum coke with 0.653% sulfur content. The grain size that used in this research is 50 mesh, then varied to 20 mesh and 100 mesh for each desulfurization process. Desulfurization are tested by ICP, UV-VIS, and FTIR to determine levels of sulfur, carbon, chemical bonding and sulfur dissolved water which contained in the residual washing of calcined petroleum coke. From various grain size that mentioned before, the optimal value is on 100 mesh grain size, where the sulfur content in petroleum coke is 0.24% and carbon content reaches the highest level of 97.8%. Meanwhile for grain size 100 mesh in the desulfurization process is enough to break the chemical bonds of organic sulfur in petroleum coke.

77 FR 23673 - Notice of Stakeholder Meeting: Industry Roundtable-DON/USDA/DOE/DOT-FAA Advanced Drop-In Biofuels...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-20

... participants in the biofuels supply chain. The purpose of the roundtable meeting is for the federal government... Production Value Chain: (feedstock provider, bio-refiner, finished products distributor, integrated effort...

Petroleum Refining Industry Final Air Toxics Rule Fact Sheets

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This page contains a July 1995 fact sheet for the final NESHAP for Petroleum Refineries. This page also contains a June 2013 fact sheet with information regarding the final amendments to the 2013 final rule for the NESHAP.

Fundamental study of an industrial reactive HPPMS (Cr,Al)N process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bobzin, K.; Brögelmann, T.; Kruppe, N. C.; Engels, M.; von Keudell, A.; Hecimovic, A.; Ludwig, A.; Grochla, D.; Banko, L.

2017-07-01

In this work, a fundamental investigation of an industrial (Cr,Al)N reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) process is presented. The results will be used to improve the coating development for the addressed application, which is the tool coating for plastics processing industry. Substrate-oriented plasma diagnostics and deposition of the (Cr,Al)N coatings were performed for a variation of the HPPMS pulse frequency with values from f = 300 Hz to f = 2000 Hz at constant average power P = 2.5 kW and pulse length ton = 40 μs. The plasma was investigated using an oscilloscope, an intensified charge coupled device camera, phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy, and an energy-dispersive mass spectrometer. The coating properties were determined by means of scanning electron microscopy, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, cantilever stress sensors, nanoindentation, and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Regarding the plasma properties, it was found that the average energy within the plasma is nearly constant for the frequency variation. In contrast, the metal to gas ion flux ratio is changed from JM/JG = 0.51 to JM/JG = 0.10 for increasing frequency. Regarding the coating properties, a structure refinement as well as lower residual stresses, higher universal hardness, and a changing crystal orientation from (111) to (200) were observed at higher frequencies. By correlating the plasma and coating properties, it can be concluded that the change in the gas ion to metal ion flux ratio results in a competitive crystal growth of the film, which results in changing coating properties.

Utilization of waste materials, non-refined materials, and renewable energy in in situ remediation and their sustainability benefits.

PubMed

Favara, Paul; Gamlin, Jeff

2017-12-15

In the ramp-up to integrating sustainability into remediation, a key industry focus area has been to reduce the environmental footprint of treatment processes. The typical approach to integrating sustainability into remediation projects has been a top-down approach, which involves developing technology options and then applying sustainability thinking to the technology, after it has been conceptualized. A bottom-up approach allows for systems thinking to be included in remedy selection and could potentially result in new or different technologies being considered. When using a bottom-up approach, there is room to consider the utilization of waste materials, non-refined materials, and renewable energy in remediation technology-all of which generally have a smaller footprint than processed materials and traditional forms of energy. By integrating more systems thinking into remediation projects, practitioners can think beyond the traditional technologies typically used and how technologies are deployed. To compare top-down and bottom-up thinking, a traditional technology that is considered very sustainable-enhanced in situ bioremediation-is compared to a successful, but infrequently deployed technology-subgrade biogeochemical reactors. Life Cycle Assessment is used for the evaluation and shows the footprint of the subgrade biogeochemical reactor to be lower in all seven impact categories evaluated, sometimes to a significant degree. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ensuring the Environmental and Industrial Safety in Solid Mineral Deposit Surface Mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trubetskoy, Kliment; Rylnikova, Marina; Esina, Ekaterina

2017-11-01

The growing environmental pressure of mineral deposit surface mining and severization of industrial safety requirements dictate the necessity of refining the regulatory framework governing safe and efficient development of underground resources. The applicable regulatory documentation governing the procedure of ore open-pit wall and bench stability design for the stage of pit reaching its final boundary was issued several decades ago. Over recent decades, mining and geomechanical conditions have changed significantly in surface mining operations, numerous new software packages and computer developments have appeared, opportunities of experimental methods of source data collection and processing, grounding of the permissible parameters of open pit walls have changed dramatically, and, thus, methods of risk assessment have been perfected [10-13]. IPKON RAS, with the support of the Federal Service for Environmental Supervision, assumed the role of the initiator of the project for the development of Federal norms and regulations of industrial safety "Rules for ensuring the stability of walls and benches of open pits, open-cast mines and spoil banks", which contribute to the improvement of economic efficiency and safety of mineral deposit surface mining and enhancement of the competitiveness of Russian mines at the international level that is very important in the current situation.

A quality-refinement process for medical imaging applications.

PubMed

Neuhaus, J; Maleike, D; Nolden, M; Kenngott, H-G; Meinzer, H-P; Wolf, I

2009-01-01

To introduce and evaluate a process for refinement of software quality that is suitable to research groups. In order to avoid constraining researchers too much, the quality improvement process has to be designed carefully. The scope of this paper is to present and evaluate a process to advance quality aspects of existing research prototypes in order to make them ready for initial clinical studies. The proposed process is tailored for research environments and therefore more lightweight than traditional quality management processes. Focus on quality criteria that are important at the given stage of the software life cycle. Usage of tools that automate aspects of the process is emphasized. To evaluate the additional effort that comes along with the process, it was exemplarily applied for eight prototypical software modules for medical image processing. The introduced process has been applied to improve the quality of all prototypes so that they could be successfully used in clinical studies. The quality refinement yielded an average of 13 person days of additional effort per project. Overall, 107 bugs were found and resolved by applying the process. Careful selection of quality criteria and the usage of automated process tools lead to a lightweight quality refinement process suitable for scientific research groups that can be applied to ensure a successful transfer of technical software prototypes into clinical research workflows.

Translations on USSR Science and Technology, Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences, Number 21

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-02-03

L. M. Shabad, 193*0, some semifinished products of the aniline dye industry (G. E. Kleynenberg, 1938, 1939), amino- azo compounds (L. S...been reduced in connection with its diminished use in the production of azo dyes . A special medical supervision of workers at aniline dye production ...enterprises and carci- nogenic products of the aniline dye industry or resins and pitches of by- product coke and petroleum refining plants enter into

Border-oriented post-processing refinement on detected vehicle bounding box for ADAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xinyuan; Zhang, Zhaoning; Li, Minne; Li, Dongsheng

2018-04-01

We investigate a new approach for improving localization accuracy of detected vehicles for object detection in advanced driver assistance systems(ADAS). Specifically, we implement a bounding box refinement as a post-processing of the state-of-the-art object detectors (Faster R-CNN, YOLOv2, etc.). The bounding box refinement is achieved by individually adjusting each border of the detected bounding box to its target location using a regression method. We use HOG features which perform well on the edge detection of vehicles to train the regressor and the regressor is independent of the CNN-based object detectors. Experiment results on the KITTI 2012 benchmark show that we can achieve up to 6% improvements over YOLOv2 and Faster R-CNN object detectors on the IoU threshold of 0.8. Also, the proposed refinement framework is computationally light, allowing for processing one bounding box within a few milliseconds on CPU. Further, this refinement method can be added to any object detectors, especially those with high speed but less accuracy.

Study on the Removal of Gases in RH Refining Progress through Experiments Using Vacuum Induction Furnace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Deliang; Liu, Qingcai; Wang, Zhu; Ren, Shan; Lan, Yuanpei; Xu, Minren

Removal of gas is the major function of RH degasser. To optimize the RH refining craft in Chongqing Iron and Steel Co. Ltd, the degassing effect of RH degasser at different degrees of vacuum was investigated using a vacuum induction furnace. In addition, the effect of processing time on the gas content dissolved in molten steel was also studied. The results showed that degree of vacuum was one of the important factors that determined the degassing efficiency in RH refining process. High vacuum degree is helpful in the removal of gas, especially in the removal of [H] dissolved in molten steel. The processing time could be reduced from 25-30 min to 15 minutes and gas content could also meet the demand of RH refining.

Water requirements of the petroleum refining industry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Otts, Louis Ethelbert

1964-01-01

About 3,500 million gallons of water was withdrawn daily in 1955 for use by petroleum refineries in the United States. This was about 3 percent of the estimated daily withdrawal of industrial water in the United States in 1955. An average of 468 gallons of water was required to refine a barrel of crude oil, and the median was 95 gallons of water per barrel of crude charge; withdrawals ranged from 6.5 to 3,240 gallons per barrel. Ninety-one percent of the water requirements of the petroleum refineries surveyed was for cooling. One-third of the refineries reused their cooling water from 10 to more than 50 times. Only 17 refineries used once-through cooling systems. Refineries with recirculating cooling systems circulated about twice as much cooling water but needed about 25 times less makeup; however, they consumed about 24 times more water per barrel of charge than refineries using once-through cooling systems. The average noncracking refinery used about 375 gallons of water per barrel of crude, which is less than the 471-gallon average of refineries with cracking facilities. Refineries are composed of various processing units, and the water requirements of such units varied ; median makeup needs ranged from about 125 gallons per barrel for polymerization and alkylation units to 15.5 gallons per barrel for distillation units. Refinery-owned sources of water supplied 95 percent of the makeup-water requirements. Surface-water sources provided 86 percent of the makeup-water demand. Less than 1 percent of the makeup water was obtained from reprocessed municipal sewage.

Techno-Economic Analysis of the Deacetylation and Disk Refining Process. Characterizing the Effect of Refining Energy and Enzyme Usage on Minimum Sugar Selling Price and Minimum Ethanol Selling Price

DOE PAGES

Chen, Xiaowen; Shekiro, Joseph; Pschorn, Thomas; ...

2015-10-29

A novel, highly efficient deacetylation and disk refining (DDR) process to liberate fermentable sugars from biomass was recently developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The DDR process consists of a mild, dilute alkaline deacetylation step followed by low-energy-consumption disk refining. The DDR corn stover substrates achieved high process sugar conversion yields, at low to modest enzyme loadings, and also produced high sugar concentration syrups at high initial insoluble solid loadings. The sugar syrups derived from corn stover are highly fermentable due to low concentrations of fermentation inhibitors. The objective of this work is to evaluate the economic feasibilitymore » of the DDR process through a techno-economic analysis (TEA). A large array of experiments designed using a response surface methodology was carried out to investigate the two major cost-driven operational parameters of the novel DDR process: refining energy and enzyme loadings. The boundary conditions for refining energy (128–468 kWh/ODMT), cellulase (Novozyme’s CTec3) loading (11.6–28.4 mg total protein/g of cellulose), and hemicellulase (Novozyme’s HTec3) loading (0–5 mg total protein/g of cellulose) were chosen to cover the most commercially practical operating conditions. The sugar and ethanol yields were modeled with good adequacy, showing a positive linear correlation between those yields and refining energy and enzyme loadings. The ethanol yields ranged from 77 to 89 gallons/ODMT of corn stover. The minimum sugar selling price (MSSP) ranged from $0.191 to $0.212 per lb of 50 % concentrated monomeric sugars, while the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) ranged from $2.24 to $2.54 per gallon of ethanol. The DDR process concept is evaluated for economic feasibility through TEA. The MSSP and MESP of the DDR process falls within a range similar to that found with the deacetylation/dilute acid pretreatment process modeled in NREL’s 2011 design report. The DDR process is a much simpler process that requires less capital and maintenance costs when compared to conventional chemical pretreatments with pressure vessels. As a result, we feel the DDR process should be considered as an option for future biorefineries with great potential to be more cost-effective.« less

Techno-Economic Analysis of the Deacetylation and Disk Refining Process. Characterizing the Effect of Refining Energy and Enzyme Usage on Minimum Sugar Selling Price and Minimum Ethanol Selling Price

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Xiaowen; Shekiro, Joseph; Pschorn, Thomas

A novel, highly efficient deacetylation and disk refining (DDR) process to liberate fermentable sugars from biomass was recently developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The DDR process consists of a mild, dilute alkaline deacetylation step followed by low-energy-consumption disk refining. The DDR corn stover substrates achieved high process sugar conversion yields, at low to modest enzyme loadings, and also produced high sugar concentration syrups at high initial insoluble solid loadings. The sugar syrups derived from corn stover are highly fermentable due to low concentrations of fermentation inhibitors. The objective of this work is to evaluate the economic feasibilitymore » of the DDR process through a techno-economic analysis (TEA). A large array of experiments designed using a response surface methodology was carried out to investigate the two major cost-driven operational parameters of the novel DDR process: refining energy and enzyme loadings. The boundary conditions for refining energy (128–468 kWh/ODMT), cellulase (Novozyme’s CTec3) loading (11.6–28.4 mg total protein/g of cellulose), and hemicellulase (Novozyme’s HTec3) loading (0–5 mg total protein/g of cellulose) were chosen to cover the most commercially practical operating conditions. The sugar and ethanol yields were modeled with good adequacy, showing a positive linear correlation between those yields and refining energy and enzyme loadings. The ethanol yields ranged from 77 to 89 gallons/ODMT of corn stover. The minimum sugar selling price (MSSP) ranged from $0.191 to $0.212 per lb of 50 % concentrated monomeric sugars, while the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) ranged from $2.24 to $2.54 per gallon of ethanol. The DDR process concept is evaluated for economic feasibility through TEA. The MSSP and MESP of the DDR process falls within a range similar to that found with the deacetylation/dilute acid pretreatment process modeled in NREL’s 2011 design report. The DDR process is a much simpler process that requires less capital and maintenance costs when compared to conventional chemical pretreatments with pressure vessels. As a result, we feel the DDR process should be considered as an option for future biorefineries with great potential to be more cost-effective.« less

Techno-economic analysis of the deacetylation and disk refining process: characterizing the effect of refining energy and enzyme usage on minimum sugar selling price and minimum ethanol selling price.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaowen; Shekiro, Joseph; Pschorn, Thomas; Sabourin, Marc; Tucker, Melvin P; Tao, Ling

2015-01-01

A novel, highly efficient deacetylation and disk refining (DDR) process to liberate fermentable sugars from biomass was recently developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The DDR process consists of a mild, dilute alkaline deacetylation step followed by low-energy-consumption disk refining. The DDR corn stover substrates achieved high process sugar conversion yields, at low to modest enzyme loadings, and also produced high sugar concentration syrups at high initial insoluble solid loadings. The sugar syrups derived from corn stover are highly fermentable due to low concentrations of fermentation inhibitors. The objective of this work is to evaluate the economic feasibility of the DDR process through a techno-economic analysis (TEA). A large array of experiments designed using a response surface methodology was carried out to investigate the two major cost-driven operational parameters of the novel DDR process: refining energy and enzyme loadings. The boundary conditions for refining energy (128-468 kWh/ODMT), cellulase (Novozyme's CTec3) loading (11.6-28.4 mg total protein/g of cellulose), and hemicellulase (Novozyme's HTec3) loading (0-5 mg total protein/g of cellulose) were chosen to cover the most commercially practical operating conditions. The sugar and ethanol yields were modeled with good adequacy, showing a positive linear correlation between those yields and refining energy and enzyme loadings. The ethanol yields ranged from 77 to 89 gallons/ODMT of corn stover. The minimum sugar selling price (MSSP) ranged from $0.191 to $0.212 per lb of 50 % concentrated monomeric sugars, while the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) ranged from $2.24 to $2.54 per gallon of ethanol. The DDR process concept is evaluated for economic feasibility through TEA. The MSSP and MESP of the DDR process falls within a range similar to that found with the deacetylation/dilute acid pretreatment process modeled in NREL's 2011 design report. The DDR process is a much simpler process that requires less capital and maintenance costs when compared to conventional chemical pretreatments with pressure vessels. As a result, we feel the DDR process should be considered as an option for future biorefineries with great potential to be more cost-effective.

Solidification Based Grain Refinement in Steels

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-24

pearlite (See Figure 1). No evidence of the as-cast austenite dendrite structure was observed. The gating system for this sample resides at the thermal...possible nucleating compounds. 3) Extend grain refinement theory and solidification knowledge through experimental data. 4) Determine structure ...refine the structure of a casting through heat treatment. The energy required for grain refining via thermomechanical processes or heat treatment

ASSERT FY16 Analysis of Feedstock Companion Markets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lamers, Patrick; Hansen, Jason; Jacobson, Jacob J.

2016-09-01

Meeting Co-Optima biofuel production targets will require large quantities of mobilized biomass feedstock. Mobilization is of key importance as there is an abundance of biomass resources, yet little is available for purchase, let alone at desired quantity and quality levels needed for a continuous operation, e.g., a biorefinery. Therefore Co-Optima research includes outlining a path towards feedstock production at scale by understanding routes to mobilizing large quantities of biomass feedstock. Continuing along the vertically-integrated path that pioneer cellulosic biorefineries have taken will constrain the bioenergy industry to high biomass yield areas, limiting its ability to reach biofuel production at scale.more » To advance the cellulosic biofuels industry, a separation between feedstock supply and conversion is necessary. Thus, in contrast to the vertically integrated supply chain, two industries are required: a feedstock industry and a conversion industry. The split is beneficial for growers and feedstock processers as they are able to sell into multiple markets. That is, depots that produce value-add feedstock intermediates that are fully fungible in both the biofuels refining and other, so-called companion markets. As the biofuel industry is currently too small to leverage significant investment in up-stream infrastructure build-up, it requires an established (companion) market to secure demand, which de-risks potential investments and makes a build-up of processing and other logistics infrastructure more likely. A common concern to this theory however is that more demand by other markets could present a disadvantage for biofuels production as resource competition may increase prices leading to reduced availability of low-cost feedstock for biorefineries. To analyze the dynamics across multiple markets vying for the same resources, particularly the potential effects on resource price and distribution, the Companion Market Model (CMM) has been developed in this task by experts in feedstock supply chain analysis, market economics, and System Dynamics from the Idaho National Laboratory and MindsEye Computing.« less

Non-intrusive telemetry applications in the oilsands: from visible light and x-ray video to acoustic imaging and spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, John M.

2013-06-01

While the production, transport and refining of oils from the oilsands of Alberta, and comparable resources elsewhere is performed at industrial scales, numerous technical and technological challenges and opportunities persist due to the ill defined nature of the resource. For example, bitumen and heavy oil comprise multiple bulk phases, self-organizing constituents at the microscale (liquid crystals) and the nano scale. There are no quantitative measures available at the molecular level. Non-intrusive telemetry is providing promising paths toward solutions, be they enabling technologies targeting process design, development or optimization, or more prosaic process control or process monitoring applications. Operation examples include automated large object and poor quality ore during mining, and monitoring the thickness and location of oil water interfacial zones within separation vessels. These applications involve real-time video image processing. X-ray transmission video imaging is used to enumerate organic phases present within a vessel, and to detect individual phase volumes, densities and elemental compositions. This is an enabling technology that provides phase equilibrium and phase composition data for production and refining process development, and fluid property myth debunking. A high-resolution two-dimensional acoustic mapping technique now at the proof of concept stage is expected to provide simultaneous fluid flow and fluid composition data within porous inorganic media. Again this is an enabling technology targeting visualization of diverse oil production process fundamentals at the pore scale. Far infrared spectroscopy coupled with detailed quantum mechanical calculations, may provide characteristic molecular motifs and intermolecular association data required for fluid characterization and process modeling. X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS/USAXS) provides characteristic supramolecular structure information that impacts fluid rheology and process fouling. The intent of this contribution is to present some of the challenges and to provide an introduction grounded in current work on non-intrusive telemetry applications - from a mine or reservoir to a refinery!

The purification process on scintillator material (SrI{sub 2}: Eu) by zone-refinement technique

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arumugam, Raja; Daniel, D. Joseph; Ramasamy, P., E-mail: ramasamyp@ssn.edu.in

The thermal properties of Europium doped strontium iodide was analyzed through Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analyses (DTA). The melting point of europium doped strontium iodide is around 531°C. The hydrated and oxyhalide impurities were found before melting temperature. In order to remove these impurities we have done purification process by Zone-refinement technique. The effective output of purification of zone refining was also observed through the segregation of impurities.

Catalytic coal liquefaction with treated solvent and SRC recycle

DOEpatents

Garg, Diwakar; Givens, Edwin N.; Schweighardt, Frank K.

1986-01-01

A process for the solvent refining of coal to distillable, pentane soluble products using a dephenolated and denitrogenated recycle solvent and a recycled, pentane-insoluble, solvent-refined coal material, which process provides enhanced oil-make in the conversion of coal.

Catalytic Hydrogenation of Bio-Oil for Chemicals and Fuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elliott, Douglas C.

2006-02-14

The scope of work includes optimizing processing conditions and demonstrating catalyst lifetime for catalyst formulations that are readily scaleable to commercial operations. We use a bench-scale, continuous-flow, packed-bed, catalytic, tubular reactor, which can be operated in the range of 100-400 mL/hr., from 50-400 C and up to 20MPa (see Figure 1). With this unit we produce upgraded bio-oil from whole bio-oil or useful bio-oil fractions, specifically pyrolytic lignin. The product oils are fractionated, for example by distillation, for recovery of chemical product streams. Other products from our tests have been used in further testing in petroleum refining technology at UOPmore » and fractionation for product recovery in our own lab. Further scale-up of the technology is envisioned and we will carry out or support process design efforts with industrial partners, such as UOP.« less

Biological production of acetic acid from waste gases with Clostridium ljungdahlii

DOEpatents

Gaddy, J.L.

1998-09-15

A method and apparatus are disclosed for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration. 5 figs.

Characterization and pulp refining activity of a Paenibacillus campinasensis cellulase expressed in Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Ko, Chun-Han; Tsai, Chung-Hung; Lin, Po-Heng; Chang, Ko-Cheng; Tu, Jenn; Wang, Ya-Nang; Yang, Chien-Ying

2010-10-01

The Cel-BL11 gene from Paenibacillus campinasensis BL11 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as a His-tag fusion protein. Zymographic analysis of the recombinant protein revealed cellulase activity corresponding to a protein with a 38-kDa molecular weight. The optimum temperature and pH for purified cellulase were 60 °C and pH 7.0, respectively. The enzyme retained more than 80% activity after 8h at 60 °C at pH 6 and 7. The cellulase has a Km of 11.25 mg/ml and a Vmax of 1250 μmol/min/mg with carboxylmethyl cellulose (CMC). Then enzyme was active on Avicel, swollen Avicel, CMC, barley β-glucan, laminarin in the presence of 100 mM acetate buffer. It was inhibited by Hg²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺. Significant kraft pulp refining energy saving, 10%, was exhibited by the pretreatment of this cellulase applied at 2 IU per gram of oven-dried pulp. Broad pH and temperature stability render this cellulase a convenient applicability toward current mainstream biomass conversion and other industrial processes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gas-Enhanced Ultra-High Shear Mixing: A Concept and Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czerwinski, Frank; Birsan, Gabriel

2017-04-01

The processes of mixing, homogenizing, and deagglomeration are of paramount importance in many industries for modifying properties of liquids or liquid-based dispersions at room temperature and treatment of molten or semi-molten alloys at high temperatures, prior to their solidification. To implement treatments, a variety of technologies based on mechanical, electromagnetic, and ultrasonic principles are used commercially or tested at the laboratory scale. In a large number of techniques, especially those tailored toward metallurgical applications, the vital role is played by cavitation, generation of gas bubbles, and their interaction with the melt. This paper describes a novel concept exploring an integration of gas injection into the shear zone with ultra-high shear mixing. As revealed via experiments with a prototype of the cylindrical rotor-stator apparatus and transparent media, gases injected radially through the high-speed rotor generate highly refined bubbles of high concentration directly in the shear zone of the mixer. It is believed that an interaction of large volume of fine gas bubbles with the liquid, superimposed on ultra-high shear, will enhance mixing capabilities and cause superior refining and homogenizing of the liquids or solid-liquid slurries, thus allowing their effective property modification.

A historical and economic perspective on Sir John Charnley, Chas F. Thackray Limited, and the early arthoplasty industry.

PubMed

Gomez, Pablo F; Morcuende, Jose A

2005-01-01

In the 1960s, Sir John Charnley pioneered modern total hip arthroplasty (THA) and spent the next two decades refining all aspects of the procedure, working with the commercial firm of Chas F. Thackray Limited, now a subsidiary of DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson and Johnson Company. We review here that relationship, in light of the complex relationships today that exist among industry, researchers, surgeons, and the public.

Continuity of Government for Postattack Recovery: Economic/Industrial Aspects.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-11-01

would be feasible to produce would be agricultural products and raw materials such as coal, crude oil , and ores. For trade purposes, the U.S. might...to more essential uses. Crude oil supplies may prove adequate, although refining might require the use of an industrial strategy (see Chapter V). High...11(1nd re’t~ i ( i consumption to most essentil tses. The implitirins of this npproreeb for govrnment control utt enrl’, twi- lire substantial. It

Influence of Short Austenitization Treatments on the Mechanical Properties of Low-Alloy Steels for Hot Forming Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holzweissig, Martin Joachim; Lackmann, Jan; Konrad, Stefan; Schaper, Mirko; Niendorf, Thomas

2015-07-01

The current work elucidates an improvement of the mechanical properties of tool-quenched low-alloy steel by employing extremely short austenitization durations utilizing a press heating arrangement. Specifically, the influence of different austenitization treatments—involving austenitization durations ranging from three to 15 seconds—on the mechanical properties of low-alloy steel in comparison to an industrial standard furnace process was examined. A thorough set of experiments was conducted to investigate the role of different austenitization durations and temperatures on the resulting mechanical properties such as hardness, bending angle, tensile strength, and strain at fracture. The most important finding is that the hardness, the bending angle as well as the tensile strength increase with shortened austenitization durations. Furthermore, the ductility of the steels exhibits almost no difference following the short austenitization durations and the standard furnace process. The enhancement of the mechanical properties imposed by the short heat treatments investigated, is related to a refinement of microstructural features as compared to the standard furnace process.

Overview - Flat-plate technology. [review of Low Cost Solar Array Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callaghan, W. T.

1981-01-01

Progress and continuing plans for the joint NASA/DoE program at the JPL to develop the technologies and industrial processes necessary for mass production of low-cost solar arrays (LSA) which produce electricity from solar cells at a cost of less than $0.70/W are reviewed. Attention is given to plans for a demonstration Si refinement plant capable of yielding 1000 MT/yr, and to a CVD process with chlorosilane, which will yield material at a cost of $21/kg. Ingot and shaped-sheet technologies, using either Czochralski growth and film fed growth methods have yielded AM1 15% efficient cells in an automated process. Encapsulation procedures have been lowered to $14/sq m, and robotics have permitted assembled cell production at a rate of 10 sec/cell. Standards are being defined for module safety features. It is noted that construction of a pilot Si purification plant is essential to achieving the 1986 $0.70/W cost goals.

Recycling of SmCo5 magnets by HD process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eldosouky, Anas; Škulj, Irena

2018-05-01

Hydrogen decrepitation process has been applied for the first time for the direct recycling of SmCo5 magnets. Industrially produced sintered SmCo5 magnets were decrepitated by hydrogen gas at a pressure of 1 bar to 9.5 bar at room temperature in a planetary rotating jar. After decrepitation, the starting sintered magnets were reduced to a powder with a particle size of less than 200 μm. The produced powder was used for the preparation of recycled SmCo5 magnets. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction studies and magnetic measurements were used to follow the decrepitation and the sintering processes. The measured remanence and maximum energy product of the recycled magnet are 0.94 T and 171.1 kJ/m3, respectively, in comparison with 0.91 T and 156.8 kJ/m3, respectively for the original magnet before recycling. It was also observed that, there is refinement in the microstructure after recycling in comparison to the original magnet.

The present triumphs and future problems with wave soldering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vianco, P.T.

1993-10-01

Nearly 40 years of experience with wave soldering have resulted in processes that routinely produce several thousand, defect-free solder joints per minute. However, the climate of electronics manufacturing has changed significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Environmental restrictions as well as the high quality of products made offshore has placed new demands and challenges on the electronics industry, right down to the assembly process. The impact on wave soldering by environmental regulations and a need for more cost-competitive manufacturing processes has become a serious issue in terms of the economical well-being of the industry. In order to obtainmore » a clearer understanding of the situation, however, it is first most appropriate and necessary to examine the technology of wave soldering. Historically, wave soldering was developed as a refinement of the dip and drag soldering processes with the objective of reducing or eliminating many of the associated defects often present in these earlier processes. Wave soldering reduces the area of contact between the circuit board and the solder. This characteristic, coupled with the agitation generated in the solder, allows flux and its volatile by-products to readily escape from under the board, decreasing the number of skips, unfilled holes, and solder joint voids. The reduced contact area also lessens the potential for thermal damage to the circuit board laminate. Control of the wave profile at the exit point of the circuit board lessens the likelihood of icicles and bridges forming on the solder joints; this latitude is not available in the dip soldering process.« less

Deposition and Characterization of Thin Films on Metallic Substrates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gatica, Jorge E.

2005-01-01

A CVD method was successfully developed to produce conversion coatings on aluminum alloys surfaces with reproducible results with a variety of precursors. A well defined protocol to prepare the precursor solutions formulated in a previous research was extended to other additives. It was demonstrated that solutions prepared following such a protocol could be used to systematically generate protective coatings onto aluminum surfaces. Experiments with a variety of formulations revealed that a refined deposition protocol yields reproducible conversion coatings of controlled composition. A preliminary correlation between solution formulations and successful precursors was derived. Coatings were tested for adhesion properties enhancement for commercial paints. A standard testing method was followed and clear trends were identified. Only one precursors was tested systematically. Anticipated work on other precursors should allow a better characterization of the effect of intermetallics on the production of conversion/protective coatings on metals and ceramics. The significance of this work was the practical demonstration that chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques can be used to systematically generate protective/conversion coating on non-ferrous surfaces. In order to become an effective approach to replace chromate-based pre- treatment processes, namely in the aerospace or automobile industry, the process parameters must be defined more precisely. Moreover, the feasibility of scale-up designs necessitates a more comprehensive characterization of the fluid flow, transport phenomena, and chemical kinetics interacting in the process. Kinetic characterization showed a significantly different effect of magnesium-based precursors when compared to iron-based precursors. Future work will concentrate on refining the process through computer simulations and further experimental studies on the effect of other transition metals to induce deposition of conversion/protective films on aluminum and other metallic substrates.

A Tailored Ontology Supporting Sensor Implementation for the Maintenance of Industrial Machines

PubMed Central

Belkadi, Farouk; Bernard, Alain

2017-01-01

The longtime productivity of an industrial machine is improved by condition-based maintenance strategies. To do this, the integration of sensors and other cyber-physical devices is necessary in order to capture and analyze a machine’s condition through its lifespan. Thus, choosing the best sensor is a critical step to ensure the efficiency of the maintenance process. Indeed, considering the variety of sensors, and their features and performance, a formal classification of a sensor’s domain knowledge is crucial. This classification facilitates the search for and reuse of solutions during the design of a new maintenance service. Following a Knowledge Management methodology, the paper proposes and develops a new sensor ontology that structures the domain knowledge, covering both theoretical and experimental sensor attributes. An industrial case study is conducted to validate the proposed ontology and to demonstrate its utility as a guideline to ease the search of suitable sensors. Based on the ontology, the final solution will be implemented in a shared repository connected to legacy CAD (computer-aided design) systems. The selection of the best sensor is, firstly, obtained by the matching of application requirements and sensor specifications (that are proposed by this sensor repository). Then, it is refined from the experimentation results. The achieved solution is recorded in the sensor repository for future reuse. As a result, the time and cost of the design process of new condition-based maintenance services is reduced. PMID:28885592

B Removal by Zr Addition in Electromagnetic Solidification Refinement of Si with Si-Al Melt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Yun; Ma, Wenhui; Sun, Luen; Dai, Yongnian; Morita, Kazuki

2016-02-01

This study investigated a new process of enhancing B removal by adding small amounts of Zr in the electromagnetic solidification refinement of Si with Si-Al melt. B in Si was removed by as much as 97.2 pct by adding less than 1057 ppma Zr, and the added Zr was removed by as much as 99.7 pct. In addition, Zr is more effective in enhancing B removal than Ti in the same electromagnetic solidification refining process.

The Potential of Biodiesel Production derived from Fish Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farzana Samat, Amira; Amirah Safiah Muhamad, Nor; Rasib, Nur Aziera Abd; Hassan, Siti Aminah Mohd; Sohaimi, Khairunissa Syairah Ahmad; Izzati Iberahim, Nur

2018-03-01

Petroleum based diesel is one of the largest greenhouse emitters in the worlds based on its contribution to more likely of all carbon, methane and other greenhouse emissions. Besides, the depletion of fossil fuel that indirectly increased its price has force the global oil industry not to be so dependent on the fossil fuel but instead start focusing on alternative sources. Biodiesel is recognized as a clean alternative fuel or as a fuel additive to reduce pollutant from combustion equipment. In this study, the discarded parts of mixed marine fish species were used as the raw material to produce biodiesel. Marine fish oil was extracted from the discarded part of fish and if refined through a series of pretreatment process. The refined marine fish oil undergoes esterification process to reduce the amount of free fatty acid. The oil was then transesterified with methanol and sodium hydroxide as an alkaline catalyst that will speed up the conversion of oil to methyl ester. The three process parameters considered for this study were reaction time, reaction temperature and methanol to oil molar ratio. Biodiesel obtained was then analyzed using gas chromatography (GC). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. The data obtained was analyzed by using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) repeated measure. The results obtained showed that the conversion of FAME yield is the highest at reaction time 180 minutes, reaction temperature 60°C and methanol to oil molar ratio at 15:1 with FAME yield 80.16%, 80.03% and 80.39%. Thus, it can be concluded that the conversion of biodiesel increased as the reaction time, temperature and

Oxygen-Induced Cracking Distillation of Oil in the Continuous Flow Tank Reactor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shvets, Valeriy F.; Kozlovskiy, Roman A.; Luganskiy, Artur I.; Gorbunov, Andrey V.; Suchkov, Yuriy P.; Ushin, Nikolay S.; Cherepanov, Alexandr A.

2016-01-01

The article analyses problems of processing black oil fuel and addresses the possibility of increasing the depth of oil refining by a new processing scheme. The study examines various methods of increasing the depth of oil refining reveals their inadequacies and highlights a need to introduce a new method of processing atmospheric and vacuum…

''A Parallel Adaptive Simulation Tool for Two Phase Steady State Reacting Flows in Industrial Boilers and Furnaces''

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Michael J. Bockelie

2002-01-04

This DOE SBIR Phase II final report summarizes research that has been performed to develop a parallel adaptive tool for modeling steady, two phase turbulent reacting flow. The target applications for the new tool are full scale, fossil-fuel fired boilers and furnaces such as those used in the electric utility industry, chemical process industry and mineral/metal process industry. The type of analyses to be performed on these systems are engineering calculations to evaluate the impact on overall furnace performance due to operational, process or equipment changes. To develop a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of an industrial scale furnace requiresmore » a carefully designed grid that will capture all of the large and small scale features of the flowfield. Industrial systems are quite large, usually measured in tens of feet, but contain numerous burners, air injection ports, flames and localized behavior with dimensions that are measured in inches or fractions of inches. To create an accurate computational model of such systems requires capturing length scales within the flow field that span several orders of magnitude. In addition, to create an industrially useful model, the grid can not contain too many grid points - the model must be able to execute on an inexpensive desktop PC in a matter of days. An adaptive mesh provides a convenient means to create a grid that can capture both fine flow field detail within a very large domain with a ''reasonable'' number of grid points. However, the use of an adaptive mesh requires the development of a new flow solver. To create the new simulation tool, we have combined existing reacting CFD modeling software with new software based on emerging block structured Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) technologies developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Specifically, we combined: -physical models, modeling expertise, and software from existing combustion simulation codes used by Reaction Engineering International; -mesh adaption, data management, and parallelization software and technology being developed by users of the BoxLib library at LBNL; and -solution methods for problems formulated on block structured grids that were being developed in collaboration with technical staff members at the University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) and at LBNL. The combustion modeling software used by Reaction Engineering International represents an investment of over fifty man-years of development, conducted over a period of twenty years. Thus, it was impractical to achieve our objective by starting from scratch. The research program resulted in an adaptive grid, reacting CFD flow solver that can be used only on limited problems. In current form the code is appropriate for use on academic problems with simplified geometries. The new solver is not sufficiently robust or sufficiently general to be used in a ''production mode'' for industrial applications. The principle difficulty lies with the multi-level solver technology. The use of multi-level solvers on adaptive grids with embedded boundaries is not yet a mature field and there are many issues that remain to be resolved. From the lessons learned in this SBIR program, we have started work on a new flow solver with an AMR capability. The new code is based on a conventional cell-by-cell mesh refinement strategy used in unstructured grid solvers that employ hexahedral cells. The new solver employs several of the concepts and solution strategies developed within this research program. The formulation of the composite grid problem for the new solver has been designed to avoid the embedded boundary complications encountered in this SBIR project. This follow-on effort will result in a reacting flow CFD solver with localized mesh capability that can be used to perform engineering calculations on industrial problems in a production mode.« less

Processing α-mercuric iodide by zone refining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burger, A.; Morgan, S. H.; Henderson, D. O.; Biao, Y.; Zhang, K.; Silberman, E.; Nason, D.; van den Berg, L.; Ortale-Baccash, C.; Cross, E.

1993-03-01

An investigation is being conducted on zone refining α-mercuric iodide. Analytical studies using differential scanning calorimetry and anion chromatography indicate that impurities are accumulated mainly at the end where zone travel terminates. Early results indicate that single crystals can be readily grown from zone-refined material.

40 CFR 409.20 - Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.20 Section 409.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.20 Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar...

40 CFR 409.20 - Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.20 Section 409.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.20 Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar...

40 CFR 409.20 - Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.20 Section 409.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.20 Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar...

40 CFR 409.20 - Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.20 Section 409.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.20 Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar...

40 CFR 409.20 - Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... crystalline cane sugar refining subcategory. 409.20 Section 409.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Crystalline Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.20 Applicability; description of the crystalline cane sugar...

Social housing of non-rodents during cardiovascular recordings in safety pharmacology and toxicology studies.

PubMed

Prior, Helen; Bottomley, Anna; Champéroux, Pascal; Cordes, Jason; Delpy, Eric; Dybdal, Noel; Edmunds, Nick; Engwall, Mike; Foley, Mike; Hoffmann, Michael; Kaiser, Robert; Meecham, Ken; Milano, Stéphane; Milne, Aileen; Nelson, Rick; Roche, Brian; Valentin, Jean-Pierre; Ward, Gemma; Chapman, Kathryn

2016-01-01

The Safety Pharmacology Society (SPS) and National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) conducted a survey and workshop in 2015 to define current industry practices relating to housing of non-rodents during telemetry recordings in safety pharmacology and toxicology studies. The aim was to share experiences, canvas opinion on the study procedures/designs that could be used and explore the barriers to social housing. Thirty-nine sites, either running studies (Sponsors or Contract Research Organisations, CROs) and/or outsourcing work responded to the survey (51% from Europe; 41% from USA). During safety pharmacology studies, 84, 67 and 100% of respondents socially house dogs, minipigs and non-human primates (NHPs) respectively on non-recording days. However, on recording days 20, 20 and 33% of respondents socially house the animals, respectively. The main barriers for social housing were limitations in the recording equipment used, study design and animal temperament/activity. During toxicology studies, 94, 100 and 100% of respondents socially house dogs, minipigs and NHPs respectively on non-recording days. However, on recording days 31, 25 and 50% of respondents socially house the animals, respectively. The main barriers for social housing were risk of damage to and limitations in the recording equipment used, food consumption recording and temperament/activity of the animals. Although the majority of the industry does not yet socially house animals during telemetry recordings in safety pharmacology and toxicology studies, there is support to implement this refinement. Continued discussions, sharing of best practice and data from companies already socially housing, combined with technology improvements and investments in infrastructure are required to maintain the forward momentum of this refinement across the industry. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hidden values in bauxite residue (red mud): recovery of metals.

PubMed

Liu, Yanju; Naidu, Ravi

2014-12-01

Bauxite residue (red mud) is a hazardous waste generated from alumina refining industries. Unless managed properly, red mud poses significant risks to the local environment due to its extreme alkalinity and its potential impacts on surface and ground water quality. The ever-increasing generation of red mud poses significant challenges to the aluminium industries from management perspectives given the low proportion that are currently being utilized beneficially. Red mud, in most cases, contains elevated concentrations of iron in addition to aluminium, titanium, sodium and valuable rare earth elements. Given the scarcity of iron supply globally, the iron content of red mud has attracted increasing research interest. This paper presents a critical overview of the current techniques employed for iron recovery from red mud. Information on the recovery of other valuable metals is also reviewed to provide an insight into the full potential usage of red mud as an economic resource rather than a waste. Traditional hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy are being investigated continuously. However, in this review several new techniques are introduced that consider the process of iron recovery from red mud. An integrated process which can achieve multiple additional values from red mud is much preferred over the single process methods. The information provided here should help to improve the future management and utilization of red mud. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Catalytic coal liquefaction with treated solvent and SRC recycle

DOEpatents

Garg, D.; Givens, E.N.; Schweighardt, F.K.

1986-12-09

A process is described for the solvent refining of coal to distillable, pentane soluble products using a dephenolated and denitrogenated recycle solvent and a recycled, pentane-insoluble, solvent-refined coal material, which process provides enhanced oil-make in the conversion of coal. 2 figs.

Anicteric hepatoxicity: a potential health risk of occupational exposures in Nigerian petroleum oil refining and distribution industry.

PubMed

Ezejiofor, Tobias I Ndubuisi; Ezejiofor, Anthonet N; Orisakwe, Orish E; Nwigwe, Hariet C; Osuala, Ferdinand Ou; Iwuala, Moses Oe

2014-01-22

Literature abounds linking one's job to certain unpalatable health outcomes. Since exposures to hazardous conditions in industrial environments often results in sundry health effects among workers, we embarked on this study to investigate the hepatic health effects of occupational activities in the petroleum refining and distribution industry. Biochemical markers of liver functions were assayed in plasma, using Reflotron dry chemistry spectrophotometric system. The study was conducted on randomly selected workers of Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) and Pipelines and Petroleum Product Marketing Company (PPMC) both in Alesa-Eleme near Port Harcourt, Nigeria, as well as non-oil work civil servants serving as control subjects. Results showed that, bilirubin ranged 0.3-1.6 mg/dl with a mean of 0.66±0.20mg/dl among the oil workers as against 0.5-1.00mg/dl with a mean of 0.58±0.13mg/dl in non-oil workers, Alkaline phosphatase ranged 50.00-296.00u/l (mean: 126.21±39.49u/l) in oil workers as against 40.20-111u/l (mean: 66.83±18.54u/l) for non-oil workers, Aspartic transaminases (AST) ranged 5.80-140.20u/l (mean: 21.81±11.49u/l) in oil workers against 18.00-44.00u/l (mean: 26.89±6.99u/l) for non-oil workers, while Alanine transaminases (ALT) ranged 4.90-86.00u/l (mean: 22.14±11.28u/l) in oil workers as against 10.00-86.60u/l (mean: 22.30±10.22u/l) for the non-oil workers. A close study of the results revealed that although the mean values for all the studied parameters were still within the parametric reference ranges, however, relative to the referents, there were significant increases (P<0.05) in plasma bilirubin (though anicteric) and alkaline phosphatase that was not matched with a corresponding increase in the plasma transaminases, suggesting a possibility that toxic anicteric hepatoxicity is part of the potential health effects of sundry exposures in the Nigeria petroleum oil refining and distribution industry. Gender differentiation data showed that though the mean values for the parameters were higher in males than females, the increases were not significant in most cases (P>0.05), whereas data for age and exposure period classifications revealed that irrespective of the age of the worker, the effects are likely to start after the first five years, manifesting fully after the first decade of occupational exposures. Thus, an update of industrial/occupational health measures is necessary for a safer and healthier work environment.

Anicteric hepatoxicity: a potential health risk of occupational exposures in Nigerian petroleum oil refining and distribution industry

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Literature abounds linking one’s job to certain unpalatable health outcomes. Since exposures to hazardous conditions in industrial environments often results in sundry health effects among workers, we embarked on this study to investigate the hepatic health effects of occupational activities in the petroleum refining and distribution industry. Method Biochemical markers of liver functions were assayed in plasma, using Reflotron dry chemistry spectrophotometric system. The study was conducted on randomly selected workers of Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) and Pipelines and Petroleum Product Marketing Company (PPMC) both in Alesa-Eleme near Port Harcourt, Nigeria, as well as non-oil work civil servants serving as control subjects. Result and conclusion Results showed that, bilirubin ranged 0.3-1.6 mg/dl with a mean of 0.66±0.20mg/dl among the oil workers as against 0.5-1.00mg/dl with a mean of 0.58±0.13mg/dl in non-oil workers, Alkaline phosphatase ranged 50.00-296.00u/l (mean: 126.21±39.49u/l) in oil workers as against 40.20-111u/l (mean: 66.83±18.54u/l) for non-oil workers, Aspartic transaminases (AST) ranged 5.80-140.20u/l (mean: 21.81±11.49u/l) in oil workers against 18.00-44.00u/l (mean: 26.89±6.99u/l) for non-oil workers, while Alanine transaminases (ALT) ranged 4.90-86.00u/l (mean: 22.14±11.28u/l) in oil workers as against 10.00-86.60u/l (mean: 22.30±10.22u/l) for the non-oil workers. A close study of the results revealed that although the mean values for all the studied parameters were still within the parametric reference ranges, however, relative to the referents, there were significant increases (P<0.05) in plasma bilirubin (though anicteric) and alkaline phosphatase that was not matched with a corresponding increase in the plasma transaminases, suggesting a possibility that toxic anicteric hepatoxicity is part of the potential health effects of sundry exposures in the Nigeria petroleum oil refining and distribution industry. Gender differentiation data showed that though the mean values for the parameters were higher in males than females, the increases were not significant in most cases (P>0.05), whereas data for age and exposure period classifications revealed that irrespective of the age of the worker, the effects are likely to start after the first five years, manifesting fully after the first decade of occupational exposures. Thus, an update of industrial/occupational health measures is necessary for a safer and healthier work environment. PMID:24457023

Microstructures and Grain Refinement of Additive-Manufactured Ti- xW Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendoza, Michael Y.; Samimi, Peyman; Brice, David A.; Martin, Brian W.; Rolchigo, Matt R.; LeSar, Richard; Collins, Peter C.

2017-07-01

It is necessary to better understand the composition-processing-microstructure relationships that exist for materials produced by additive manufacturing. To this end, Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS™), a type of additive manufacturing, was used to produce a compositionally graded titanium binary model alloy system (Ti- xW specimen (0 ≤ x ≤ 30 wt pct), so that relationships could be made between composition, processing, and the prior beta grain size. Importantly, the thermophysical properties of the Ti- xW, specifically its supercooling parameter ( P) and growth restriction factor ( Q), are such that grain refinement is expected and was observed. The systematic, combinatorial study of this binary system provides an opportunity to assess the mechanisms by which grain refinement occurs in Ti-based alloys in general, and for additive manufacturing in particular. The operating mechanisms that govern the relationship between composition and grain size are interpreted using a model originally developed for aluminum and magnesium alloys and subsequently applied for titanium alloys. The prior beta grain factor observed and the interpretations of their correlations indicate that tungsten is a good grain refiner and such models are valid to explain the grain-refinement process. By extension, other binary elements or higher order alloy systems with similar thermophysical properties should exhibit similar grain refinement.

40 CFR 80.230 - Who is not eligible for the hardship provisions for small refiners?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGULATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Gasoline Sulfur... reorganization; (3) Importers; and (4) Refiners who produce gasoline other than by processing crude oil through... refineries for which the Administrator has approved an extension of the small refiner gasoline sulfur...

40 CFR 80.230 - Who is not eligible for the hardship provisions for small refiners?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGULATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Gasoline Sulfur... reorganization; (3) Importers; and (4) Refiners who produce gasoline other than by processing crude oil through... refineries for which the Administrator has approved an extension of the small refiner gasoline sulfur...

In Vitro Methods To Measure Toxicity Of Chemicals

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

industrial compounds for toxicity will require high-throughput in vitro assays with which to select candidate compounds for more intensive animal...for estimating the starting dose for the rat oral acute toxicity test, thus reducing and refining the use of animals in the toxicological

Job Prospects for Metallurgical Engineering.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basta, Nicholas

1985-01-01

Job prospects in mining, metal-extraction, steel, and refining industries are depressed, but technological discoveries are opening up new fields for metallurgical engineers. Enrollment/employment opportunities and salaries in these areas are discussed a well as the roles of foreign competition, plastics applications, and ceramics research and…

Quantifying the uncertainty introduced by discretization and time-averaging in two-fluid model predictions

DOE PAGES

Syamlal, Madhava; Celik, Ismail B.; Benyahia, Sofiane

2017-07-12

The two-fluid model (TFM) has become a tool for the design and troubleshooting of industrial fluidized bed reactors. To use TFM for scale up with confidence, the uncertainty in its predictions must be quantified. Here, we study two sources of uncertainty: discretization and time-averaging. First, we show that successive grid refinement may not yield grid-independent transient quantities, including cross-section–averaged quantities. Successive grid refinement would yield grid-independent time-averaged quantities on sufficiently fine grids. A Richardson extrapolation can then be used to estimate the discretization error, and the grid convergence index gives an estimate of the uncertainty. Richardson extrapolation may not workmore » for industrial-scale simulations that use coarse grids. We present an alternative method for coarse grids and assess its ability to estimate the discretization error. Second, we assess two methods (autocorrelation and binning) and find that the autocorrelation method is more reliable for estimating the uncertainty introduced by time-averaging TFM data.« less

Lipase pre-hydrolysis enhance anaerobic biodigestion of soap stock from an oil refining industry.

PubMed

Cherif, Slim; Aloui, Fathi; Carrière, Frédéric; Sayadi, Sami

2014-01-01

A novel alcalophilic Staphylococcus haemolyticus strain with the lipolytic activity was used to perform enzymatic hydrolysis pretreatment of soap stock: a lipid rich solid waste from an oil refining industry. The culture liquid of the selected bacteria and an enzymatic preparation obtained by precipitation with ammonium sulphate from a filtrate of the same culture liquid were used for enzymatic pretreatment. The hydrolysis was carried with different incubation concentrations (10, 20 and 30%) of soap stock and the pretreatment efficiency was verified by running comparative biodegradability tests (crude and treated lipid waste). All pretreated assays showed higher reaction rate compared to crude lipid waste, which was confirmed by the increased levels of biogas production. The pretreatment of solutions containing 10% emulsified soap stock was optimized for 24 h hydrolysis time, enabling high-biogaz formation (800 ml). The use of enzymatic pre-treatment seemed to be a very promising alternative for treating soap stock having high fat contents.

40 CFR 409.31 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.31 Specialized... shall mean the addition of pollutants. (c) Melt shall mean that amount of raw material (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

40 CFR 409.31 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.31 Specialized... shall mean the addition of pollutants. (c) Melt shall mean that amount of raw material (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

40 CFR 409.31 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.31 Specialized... shall mean the addition of pollutants. (c) Melt shall mean that amount of raw material (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

40 CFR 409.31 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... STANDARDS SUGAR PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Liquid Cane Sugar Refining Subcategory § 409.31 Specialized... shall mean the addition of pollutants. (c) Melt shall mean that amount of raw material (raw sugar) contained within aqueous solution at the beginning of the process for production of refined cane sugar. ...

A Historical and Economic Perspective on Sir John Charnley, Chas F. Thackray Limited, and the Early Arthroplasty Industry

PubMed Central

Gomez, Pablo F; Morcuende, Jose A

2005-01-01

In the 1960s, Sir John Charnley pioneered modern total hip arthroplasty (THA) and spent the next two decades refining all aspects of the procedure, working with the commercial firm of Chas F. Thackray Limited, now a subsidiary of DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson and Johnson Company. We review here that relationship, in light of the complex relationships today that exist among industry, researchers, surgeons, and the public. PMID:16089068

Improved ethanol yield and reduced minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) by modifying low severity dilute acid pretreatment with deacetylation and mechanical refining: 2) Techno-economic analysis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Our companion paper discussed the yield benefits achieved by integrating deacetylation, mechanical refining, and washing with low acid and low temperature pretreatment. To evaluate the impact of the modified process on the economic feasibility, a techno-economic analysis (TEA) was performed based on the experimental data presented in the companion paper. Results The cost benefits of dilute acid pretreatment technology combined with the process alternatives of deacetylation, mechanical refining, and pretreated solids washing were evaluated using cost benefit analysis within a conceptual modeling framework. Control cases were pretreated at much lower acid loadings and temperatures than used those in the NREL 2011 design case, resulting in much lower annual ethanol production. Therefore, the minimum ethanol selling prices (MESP) of the control cases were $0.41-$0.77 higher than the $2.15/gallon MESP of the design case. This increment is highly dependent on the carbohydrate content in the corn stover. However, if pretreatment was employed with either deacetylation or mechanical refining, the MESPs were reduced by $0.23-$0.30/gallon. Combing both steps could lower the MESP further by $0.44 ~ $0.54. Washing of the pretreated solids could also greatly improve the final ethanol yields. However, the large capital cost of the solid–liquid separation unit negatively influences the process economics. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed to study the effect of the cost of the pretreatment reactor and the energy input for mechanical refining. A 50% cost reduction in the pretreatment reactor cost reduced the MESP of the entire conversion process by $0.11-$0.14/gallon, while a 10-fold increase in energy input for mechanical refining will increase the MESP by $0.07/gallon. Conclusion Deacetylation and mechanical refining process options combined with low acid, low severity pretreatments show improvements in ethanol yields and calculated MESP for cellulosic ethanol production. PMID:22967479

A Distributed Model of Oilseed Biorefining, via Integrated Industrial Ecology Exchanges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrell, Jeremy C.

As the demand for direct petroleum substitutes increases, biorefineries are poised to become centers for conversion of biomass into fuels, energy, and biomaterials. A distributed model offers reduced transportation, tailored process technology to available feedstock, and increased local resilience. Oilseeds are capable of producing a wide variety of useful products additive to food, feed, and fuel needs. Biodiesel manufacturing technology lends itself to smaller-scale distributed facilities able to process diverse feedstocks and meet demand of critical diesel fuel for basic municipal services, safety, sanitation, infrastructure repair, and food production. Integrating biodiesel refining facilities as tenants of eco-industrial parks presents a novel approach for synergistic energy and material exchanges whereby environmental and economic metrics can be significantly improved upon compared to stand alone models. This research is based on the Catawba County NC EcoComplex and the oilseed crushing and biodiesel processing facilities (capacity-433 tons biodiesel per year) located within. Technical and environmental analyses of the biorefinery components as well as agronomic and economic models are presented. The life cycle assessment for the two optimal biodiesel feedstocks, soybeans and used cooking oil, resulted in fossil energy ratios of 7.19 and 12.1 with carbon intensity values of 12.51 gCO2-eq/MJ and 7.93 gCO2-eq/MJ, respectively within the industrial ecology system. Economic modeling resulted in a biodiesel conversion cost of 1.43 per liter of fuel produced with used cooking oil, requiring a subsidy of 0.58 per liter to reach the break-even point. As subsidies continue significant fluctuation, metrics other than operating costs are required to justify small-scale biofuel projects.

i3Drefine software for protein 3D structure refinement and its assessment in CASP10.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Debswapna; Cheng, Jianlin

2013-01-01

Protein structure refinement refers to the process of improving the qualities of protein structures during structure modeling processes to bring them closer to their native states. Structure refinement has been drawing increasing attention in the community-wide Critical Assessment of techniques for Protein Structure prediction (CASP) experiments since its addition in 8(th) CASP experiment. During the 9(th) and recently concluded 10(th) CASP experiments, a consistent growth in number of refinement targets and participating groups has been witnessed. Yet, protein structure refinement still remains a largely unsolved problem with majority of participating groups in CASP refinement category failed to consistently improve the quality of structures issued for refinement. In order to alleviate this need, we developed a completely automated and computationally efficient protein 3D structure refinement method, i3Drefine, based on an iterative and highly convergent energy minimization algorithm with a powerful all-atom composite physics and knowledge-based force fields and hydrogen bonding (HB) network optimization technique. In the recent community-wide blind experiment, CASP10, i3Drefine (as 'MULTICOM-CONSTRUCT') was ranked as the best method in the server section as per the official assessment of CASP10 experiment. Here we provide the community with free access to i3Drefine software and systematically analyse the performance of i3Drefine in strict blind mode on the refinement targets issued in CASP10 refinement category and compare with other state-of-the-art refinement methods participating in CASP10. Our analysis demonstrates that i3Drefine is only fully-automated server participating in CASP10 exhibiting consistent improvement over the initial structures in both global and local structural quality metrics. Executable version of i3Drefine is freely available at http://protein.rnet.missouri.edu/i3drefine/.

The economic payoff for a state-of-the-art high-efficiency flat-plate crystalline silicon solar cell technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bickler, Donald B.; Callaghan, W. T.

1987-01-01

In 1986 during the flat-plate solar array project, silicon solar cells 4.0 sq cm in area were fabricated at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with a conversion efficiency of 20.1 percent (AM1.5-global). Sixteen cells were processed with efficiencies measuring 19.5 percent (AM1.5 global) or better. These cells were produced using refined versions of conventional processing methods, aside from certain advanced techniques that bring about a significant reduction in a major mechanism (surface recombination) that limits cell efficiency. Wacker Siltronic p-type float-zone 0.18-ohm-cm wafers were used. Conversion efficiencies in this range have previously been reported by other researchers, but generally on much smaller (0.5 vs. 4.0 cm) devices which have undergone sophisticated and costly processing steps. An economic analysis is presented of the potential payoffs for this approach, using the Solar Array Manufacturing Industry Costing Standards (SAMICS) methodology. The process sequence used and the assumptions made for capturing the economies of scale are presented.

Nitrogen Chemistry and Coke Transformation of FCC Coked Catalyst during the Regeneration Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Junjun; Guan, Jianyu; Guo, Dawei; Zhang, Jiushun; France, Liam John; Wang, Lefu; Li, Xuehui

2016-06-01

Regeneration of the coked catalyst is an important process of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) in petroleum refining, however, this process will emit environmentally harmful gases such as nitrogen and carbon oxides. Transformation of N and C containing compounds in industrial FCC coke under thermal decomposition was investigated via TPD and TPO to examine the evolved gaseous species and TGA, NMR and XPS to analyse the residual coke fraction. Two distinct regions of gas evolution are observed during TPD for the first time, and they arise from decomposition of aliphatic carbons and aromatic carbons. Three types of N species, pyrrolic N, pyridinic N and quaternary N are identified in the FCC coke, the former one is unstable and tends to be decomposed into pyridinic and quaternary N. Mechanisms of NO, CO and CO2 evolution during TPD are proposed and lattice oxygen is suggested to be an important oxygen resource. Regeneration process indicates that coke-C tends to preferentially oxidise compared with coke-N. Hence, new technology for promoting nitrogen-containing compounds conversion will benefit the in-situ reduction of NO by CO during FCC regeneration.

Particle physics and polyedra proximity calculation for hazard simulations in large-scale industrial plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plebe, Alice; Grasso, Giorgio

2016-12-01

This paper describes a system developed for the simulation of flames inside an open-source 3D computer graphic software, Blender, with the aim of analyzing in virtual reality scenarios of hazards in large-scale industrial plants. The advantages of Blender are of rendering at high resolution the very complex structure of large industrial plants, and of embedding a physical engine based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics. This particle system is used to evolve a simulated fire. The interaction of this fire with the components of the plant is computed using polyhedron separation distance, adopting a Voronoi-based strategy that optimizes the number of feature distance computations. Results on a real oil and gas refining industry are presented.

Tillandsia usneoides L, a biomonitor in the determination of Ce, La and Sm by neutron activation analysis in an industrial corridor in Central Mexico.

PubMed

Isaac-Olivé, K; Solís, C; Martínez-Carrillo, M A; Andrade, E; López, C; Longoria, L C; Lucho-Constantino, C A; Beltrán-Hernández, R I

2012-04-01

The atmosphere of the Tula Industrial Corridor in Central Mexico is contaminated due to several industries including oil refining while station monitoring in this area are limited. Lanthanides are considered fingerprint of oil refinery activities, and La, Ce and Sm have been previously detected in this area using filters. The suitability of T. usneoides as a biomonitor assessing the La, Ce and Sm concentrations in Particulate Matter is evaluated by NAA. Results of both biomonitor and filters are highly correlated. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling of the Coupling of Microstructure and Macrosegregation in a Direct Chill Cast Al-Cu Billet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heyvaert, Laurent; Bedel, Marie; Založnik, Miha; Combeau, Hervé

2017-10-01

The macroscopic multiphase flow and the growth of the solidification microstructures in the mushy zone of a direct chill (DC) casting are closely coupled. These couplings are the key to the understanding of the formation of the macrosegregation and of the non-uniform microstructure of the casting. In the present paper we use a multiphase and multiscale model to provide a fully coupled picture of the links between macrosegregation and microstructure in a DC cast billet. The model describes nucleation from inoculant particles and growth of dendritic and globular equiaxed crystal grains, fully coupled with macroscopic transport phenomena: fluid flow induced by natural convection and solidification shrinkage, heat, mass, and solute mass transport, motion of free-floating equiaxed grains, and of grain refiner particles. We compare our simulations to experiments on grain-refined and non-grain-refined industrial size billets from literature. We show that a transition between dendritic and globular grain morphology triggered by the grain refinement is the key to the explanation of the differences between the macrosegregation patterns in the two billets. We further show that the grain size and morphology are strongly affected by the macroscopic transport of free-floating equiaxed grains and of grain refiner particles.

Energy Saving Glass Lamination via Selective Radio Frequency Heating

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allan, Shawn M; Baranova, Inessa; Poley, Joseph

2012-02-27

This project focused on advancing radio-frequency (RF) lamination technology closer to commercial implementation, in order to reduce the energy intensity of glass lamination by up to 90%. Lamination comprises a wide range of products including autoglass, architectural safety and innovative design glass, transparent armor (e.g. bullet proof glass), smart glass, mirrors, and encapsulation of photovoltaics. Lamination is also the fastest growing segment of glass manufacturing, with photovoltaics, architectural needs, and an anticipated transition to laminated side windows in vehicles. The state-of-the-art for glass lamination is to use autoclaves, which apply heat and uniform gas pressure to bond the laminates overmore » the course of 1 to 18 hours. Laminates consist of layers of glass or other materials bonded with vinyl or urethane interlayers. In autoclaving, significant heat energy is lost heating the chamber, pressurized air, glass racks, and the glass. In RF lamination, the heat is generated directly in the vinyl interlayer, causing it to heat and melt quickly, in just 1 to 10 minutes, without significantly heating the glass or the equipment. The main purpose of this project was to provide evidence that low energy, rapid RF lamination quality met the same standards as conventionally autoclaved windows. The development of concepts for laminating curved glass with RF lamination was a major goal. Other primary goals included developing a stronger understanding of the lamination product markets described above, and to refine the potential benefits of commercial implementation. The scope of the project was to complete implementation concept studies in preparation for continuation into advanced development, pilot studies, and commercial implementation. The project consisted of 6 main tasks. The first dealt with lamination with poly-vinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers, which prior work had shown difficulties in achieving good quality laminates, working with Pilkington North America. The second task dealt with a study of current lamination processes in the various laminate industries, and development of concepts for integrating RF lamination into new or existing processes. The third task explored the use of a non-destructive technique for analyzing laminate adhesion with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The fourth task focused on developing concepts for curved glass lamination using RF lamination. The fifth and sixth tasks together comprised an analysis of laminate product markets, ranking for applicability and commercialization potential, and the development of commercialization strategies for those products. In addition, throughout the project as new experimental data and conventional process data were obtained, the benefits analysis of RF lamination was refined. The goals of the project described above were achieved, positioning RF lamination for the next stage growth envisioned in the original Industrial Grand Challenge proposal. Working with Pilkington North America, lamination of flat autoglass with PVB was achieved, meeting all 16 stringent industry tests. In particular, PVB laminates made with RF lamination passed environmental tests including the high temperature, 120°C bake test, without significant formation of bubbles (defects). The adhesion of PVB to glass was measured using the pummel method. Adhesion values ranging from 1 to 7 out of 10 were obtained. The significant process parameters affecting the environmental and adhesion performance were identified through a designed experiment. Pre-lamination process variables including PVB storage humidity and the de-airing process (vacuum or nip rolling) were significant, as well as the level of pressure applied to the laminate during the RF process. Analysis of manufacturing with RF lamination equipment, based on the processes developed indicated that 3 RF presses could replace a typical auto-industry autoclave to achieve equal or greater throughput with possibly less capital cost and smaller footprint. Concepts for curved lamination identifying castable molds for prototyping were developed, which allowed Ceralink to obtain commitment to begin curved tooling development. The project significantly helped to advance RF lamination past the feasibility and novelty stage and into the realm of commercial acceptance as a viable alternative to autoclaves. The demonstration of autoclave-quality autoglass produced in just 1 minute with RF lamination, with validation by Pilkington, has fueled industry motivation to seriously consider RF lamination. The industry and other contacts and outreach made in the study of laminate markets (including 3 technical publications and 5 conference presentations), has resulted in a recent surge in RF lamination activity.« less

Energy Saving Glass Lamination via Selective Radio Frequency Heating

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allan, Shawn M.

2012-02-27

This project focused on advancing radio-frequency (RF) lamination technology closer to commercial implementation, in order to reduce the energy intensity of glass lamination by up to 90%. Lamination comprises a wide range of products including autoglass, architectural safety and innovative design glass, transparent armor (e.g. bullet proof glass), smart glass, mirrors, and encapsulation of photovoltaics. Lamination is also the fastest growing segment of glass manufacturing, with photovoltaics, architectural needs, and an anticipated transition to laminated side windows in vehicles. The state-of-the-art for glass lamination is to use autoclaves, which apply heat and uniform gas pressure to bond the laminates overmore » the course of 1 to 18 hours. Laminates consist of layers of glass or other materials bonded with vinyl or urethane interlayers. In autoclaving, significant heat energy is lost heating the chamber, pressurized air, glass racks, and the glass. In RF lamination, the heat is generated directly in the vinyl interlayer, causing it to heat and melt quickly, in just 1 to 10 minutes, without significantly heating the glass or the equipment. The main purpose of this project was to provide evidence that low energy, rapid RF lamination quality met the same standards as conventionally autoclaved windows. The development of concepts for laminating curved glass with RF lamination was a major goal. Other primary goals included developing a stronger understanding of the lamination product markets described above, and to refine the potential benefits of commercial implementation. The scope of the project was to complete implementation concept studies in preparation for continuation into advanced development, pilot studies, and commercial implementation. The project consisted of 6 main tasks. The first dealt with lamination with poly-vinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers, which prior work had shown difficulties in achieving good quality laminates, working with Pilkington North America. The second task dealt with a study of current lamination processes in the various laminate industries, and development of concepts for integrating RF lamination into new or existing processes. The third task explored the use of a non-destructive technique for analyzing laminate adhesion with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The fourth task focused on developing concepts for curved glass lamination using RF lamination. The fifth and sixth tasks together comprised an analysis of laminate product markets, ranking for applicability and commercialization potential, and the development of commercialization strategies for those products. In addition, throughout the project as new experimental data and conventional process data were obtained, the benefits analysis of RF lamination was refined. The goals of the project described above were achieved, positioning RF lamination for the next stage growth envisioned in the original Industrial Grand Challenge proposal. Working with Pilkington North America, lamination of flat autoglass with PVB was achieved, meeting all 16 stringent industry tests. In particular, PVB laminates made with RF lamination passed environmental tests including the high temperature, 120 C bake test, without significant formation of bubbles (defects). The adhesion of PVB to glass was measured using the pummel method. Adhesion values ranging from 1 to 7 out of 10 were obtained. The significant process parameters affecting the environmental and adhesion performance were identified through a designed experiment. Pre-lamination process variables including PVB storage humidity and the de-airing process (vacuum or nip rolling) were significant, as well as the level of pressure applied to the laminate during the RF process. Analysis of manufacturing with RF lamination equipment, based on the processes developed indicated that 3 RF presses could replace a typical auto-industry autoclave to achieve equal or greater throughput with possibly less capital cost and smaller footprint. Concepts for curved lamination identifying castable molds for prototyping were developed, which allowed Ceralink to obtain commitment to begin curved tooling development. The project significantly helped to advance RF lamination past the feasibility and novelty stage and into the realm of commercial acceptance as a viable alternative to autoclaves. The demonstration of autoclave-quality autoglass produced in just 1 minute with RF lamination, with validation by Pilkington, has fueled industry motivation to seriously consider RF lamination. The industry and other contacts and outreach made in the study of laminate markets (including 3 technical publications and 5 conference presentations), has resulted in a recent surge in RF lamination activity.« less

The processing of aluminum gasarites via thermal decomposition of interstitial hydrides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Licavoli, Joseph J.

Gasarite structures are a unique type of metallic foam containing tubular pores. The original methods for their production limited them to laboratory study despite appealing foam properties. Thermal decomposition processing of gasarites holds the potential to increase the application of gasarite foams in engineering design by removing several barriers to their industrial scale production. The following study characterized thermal decomposition gasarite processing both experimentally and theoretically. It was found that significant variation was inherent to this process therefore several modifications were necessary to produce gasarites using this method. Conventional means to increase porosity and enhance pore morphology were studied. Pore morphology was determined to be more easily replicated if pores were stabilized by alumina additions and powders were dispersed evenly. In order to better characterize processing, high temperature and high ramp rate thermal decomposition data were gathered. It was found that the high ramp rate thermal decomposition behavior of several hydrides was more rapid than hydride kinetics at low ramp rates. This data was then used to estimate the contribution of several pore formation mechanisms to the development of pore structure. It was found that gas-metal eutectic growth can only be a viable pore formation mode if non-equilibrium conditions persist. Bubble capture cannot be a dominant pore growth mode due to high bubble terminal velocities. Direct gas evolution appears to be the most likely pore formation mode due to high gas evolution rate from the decomposing particulate and microstructural pore growth trends. The overall process was evaluated for its economic viability. It was found that thermal decomposition has potential for industrialization, but further refinements are necessary in order for the process to be viable.

Fossil Fuels.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crank, Ron

This instructional unit is one of 10 developed by students on various energy-related areas that deals specifically with fossil fuels. Some topics covered are historic facts, development of fuels, history of oil production, current and future trends of the oil industry, refining fossil fuels, and environmental problems. Material in each unit may…

Inert Reassessment Document for 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol - CAS No. 107-41-5

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol is used as a chemical intermediate, a selective solvent in petroleum refining, a component of hydraulic fluids, an additive for cement, a component of industrial coatings, a solvent for inks, an additive for fuel and lubricants

Refining ASD for disease management in strawberry and apple production

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) has been studied as an industry level option for replacing soil fumigants to manage soil-borne diseases in both annual and perennial crop production systems. Although ASD has proven effective for the suppression of certain soil-borne pathogens in both strawberry ...

Aquatic risk assessment of pesticides in Latin America.

PubMed

Carriquiriborde, Pedro; Mirabella, Paula; Waichman, Andrea; Solomon, Keith; Van den Brink, Paul J; Maund, Steve

2014-10-01

Latin America is anticipated to be a major growth market for agriculture and production is increasing with use of technologies such as pesticides. Reports of contamination of aquatic ecosystems by pesticides in Latin America have raised concerns about potential for adverse ecological effects. In the registration process of pesticides, all countries require significant data packages on aquatic toxicology and environmental fate. However, there are usually no specific requirements to conduct an aquatic risk assessment. To address this issue, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry organized a workshop that brought together scientists from academia, government, and industry to review and elaborate on aquatic risk assessment frameworks that can be implemented into regulation of pesticides in Latin America. The workshop concluded that the international framework for risk assessments (protection goals, effects, and exposure assessments, risk characterization, and risk mitigation) is broadly applicable in Latin America but needs further refinement for the use in the region. Some of the challenges associated with these refinements are discussed in the article. It was recognized that there is potential for data sharing both within and outside of the region where conditions are similar. However, there is a need for research to compare local species and environmental conditions to those in other jurisdictions to be able to evaluate the applicability of data used in other countries. Development should also focus on human resources as there is a need to build local capacity and capability, and scientific collaboration and exchange between stakeholders in industry, government, and academia is also important. The meeting also emphasized that, although establishing a regionally relevant risk assessment framework is important, this also needs to be accompanied by enforcement of developed regulations and good management practices to help protect aquatic habitats. Education, training, and communication efforts are needed to achieve this. © 2014 SETAC.

Development of ultrafine-grained microstructure in Al-Cu-Mg alloy through equal-channel angular pressing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sai Anuhya, Danam; Gupta, Ashutosh; Nayan, Niraj; Narayana Murty, S. V. S.; Manna, R.; Sastry, G. V. S.

2014-08-01

Al-Cu-Mg alloys are extensively used for riveting applications in aerospace industries due to their relatively high shear strength coupled with high plasticity. The significant advantage of using V65 aluminum alloy ((Al-4Cu-0.2Mg) for rivet application also stems from its significantly slower natural aging kinetics, which gives operational flexibility to carryout riveting operation even after 4 days of solution heat treatment, in contrast to its equivalent alloy AA2024.Rivets are usually made by cold heading of wire rods. In order to form a defect free rivet head, grain size control in wire rods is essential at each and every stage of processing right from casting onwards upto the final wire drawing stage. Wire drawing is carried out at room temperature to reduce diameter as well as impart good surface finish. In the present study, different microstructures in V65 alloy bars were produced by rolling at different temperatures (room temperature to 523K) and subsequently deformed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at 423K upto an equivalent strain of 7. ECAP was carried out to study the effect of initial microstructure on grain refinement and degree of deformation on the evolution of ultrafine grain structure. The refinement of V65 alloy by ECAP is significantly influenced by Initial microstructure but amount of deformation strongly affects the evolution processes as revealed by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.

Petroleum marketing monthly, May 1994

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-05-26

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published datamore » in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.« less

Ultra fine grained Ti prepared by severe plastic deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lukáč, F.; Čížek, J.; Knapp, J.; Procházka, I.; Zháňal, P.; Islamgaliev, R. K.

2016-01-01

The positron annihilation spectroscopy was employed for characterisation of defects in pure Ti with ultra fine grained (UFG) structure. UFG Ti samples were prepared by two techniques based on severe plastic deformation (SPD): (i) high pressure torsion (HPT) and (ii) equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). Although HPT is the most efficient technique for grain refinement, the size of HPT-deformed specimens is limited. On the other hand, ECAP is less efficient in grain refinement but enables to produce larger samples more suitable for industrial applications. Characterisation of defects by positron annihilation spectroscopy was accompanied by hardness testing in order to monitor the development of mechanical properties of UFG Ti.

Properties of Base Stocks Obtained from Used Engine Oils by Acid/Clay Re-refining (Proprietes des Stocks de Base Obtenus par Regeneration des Huiles a Moteur Usees par le Procede de Traitement a l’Acide et a la Terre),

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-01

Research Conseil national Council Canada de recherches Canada LEY EL < PROPERTIES OF BASE STOCKS OBTAINED FROM USED ENGINE OILS BY ACID /CLAY RE-REFINING DTIC...MECHANICAL ENGINEERING REPORT Canad NC MP75 NRC NO. 18719 PROPERTIES OF BASE STOCKS OBTAINED FROM USED ENGINE OILS BY ACID /CLAY RE-REFINING (PROPRIETES...refined Base Stock ..................................... 10 3 Physical Test Data of Acid /Clay Process - Re-refined Base Stock Oils ............ 11 4

“Gold” Pressed Essential Oil: An Essay on the Volatile Fragment from Citrus Juice Industry By-Products Chemistry and Bioactivity

PubMed Central

Kapsaski-Kanelli, V. N.; Papachristos, D. P.; Myrtsi, E. D.; Koulocheri, S. D.

2017-01-01

Present essay explores the potentials of Citrus juice industry's by-products as alternative bioactive natural products resources. Four crude Cold Pressed Essential Oils (CPEOs), derived from orange, lemon, grapefruit, and mandarin, were studied. All CPEOs were subjected to water distillation, in order to obtain the volatile fragment, which was further fractionated with respect to distillation period in two parts, concluding to eight samples. These samples along with the four original CPEOs were assessed in relation to their phytochemical content and their repellent and larvicidal properties against Asian Tiger Mosquito. The volatiles recovery rates ranged from 74% to 88% of the CPEO. Limonene presented a significant increase in all samples ranging from 8% to 52% of the respective CPEO's content and peaked in mandarin's 2nd volatile fragment which comprised 97% of the essential oil. The refinement process presented clear impacts on both bioassays: a significant increase in larvicidal potency was observed, annotated best by the improvement by 1100% and 1300% of the grapefruit volatile fractions; repellence testing provided only one significant result, the decrease of landings by 50% as a response to mandarin's second volatile fraction. The applied methodology thus may be considered for the improvement of Citrus juice industry's by-products chemistry and bioactivity. PMID:29109957

"Gold" Pressed Essential Oil: An Essay on the Volatile Fragment from Citrus Juice Industry By-Products Chemistry and Bioactivity.

PubMed

Kapsaski-Kanelli, V N; Evergetis, E; Michaelakis, A; Papachristos, D P; Myrtsi, E D; Koulocheri, S D; Haroutounian, S A

2017-01-01

Present essay explores the potentials of Citrus juice industry's by-products as alternative bioactive natural products resources. Four crude Cold Pressed Essential Oils (CPEOs), derived from orange, lemon, grapefruit, and mandarin, were studied. All CPEOs were subjected to water distillation, in order to obtain the volatile fragment, which was further fractionated with respect to distillation period in two parts, concluding to eight samples. These samples along with the four original CPEOs were assessed in relation to their phytochemical content and their repellent and larvicidal properties against Asian Tiger Mosquito. The volatiles recovery rates ranged from 74% to 88% of the CPEO. Limonene presented a significant increase in all samples ranging from 8% to 52% of the respective CPEO's content and peaked in mandarin's 2nd volatile fragment which comprised 97% of the essential oil. The refinement process presented clear impacts on both bioassays: a significant increase in larvicidal potency was observed, annotated best by the improvement by 1100% and 1300% of the grapefruit volatile fractions; repellence testing provided only one significant result, the decrease of landings by 50% as a response to mandarin's second volatile fraction. The applied methodology thus may be considered for the improvement of Citrus juice industry's by-products chemistry and bioactivity.

Predicting the future: opportunities and challenges for the chemical industry to apply 21st-century toxicity testing.

PubMed

Settivari, Raja S; Ball, Nicholas; Murphy, Lynea; Rasoulpour, Reza; Boverhof, Darrell R; Carney, Edward W

2015-03-01

Interest in applying 21st-century toxicity testing tools for safety assessment of industrial chemicals is growing. Whereas conventional toxicology uses mainly animal-based, descriptive methods, a paradigm shift is emerging in which computational approaches, systems biology, high-throughput in vitro toxicity assays, and high-throughput exposure assessments are beginning to be applied to mechanism-based risk assessments in a time- and resource-efficient fashion. Here we describe recent advances in predictive safety assessment, with a focus on their strategic application to meet the changing demands of the chemical industry and its stakeholders. The opportunities to apply these new approaches is extensive and include screening of new chemicals, informing the design of safer and more sustainable chemical alternatives, filling information gaps on data-poor chemicals already in commerce, strengthening read-across methodology for categories of chemicals sharing similar modes of action, and optimizing the design of reduced-risk product formulations. Finally, we discuss how these predictive approaches dovetail with in vivo integrated testing strategies within repeated-dose regulatory toxicity studies, which are in line with 3Rs principles to refine, reduce, and replace animal testing. Strategic application of these tools is the foundation for informed and efficient safety assessment testing strategies that can be applied at all stages of the product-development process.

Rethinking healthcare as a safety--critical industry.

PubMed

Lwears, Robert

2012-01-01

The discipline of ergonomics, or human factors engineering, has made substantial contributions to both the development of a science of safety, and to the improvement of safety in a wide variety of hazardous industries, including nuclear power, aviation, shipping, energy extraction and refining, military operations, and finance. It is notable that healthcare, which in most advanced societies is a substantial sector of the economy (eg, 15% of US gross domestic product) and has been associated with large volumes of potentially preventable morbidity and mortality, has heretofore not been viewed as a safety-critical industry. This paper proposes that improving safety performance in healthcare must involve a re-envisioning of healthcare itself as a safety-critical industry, but one with considerable differences from most engineered safety-critical systems. This has implications both for healthcare, and for conceptions of safety-critical industries.

Efficient production of fatty acid methyl ester from waste activated bleaching earth using diesel oil as organic solvent.

PubMed

Kojima, Seiji; Du, Dongning; Sato, Masayasu; Park, Enoch Y

2004-01-01

Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production from waste activated bleaching earth (ABE) discarded by the crude oil refining industry was investigated using fossil fuel as a solvent in the esterification of triglycerides. Lipase from Candida cylindracea showed the highest stability in diesel oil. Using diesel oil as a solvent, 3 h was sufficient to obtain a yield of approximately 100% of FAME in the presence of 10% lipase from waste ABE. Kerosene was also a good solvent in the esterification of triglycerides embedded in the waste ABE. Fuel analysis showed that the FAME produced using diesel oil as a solvent complied with the Japanese diesel standard and the 10% residual carbon amount was lower than that of FAME produced using other solvents. Use of diesel oil as solvent in the FAME production from the waste ABE simplified the process, because there was no need to separate the organic solvent from the FAME-solvent mixture. These results demonstrate a promising reutilization method for the production of FAME, for use as a biodiesel, from industrial waste resources containing waste vegetable oils.

Microstructural Evolution of Al-1Fe (Weight Percent) Alloy During Accumulative Continuous Extrusion Forming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiang; Guan, Ren-Guo; Tie, Di; Shang, Ying-Qiu; Jin, Hong-Mei; Li, Hong-Chao

2018-04-01

As a new microstructure refining method, accumulative continuous extrusion forming (ACEF) cannot only refine metal matrix but also refine the phases that exist in it. In order to detect the refinements of grain and second phase during the process, Al-1Fe (wt pct) alloy was processed by ACEF, and the microstructural evolution was analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results revealed that the average grain size of Al-1Fe (wt pct) alloy decreased from 13 to 1.2 μm, and blocky Al3Fe phase with an average length of 300 nm was granulated to Al3Fe particle with an average diameter of 200 nm, after one pass of ACEF. Refinement of grain was attributed to continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX), and the granulation of Al3Fe phase included the spheroidization resulting from deformation heat and the fragmentation caused by the coupling effects of strain and thermal effect. The spheroidization worked in almost the entire deformation process, while the fragmentation required strain accumulation. However, fragmentation contributed more than spheroidization. Al3Fe particle stimulated the formation of substructure and retarded the migration of recrystallized grain boundary, but the effect of Al3Fe phase on refinement of grain could only be determined by the contrastive investigation of Al-1Fe (wt pct) alloy and pure Al.

Use of activated carbon to remove undesirable residual amylase from refinery streams

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In recent years, there has been increased world-wide concern over residual (carry-over)activity of mostly high temperature (HT) and very high temperature (VHT) stable amylases in white, refined sugars from refineries to various food and end-user industries. HT and VHT stable amylases were developed ...

Demand, Supply, and Price Outlook for Reformulated Motor Gasoline 1995

EIA Publications

1994-01-01

Provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 designed to reduce ground-level ozone will increase the demand for reformulated motor gasoline in a number of U.S. metropolitan areas. This article discusses the effects of the new regulations on the motor gasoline market and the refining industry.

EVALUATING THE IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT: THE CASE OF EFFLUENT DISCHARGES IN THE PETROLEUM REFINING INDUSTRY

EPA Science Inventory

This paper looks at the impact of enforcement activity on facility-level behavior and derives quantitative estimates of the impact. We measure facility-level behavior as the levels of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) pollutant discharges generated b...

Technology transfer-transportation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anyos, T.; Lizak, R.; Wilhelm, J.

1974-01-01

Problems in the public transportation industry and refining methods for decreasing the time gap between the development and the marketing of new technology are considered. Eight NASA innovations are either being adapted for use on highways, railways, or rapid transit, or are already entering the marketplace. Chronologies for three of these programs are provided.

Electro-Technologies. Guide to Standards and Implementation. Career & Technology Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Curriculum Standards Branch.

With this Career and Technologies Studies (CTS) curriculum guide, secondary students in Alberta can do the following: develop skills that can be applied in their daily lives; refine career-planning skills; develop technology-related skills in electro-technologies; enhance employability skills, especially in electro-technologies industries; and…

Construction Technologies. Guide to Standards and Implementation. Career & Technology Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Curriculum Standards Branch.

With this Career and Technology Studies (CTS) curriculum guide, secondary students in Alberta can do the following; develop skills that can be applied in their daily lives; refine career-planning skills; develop technology-related skills in construction; enhance employability skills, especially in construction industries; and apply and reinforce…

Vortex-Lattice Utilization. [in aeronautical engineering and aircraft design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The many novel, innovative, and unique implementations and applications of the vortex-lattice method to aerodynamic design and analysis which have been performed by Industry, Government, and Universities were presented. Although this analytical tool is not new, it continues to be utilized and refined in the aeronautical community.

40 CFR 98.396 - Data reporting requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... natural gas liquid listed in table MM-1 of this subpart that enters the refinery to be further refined or... standard method or other industry standard practice used. For natural gas liquids, quantity shall reflect the individual components of the product. (2) For each petroleum product or natural gas liquid listed...

40 CFR 98.396 - Data reporting requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... natural gas liquid listed in table MM-1 of this subpart that enters the refinery to be further refined or... standard method or other industry standard practice used. For natural gas liquids, quantity shall reflect the individual components of the product. (2) For each petroleum product or natural gas liquid listed...

40 CFR 98.396 - Data reporting requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... natural gas liquid listed in table MM-1 of this subpart that enters the refinery to be further refined or... standard method or other industry standard practice used. For natural gas liquids, quantity shall reflect the individual components of the product. (2) For each petroleum product or natural gas liquid listed...

40 CFR 98.396 - Data reporting requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... natural gas liquid listed in table MM-1 of this subpart that enters the refinery to be further refined or... standard method or other industry standard practice used. For natural gas liquids, quantity shall reflect the individual components of the product. (2) For each petroleum product or natural gas liquid listed...

Truck Size and Weight Modelling Workshop : activity 2 : Task C refine freight diversion models for all modes

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-09-01

One final overall observation from the workshop was that FHWA should consider case studies o f : industry practices. This approach differs from TS&W modeling, but could be used to build a microapproach for national TS&W analysis. For example, differe...

Fiberboards from loblolly pine refiner groundwood: effects of gross wood characteristics and board density

Treesearch

Charles W. McMillin

1968-01-01

Boards for insulation and and structural uses are being manufactured in increasing quantities. The coarse fiber required for these products can be disk-refined from untreated wood chips. Since such fiber is produced in essentially one mechanical operation, continuous control is required of the raw material as well as the refining process.

Study on the rheoformability of semi-solid 7075 wrought aluminum alloy using seed process =

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Qinfu

Semisolid metal forming is becoming more and more attractive in the foundry industry due to its low cost and easy operation to produce high quality near-net-shape components. Over the past years, semisolid forming technique is mainly applied on the casting aluminum alloys due to their superior castability because of low melting temperature and viscosity. In semisolid forming field, thixoforming has been majorly used which involves of reheating the billet into semisolid state followed by casting process. Rheocasting is a more economic semisolid processing compared to thixoforming, which the semisolid billet is produced directly from liquid phase. The SEED process is one of reliable rheocasting techniques to produce high quality semisolid billets. To produce high quality semisolid billets, their unique rheological properties have been the most important issue need to be fully investigated. The aim of present project is to produce high quality semisolid AA7075 billets by SEED process and analyze their rheological properties under various process conditions. The effect of the SEED processing parameters and grain refiners on the semisolid microstructure and rheoformability were investigated. The deformation and rheological behavior of the semisolid billets of AA7075 base and its grain-refined alloys were studied using parallel-plate viscometer. In the first part, the evolution of liquid fraction to temperature of semisolid AA7075 alloy was investigated using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the liquidus and solidus temperature of AA7075 alloy were 631 °C and 490°C respectively. And the corresponding temperatures of solid fraction of 40% and 60% were 622°C and 610°C, which was recognized as the temperature window for semisolid forming of this alloy. In the second part, the semisolid slurries were rheocasted using SEED technology and the effect of the SEED process parameters like swirling frequency and demolding temperature on evolution of microstructure was studied. It was found that the swirling frequency has a strong influence on the mean grain size and morphology of primary alpha-Al particles. With increasing swirling frequency, the mean size of alpha-Al particles first decreased significantly and then kept constant or increased slightly, due to the fragment and aggregation of solid particles. Microstructures also revealed that the alpha-Al particles tend to transform from dendrite-like to rosette-like to globular-like morphology due to the stirring movement. In the third part, the effects of TiB2 and Zr on the microstructure of semisolid AA7075 alloy were investigated. The microstructure observation and the intermetallic phase identification were carried out by optical microscopy equipped with Clemex analyzer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mean size of primary alpha-Al particles decreases from more than 110 mum to less than 90 mum and the morphology changes from dendritic-like to globular-like with the addition of TiB2. With the addition of Zr or Zr + TiB 2, the mean size and morphology of primary alpha-Al particles didn't show significant modification. Furthermore, the addition of TiB2 shows significant refinement on three intermetallic phases (Mg(Zn,Cu,Al) 2, Fe-rich Al(Fe,Mn)Si and Mg2Si. All the intermetallic phases become finer in size and more uniform distribution among the grains. Finally, the rheological behavior and microstructure of deformed semisolid billets of AA7075 base and grain-refined alloys were investigated using parallel-plate viscometer. Images analysis shows that liquid segregates from center to edge of the billet during compression and with increasing temperature the liquid segregation becomes more significant. The apparent viscosity of two alloys decreases with the increasing shear rate, indicating shear thinning behavior. Shear rate jump phenomenon (first increase and then decrease) occurred at lower solid fraction, reaching a maximum shear rate value. The whole compression processing is divided into two parts: shear rate increasing part and shear rate decreasing part. For higher solid fraction, the shear rate decreases continuously and slowly. The attainable maximum shear rate value increases with the decreasing solid fraction. During the shear rate decreasing part, at any given shear rate the viscosity increases with the increasing solid fraction. The comparison of the viscosity of two alloys indicated that the TiB2-refined AA7075 alloy has lower viscosity (shear rate decreasing part) due to small grain size and globular grain shape. In addition, the grain refinement significantly expands the solid fraction range of good rheoformability from 42%-48% for the base alloy to 42%-55% for the refined alloy.

Annual Report: Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI) (30 September 2012)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miller, David C.; Syamlal, Madhava; Cottrell, Roger

2012-09-30

The Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI) is a partnership among national laboratories, industry and academic institutions that is developing and deploying state-of-the-art computational modeling and simulation tools to accelerate the commercialization of carbon capture technologies from discovery to development, demonstration, and ultimately the widespread deployment to hundreds of power plants. The CCSI Toolset will provide end users in industry with a comprehensive, integrated suite of scientifically validated models, with uncertainty quantification (UQ), optimization, risk analysis and decision making capabilities. The CCSI Toolset incorporates commercial and open-source software currently in use by industry and is also developing new software tools asmore » necessary to fill technology gaps identified during execution of the project. Ultimately, the CCSI Toolset will (1) enable promising concepts to be more quickly identified through rapid computational screening of devices and processes; (2) reduce the time to design and troubleshoot new devices and processes; (3) quantify the technical risk in taking technology from laboratory-scale to commercial-scale; and (4) stabilize deployment costs more quickly by replacing some of the physical operational tests with virtual power plant simulations. CCSI is organized into 8 technical elements that fall under two focus areas. The first focus area (Physicochemical Models and Data) addresses the steps necessary to model and simulate the various technologies and processes needed to bring a new Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology into production. The second focus area (Analysis & Software) is developing the software infrastructure to integrate the various components and implement the tools that are needed to make quantifiable decisions regarding the viability of new CCS technologies. CCSI also has an Industry Advisory Board (IAB). By working closely with industry from the inception of the project to identify industrial challenge problems, CCSI ensures that the simulation tools are developed for the carbon capture technologies of most relevance to industry. CCSI is led by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and leverages the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories' core strengths in modeling and simulation, bringing together the best capabilities at NETL, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The CCSI's industrial partners provide representation from the power generation industry, equipment manufacturers, technology providers and engineering and construction firms. The CCSI's academic participants (Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, West Virginia University, and Boston University) bring unparalleled expertise in multiphase flow reactors, combustion, process synthesis and optimization, planning and scheduling, and process control techniques for energy processes. During Fiscal Year (FY) 12, CCSI released its first set of computational tools and models. This pre-release, a year ahead of the originally planned first release, is the result of intense industry interest in getting early access to the tools and the phenomenal progress of the CCSI technical team. These initial components of the CCSI Toolset provide new models and computational capabilities that will accelerate the commercial development of carbon capture technologies as well as related technologies, such as those found in the power, refining, chemicals, and gas production industries. The release consists of new tools for process synthesis and optimization to help identify promising concepts more quickly, new physics-based models of potential capture equipment and processes that will reduce the time to design and troubleshoot new systems, a framework to quantify the uncertainty of model predictions, and various enabling tools that provide new capabilities such as creating reduced order models (ROMs) from reacting multiphase flow simulations and running thousands of process simulations concurrently for optimization and UQ.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Lehao

A nanocrystalline surface layer was produced on Mg-3 wt.% Li-6 wt.% Al alloy by means of surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). Microstructure features of various sections were systematically characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that grain refinement induced by SMAT is dominated mainly by dislocation slip. Twinning is active at the early stage of grain refinement process when the grain size is large. The dislocation-dominated deformation mechanism is attributed to the change of c/a ratio due to the alloying of Li in Mg matrix and the suppression of twinning due to grain refinement. Nanoindentation results show that themore » hardness of the surface is enhanced by SMAT. - Highlights: •Nanocrystalline surface layer was produced on Mg-3 wt.%Li-6 wt.%Al alloy by SMAT. •Grain refinement induced by SMAT is dominated mainly by dislocation slip. •Twinning is active at the early stage of grain refinement process. •The hardness of the surface was enhanced by SMAT.« less

Supplying the Giant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawson, Larry

2003-01-01

It was critical for our team to find a radically different way of doing business. Deciding to build the airframe out of composites was the first step, refining processes from the boat building industry was second, and the final step was choosing a supplier. Lockheed Martin built the first prototypes at our Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. These units were hand-built and used early prototypical tooling. They looked great but were not affordable. We had to focus on minimizing touch labor and cycle time and reducing material costs. We needed a company to produce the composite quilts we would use to avoid hand lay-ups. The company we found surprised a lot of people. We partnered with a small company outside of Boston whose primary business was making baseball bats and golf club shafts.

"Nutrition in the promotion of your health" pride, prejudice and propaganda.

PubMed

Yellowlees, W

1987-01-01

The association between the organic movement and 'alternative medicine' may have been one reason for the failure of the McCarrison Society in Britain to appeal to many National Health Service doctors and dentists. This is unfortunate because the aims of the McCarrison Society have nothing to do with any system of medical care. Our hope is to prevent disease by promoting McCarrison's teaching that man is perfectly adapted to his food supply as it occurs in nature and that the greatest single cause of the diseases of industrial peoples is their dependence on foods made worthless or harmful by processing and refining. This teaching applies to the modern epidemic of coronary heart disease. The evidence incriminating natural unprocessed fat as a cause of this disease is unconvincing.

Electro-optic tracking R&D for defense surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutherland, Stuart; Woodruff, Chris J.

1995-09-01

Two aspects of work on automatic target detection and tracking for electro-optic (EO) surveillance are described. Firstly, a detection and tracking algorithm test-bed developed by DSTO and running on a PC under Windows NT is being used to assess candidate algorithms for unresolved and minimally resolved target detection. The structure of this test-bed is described and examples are given of its user interfaces and outputs. Secondly, a development by Australian industry under a Defence-funded contract, of a reconfigurable generic track processor (GTP) is outlined. The GTP will include reconfigurable image processing stages and target tracking algorithms. It will be used to demonstrate to the Australian Defence Force automatic detection and tracking capabilities, and to serve as a hardware base for real time algorithm refinement.

TENORM: Bauxite and Alumina Production Wastes

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Bauxite is used to produce alumina, which is then used to produce aluminum. Naturally-occurring radioactivity in bauxite ores is concentrated during the refining process, creating TENORM in bauxite refining residuals.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kevin C. Galbreath; Donald L. Toman; Christopher J. Zygarlicke

Petroleum coke, a byproduct of the petroleum-refining process, is an attractive primary or supplemental fuel for power production primarily because of a progressive and predictable increase in the production volumes of petroleum coke (1, 2). Petroleum coke is most commonly blended with coal in proportions suitable to meet sulfur emission compliance. Petroleum coke is generally less reactive than coal; therefore, the cofiring of petroleum coke with coal typically improves ignition, flame stability, and carbon loss relative to the combustion of petroleum coke alone. Although petroleum coke is a desirable fuel for producing relatively inexpensive electrical power, concerns about the effectsmore » of petroleum coke blending on combustion and pollution control processes exist in the coal-fired utility industry (3). The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) completed a 2-year technical assessment of petroleum coke as a supplemental fuel. A survey questionnaire was sent to seven electric utility companies that are currently cofiring coal and petroleum coke in an effort to solicit specific suggestions on research needs and fuel selections. An example of the letter and survey questionnaire is presented in Appendix A. Interest was expressed by most utilities in evaluating the effects of petroleum coke blending on grindability, combustion reactivity, fouling, slagging, and fly ash emissions control. Unexpectedly, concern over corrosion was not expressed by the utilities contacted. Although all seven utilities responded to the question, only two utilities, Northern States Power Company (NSP) and Ameren, sent fuels to the EERC for evaluation. Both utilities sent subbituminous coals from the Power River Basin and petroleum shot coke samples. Petroleum shot coke is produced unintentionally during operational upsets in the petroleum refining process. This report evaluates the effects of petroleum shot coke blending on grindability, fuel reactivity, fouling/slagging, and electrostatic precipitator (ESP) fly ash collection efficiency.« less

Comparative metagenomic analysis of microcosm structures and lignocellulolytic enzyme systems of symbiotic biomass-degrading consortia.

PubMed

Wongwilaiwalin, Sarunyou; Laothanachareon, Thanaporn; Mhuantong, Wuttichai; Tangphatsornruang, Sithichoke; Eurwilaichitr, Lily; Igarashi, Yasuo; Champreda, Verawat

2013-10-01

Decomposition of lignocelluloses by cooperative microbial actions is an essential process of carbon cycling in nature and provides a basis for biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals in biorefineries. In this study, structurally stable symbiotic aero-tolerant lignocellulose-degrading microbial consortia were obtained from biodiversified microflora present in industrial sugarcane bagasse pile (BGC-1), cow rumen fluid (CRC-1), and pulp mill activated sludge (ASC-1) by successive subcultivation on rice straw under facultative anoxic conditions. Tagged 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing revealed that all isolated consortia originated from highly diverse environmental microflora shared similar composite phylum profiles comprising mainly Firmicutes, reflecting convergent adaptation of microcosm structures, however, with substantial differences at refined genus level. BGC-1 comprising cellulolytic Clostridium and Acetanaerobacterium in stable coexistence with ligninolytic Ureibacillus showed the highest capability on degradation of agricultural residues and industrial pulp waste with CMCase, xylanase, and β-glucanase activities in the supernatant. Shotgun pyrosequencing of the BGC-1 metagenome indicated a markedly high relative abundance of genes encoding for glycosyl hydrolases, particularly for lignocellulytic enzymes in 26 families. The enzyme system comprised a unique composition of main-chain degrading and side-chain processing hydrolases, dominated by GH2, 3, 5, 9, 10, and 43, reflecting adaptation of enzyme profiles to the specific substrate. Gene mapping showed metabolic potential of BGC-1 for conversion of biomass sugars to various fermentation products of industrial importance. The symbiotic consortium is a promising simplified model for study of multispecies mechanisms on consolidated bioprocessing and a platform for discovering efficient synergistic enzyme systems for biotechnological application.

Implementation of a protein profiling platform developed as an academic-pharmaceutical industry collaborative effort.

PubMed

Végvári, Akos; Magnusson, Mattias; Wallman, Lars; Ekström, Simon; Bolmsjö, Gunnar; Nilsson, Johan; Miliotis, Tasso; Ostling, Jörgen; Kjellström, Sven; Ottervald, Jan; Franzén, Bo; Hultberg, Hans; Marko-Varga, György; Laurell, Thomas

2008-06-01

As much attention has devoted to the proteome research during the last few years, biomarker discovery has become an increasingly hot area, potentially enabling the development of new assays for diagnosis and prognosis of severe diseases. This is the field of research interest where efforts originating from both academic and industrial groups should jointly work on solutions. In this paper, we would like to demonstrate the fruitful combination of both research domains where the scientific crossroads sprout fresh ideas from the basic research domain and how these are refined and tethered to industrial standards. We will present an approach that is based on novel microfluidic devices, utilizing their benefits in processing small-volume samples. Our biomarker discovery strategy, built around this platform, involves optimized samples processing (based on SPE and sample enrichment) and fast MALDI-MS readout. The identification of novel biomarkers at low-abundance level has been achieved by the utilization of a miniaturized sample handling platform, which offers clean-up and enrichment of proteins in one step. Complete automation has been realized in the form of a unique robotic instrumentation that is able to extract and transfer 96 samples onto standard MALDI target plates with high throughput. The developed platform was operated with a 60 sample turnaround per hour allowing sensitivities in femtomol regions of medium- and low-abundant target proteins from clinical studies on samples of multiple sclerosis and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Several proteins have been identified as new biomarkers from cerebrospinal fluid and esophagus epithelial cells.

Copper Recycling in the United States in 2004

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goonan, Thomas G.

2009-01-01

As one of a series of reports that describe the recycling of metal commodities in the United States, this report discusses the flow of copper from production through distribution and use, with particular emphasis on the recycling of industrial scrap (new scrap1) and used products (old scrap) in the year 2004. This materials flow study includes a description of copper supply and demand for the United States to illustrate the extent of copper recycling and to identify recycling trends. Understanding how materials flow from a source through disposition can aid in improving the management of natural resource delivery systems. In 2004, the U.S. refined copper supply was 2.53 million metric tons (Mt) of refined unalloyed copper. With adjustment for refined copper exports of 127,000 metric tons (t) of copper, the net U.S. refined copper supply was 2.14 Mt of copper. With this net supply and a consumer inventory decrease of 9,000 t of refined copper, 2.42 Mt of refined copper was consumed by U.S. semifabricators (brass mills, wire rod mills, ingot makers, and foundries and others) in 2004. In addition to the 2.42 Mt of refined copper consumed in 2004, U.S. copper semifabricators consumed 853,000 t of copper contained in recycled scrap. Furthermore, 61,000 t of copper contained in scrap was consumed by noncopper alloy makers, for example, steelmakers and aluminum alloy makers. Old scrap recycling efficiency for copper was estimated to be 43 percent of theoretical old scrap supply, the recycling rate for copper was 30 percent of apparent supply, and the new-scrap-to-old-scrap ratio for U.S. copper product production was 3.2 (76:24).

Refining each process step to accelerate the development of biorefineries

DOE PAGES

Chandra, Richard P.; Ragauskas, Art J.

2016-06-21

Research over the past decade has been mainly focused on overcoming hurdles in the pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation steps of biochemical processing. Pretreatments have improved significantly in their ability to fractionate and recover the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin components of biomass while producing substrates containing carbohydrates that can be easily broken down by hydrolytic enzymes. There is a rapid movement towards pretreatment processes that incorporate mechanical treatments that make use of existing infrastructure in the pulp and paper industry, which has experienced a downturn in its traditional markets. Enzyme performance has also made great strides with breakthrough developments inmore » nonhydrolytic protein components, such as lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases, as well as the improvement of enzyme cocktails.The fermentability of pretreated and hydrolyzed sugar streams has been improved through strategies such as the use of reducing agents for detoxification, strain selection, and strain improvements. Although significant progress has been made, tremendous challenges still remain to advance each step of biochemical conversion, especially when processing woody biomass. In addition to technical and scale-up issues within each step of the bioconversion process, biomass feedstock supply and logistics challenges still remain at the forefront of biorefinery research.« less

The SRC-II process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmid, B. K.; Jackson, D. M.

1981-03-01

The Solvent Refined Coal (SRC-II) process which produces low-sulfur distillate fuel oil from coal is discussed. The process dissolves coal in a process-derived solvent at elevated temperature and pressure in the presence of hydrogen, separates the undissolved mineral residue, then recovers the original solvent by vacuum distillation. The distillate fuel oil produced is for use largely as a nonpolluting fuel for generating electrical power and steam and is expected to be competitive with petroleum fuels during the 1980s. During this period, the SRC-II fuel oil is expected to be attractive compared with combustion of coal with flue gas desulfurization in U.S. East Coast oil-burning power plants, as well as in small and medium-sized industrial boilers. The substantial quantities of methane, light hydrocarbons and naphtha produced by the process have value as feedstocks for preparation of pipeline gas, ethylene and high-octane unleaded gasoline, and can replace petroleum fractions in many applications. The liquid and gas products from a future large-scale plant, such as the 6000 t/day plant planned for Morgantown, West Virginia, are expected to have an overall selling price of $4.25 to $4.75/GJ.

Design Ideas, Reflection, and Professional Identity: How Graduate Students Explore the Idea Generation Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutchinson, Alisa; Tracey, Monica W.

2015-01-01

Within design thinking, designers are responsible for generating, testing, and refining design ideas as a means to refine the design problem and arrive at an effective solution. Thus, understanding one's individual idea generation experiences and processes can be seen as a component of professional identity for designers, which involves the…

Initial Assessment of U.S. Refineries for Purposes of Potential Bio-Based Oil Insertions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Freeman, Charles J.; Jones, Susanne B.; Padmaperuma, Asanga B.

2013-04-01

In order to meet U.S. biofuel objectives over the coming decade the conversion of a broad range of biomass feedstocks, using diverse processing options, will be required. Further, the production of both gasoline and diesel biofuels will employ biomass conversion methods that produce wide boiling range intermediate oils requiring treatment similar to conventional refining processes (i.e. fluid catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, and hydrotreating). As such, it is widely recognized that leveraging existing U.S. petroleum refining infrastructure is key to reducing overall capital demands. This study examines how existing U.S. refining location, capacities and conversion capabilities match in geography and processing capabilitiesmore » with the needs projected from anticipated biofuels production.« less

New portable pipe wall thickness measuring technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascente, Joseph E.

1998-03-01

One of the biggest inspection challenges facing many of the process industries; namely the petrochemical, refining, fossil power, and pulp and paper industries is: How to effectively examine their insulated piping? While there are a number of failure mechanisms involved in various process piping systems, piping degradation through corrosion and erosion are by far the most prevalent. This degradation can be in the form of external corrosion under insulation, internal corrosion through a variety of mechanisms, and internal erosion caused by the flow of the product through the pipe. Refineries, chemical plants and electrical power plants have MANY thousands of miles of pipe that are insulated to prevent heat loss or heat absorption. This insulation is often made up of several materials, with calcium based material being the most dense. The insulating material is usually wrapped with an aluminum or stainless steel outer wrap. Verification of wall thickness of these pipes can be accomplished by removing the insulation and doing an ultrasound inspection or by taking x- rays at a tangent to the edge of the pipe through the insulation. Both of these processes are slow and expensive. The time required to obtain data is measured in hours per meter. The ultrasound method requires that the insulation be plugged after the inspection. The surface needs to be cleaned or the resulting data will not be accurate. The tangent x-ray only shows two thicknesses and requires that the area be roped off because of radiation safety.

Processing liquid organic wastes at the NNL Preston laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coppersthwaite, Duncan; Greenwood, Howard; Docrat, Tahera

2013-07-01

Organic compounds of various kinds have been used in the nuclear industry for numerous duties in uranium chemical, metal and ceramic processing plants. In the course of the various operations undertaken, these organic compounds have become contaminated with uranic material, either accidentally or as an inevitable part of the process. Typically, the chemical/physical form and/or concentration of the uranic content of the organics has prevented disposal. In order to address the issue of contaminated liquid organic wastes, the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) has developed a suite of treatments designed to recover uranium and to render the waste suitable for disposal.more » The developed processes are operated at industrial scale via the NNL Preston Laboratory Residue Processing Plant. The Oil Waste Leaching (OWL) Process is a fully industrialised process used for the treatment of contaminated oils with approximately 200 tonnes of uranium contaminated oil being treated to date. The process was originally developed for the treatment of contaminated tributyl phosphate and odourless kerosene which had been adsorbed onto sawdust. However, over the years, the OWL process has been refined for a range of oils including 'water emulsifiable' cutting oils, lubricating oils, hydraulic oils/fluids and 'Fomblin' (fully fluorinated) oils. Chemically, the OWL process has proved capable of treating solvents as well as oils but the highly volatile/flammable nature of many solvents has required additional precautions compared with those required for oil treatment. These additional precautions led to the development of the Solvent Treatment Advanced Rig (STAR), an installation operated under an inert atmosphere. STAR is a small 'module' (100 dm{sup 3} volume) which allows the treatment of both water miscible and immiscible solvents. This paper discusses the challenges associated with the treatment of liquid organic wastes and the process developments which have allowed a wide range of materials to be successfully treated. (authors)« less

Simulation of process identification and controller tuning for flow control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chew, I. M.; Wong, F.; Bono, A.; Wong, K. I.

2017-06-01

PID controller is undeniably the most popular method used in controlling various industrial processes. The feature to tune the three elements in PID has allowed the controller to deal with specific needs of the industrial processes. This paper discusses the three elements of control actions and improving robustness of controllers through combination of these control actions in various forms. A plant model is simulated using the Process Control Simulator in order to evaluate the controller performance. At first, the open loop response of the plant is studied by applying a step input to the plant and collecting the output data from the plant. Then, FOPDT of physical model is formed by using both Matlab-Simulink and PRC method. Then, calculation of controller’s setting is performed to find the values of Kc and τi that will give satisfactory control in closed loop system. Then, the performance analysis of closed loop system is obtained by set point tracking analysis and disturbance rejection performance. To optimize the overall physical system performance, a refined tuning of PID or detuning is further conducted to ensure a consistent resultant output of closed loop system reaction to the set point changes and disturbances to the physical model. As a result, the PB = 100 (%) and τi = 2.0 (s) is preferably chosen for setpoint tracking while PB = 100 (%) and τi = 2.5 (s) is selected for rejecting the imposed disturbance to the model. In a nutshell, selecting correlation tuning values is likewise depended on the required control’s objective for the stability performance of overall physical model.

Hidden values in bauxite residue (red mud): Recovery of metals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Yanju; Naidu, Ravi, E-mail: ravi.naidu@unisa.edu.au

Highlights: • Current iron recovery techniques using red mud are depicted. • Advantages and disadvantages exist in different recovering processes. • Economic and environmental friendly integrated usage of red mud is promising. - Abstract: Bauxite residue (red mud) is a hazardous waste generated from alumina refining industries. Unless managed properly, red mud poses significant risks to the local environment due to its extreme alkalinity and its potential impacts on surface and ground water quality. The ever-increasing generation of red mud poses significant challenges to the aluminium industries from management perspectives given the low proportion that are currently being utilized beneficially.more » Red mud, in most cases, contains elevated concentrations of iron in addition to aluminium, titanium, sodium and valuable rare earth elements. Given the scarcity of iron supply globally, the iron content of red mud has attracted increasing research interest. This paper presents a critical overview of the current techniques employed for iron recovery from red mud. Information on the recovery of other valuable metals is also reviewed to provide an insight into the full potential usage of red mud as an economic resource rather than a waste. Traditional hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy are being investigated continuously. However, in this review several new techniques are introduced that consider the process of iron recovery from red mud. An integrated process which can achieve multiple additional values from red mud is much preferred over the single process methods. The information provided here should help to improve the future management and utilization of red mud.« less

i3Drefine Software for Protein 3D Structure Refinement and Its Assessment in CASP10

PubMed Central

Bhattacharya, Debswapna; Cheng, Jianlin

2013-01-01

Protein structure refinement refers to the process of improving the qualities of protein structures during structure modeling processes to bring them closer to their native states. Structure refinement has been drawing increasing attention in the community-wide Critical Assessment of techniques for Protein Structure prediction (CASP) experiments since its addition in 8th CASP experiment. During the 9th and recently concluded 10th CASP experiments, a consistent growth in number of refinement targets and participating groups has been witnessed. Yet, protein structure refinement still remains a largely unsolved problem with majority of participating groups in CASP refinement category failed to consistently improve the quality of structures issued for refinement. In order to alleviate this need, we developed a completely automated and computationally efficient protein 3D structure refinement method, i3Drefine, based on an iterative and highly convergent energy minimization algorithm with a powerful all-atom composite physics and knowledge-based force fields and hydrogen bonding (HB) network optimization technique. In the recent community-wide blind experiment, CASP10, i3Drefine (as ‘MULTICOM-CONSTRUCT’) was ranked as the best method in the server section as per the official assessment of CASP10 experiment. Here we provide the community with free access to i3Drefine software and systematically analyse the performance of i3Drefine in strict blind mode on the refinement targets issued in CASP10 refinement category and compare with other state-of-the-art refinement methods participating in CASP10. Our analysis demonstrates that i3Drefine is only fully-automated server participating in CASP10 exhibiting consistent improvement over the initial structures in both global and local structural quality metrics. Executable version of i3Drefine is freely available at http://protein.rnet.missouri.edu/i3drefine/. PMID:23894517

Identification of unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs) of hydrocarbons in commercial fish oil supplements.

PubMed

Reid, Anna-Jean M; Budge, Suzanne M

2015-01-01

Heightened awareness of the health benefits of fish oil consumption has led to a great increase in the number of fish oil supplements available to the consumer. Therefore manufacturers are continually looking for ways to distinguish their products from those of competitors. Minimally refined or virgin fish oils provide a unique feature; however, petroleum hydrocarbon contamination from oil spills is a reality in the world's oceans. The question arises whether oil produced from fish species caught in these polluted areas is free of petroleum hydrocarbons, with particular interest in unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs). This study investigates the presence of UCMs in commercially available fish oil supplements advertised as being virgin, as well as refined. Weathered petroleum hydrocarbons in the form of a UCM were found at 523 µg g(-1) in a virgin Alaskan salmon oil supplement. Supplements that were refined were free of this contamination. Fish used in the production of fish oil supplements appear to have accumulated petrogenic hydrocarbons in their tissues which were not removed by minimal oil refining. Further study is required to determine if there are any health implications associated with long-term consumption of these contaminated supplements. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

An Environmentally Friendly Process Involving Refining and Membrane-Based Electrolysis for Magnesium Recovery from Partially Oxidized Scrap Alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Xiaofei; Pal, Uday B.; Powell, Adam C.

2013-10-01

Magnesium is recovered from partially oxidized scrap alloy by combining refining and solid oxide membrane (SOM) electrolysis. In this combined process, a molten salt eutectic flux (45 wt.% MgF2-55 wt.% CaF2) containing 10 wt.% MgO and 2 wt.% YF3 was used as the medium for magnesium recovery. During refining, magnesium and its oxide are dissolved from the scrap into the molten flux. Forming gas is bubbled through the flux and the dissolved magnesium is removed via the gas phase and condensed in a separate condenser at a lower temperature. The molten flux has a finite solubility for magnesium and acts as a selective medium for magnesium dissolution, but not aluminum or iron, and therefore the magnesium recovered has high purity. After refining, SOM electrolysis is performed in the same reactor to enable electrolysis of the dissolved magnesium oxide in the molten flux producing magnesium at the cathode and oxygen at the SOM anode. During SOM electrolysis, it is necessary to decrease the concentration of the dissolved magnesium in the flux to improve the faradaic current efficiency and prevent degradation of the SOM. Thus, for both refining and SOM electrolysis, it is very important to measure and control the magnesium solubility in the molten flux. High magnesium solubility facilitates refining whereas lower solubility benefits the SOM electrolysis process. Computational fluid dynamics modeling was employed to simulate the flow behavior of the flux stirred by the forming gas. Based on the modeling results, an optimized design of the stirring tubes and its placement in the flux are determined for efficiently removing the dissolved magnesium and also increasing the efficiency of the SOM electrolysis process.

Continuous steel production and apparatus

DOEpatents

Peaslee, Kent D [Rolla, MO; Peter, Jorg J [McMinnville, OR; Robertson, David G. C. [Rolla, MO; Thomas, Brian G [Champaign, IL; Zhang, Lifeng [Trondheim, NO

2009-11-17

A process for continuous refining of steel via multiple distinct reaction vessels for melting, oxidation, reduction, and refining for delivery of steel continuously to, for example, a tundish of a continuous caster system, and associated apparatus.

A simple approach for a spatial terrestrial exposure assessment of the insecticide fenoxycarb, based on a high-resolution landscape analysis.

PubMed

Thomas, Kai; Resseler, Herbert; Spatz, Robert; Hendley, Paul; Sweeney, Paul; Urban, Martin; Kubiak, Roland

2016-11-01

The objective was to refine the standard regulatory exposure scenario used in plant protection product authorisations by developing a more realistic landscape-related GIS-based exposure assessment for terrestrial non-target arthropods. We quantified the proportion of adjacent off-target area in agricultural landscapes potentially exposed to insecticide drift from applications of the active substance fenoxycarb. High-resolution imagery, landscape classification and subsequent stepwise analysis of a whole landscape using drift and interception functions were applied to selected areas in representative fruit-producing regions in Germany. Even under worst-case assumptions regarding treated area, use rate and drift, less than 12% of the non-agricultural habitat area would potentially be exposed to fenoxycarb drift above regulatory acceptable concentrations. Additionally, if the filtering effect of tall vegetation were taken into account, this number would decrease to 6.6%. Further refinements to landscape elements and application conditions indicate that less than 5% of the habitat area might be exposed above regulatory acceptable concentrations, meaning that 95% of the non-agricultural habitat area will be unimpacted (i.e. no unacceptable effects) and can serve as refuge for recolonisation. Approaches and tools are proposed for standardisable and transparent refinements in regulatory risk assessments on the landscape level. © 2016 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Bauxite mining and alumina refining: process description and occupational health risks.

PubMed

Donoghue, A Michael; Frisch, Neale; Olney, David

2014-05-01

To describe bauxite mining and alumina refining processes and to outline the relevant physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial health risks. Review article. The most important risks relate to noise, ergonomics, trauma, and caustic soda splashes of the skin/eyes. Other risks of note relate to fatigue, heat, and solar ultraviolet and for some operations tropical diseases, venomous/dangerous animals, and remote locations. Exposures to bauxite dust, alumina dust, and caustic mist in contemporary best-practice bauxite mining and alumina refining operations have not been demonstrated to be associated with clinically significant decrements in lung function. Exposures to bauxite dust and alumina dust at such operations are also not associated with the incidence of cancer. A range of occupational health risks in bauxite mining and alumina refining require the maintenance of effective control measures.

Work-Based Learning: A Resource Guide for Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson River Center for Program Development, Glenmont, NY.

This document is intended to provide New York schools, business/industry representatives, and others with resources to develop or further refine work-based learning (WBL) strategies or components. Section 1 presents background information on the following topics: (1) the scope of WBL; (2) foundations for the development of WBL; (3) categories of…

26 CFR 1.993-3 - Definition of export property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Application of 50 percent test. The 50 percent test described in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph is applied... uranium concentrates (known in the industry as “yellow cake”), and nuclear fuel materials derived from the refining of uranium ore and uranium concentrates, or produced in a nuclear reaction, including— (a) Uranium...

26 CFR 1.993-3 - Definition of export property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) Application of 50 percent test. The 50 percent test described in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph is applied... uranium concentrates (known in the industry as “yellow cake”), and nuclear fuel materials derived from the refining of uranium ore and uranium concentrates, or produced in a nuclear reaction, including— (a) Uranium...

A Holistic Approach to Develop IS Curricula: Focusing on Accreditation and IT Certification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Rawi, Akram; Lansari, Azzedine; Bouslama, Faouzi

2005-01-01

Academic institutions worldwide are constantly trying to refine or even reinvent their Information Systems (IS) curricula to address the needs of industry and government. As many IS curricula emerge, a number of them do not satisfy well recognized standards and even lack critical components. Furthermore, a highly competitive Information Technology…

The Plight of the Millennials: Pedagogy as Marketing, Marketing as Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Ralph V.; Meaghan, Diane E.; Doughty, Howard A.

2009-01-01

Anyone who already regards college education as a business should have no trouble with corollary notion that marketing is essential to success. In the information and service industries including education, marketing depends more upon image than it does in resource extraction, refining and manufacturing. In this article, the authors focus on Diana…

The End of Flat Earth Economics & the Transition to Renewable Resource Societies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Hazel

1978-01-01

A post-industrial revolution is predicted for the future with an accompanying shift of focus from simple, brute force technolgies, based on cheap, accessible resources and energy, to a second generation of more subtle, refined technologies grounded in a much deeper understanding of biological and ecological realities. (Author/BB)

Field Operations and Enforcement Manual for Air Pollution Control. Volume III: Inspection Procedures for Specific Industries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weisburd, Melvin I.

The Field Operations and Enforcement Manual for Air Pollution Control, Volume III, explains in detail the following: inspection procedures for specific sources, kraft pulp mills, animal rendering, steel mill furnaces, coking operations, petroleum refineries, chemical plants, non-ferrous smelting and refining, foundries, cement plants, aluminum…

Maritime industry : as U.S. single-hull oil vessels are eliminated, few double-hull vessels may replace them

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-04-01

Ships and barges are a major link in the country's oil transportation network, both for transporting crude oil to U.S. refineries and for transporting refined oil products to market. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 made extensive changes designed to ma...

76 FR 22817 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; South Carolina; Update to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-25

... Manufacturing'' 5. ``Section VI--Hot Mix Asphalt Manufacturing'' 6. ``Section VII--Metal Refining;'' [[Page... Industries 1. ``Section III--Kraft Pulp and Paper Manufacturing Plants'' 2. ``Section VI--Hot Mix Asphalt... Manufacturing'' 3. ``Section XI--Total Reduced Sulfur Emissions of Kraft Pulp Mills;'' viii. Regulation 62.5...

A local experience is often a global experience, forum attendees hear

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1992-06-01

This paper reports that in the first session on supply/demand Roman Samsonov of NPO Soyuzgastechnologiya gave delegates an insight into developing the Soviet gas industry, providing a look at the structure of the industry and consumption patterns. Residential and petrochemical customers are the basic consumers. As of last Jan. 1, 34.6 million apartments used LPG, with at least 150 million people using the fuel for cooling alone. Consumption has greatly increased since the 1970s. In 1970, 4.9 million tonnes of LPG were consumed and by 1980, 8.81 million tonnes. However, the production of LPG in 1990 had reached only 10.5more » million tonnes, about 70% of its domestic needs. Samsonov noted that complete satisfaction of the domestic market can be reached only at the expense of solving the problem of transportation and investing in repairing and keeping facilities going at the Gorky oil refining plant and the Gnedintsovo and Minnibayev oil refining plants. These actions would allow LPG production to increase by more than 10% from the present day production.« less

Development of the University of Washington Biofuels and Biobased Chemicals Process Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gustafson, Richard

2014-02-04

The funding from this research grant enabled us to design and build a bioconversion steam explosion reactor and ancillary equipment such as a high pressure boiler and a fermenter to support the bioconversion process research. This equipment has been in constant use since its installation in 2012. Following are research projects that it has supported: • Investigation of novel chip production method in biofuels production • Investigation of biomass refining following steam explosion • Several studies on use of different biomass feedstocks • Investigation of biomass moisture content on pretreatment efficacy. • Development of novel instruments for biorefinery process controlmore » Having this equipment was also instrumental in the University of Washington receiving a $40 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture for biofuels development as well as several other smaller grants. The research that is being done with the equipment from this grant will facilitate the establishment of a biofuels industry in the Pacific Northwest and enable the University of Washington to launch a substantial biofuels and bio-based product research program.« less

Refining of metallurgical-grade silicon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dietl, J.

1986-01-01

A basic requirement of large scale solar cell fabrication is to provide low cost base material. Unconventional refining of metallurical grade silicon represents one of the most promising ways of silicon meltstock processing. The refining concept is based on an optimized combination of metallurgical treatments. Commercially available crude silicon, in this sequence, requires a first pyrometallurgical step by slagging, or, alternatively, solvent extraction by aluminum. After grinding and leaching, high purity qualtiy is gained as an advanced stage of refinement. To reach solar grade quality a final pyrometallurgical step is needed: liquid-gas extraction.

Microstructural characteristics of adiabatic shear localization in a metastable beta titanium alloy deformed at high strain rate and elevated temperatures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhan, Hongyi, E-mail: h.zhan@uq.edu.au; Zeng, Weidong; Wang, Gui

2015-04-15

The microstructural evolution and grain refinement within adiabatic shear bands in the Ti6554 alloy deformed at high strain rates and elevated temperatures have been characterized using transmission electron microscopy. No stress drops were observed in the corresponding stress–strain curve, indicating that the initiation of adiabatic shear bands does not lead to the loss of load capacity for the Ti6554 alloy. The outer region of the shear bands mainly consists of cell structures bounded by dislocation clusters. Equiaxed subgrains in the core area of the shear band can be evolved from the subdivision of cell structures or reconstruction and transverse segmentationmore » of dislocation clusters. It is proposed that dislocation activity dominates the grain refinement process. The rotational recrystallization mechanism may operate as the kinetic requirements for it are fulfilled. The coexistence of different substructures across the shear bands implies that the microstructural evolution inside the shear bands is not homogeneous and different grain refinement mechanisms may operate simultaneously to refine the structure. - Graphical abstract: Display Omitted - Highlights: • The microstructure within the adiabatic shear band was characterized by TEM. • No stress drops were observed in the corresponding stress–strain curve. • Dislocation activity dominated the grain refinement process. • The kinetic requirements for rotational recrystallization mechanism were fulfilled. • Different grain refinement mechanisms operated simultaneously to refine the structure.« less

Separation of Cs and Sr from LiCl-KCl eutectic salt via a zone-refining process for pyroprocessing waste salt minimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shim, Moonsoo; Choi, Ho-Gil; Choi, Jeong-Hun; Yi, Kyung-Woo; Lee, Jong-Hyeon

2017-08-01

The purification of a LiCl-KCl salt mixture was carried out by a zone-refining process. To improve the throughput of zone refining, three heaters were installed in the zone refiner. The zone-refining method was used to grow pure LiCl-KCl salt ingots from a LiCl-KCl-CsCl-SrCl2 salt mixture. The main investigated parameters were the heater speed and the number of passes. From each zone-refined salt ingot, samples were collected axially along the salt ingot and the concentrations of Sr and Cs were determined. Experimental results show that the Sr and Cs concentrations at the initial region of the ingot were low and increased to a maximum at the final freezing region of the salt ingot. Concentration results of the zone-refined salt were compared with theoretical results furnished by the proposed model to validate its predictions. The keff values for Sr and Cs were 0.55 and 0.47, respectively. The correlation between the salt composition and separation behavior was also investigated. The keff values of the Sr in LiCl-KCl-SrCl2 and the Cs in LiCl-KCl-CsCl were found to be 0.53 and 0.44, respectively, by fitting the experimental data into the proposed model.

Impacts of Modification of Alloying Method on Inclusion Evolution in RH Refining of Silicon Steel.

PubMed

Li, Fangjie; Li, Huigai; Zheng, Shaobo; You, Jinglin; Han, Ke; Zhai, Qijie

2017-10-19

This study explores the effect of introducing additional alloy elements not only in a different order but also at different stages of the Ruhrstahl-Heraeus (RH) process of low-carbon silicon steel production. A more economical method, described as "pre-alloying", has been introduced. The evolution of MnO-FeO inclusions produced by pre-alloying was investigated. Results show that spherical 3FeO·MnO inclusions form first, then shelled FeO·zMnO (z = 0.7-4) inclusions nucleate on the surface of pre-existing 3FeO·MnO. Spherical FeO·zMnO (z = 3-5) is further evolved from shelled 3FeO·MnO by diffusion. Because these MnO-FeO inclusions float up into the slag before degassing, the pre-alloying process does not affect the quality of the melt in the end. Both carbon content and inclusion size conform to industry standards.

Data mining: childhood injury control and beyond.

PubMed

Tepas, Joseph J

2009-08-01

Data mining is defined as the automatic extraction of useful, often previously unknown information from large databases or data sets. It has become a major part of modern life and is extensively used in industry, banking, government, and health care delivery. The process requires a data collection system that integrates input from multiple sources containing critical elements that define outcomes of interest. Appropriately designed data mining processes identify and adjust for confounding variables. The statistical modeling used to manipulate accumulated data may involve any number of techniques. As predicted results are periodically analyzed against those observed, the model is consistently refined to optimize precision and accuracy. Whether applying integrated sources of clinical data to inferential probabilistic prediction of risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia or population surveillance for signs of bioterrorism, it is essential that modern health care providers have at least a rudimentary understanding of what the concept means, how it basically works, and what it means to current and future health care.

Impacts of Modification of Alloying Method on Inclusion Evolution in RH Refining of Silicon Steel

PubMed Central

Li, Huigai; Zheng, Shaobo; You, Jinglin; Han, Ke; Zhai, Qijie

2017-01-01

This study explores the effect of introducing additional alloy elements not only in a different order but also at different stages of the Ruhrstahl-Heraeus (RH) process of low-carbon silicon steel production. A more economical method, described as “pre-alloying”, has been introduced. The evolution of MnO-FeO inclusions produced by pre-alloying was investigated. Results show that spherical 3FeO·MnO inclusions form first, then shelled FeO·zMnO (z = 0.7–4) inclusions nucleate on the surface of pre-existing 3FeO·MnO. Spherical FeO·zMnO (z = 3–5) is further evolved from shelled 3FeO·MnO by diffusion. Because these MnO-FeO inclusions float up into the slag before degassing, the pre-alloying process does not affect the quality of the melt in the end. Both carbon content and inclusion size conform to industry standards. PMID:29048379

ICH guidelines--implementation of the 3Rs (refinement, reduction, and replacement): incorporating best scientific practices into the regulatory process.

PubMed

Ohno, Yasuo

2002-01-01

An overview of the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) is described. ICH was established through cooperation of the regulatory agencies and industrial parties of three main regions involved in pharmaceuticals: the European Union, the United States, and Japan. The purpose of the ICH is to make recommendations to achieve greater harmonization regarding interpretation and application of technical guidelines and requirements for product registration in an effort to reduce or obviate the need to duplicate the testing carried out during the research and development of new medicines. The main purpose of ICH was not to foster the 3Rs per se; however, harmonization of guidelines has eliminated duplications of similar tests to satisfy the specific requirements of each region. The ICH process has contributed to mutual understanding of the regulatory requirements and has decreased the number of unnecessary animal experiments. Specific examples of the contributions of ICH harmonization to the 3Rs are described.

Initiating technical refinements in high-level golfers: Evidence for contradictory procedures.

PubMed

Carson, Howie J; Collins, Dave; Richards, Jim

2016-01-01

When developing motor skills there are several outcomes available to an athlete depending on their skill status and needs. Whereas the skill acquisition and performance literature is abundant, an under-researched outcome relates to the refinement of already acquired and well-established skills. Contrary to current recommendations for athletes to employ an external focus of attention and a representative practice design,  Carson and  Collins' (2011) [Refining and regaining skills in fixation/diversification stage performers: The Five-A Model. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4, 146-167. doi: 10.1080/1750984x.2011.613682 ] Five-A Model requires an initial narrowed internal focus on the technical aspect needing refinement: the implication being that environments which limit external sources of information would be beneficial to achieving this task. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to (1) provide a literature-based explanation for why techniques counter to current recommendations may be (temporarily) appropriate within the skill refinement process and (2) provide empirical evidence for such efficacy. Kinematic data and self-perception reports are provided from high-level golfers attempting to consciously initiate technical refinements while executing shots onto a driving range and into a close proximity net (i.e. with limited knowledge of results). It was hypothesised that greater control over intended refinements would occur when environmental stimuli were reduced in the most unrepresentative practice condition (i.e. hitting into a net). Results confirmed this, as evidenced by reduced intra-individual movement variability for all participants' individual refinements, despite little or no difference in mental effort reported. This research offers coaches guidance when working with performers who may find conscious recall difficult during the skill refinement process.

Air impacts from three alternatives for producing JP-8 jet fuel.

PubMed

Kositkanawuth, Ketwalee; Gangupomu, Roja Haritha; Sattler, Melanie L; Dennis, Brian H; MacDonnell, Frederick M; Billo, Richard; Priest, John W

2012-10-01

To increase U.S. petroleum energy independence, the University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington) has developed a direct coal liquefaction process which uses a hydrogenated solvent and a proprietary catalyst to convert lignite coal to crude oil. This sweet crude can be refined to form JP-8 military jet fuel, as well as other end products like gasoline and diesel. This paper presents an analysis of air pollutants resulting from using UT Arlington's liquefaction process to produce crude and then JP-8, compared with 2 alternative processes: conventional crude extraction and refining (CCER), and the Fischer-Tropsch process. For each of the 3 processes, air pollutant emissions through production of JP-8 fuel were considered, including emissions from upstream extraction/ production, transportation, and conversion/refining. Air pollutants from the direct liquefaction process were measured using a LandTEC GEM2000 Plus, Draeger color detector tubes, OhioLumex RA-915 Light Hg Analyzer, and SRI 8610 gas chromatograph with thermal conductivity detector. According to the screening analysis presented here, producing jet fuel from UT Arlington crude results in lower levels of pollutants compared to international conventional crude extraction/refining. Compared to US domestic CCER, the UTA process emits lower levels of CO2-e, NO(x), and Hg, and higher levels of CO and SO2. Emissions from the UT Arlington process for producing JP-8 are estimated to be lower than for the Fischer-Tropsch process for all pollutants, with the exception of CO2-e, which were high for the UT Arlington process due to nitrous oxide emissions from crude refining. When comparing emissions from conventional lignite combustion to produce electricity, versus UT Arlington coal liquefaction to make JP-8 and subsequent JP-8 transport, emissions from the UT Arlington process are estimated to be lower for all air pollutants, per MJ of power delivered to the end user. The United States currently imports two-thirds of its crude oil, leaving its transportation system especially vulnerable to disruptions in international crude supplies. At current use rates, U.S. coal reserves (262 billion short tons, including 23 billion short tons lignite) would last 236 years. Accordingly, the University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington) has developed a process that converts lignite to crude oil, at about half the cost of regular crude. According to the screening analysis presented here, producing jet fuel from UT Arlington crude generates lower levels of pollutants compared to international conventional crude extraction/refining (CCER).

ADAPTIVE TETRAHEDRAL GRID REFINEMENT AND COARSENING IN MESSAGE-PASSING ENVIRONMENTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hallberg, J.; Stagg, A.

2000-10-01

A grid refinement and coarsening scheme has been developed for tetrahedral and triangular grid-based calculations in message-passing environments. The element adaption scheme is based on an edge bisection of elements marked for refinement by an appropriate error indicator. Hash-table/linked-list data structures are used to store nodal and element formation. The grid along inter-processor boundaries is refined and coarsened consistently with the update of these data structures via MPI calls. The parallel adaption scheme has been applied to the solution of a transient, three-dimensional, nonlinear, groundwater flow problem. Timings indicate efficiency of the grid refinement process relative to the flow solvermore » calculations.« less

Effects of Processing and Powder Size on Microstructure and Reactivity in Arrested Reactive Milled Al + Ni

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-01

reactive milled (RM) experiments forming nickel aluminides [3,4,6,8–10,12,15,16,18,19], titanium - based alloys [5] and combustion reactions in metal...highly heterogeneous and is refined during processing until reaction occurs. The refinement process consists of the cold welding of powder grains within... welding at the surface of deforming particles, which pro-Table 2 Sample preparation measurements corresponding to the designed exper- iments presented

Using supercritical fluids to refine hydrocarbons

DOEpatents

Yarbro, Stephen Lee

2014-11-25

This is a method to reactively refine hydrocarbons, such as heavy oils with API gravities of less than 20.degree. and bitumen-like hydrocarbons with viscosities greater than 1000 cp at standard temperature and pressure using a selected fluid at supercritical conditions. The reaction portion of the method delivers lighter weight, more volatile hydrocarbons to an attached contacting device that operates in mixed subcritical or supercritical modes. This separates the reaction products into portions that are viable for use or sale without further conventional refining and hydro-processing techniques. This method produces valuable products with fewer processing steps, lower costs, increased worker safety due to less processing and handling, allow greater opportunity for new oil field development and subsequent positive economic impact, reduce related carbon dioxide, and wastes typical with conventional refineries.

>From the benefits of micro to the threats of nano for the ore-mining and ore-refining sectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Loon, A. J.

2002-07-01

Nanotechnology is developing fast, with much impact on a wide variety of industries. It is likely that current and future developments will result in the possibility to economically manipulate materials on a nanoscale. This will bring advantages on the one hand, as a further step forward after the development of technologies on a microscale, but it may also result in developments that make several now economically important activities largely, if not entirely, superfluous. The present-day progress in the field of recycling waste, in combination with developments that may make energy available in sufficient quantities at an acceptable price level, might result in technologies that isolate valuable compounds from waste at a nanoscale, thus, taking over the role of the mining industry as a provider of raw materials. It is suggested that the mining industry becomes strongly involved in nanoscale research, in order to combine their knowledge of ore properties and extraction methods with the knowledge of nanotechnological engineers about how to manipulate individual compounds. This may provide a chance for the present-day ore-mining and ore-refining companies to survive in a world that would otherwise probably not manage to supply sufficient raw materials for the Earth's growing population, which also will strive for a rise in the average standard of living.

Developing evidence that is fit for purpose: a framework for payer and research dialogue.

PubMed

Sabharwal, Rajeev K; Graff, Jennifer S; Holve, Erin; Dubois, Robert W

2015-09-01

Matching the supply and demand of evidence requires an understanding of when more evidence is needed, as well as the type of evidence that will meet this need. This article describes efforts to develop and refine a decision-making framework that considers payers' perspectives on the utility of evidence generated by different types of research methods, including real-world evidence. Conceptual framework development with subsequent testing during a roundtable dialogue. The framework development process included a literature scan to identify existing frameworks and relevant articles on payer decision making. The framework was refined during a stand-alone roundtable in December 2013 hosted by the research team, which included representatives from public and private payers, pharmacy benefit management, the life sciences industry, and researchers. The roundtable discussion also included an application of the framework to 3 case studies. Application of the framework to the clinical scenarios and the resulting discussion provided key insights into when new evidence is needed to inform payer decision making and what questions should be addressed. Payers are not necessarily seeking more evidence about treatment efficacy; rather, they are seeking more evidence for relevant end points that illustrate the differences between treatment alternatives that can justify the resources required to change practice. In addition, payers are interested in obtaining new evidence that goes beyond efficacy, with an emphasis on effectiveness, longer-term safety, and delivery system impact. We believe that our decision-making framework is a useful tool to increase dialogue between evidence generators and payers, while also allowing for greater efficiency in the research process.

Advanced Turbine Technology Applications Project (ATTAP)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

This report is the fourth in a series of Annual Technical Summary Reports for the Advanced Turbine Technology Applications Project (ATTAP). This report covers plans and progress on ceramics development for commercial automotive applications over the period 1 Jan. - 31 Dec. 1991. Project effort conducted under this contract is part of the DOE Gas Turbine Highway Vehicle System program. This program is directed to provide the U.S. automotive industry the high-risk, long-range technology necessary to produce gas turbine engines for automobiles with reduced fuel consumption, reduced environmental impact, and a decreased reliance on scarce materials and resources. The program is oriented toward developing the high-risk technology of ceramic structural component design and fabrication, such that industry can carry this technology forward to production in the 1990s. The ATTAP test bed engine, carried over from the previous AGT101 project, is being used for verification testing of the durability of next-generation ceramic components, and their suitability for service at Reference Powertrain Design conditions. This document reports the technical effort conducted by GAPD and the ATTAP subcontractors during the fourth year of the project. Topics covered include ceramic processing definition and refinement, design improvements to the ATTAP test bed engine and test rigs and the methodology development of ceramic impact and fracture mechanisms. Appendices include reports by ATTAP subcontractors in the development of silicon nitride and silicon carbide families of materials and processes.

[Efficiency evaluation of capsaicinoids to discriminate bio-waste oils from edible vegetable oils].

PubMed

Mao, Lisha; Liu, Honghe; Kang, Li; Jiang, Jie; Liao, Shicheng; Liu, Guihua; Deng, Pingjian

2014-07-01

To evaluate the efficiency of capsaicinoids to discriminate bio-waste oil from edible vegetable oil. 14 raw vegetable oils, 24 fried waste oils, 34 kitchen-waste oils, 32 edible non-peanut vegetable oil, 32 edible peanuts oil, 16 edible oil add flavorand and 11 refined bio-waste oils were prepared and examined for capsaicinoids including capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and nonylic acid vanillylamide. The detection results of the above samples were statistically tested based on sample category to assessment identify the effectiveness of the bio-waste oils with capsaicinoids. As a indicator, capsaincin was possessed of high detection sensitivity and has the highest efficiency to discern kitchen-waste oils and refined bio-waste oils samples from edible non-peanut vegetable oil correctly. The accuracy rate of identification were 100% and 90.1% respectively. There is the background in peanut oil. CONCLUSION Capsaicin added in cooking process can be retained in the refining process and hardly be removed in the refining process. In the case of fully eliminating the background interference, capsaicinoids can effectively identify bio-waste oils and edible vegetable oil in combination.

Kinetics of Sub-Micron Grain Size Refinement in 9310 Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozmel, Thomas; Chen, Edward Y.; Chen, Charlie C.; Tin, Sammy

2014-05-01

Recent efforts have focused on the development of novel manufacturing processes capable of producing microstructures dominated by sub-micron grains. For structural applications, grain refinement has been shown to enhance mechanical properties such as strength, fatigue resistance, and fracture toughness. Through control of the thermo-mechanical processing parameters, dynamic recrystallization mechanisms were used to produce microstructures consisting of sub-micron grains in 9310 steel. Starting with initial bainitic grain sizes of 40 to 50 μm, various levels of grain refinement were observed following hot deformation of 9310 steel samples at temperatures and strain rates ranging from 755 K to 922 K (482 °C and 649 °C) and 1 to 0.001/s, respectively. The resulting deformation microstructures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction techniques to quantify the extent of carbide coarsening and grain refinement occurring during deformation. Microstructural models based on the Zener-Holloman parameter were developed and modified to include the effect of the ferrite/carbide interactions within the system. These models were shown to effectively correlate microstructural attributes to the thermal mechanical processing parameters.

Chemical Processing of Non-Crop Plants for Jet Fuel Blends Production

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kulis, M. J.; Hepp, A. F.; McDowell, M.; Ribita, D.

2009-01-01

The use of Biofuels has been gaining in popularity over the past few years due to their ability to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. Biofuels as a renewable energy source can be a viable option for sustaining long-term energy needs if they are managed efficiently. We describe our initial efforts to exploit algae, halophytes and other non-crop plants to produce synthetics for fuel blends that can potentially be used as fuels for aviation and non-aerospace applications. Our efforts have been dedicated to crafting efficient extraction and refining processes in order to extract constituents from the plant materials with the ultimate goal of determining the feasibility of producing biomass-based jet fuel from the refined extract. Two extraction methods have been developed based on communition processes, and liquid-solid extraction techniques. Refining procedures such as chlorophyll removal and transesterification of triglycerides have been performed. Gas chromatography in tandem with mass spectroscopy is currently being utilized in order to qualitatively determine the individual components of the refined extract. We also briefly discuss and compare alternative methods to extract fuel-blending agents from alternative biofuels sources.

A Viable Scheme for Elemental Extraction and Purification Using In-Situ Planetary Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sen, S.; Schofield, E.; ODell, S.; Ray, C. S.

2005-01-01

NASA's new strategic direction includes establishing a self-sufficient, affordable and safe human and robotic presence outside the low earth orbit. Some of the items required for a self-sufficient extra-terrestrial habitat will include materials for power generation (e.g. Si for solar cells) and habitat construction (e.g. Al, Fe, and Ti). In this paper we will present a viable elemental extraction and refining process from in-situ regolith which would be optimally continuous, robotically automated, and require a minimum amount of astronaut supervision and containment facilities, The approach is based on using a concentrated heat source and translating sample geometry to enable simultaneous oxide reduction and elemental refining. Preliminary results will be presented to demonstrate that the proposed zone refining process is capable of segregating or refining important elements such as Si (for solar cell fabrication) and Fe (for habitat construction). A conceptual scheme will be presented whereby such a process could be supported by use of solar energy and a precursor robotic mission on the surface of the moon.

Biomechanical properties of wheat grains: the implications on milling.

PubMed

Hourston, James E; Ignatz, Michael; Reith, Martin; Leubner-Metzger, Gerhard; Steinbrecher, Tina

2017-01-01

Millennia of continuous innovation have driven ever increasing efficiency in the milling process. Mechanically characterizing wheat grains and discerning the structure and function of the wheat bran layers can contribute to continuing innovation. We present novel shear force and puncture force testing regimes to characterize different wheat grain cultivars. The forces endured by wheat grains during the milling process can be quantified, enabling us to measure the impact of commonly applied grain pretreatments, such as microwave heating, extended tempering, enzyme and hormone treatments on grains of different 'hardness'. Using these methods, we demonstrate the importance of short tempering phases prior to milling and identify ways in which our methods can detect differences in the maximum force, energy and breaking behaviours of hard and soft grain types. We also demonstrate for the first time, endosperm weakening in wheat, through hormone stratification on single bran layers. The modern milling process is highly refined, meaning that small, cultivar specific, adjustments can result in large increases in downstream profits. We believe that methods such as these, which enable rapid testing of milling pretreatments and material properties can help to drive an innovation process that has been core to our industrial efforts since prehistory. © 2017 The Authors.

Biomechanical properties of wheat grains: the implications on milling

PubMed Central

Reith, Martin

2017-01-01

Millennia of continuous innovation have driven ever increasing efficiency in the milling process. Mechanically characterizing wheat grains and discerning the structure and function of the wheat bran layers can contribute to continuing innovation. We present novel shear force and puncture force testing regimes to characterize different wheat grain cultivars. The forces endured by wheat grains during the milling process can be quantified, enabling us to measure the impact of commonly applied grain pretreatments, such as microwave heating, extended tempering, enzyme and hormone treatments on grains of different ‘hardness’. Using these methods, we demonstrate the importance of short tempering phases prior to milling and identify ways in which our methods can detect differences in the maximum force, energy and breaking behaviours of hard and soft grain types. We also demonstrate for the first time, endosperm weakening in wheat, through hormone stratification on single bran layers. The modern milling process is highly refined, meaning that small, cultivar specific, adjustments can result in large increases in downstream profits. We believe that methods such as these, which enable rapid testing of milling pretreatments and material properties can help to drive an innovation process that has been core to our industrial efforts since prehistory. PMID:28100826

Nitrogen Chemistry and Coke Transformation of FCC Coked Catalyst during the Regeneration Process

PubMed Central

Shi, Junjun; Guan, Jianyu; Guo, Dawei; Zhang, Jiushun; France, Liam John; Wang, Lefu; Li, Xuehui

2016-01-01

Regeneration of the coked catalyst is an important process of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) in petroleum refining, however, this process will emit environmentally harmful gases such as nitrogen and carbon oxides. Transformation of N and C containing compounds in industrial FCC coke under thermal decomposition was investigated via TPD and TPO to examine the evolved gaseous species and TGA, NMR and XPS to analyse the residual coke fraction. Two distinct regions of gas evolution are observed during TPD for the first time, and they arise from decomposition of aliphatic carbons and aromatic carbons. Three types of N species, pyrrolic N, pyridinic N and quaternary N are identified in the FCC coke, the former one is unstable and tends to be decomposed into pyridinic and quaternary N. Mechanisms of NO, CO and CO2 evolution during TPD are proposed and lattice oxygen is suggested to be an important oxygen resource. Regeneration process indicates that coke-C tends to preferentially oxidise compared with coke-N. Hence, new technology for promoting nitrogen-containing compounds conversion will benefit the in-situ reduction of NO by CO during FCC regeneration. PMID:27270486

Eco-Balance analysis of the disused lead-acid-batteries recycling technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamińska, Ewa; Kamiński, Tomasz

2017-10-01

The article presents the results of the eco-balance analysis of the disused lead-acid batteries recycling process. Test-dedicated technology offers the possibility to recover other elements, for example, polypropylene of the battery case or to obtain crystalline sodium sulphate. The life cycle assessment was made using ReCiPe and IMPACT2002 + methods. The results are shown as environmental points [Pt]. The results are shown in the environmental categories, specific for each of the methods grouped in the impact categories. 1 Mg of the processed srap was a dopted as the functional unit. The results of the analyses indicate that recycling processes may provide the environmental impact of recycling technology less harmful. Repeated use of lead causes that its original sources are not explored. Similarly, the use of granule production-dedicated polypropylene extracted from battery casings that are used in the plastics industry, has environmental benefits. Due to the widespread use of lead-acid batteries, the attention should be paid to their proper utilization, especially in terms of heavy metals, especially lead. According to the calculations, the highest level of environmental benefits from the use of lead from secondary sources in the production of new products, was observed in the refining process.

Separation of CsCl and SrCl2 from a ternary CsCl-SrCl2-LiCl via a zone refining process for waste salt minimization of pyroprocessing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shim, Moonsoo; Choi, Ho Gil; Yi, Kyung Woo; Hwang, Il Soon; Lee, Jong Hyeon

2016-11-01

The purification of LiCl salt mixture has traditionally been carried out by a melt crystallization process. To improve the throughput of zone refining, three heaters were installed in the zone refiner. The zone refining method was used to grow pure LiCl salt ingots from LiCl-CsCl-SrCl2 salt mixture. The main investigated parameters were the heater speed and the number of passes. A change in the LiCl crystal grain size was observed according to the horizontal direction. From each zone refined salt ingot, samples were collected horizontally. To analyze the concentrations of Sr and Cs, an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer were used, respectively. The experimental results show that Sr and Cs concentrations at the initial region of the ingot were low and reached their peak at the final freezing region of the salt ingot. Concentration results of zone refined salt were compared with theoretical results yielded by the proposed model to validate its predictions. The keff of Sr and Cs were 0.13 and 0.11, respectively. The decontamination factors of Sr and Cs were 450 and 1650, respectively.

A PFI mill can be used to predict biomechanical pulp strength properties

Treesearch

Gary F. Leatham; Gary C. Myers

1990-01-01

Recently, we showed that a biomechanical pulping process in which aspen chips are pretreated with a white-rot fungus can give energy savings and can increase paper sheet strength. To optimize this process, we need more efficient ways to evaluate the fungal treatments. Here, we examine a method that consists of treating coarse refiner mechanical pulp, refining in a PFI...

Process for electroslag refining of uranium and uranium alloys

DOEpatents

Lewis, P.S. Jr.; Agee, W.A.; Bullock, J.S. IV; Condon, J.B.

1975-07-22

A process is described for electroslag refining of uranium and uranium alloys wherein molten uranium and uranium alloys are melted in a molten layer of a fluoride slag containing up to about 8 weight percent calcium metal. The calcium metal reduces oxides in the uranium and uranium alloys to provide them with an oxygen content of less than 100 parts per million. (auth)

The Hydrometallurgical Extraction and Recovery of High-Purity Silver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmann, James E.

2012-06-01

With the continuous reduction in the availability of extractive metallurgical curricula in colleges and universities, the concern has in part been from where will the next generation of extractive metallurgists come? One objective of this article is to emphasize the fact that extractive metallurgy is, in fact, one of many areas of chemical engineering technology. Thus, although the extractive metallurgist may have disappeared in name, its activity is alive and well, subsumed in the field of chemical engineering. One goal of this lecture is to demonstrate the applicability of chemical engineering principles to what is typically considered "the field of extractive metallurgy." Two processes will be described that have supplanted typical pyrometallurgical fire refining of precious metals, particularly silver. The origins of fire refining can be traced back to biblical times. There are numerous references to it in the old testament: Ezekiel 22:20, "As men gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace to blow the fire upon it in order melt it"; Jeremiah 6:29, "The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on"; and Malachi 3:2 (The Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha), "For he is like a refiners fire." Many references to it will also be found in "De Re Metallurgica" and as well in Lazarus Ercker's 1574 Manual "Treatise on Ores and Refining." Today, fire refining has been improved greatly by innovative furnace design, new fluxing technologies, and the improved use of oxygen. However, fundamentally, the process chemistry has not changed much in the last millennium. Illustrations of hydrometallurgical processing of silver-bearing inputs will be provided by the treatment of sulfated silver-bearing materials and chlorinated slimes. The first of these technologies will be described briefly as practiced by the Phelps Dodge Refining Corporation for several years. The second, the treatment of silver chloride-bearing inputs, will be described in detail to demonstrate how typical chemical engineering unit process and unit operations have supplanted classic smelting and fire refining techniques. The Kennecott Copper Company, which has operated a hydrometallurgical circuit successfully for the recovery of high-purity silver from the slimes wet chlorination residue, has permitted me to provide some operation information and results using the technology. Both Phelps Dodge and Kennecott should be recognized for their forward-looking attitude in undertaking the conversion of conceptual chemistry into successful, full-scale plants. The process as employed at Phelps Dodge is discussed at length in reference (J.E. Hoffmann and B. Wesstrom: Hydrometallurgy, 1994, vol. 94, pp. 69-105).

Predicting the Future: Opportunities and Challenges for the Chemical Industry to Apply 21st-Century Toxicity Testing

PubMed Central

Settivari, Raja S; Ball, Nicholas; Murphy, Lynea; Rasoulpour, Reza; Boverhof, Darrell R; Carney, Edward W

2015-01-01

Interest in applying 21st-century toxicity testing tools for safety assessment of industrial chemicals is growing. Whereas conventional toxicology uses mainly animal-based, descriptive methods, a paradigm shift is emerging in which computational approaches, systems biology, high-throughput in vitro toxicity assays, and high-throughput exposure assessments are beginning to be applied to mechanism-based risk assessments in a time- and resource-efficient fashion. Here we describe recent advances in predictive safety assessment, with a focus on their strategic application to meet the changing demands of the chemical industry and its stakeholders. The opportunities to apply these new approaches is extensive and include screening of new chemicals, informing the design of safer and more sustainable chemical alternatives, filling information gaps on data-poor chemicals already in commerce, strengthening read-across methodology for categories of chemicals sharing similar modes of action, and optimizing the design of reduced-risk product formulations. Finally, we discuss how these predictive approaches dovetail with in vivo integrated testing strategies within repeated-dose regulatory toxicity studies, which are in line with 3Rs principles to refine, reduce, and replace animal testing. Strategic application of these tools is the foundation for informed and efficient safety assessment testing strategies that can be applied at all stages of the product-development process. PMID:25836969

Low Cost and Energy Efficient Methods for the Manufacture of Semi-Solid (SSM) Feedstock

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Diran Apelian; Qingyue Pan; Makhlouf Makhlouf

2005-11-07

The SSM Consortium (now ACRC) at WPI has been carrying out fundamental, pre-competitive research in SSM for several years. Current and past research (at WPI) has generated many results of fundamental and applied nature, which are available to the SSM community. These include materials characterization, yield stress effects, alloy development, rheological properties, process modeling/simulation, semi-solid slurry formation, etc. Alternative method to produce SSM slurries at lower processing costs and with reduced energy consumption is a critical need. The production of low cost SSM feedstock will certainly lead to a dramatic increase in the tonnage of castings produced by SSM, andmore » will provide end users such as the transportation industry, with lighter, cheaper and high performance materials. In this program, the research team has addressed three critical issues in semi-solid processing. They are: (1) Development of low cost, reliable slurry-on-demand approaches for semi-solid processing; (2) Application of the novel permanent grain refining technology-SiBloy for the manufacture of high-quality SSM feedstock, and (3) Development of computational and modeling tools for semi-solid processing to enhance SSM process control. Salient results from these studies are summarized and detailed in our final technical report.« less

Pressure Measurement Sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

FFPI Industries Inc. is the manufacturer of fiber-optic sensors that furnish accurate pressure measurements in internal combustion chambers. Such an assessment can help reduce pollution emitted by these engines. A chief component in the sensor owes its seven year- long development to Lewis Research Center funding to embed optical fibers and sensors in metal parts. NASA support to Texas A&M University played a critical role in developing this fiber optic technology and led to the formation of FFPI Industries and the production of fiber sensor products. The simple, rugged design of the sensor offers the potential for mass production at low cost. Widespread application of the new technology is forseen, from natural gas transmission, oil refining and electrical power generation to rail transport and the petrochemical paper product industry.

Hybrid optical acoustic seafloor mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inglis, Gabrielle

The oceanographic research and industrial communities have a persistent demand for detailed three dimensional sea floor maps which convey both shape and texture. Such data products are used for archeology, geology, ship inspection, biology, and habitat classification. There are a variety of sensing modalities and processing techniques available to produce these maps and each have their own potential benefits and related challenges. Multibeam sonar and stereo vision are such two sensors with complementary strengths making them ideally suited for data fusion. Data fusion approaches however, have seen only limited application to underwater mapping and there are no established methods for creating hybrid, 3D reconstructions from two underwater sensing modalities. This thesis develops a processing pipeline to synthesize hybrid maps from multi-modal survey data. It is helpful to think of this processing pipeline as having two distinct phases: Navigation Refinement and Map Construction. This thesis extends existing work in underwater navigation refinement by incorporating methods which increase measurement consistency between both multibeam and camera. The result is a self consistent 3D point cloud comprised of camera and multibeam measurements. In map construction phase, a subset of the multi-modal point cloud retaining the best characteristics of each sensor is selected to be part of the final map. To quantify the desired traits of a map several characteristics of a useful map are distilled into specific criteria. The different ways that hybrid maps can address these criteria provides justification for producing them as an alternative to current methodologies. The processing pipeline implements multi-modal data fusion and outlier rejection with emphasis on different aspects of map fidelity. The resulting point cloud is evaluated in terms of how well it addresses the map criteria. The final hybrid maps retain the strengths of both sensors and show significant improvement over the single modality maps and naively assembled multi-modal maps.

Stability of the Al/TiB2 interface and doping effects of Mg/Si

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Chao; Xu, Ben; Wu, Ping; Li, Qiulin

2017-12-01

The Al/TiB2 interface is of significant importance in controlling the mechanical properties of Al-B4C composites and tuning the heterogeneous nucleation of Al/Si alloys in industry. Its stability and bonding conditions are critical for both purposes. In this paper, the interfacial energies were investigated by first-principles calculations, and the results support the reported grain refinement mechanisms in Al/Si alloys. Moreover, to improve the mechanical properties of the interface, Mg and Si were doped at the interface, and our simulations show that the two interfaces will both weaken after doping Mg/Si, thus the formation of TiB2 is inhibited. As a result, the processability of the Al-B4C composites may be improved. Our results provide a theoretical basis and guidance for practical applications.

Monitoring Structure and Regional-Level Displacements for Lisbon Using Mltitemporal InSAR Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roque, Dora; Perissin, Daniele Falcao, Ana Paula; Fonseca, Ana Maria; Henriques, Maria Joao

2015-05-01

The city of Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and has been devastated by catastrophic events in the past, such as earthquakes and tsunamis. This study provides a regional analysis of displacements for the city and its neighbourhoods, between 2008 and 2010, through the application of mutitemporal InSAR techniques on Envisat ASAR images. Smaller areas with identified problems were subjected to a more refined processing. Besides, the behaviour of some key infrastructures, such as important buildings or railways, was carefully analysed in order to evaluate their safety. Subsidence was detected at the regional and small areas, in which the highest subsidence rates were verified on industrial parks or on landfills close to the river. Seasonal trends were found for the small areas, mainly related with structure thermal expansion or variations in underground water.

Influence of Low-Frequency Vibration and Modification on Solidification and Mechanical Properties of Al-Si Casting Alloy.

PubMed

Selivorstov, Vadim; Dotsenko, Yuri; Borodianskiy, Konstantin

2017-05-20

One of the major aims of the modern materials foundry industry is the achievement of advanced mechanical properties of metals, especially of light non-ferrous alloys such as aluminum. Usually an alloying process is applied to obtain the required properties of aluminum alloys. However, the presented work describes an alternative approach through the application of vibration treatment, modification by ultrafine powder and a combination of these two methods. Microstructural studies followed by image analysis revealed the refinement of α-Al grains with an increase in the Si network area around them. As evidence, the improvement of the mechanical properties of Al casting alloy was detected. It was found that the alloys subjected to the vibration treatment displayed an increase in tensile and yield strengths by 20% and 10%, respectively.

Determining Trajectory of Triboelectrically Charged Particles, Using Discrete Element Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory is participating in an Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) project with an industry partner to modify a commercial off-the-shelf simulation software product to treat the electrodynamics of particulate systems. Discrete element modeling (DEM) is a numerical technique that can track the dynamics of particle systems. This technique, which was introduced in 1979 for analysis of rock mechanics, was recently refined to include the contact force interaction of particles with arbitrary surfaces and moving machinery. In our work, we endeavor to incorporate electrostatic forces into the DEM calculations to enhance the fidelity of the software and its applicability to (1) particle processes, such as electrophotography, that are greatly affected by electrostatic forces, (2) grain and dust transport, and (3) the study of lunar and Martian regoliths.

Thin film battery/fuel cell power generating system. Final report of the continuation contract (Tasks 1-4), April 1, 1978-March 31, 1980

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1980-06-30

Research on the design, development, and testing of a high-temperature solid electrolyte (HTSOE) fuel cell is described in detail. Task 1 involves the development and refinement of fabrication processes for the porous support tube, fuel electrode, solid electrolyte, air electrode, and interconnection. Task 2 includes the life testing of cell components and the stack; task 3 involves the stack performance evaluation; task 4 includes demonstrating the reproducibility of 10 watt stacks. A cost, design and benefit study to evaluate the nature and worth of an industrial cogeneration application of the HTSOE fuel cell is underway. Here, promisng applications are nowmore » being considered, from which a single application has been selected as a basis for the study - an integrated aluminum production facility. (WHK)« less

Influence of Low-Frequency Vibration and Modification on Solidification and Mechanical Properties of Al-Si Casting Alloy

PubMed Central

Selivorstov, Vadim; Dotsenko, Yuri; Borodianskiy, Konstantin

2017-01-01

One of the major aims of the modern materials foundry industry is the achievement of advanced mechanical properties of metals, especially of light non-ferrous alloys such as aluminum. Usually an alloying process is applied to obtain the required properties of aluminum alloys. However, the presented work describes an alternative approach through the application of vibration treatment, modification by ultrafine powder and a combination of these two methods. Microstructural studies followed by image analysis revealed the refinement of α-Al grains with an increase in the Si network area around them. As evidence, the improvement of the mechanical properties of Al casting alloy was detected. It was found that the alloys subjected to the vibration treatment displayed an increase in tensile and yield strengths by 20% and 10%, respectively. PMID:28772922

ECUT: Energy Conversion and Utilization Technologies program - Biocatalysis research activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilcox, R.

1984-01-01

The activities of the Biocatalysis Research Activity are organized into the Biocatalysis and Molecular Modeling work elements and a supporting planning and analysis function. In the Biocatalysis work element, progress is made in developing a method for stabilizing genetically engineered traits in microorganisms, refining a technique for monitoring cells that are genetically engineered, and identifying strains of fungi for highly efficient preprocessing of biomass for optimizing the efficiency of bioreactors. In the Molecular Modeling work element, a preliminary model of the behavior of enzymes is developed. A preliminary investigation of the potential for synthesizing enzymes for use in electrochemical processes is completed. Contact with industry and universities is made to define key biocatalysis technical issues and to broaden the range of potential participants in the activity. Analyses are conducted to identify and evaluate potential concepts for future research funding.

Verifying and Validating Proposed Models for FSW Process Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schneider, Judith

2008-01-01

This slide presentation reviews Friction Stir Welding (FSW) and the attempts to model the process in order to optimize and improve the process. The studies are ongoing to validate and refine the model of metal flow in the FSW process. There are slides showing the conventional FSW process, a couple of weld tool designs and how the design interacts with the metal flow path. The two basic components of the weld tool are shown, along with geometries of the shoulder design. Modeling of the FSW process is reviewed. Other topics include (1) Microstructure features, (2) Flow Streamlines, (3) Steady-state Nature, and (4) Grain Refinement Mechanisms

Technology, Division of Labor and Alienation From Work. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepard, Jon M.

This study investigated the theory that a worker's relationship to technology instills in him identifiable attitudes about work. Using samples of office workers from a bank and five insurance companies, and samples of factory workers from the oil refining and automobile industries, a total of 1,888 workers were divided into (1) office and factory…

The Influence of Lead Exposure and Toxicity to Children's Neurological Development and School Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimball, Sarah L.

This report discusses the effects of lead exposure and toxicity on children's cognitive development and school performance and addresses the role of schools in prevention of lead poisoning. Sources of lead exposure include mining, smelting and refining activities, lead paint, leaded gasoline, and industrial emissions. The results of lead poisoning…

Analysis of Semiotic Principles in a Constructivist Learning Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Paul

To advance nuclear plant simulator training, the industry must focus on a more detailed and theoretical approach to conduct of this training. The use of semiotics is one method of refining the existing training and examining ways to diversify and blend it with new theoretical methods. Semiotics is the study of signs and how humans interpret them.…

JPRS Report, East Europe

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-29

nonferrous ores in quarries and underground; Installations for desulfurization , cleaning, and dry- ing of gas , turbocompressors for methane gas ; Mining...Products Exportation Bucharest Minis- "Indus- try of trial- Foreign Drilling installations and equipment for oil and gas ; export- Trade...equipment; try of Refineries, complex installations, parts, and equip- the ment for the oil- and gas -refining industry; Heavy Factories, complex

Challenges, Strategies, and Lessons Learned from a Participatory Community Intervention Study to Promote Female Condoms among Rural Sex Workers in Southern China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weeks, Margaret R.; Liao, Susu; Li, Fei; Li, Jianghong; Dunn, Jennifer; He, Bin; He, Qiya; Feng, Weiping; Wang, Yanhong

2010-01-01

China faces a rapidly emerging HIV epidemic and nationwide resurgence of sexually transmitted infections associated with a growing sex industry. Community empowerment and capacity building through community-based participatory research partnerships show promise for developing, testing, and refining multilevel interventions suited to the local…

Hospitality Industry Technology Training (HITT). Final Performance Report, April 1, 1989-December 31, 1990.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mount Hood Community Coll., Gresham, OR.

This final performance report includes a third-party evaluation and a replication guide. The first section describes a project to develop and implement an articulated curriculum for grades 8-14 to prepare young people for entry into hospitality/tourism-related occupations. It discusses the refinement of existing models, pilot test, curriculum…

Crude Oil Price Modeling...A Macro- Economic Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-01

tire industry of hotels , restaurants and service stations exploded across the landscape to support an increasingly mobile population.22 A Shifting...Refining Capacity Ratio(PRCR) eßmlim^Sß^ SmmS /iß^Mmn- LNofPRCR .< , iir’l ■:■’■■ -. Ill’ U". Square of PRCR OPEC Market Share NA NA

The cooperation of the government and digital media industry in social development (a study in Cirebon city, West Java, Indonesia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusuma, M.; Mariana, D.; Anwar, R. K.

2018-03-01

This study explores the role of government in encouraging and providing a model of economic growth, including in the field of micro, small, and medium enterprises. The case studied in this research is the digital media industry. It could be a potential in creating public welfare. The questions in this research are about how to model a development of community-based digital media industry in Cirebon City, West Java; whether the government could bring people to the digital media industry to foster a productive economic society; and how the community appreciates and becomes a part of the digital media industry. By using descriptive and qualitative methods, this study finds that the government has sufficiently active roles in the development of the digital media industry in the society. The society itself has already been open-minded in responding the government’s programs and the development of contemporary technology, such as in the field of selling goods and services. Still, some obstacles might continue to be refined for the success of the community’s digital media industry.

Investigation on temporal evolution of the grain refinement in copper under high strain rate loading via in-situ synchrotron measurement and predictive modeling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shah, Pooja Nitin; Shin, Yung C.; Sun, Tao

Synchrotron X-rays are integrated with a modified Kolsky tension bar to conduct in situ tracking of the grain refinement mechanism operating during the dynamic deformation of metals. Copper with an initial average grain size of 36 μm is refined to 6.3 μm when loaded at a constant high strain rate of 1200 s -1. The synchrotron measurements revealed the temporal evolution of the grain refinement mechanism in terms of the initiation and rate of refinement throughout the loading test. A multiscale coupled probabilistic cellular automata based recrystallization model has been developed to predict the microstructural evolution occurring during dynamic deformationmore » processes. The model accurately predicts the initiation of the grain refinement mechanism with a predicted final average grain size of 2.4 μm. As a result, the model also accurately predicts the temporal evolution in terms of the initiation and extent of refinement when compared with the experimental results.« less

Investigation on temporal evolution of the grain refinement in copper under high strain rate loading via in-situ synchrotron measurement and predictive modeling

DOE PAGES

Shah, Pooja Nitin; Shin, Yung C.; Sun, Tao

2017-10-03

Synchrotron X-rays are integrated with a modified Kolsky tension bar to conduct in situ tracking of the grain refinement mechanism operating during the dynamic deformation of metals. Copper with an initial average grain size of 36 μm is refined to 6.3 μm when loaded at a constant high strain rate of 1200 s -1. The synchrotron measurements revealed the temporal evolution of the grain refinement mechanism in terms of the initiation and rate of refinement throughout the loading test. A multiscale coupled probabilistic cellular automata based recrystallization model has been developed to predict the microstructural evolution occurring during dynamic deformationmore » processes. The model accurately predicts the initiation of the grain refinement mechanism with a predicted final average grain size of 2.4 μm. As a result, the model also accurately predicts the temporal evolution in terms of the initiation and extent of refinement when compared with the experimental results.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guariguata, U.G.

The European refining industry, along with its counterparts, is struggling with low profitability due to excess primary and conversion capacity, high operating costs and impending decisions of stringent environmental regulations that will require significant investments with hard to justify returns. This region was also faced in the early 1980s with excess capacity on the order of 4 MMb/d and satisfying the {open_quotes}at that point{close_quotes} demand by operating at very low utilization rates (60%). As was the case in the US, the rebalancing of the capacity led to the closure of some 51 refineries. Since the early 1990s, the increase inmore » demand growth has essentially balanced the capacity threshold and utilization rates are settled around the 90% range. During the last two decades, the major oil companies have reduced their presence in the European refining sector, giving some state oil companies and producing countries the opportunity to gain access to the consumer market through the purchase of refining capacity in various countries-specifically, Kuwait in Italy; Libya and Venezuela in Germany; and Norway in other areas of Scandinavia. Although the market share for this new cast of characters remains small (4%) relative to participation by the majors (35%), their involvement in the European refining business set the foundation whereby US independent refiners relinquished control over assets that could not be operated profitably as part of a previous vertically integrated structure, unless access to the crude was ensured. The passage of time still seems to render this model valid.« less

VIEW OF RBC (REFINED BICARBONATE) BUILDING LOOKING NORTHEAST. DEMOLITION IN ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

VIEW OF RBC (REFINED BICARBONATE) BUILDING LOOKING NORTHEAST. DEMOLITION IN PROGRESS. "ARM & HAMMER BAKING SODA WAS MADE HERE FOR OVER 50 YEARS AND THEN SHIPPED ACROSS THE STREET TO THE CHURCH & DWIGHT PLANT ON WILLIS AVE. (ON THE RIGHT IN THIS PHOTO). LAYING ON THE GROUND IN FRONT OF C&D BUILDING IS PART OF AN RBC DRYING TOWER. - Solvay Process Company, Refined Bicarbonate Building, Between Willis & Milton Avenues, Solvay, Onondaga County, NY

Production of a refined biooil derived by fast pyrolysis of chicken manure with chemical and physical characteristics close to those of fossil fuels.

PubMed

Monreal, Carlos M; Schnitzer, Morris

2011-01-01

The chemical and physical properties of raw biooils prevent their direct use in combustion engines. We processed raw pyrolytic biooil derived from chicken manure to yield a colorless refined biooil with diesel qualities. Chemical characterization of the refined biooil involved elemental and several spectroscopic analyses. The physical measurements employed were viscosity, density and heat of combustion. The elemental composition (% wt/wt) of the refined biooil was 82.7 % C, 15.3 % H, 0.2 % N and 1.8 % O, no S. Its viscosity was 0.006 Pa.s and a heat of combustion of 43 MJ kg(-1). The refined biooil fraction contains n-alkanes, ranging from n-C(14) to n-C(27), alkenes varying from C(10:1) to C(22:1), and long-chain alcohols. The refined biooil makes a good diesel fuel due to its chemical and physical properties.

Feasibility of Department of Defense Used Lubricating Oil Re-refining.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

greater product selectivity (increasing cost effec- tiveness by tailoring the process to meet market demand ). In addition most processes have high yields...However, several issues were surfaced. The question of who in DLA is responsible for the administra- tion of a re-refining program must be resolved...Both the Property Disposal and Supply groups have a role. The Disposal group now has responsibility for .1%- iv -. d

Petroleum coke in the urban environment: a review of potential health effects.

PubMed

Caruso, Joseph A; Zhang, Kezhong; Schroeck, Nicholas J; McCoy, Benjamin; McElmurry, Shawn P

2015-05-29

Petroleum coke, or petcoke, is a granular coal-like industrial by-product that is separated during the refinement of heavy crude oil. Recently, the processing of material from Canadian oil sands in U.S. refineries has led to the appearance of large petcoke piles adjacent to urban communities in Detroit and Chicago. The purpose of this literature review is to assess what is known about the effects of petcoke exposure on human health. Toxicological studies in animals indicate that dermal or inhalation petcoke exposure does not lead to a significant risk for cancer development or reproductive and developmental effects. However, pulmonary inflammation was observed in long-term inhalation exposure studies. Epidemiological studies in coke oven workers have shown increased risk for cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, but these studies are confounded by multiple industrial exposures, most notably to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are generated during petcoke production. The main threat to urban populations in the vicinity of petcoke piles is most likely fugitive dust emissions in the form of fine particulate matter. More research is required to determine whether petcoke fine particulate matter causes or exacerbates disease, either alone or in conjunction with other environmental contaminants.

Petroleum Coke in the Urban Environment: A Review of Potential Health Effects

PubMed Central

Caruso, Joseph A.; Zhang, Kezhong; Schroeck, Nicholas J.; McCoy, Benjamin; McElmurry, Shawn P.

2015-01-01

Petroleum coke, or petcoke, is a granular coal-like industrial by-product that is separated during the refinement of heavy crude oil. Recently, the processing of material from Canadian oil sands in U.S. refineries has led to the appearance of large petcoke piles adjacent to urban communities in Detroit and Chicago. The purpose of this literature review is to assess what is known about the effects of petcoke exposure on human health. Toxicological studies in animals indicate that dermal or inhalation petcoke exposure does not lead to a significant risk for cancer development or reproductive and developmental effects. However, pulmonary inflammation was observed in long-term inhalation exposure studies. Epidemiological studies in coke oven workers have shown increased risk for cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, but these studies are confounded by multiple industrial exposures, most notably to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are generated during petcoke production. The main threat to urban populations in the vicinity of petcoke piles is most likely fugitive dust emissions in the form of fine particulate matter. More research is required to determine whether petcoke fine particulate matter causes or exacerbates disease, either alone or in conjunction with other environmental contaminants. PMID:26035666

Essays on refining markets and environmental policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oladunjoye, Olusegun Akintunde

This thesis is comprised of three essays. The first two essays examine empirically the relationship between crude oil price and wholesale gasoline prices in the U.S. petroleum refining industry while the third essay determines the optimal combination of emissions tax and environmental research and development (ER&D) subsidy when firms organize ER&D either competitively or as a research joint venture (RJV). In the first essay, we estimate an error correction model to determine the effects of market structure on the speed of adjustment of wholesale gasoline prices, to crude oil price changes. The results indicate that market structure does not have a strong effect on the dynamics of price adjustment in the three regional markets examined. In the second essay, we allow for inventories to affect the relationship between crude oil and wholesale gasoline prices by allowing them to affect the probability of regime change in a Markov-switching model of the refining margin. We find that low gasoline inventory increases the probability of switching from the low margin regime to the high margin regime and also increases the probability of staying in the high margin regime. This is consistent with the predictions of the competitive storage theory. In the third essay, we extend the Industrial Organization R&D theory to the determination of optimal environmental policies. We find that RJV is socially desirable. In comparison to competitive ER&D, we suggest that regulators should encourage RJV with a lower emissions tax and higher subsidy as these will lead to the coordination of ER&D activities and eliminate duplication of efforts while firms internalize their technological spillover externality.

Glycidyl esters in refined palm (Elaeis guineensis) oil and related fractions. Part II: practical recommendations for effective mitigation.

PubMed

Craft, Brian D; Nagy, Kornél; Seefelder, Walburga; Dubois, Mathieu; Destaillats, Frédéric

2012-05-01

In a previous work, it was shown that at high temperatures (up to 280°C) glycidyl esters (GE) are formed from diacylglycerols (DAG) via elimination of free fatty acid (FFA). In the present study, the impact of DAG content and temperature on the formation of GE using a model vacuum system mimicking industrial edible oil deodorization is investigated. These deodorization experiments confirmed that the formation of GE from DAG is extensive at temperatures above 230-240°C, and therefore, this value should be considered as an upper limit for refining operations. Furthermore, experimental data suggest that the formation of GE accelerates in particular when the DAG levels in refined oils exceed 3-4% of total lipids. Analysis of the lipid composition of crude palm oil (CPO) samples allowed the estimation that this critical DAG content corresponds to about 1.9-2.5% of FFA, which is the conventional quality marker of CPO. Moreover, high levels (>100ppm) of GE were also found in palm fatty acid distillate samples, which may indicate that the level of GE in fully refined palm oils also depends on the elimination rate of GE into the fatty acid distillate. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Complex deformation routes for direct recycling aluminium alloy scrap via industrial hot extrusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paraskevas, Dimos; Kellens, Karel; Kampen, Carlos; Mohammadi, Amirahmad; Duflou, Joost R.

2018-05-01

This paper presents the final results of an industrial project, aiming for direct hot extrusion of wrought aluminium alloy scrap at an industrial scale. Two types of complex deformation/extrusion routes were tested for the production of the same profile, starting from AA6060 scrap in form of machining chips. More specifically scrap-based billets were extruded through: a 2-porthole and a 4-porthole die-set, modified for enhanced scrap consolidation and grain refinement. For comparison reasons, cast billets of the same alloy were extruded through the modified 2-porthole die set. The tensile testing results as well as microstructural investigations show that the 4-porthole extrusion route further improves scrap consolidation compared to the 2-porthole die output. The successful implementation of solid state recycling, directly at industrial level, indicates the technological readiness level of this research.

The wrong white crystals: not salt but sugar as aetiological in hypertension and cardiometabolic disease.

PubMed

DiNicolantonio, James J; Lucan, Sean C

2014-01-01

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of premature mortality in the developed world, and hypertension is its most important risk factor. Controlling hypertension is a major focus of public health initiatives, and dietary approaches have historically focused on sodium. While the potential benefits of sodium-reduction strategies are debatable, one fact about which there is little debate is that the predominant sources of sodium in the diet are industrially processed foods. Processed foods also happen to be generally high in added sugars, the consumption of which might be more strongly and directly associated with hypertension and cardiometabolic risk. Evidence from epidemiological studies and experimental trials in animals and humans suggests that added sugars, particularly fructose, may increase blood pressure and blood pressure variability, increase heart rate and myocardial oxygen demand, and contribute to inflammation, insulin resistance and broader metabolic dysfunction. Thus, while there is no argument that recommendations to reduce consumption of processed foods are highly appropriate and advisable, the arguments in this review are that the benefits of such recommendations might have less to do with sodium-minimally related to blood pressure and perhaps even inversely related to cardiovascular risk-and more to do with highly-refined carbohydrates. It is time for guideline committees to shift focus away from salt and focus greater attention to the likely more-consequential food additive: sugar. A reduction in the intake of added sugars, particularly fructose, and specifically in the quantities and context of industrially-manufactured consumables, would help not only curb hypertension rates, but might also help address broader problems related to cardiometabolic disease.

Development and Validation of an Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Process for Source Water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lane, Ann

Throughout Northern Appalachia and surrounding regions, hundreds of abandoned mine sites exist which frequently are the source of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). AMD typically contains metal ions in solution with sulfate ions which have been leached from the mine. These large volumes of water, if treated to a minimum standard, may be of use in Hydraulic Fracturing (HF) or other industrial processes. This project’s focus is to evaluate an AMD water treatment technology for the purpose of providing treated AMD as an alternative source of water for HF operations. The HydroFlex™ technology allows the conversion of a previous environmental liabilitymore » into an asset while reducing stress on potable water sources. The technology achieves greater than 95% water recovery, while removing sulfate to concentrations below 100 mg/L and common metals (e.g., iron and aluminum) below 1 mg/L. The project is intended to demonstrate the capability of the process to provide AMD as alternative source water for HF operations. The second budget period of the project has been completed during which Battelle conducted two individual test campaigns in the field. The first test campaign demonstrated the ability of the HydroFlex system to remove sulfate to levels below 100 mg/L, meeting the requirements indicated by industry stakeholders for use of the treated AMD as source water. The second test campaign consisted of a series of focused confirmatory tests aimed at gathering additional data to refine the economic projections for the process. Throughout the project, regular communications were held with a group of project stakeholders to ensure alignment of the project objectives with industry requirements. Finally, the process byproduct generated by the HydroFlex process was evaluated for the treatment of produced water against commercial treatment chemicals. It was found that the process byproduct achieved similar results for produced water treatment as the chemicals currently in use. Further, the process byproduct demonstrated better settling characteristics in bench scale testing. The field testing conducted in the second project budget period demonstrated the ability of the HydroFlex technology to meet industry requirements for AMD water chemical composition so that it can be used as source water in HF activities. System and operational improvements were identified in an additional series of confirmatory tests to achieve competitive cost targets. Finally, the application of the HydroFlex process byproduct in produced water treatment was demonstrated, further supporting the commercial implementation of the technology. Overall, the project results demonstrate a path to the economic treatment of AMD to support its increased use as source water in HF, particularly in regions with limited local freshwater availability.« less

Apparent Consumption vs. Total Consumption--A Lead-Acid Battery Case Study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilburn, David R.; Buckingham, David A.

2006-01-01

Introduction: This report compares estimates of U.S. apparent consumption of lead with estimates of total U.S. consumption of this mineral commodity from a materials flow perspective. The difference, attributed to the amount of lead contained in imported and exported products, was found to be significant for this sector. The study also assesses the effects of including mineral commodities incorporated in manufactured products on the interpretation of observed trends in minerals consumption and trade. Materials flow is a systems approach to understanding what happens to the materials we use from the time a material is extracted, through its processing and manufacturing, to its ultimate disposition. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides accurate and detailed mineral production and mineral commodity consumption statistics that are essential for government, nongovernment organizations, and the public to gain a better understanding of how and where materials are used and their effect on the environment and society. Published statistics on mineral apparent consumption are limited to estimates of consumption of raw material forms (ore, concentrate, and [or] refined metal). For this study, apparent consumption is defined as mine production + secondary refined production + imports (concentrates and refined metal) ? exports (concentrates and refined metal) + adjustments for government and industry stock changes. These estimates do not account for the amount of mineral commodities contained in manufactured products that are imported to the United States, nor do they deduct the amount of these mineral commodities contained in manufactured products that are exported from the United States. When imports or exports of manufactured products contribute significantly to the total use of a particular raw material, an estimate of consumption that does not consider the incorporated forms of these mineral commodities within imported or exported manufactured products can be either under- or overreported (depending on the net trade flow). Factors that influence consumption and trade patterns include variations in industry structure, labor or financial markets, legislation, and technology. As U.S. trade patterns of manufactured products change, omitting mineral commodities incorporated into these goods as part of U.S. mineral commodity consumption estimates may affect the interpretation of observed trends in minerals consumption and trade. Although it may be desirable to include minerals contained in manufactured products as part of consumption estimates, collection and estimation of these data are sometimes difficult. Consumption and trade data for every traded product may not be readily available. Compiling comprehensive consumption statistics for mineral commodities, which have many end uses, each including multiple products, may be time consuming. For these reasons, studies of all mineral commodities are not feasible. Mineral commodity selection for this study is based on data accessibility considerations and the relative importance of lead contained in imported and exported products when considered part of total U.S. lead consumption. Lead was selected for this initial evaluation of total mineral consumption because of the need to understand the consumption pattern of this potentially toxic metal and its compounds, the relative simplicity of this sector?s end-use structure, and the availability of trade data. This study draws upon the findings of an earlier lead consumption study (Biviano and others, 1999) conducted by the USGS for the period 1984 to 1993, but uses a different study methodology for an industry whose structure has changed from that considered in the earlier study. Figure 1 shows the quantity of material contributing to U.S. total consumption of lead metal from domestic and foreign industrial sectors in 2004, based upon trade data reported by the USGS and the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). For

Morphological ripening of fluid inclusions and coupled zone-refining in quartz crystals revealed by cathodoluminescence imaging: Implications for CL-petrography, fluid inclusion analysis and trace-element geothermometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lambrecht, Glenn; Diamond, Larryn William

2014-09-01

Cathodoluminescence (CL) studies have previously shown that some secondary fluid inclusions in luminescent quartz are surrounded by dark, non-luminescent patches, resulting from fracture-sealing by late, trace-element-poor quartz. This finding has led to the tacit generalization that all dark CL patches indicate influx of low temperature, late-stage fluids. In this study we have examined natural and synthetic hydrothermal quartz crystals using CL imaging supplemented by in-situ elemental analysis. The results lead us to propose that all natural, liquid-water-bearing inclusions in quartz, whether trapped on former crystal growth surfaces (i.e., of primary origin) or in healed fractures (i.e., of pseudosecondary or secondary origin), are surrounded by three-dimensional, non-luminescent patches. Cross-cutting relations show that the patches form after entrapment of the fluid inclusions and therefore they are not diagnostic of the timing of fluid entrapment. Instead, the dark patches reveal the mechanism by which fluid inclusions spontaneously approach morphological equilibrium and purify their host quartz over geological time. Fluid inclusions that contain solvent water perpetually dissolve and reprecipitate their walls, gradually adopting low-energy euhedral and equant shapes. Defects in the host quartz constitute solubility gradients that drive physical migration of the inclusions over distances of tens of μm (commonly) up to several mm (rarely). Inclusions thus sequester from their walls any trace elements (e.g., Li, Al, Na, Ti) present in excess of equilibrium concentrations, thereby chemically purifying their host crystals in a process analogous to industrial zone refining. Non-luminescent patches of quartz are left in their wake. Fluid inclusions that contain no liquid water as solvent (e.g., inclusions of low-density H2O vapor or other non-aqueous volatiles) do not undergo this process and therefore do not migrate, do not modify their shapes with time, and are not associated with dark-CL zone-refined patches. This new understanding has implications for the interpretation of solids within fluid inclusions (e.g., Ti- and Al-minerals) and for the elemental analysis of hydrothermal and metamorphic quartz and its fluid inclusions by microbeam methods such as LA-ICPMS and SIMS. As Ti is a common trace element in quartz, its sequestration by fluid inclusions and its depletion in zone-refined patches impacts on applications of the Ti-in-quartz geothermometer.