A comprehensive review of energy sources for unmanned aerial vehicles, their shortfalls and opportunities for improvements

publishedVersio

The Effect of Pre-Oxidation on the Reducibility of Chromite Using Hydrogen: A Preliminary Study

The majority of ferrochrome (FeCr) is produced through the carbothermic reduction of chromite ore. In recent years, FeCr producers have been pressured to curve carbon emissions, necessitating the exploration of alternative smelting methods. The use of hydrogen as a chromite reductant only yields water as a by-product, preventing the formation of carbon monoxide (CO)-rich off-gas. It is however understood that only the Fe-oxide constituency of chromite can be metalized by hydrogen, whereas the chromium (Cr)-oxide constituency requires significantly higher temperatures to be metalized. Considering the alternation of chromite’s spinel structure when oxidized before traditional smelting procedures, the effects on its reducibility using hydrogen were investigated. Firstly, the effect of hydrogen availability was considered and shown to have a significant effect on Fe metallization. Subsequently, spinel alternation induced by pre-oxidation promoted the hydrogen-based reducibly of the Fe-oxide constituency, and up to 88.4% of the Fe-oxide constituency was metallized. The Cr-oxide constituency showed little to no reduction. The increase in Fe-oxide reducibility was ascribed to the formation of an exsolved Fe2O3-enriched sesquioxide phase, which was more susceptible to reduction when compared to Fe-oxides present in the chromite spinel. The extent of Fe metallization of the pre-oxidized chromite was comparable to that of unoxidized chromite under significantly milder reduction conditions.publishedVersio

The use of hydrogen as a potential reductant in the chromite smelting industry

The chromium (Cr) content of stainless steel originates from recycled scrap and/or ferrochrome (FeCr), which is mainly produced by the carbothermic reduction of chromite ore. Ever-increasing pressure on FeCr producers to curtail carbon emissions justifies migration from traditional FeCr production routes. The interaction between hydrogen and chromite only yields water, foregoing the generation of significant volumes of CO-rich off-gas during traditional smelting procedures. For this reason, the use of hydrogen as a chromite reductant is proposed. In addition to thermodynamic modelling, the influence of temperature, time, and particle size on the reduction of chromite by hydrogen was investigated. It was determined that, at the explored reduction parameters, the iron (Fe)-oxides presented in chromite could be metalized and subsequently removed by hot-acid leaching. The Cr-oxide constituency of chromite did not undergo appreciable metalization. However, the removal of Fe from the chromite spinel allowed the formation of eskolaite with the composition of (Cr1.4Al0.6)O3 in the form of an exsolved phase, which may adversely affect the reducibility of chromite. The study includes the limitations of incorporating hydrogen as a reductant into existing FeCr production infrastructure and proposes possible approaches and considerations.publishedVersio

Microheterogeneous polymeric barriers for membrane contactors : study of gas and vapour separations

Dissertation (Ph. D.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1996.One copy microfiche.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

Hydrogen production by water electrolysis with an ultrathin anion-exchange membrane (AEM)

A new ultrathin anion exchange membrane (AEM) is proposed for low cost AEM electrolysis. The advantages that thin membranes offer include reduced mass transport resistance and ohmic resistance. A membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with a thinner membrane will have improved hydroxide ion transfer due to the shorter ion transfer pathway. We fabricated a MEA with a commercially available ultrathin A-901 membrane (9 um thick) and non-noble metal catalysts. We determined the efficiency and stability of this ultrathin membrane using electrochemical impedance spectroscop