A New Method for Production of Titanium Dioxide Pigment - Eliminating CO2 Emission

The objective of this project was to demonstrate the potential of a new process technology to reduce the energy consumption and CO{sub 2} emission from the production of titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) pigment. TiO{sub 2} is one of the most commonly used minerals in the chemical manufacturing industry. It has been commercially processed as a pigment since the early 1900's, and has a wide variety of domestic and industrial applications. TiO{sub 2} pigment is currently produced primarily by the use of the so called �chloride process�. A key step of the chloride process relies on high temperature carbo-chlorination of TiO{sub 2} bearing raw materials, hence producing large quantities of CO{sub 2}. The new method uses a chemical/metallurgical sequential extraction methodology to produce pigment grade TiO{sub 2} from high-TiO{sub 2} slag. The specific project objectives were to 1) study and prove the scientific validity of the concept, 2) understand the primary chemical reactions and the efficiency of sequential extraction schemes, 3) determine the properties of TiO{sub 2} produced using the technology, and 4) model the energy consumptions and environmental benefits of the technology. These objectives were successfully met and a new process for producing commercial quality TiO{sub 2} pigment was developed and experimentally validated. The process features a unique combination of established metallurgical processes, including alkaline roasting of titania slag followed by leaching, solvent extraction, hydrolysis, and calcination. The caustic, acidic, and organic streams in the process will also be regenerated and reused in the process, greatly reducing environmental waste. The purpose and effect of each of these steps in producing purified TiO{sub 2} is detailed in the report. The levels of impurities in our pigment meet the requirements for commercial pigment, and are nearly equivalent to those of two commercial pigments. Solvent extraction with an amine extractant proved to be extremely effective in achieving these targets. A model plant producing 100,000 tons TiO{sub 2} per year was designed that would employ the new method of pigment manufacture. A flow sheet was developed and a mass and energy balance was performed. A comparison of the new process and the chloride process indicate that implementation of the new process in the US would result in a 21% decrease in energy consumption, an annual energy savings of 42.7 million GJ. The new process would reduce CO{sub 2} emissions by 21% in comparison to the chloride process, an annual reduction of 2.70 million tons of CO{sub 2}. Since the process equipment employed in the new process is well established in other industrial processes and the raw materials for the two processes are identical we believe the capital, labor and materials cost of production of pigment grade TiO{sub 2} using the new method would be at least equivalent to that of the chloride process. Additionally, it is likely that the operating costs will be lower by using the new process because of the reduced energy consumption. Although the new process technology is logical and feasible based on its chemistry, thermodynamic principles, and experimental results, its development and refinement through more rigorous and comprehensive research at the kilogram scale is needed to establish it as a competitive industrial process. The effect of the recycling of process streams on the final product quality should also be investigated. Further development would also help determine if the energy efficiency and the environmental benefits of the new process are indeed significantly better than current commercial methods of pigment manufacture

Novel Nanocrystalline Intermetallic Coatings for Metal Alloys in Coal-fired Environments

Intermetallic coatings (iron aluminide and nickel aluminide) were prepared by a novel reaction process. In the process, the aluminide coating is formed by an in-situ reaction between the aluminum powder fed through a plasma transferred arc (PTA) torch and the metal substrate (steel or Ni-base alloy). Subjected to the high temperature within an argon plasma zone, aluminum powder and the surface of the substrate melt and react to form the aluminide coatings. The prepared coatings were found to be aluminide phases that are porosity-free and metallurgically bonded to the substrate. The coatings also exhibit excellent high-temperature corrosion resistance under the conditions which simulate the steam-side and fire-side environments in coal-fired boilers. It is expected that the principle demonstrated in this process can be applied to the preparation of other intermetallic and alloy coatings

Development of Bulk Nanocrystalline Cemented Tungsten Carbide for Industrial Applicaitons

This report contains detailed information of the research program entitled "Development of Bulk Nanocrystalline Cemented Tungsten Carbide Materials for Industrial Applications". The report include the processes that were developed for producing nanosized WC/Co composite powders, and an ultrahigh pressure rapid hot consolidation process for sintering of nanosized powders. The mechanical properties of consolidated materials using the nanosized powders are also reported

Noncommutative geometry and nonabelian Berry phase in the wave-packet dynamics of Bloch electrons

Motivated by a recent proposal on the possibility of observing a monopole in the band structure, and by an increasing interest on the role of Berry phase in spintronics, we studied the adiabatic motion of a wave packet of Bloch functions, under a perturbation varying slowly and incommensurately to the lattice structure. We show using only the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics that its effective wave-packet dynamics is conveniently described by a set of equations of motion (EOM) for a semiclassical particle coupled to a nonabelian gauge field associated with a geometric Berry phase. Our EOM can be viewed as a generalization of the standard Ehrenfest's theorem, and their derivation was asymptotically exact in the framework of linear response theory. Our analysis is entirely based on the concept of local Bloch bands, a good starting point for describing the adiabatic motion of a wave packet. One of the advantages of our approach is that the various types of gauge fields were classified into two categories by their different physical origin: (i) projection onto specific bands, (ii) time-dependent local Bloch basis. Using those gauge fields, we write our EOM in a covariant form, whereas the gauge-invariant field strength stems from the noncommutativity of covariant derivatives along different axes of the reciprocal parameter space. The degeneracy of Bloch bands makes the gauge fields nonabelian. We applied our formalism to the analyses on various types of Hall and polarization currents. We highlighted their behavior under time reversal (T) and space inversion (I). The concept of parity polarization current was also introduced. Together with charge/spin Hall/polarization currents, this type of orbital current is expected to be a potential probe for detecting and controling Berry phase.Comment: 39 pages. Typos corrected in the revised versio

Low-Temperature Synthesis of Superconducting Nanocrystalline MgB

Magnesium diboride (MgB2) is considered a promising material for practical application in superconducting devices, with a transition temperature near 40 K. In the present paper, nanocrystalline MgB2 with an average particle size of approximately 70 nm is synthesized by reacting LiBH4 with MgH2 at temperatures as low as 450°C. This synthesis approach successfully bypasses the usage of either elemental boron or toxic diborane gas. The superconductivity of the nanostructures is confirmed by magnetization measurements, showing a superconducting critical temperature of 38.7 K

Strain-induced phonon shifts in tungsten disulfide nanoplatelets and nanotubes

The relationship between structure and properties has been followed for different nanoscale forms of tungsten disulfide (2H-WS2) namely exfoliated monolayer and few-layer nanoplatelets, and nanotubes. The similarities and differences between these nanostructured materials have been examined using a combination of optical microscopy, scanning and high-resolution transmissionelectron microscopy (SEM and HRTEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy have also been used to distinguish between monolayer and few-layer material. Strain induced phonon shifts have been followed from the changes in the positions of the A1g and E2g1 Raman bands during uniaxial deformation. This has been modelled for monolayer using density functional theory (DFT) with excellent agreement between the measured and predicted behaviour. It has been found that as the number of WS2 layers increases for few-layer crystals or nanotubes, the A1g mode hardens whereas the E2g1 mode softens. This is believed to be due to theA1g mode, which involves out of plane atomic movements, being constrained by the increasing number of WS2 layers whereas easy sliding reduces stress transfer to the individual layers for the E2g1mode, involving only in-plane vibrations. This finding has enabled the anomalous phonon shift behaviour in earlier pressure measurements on WS2 to be resolved, as well as similar effects in othertransition metal dichalcogenides, such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), to be explained. <br/

Maternal Microbe-Specific Modulation of Inflammatory Response in Extremely Low-Gestational-Age Newborns

The fetal response to intrauterine inflammatory stimuli appears to contribute to the onset of preterm labor as well as fetal injury, especially affecting newborns of extremely low gestational age. To investigate the role of placental colonization by specific groups of microorganisms in the development of inflammatory responses present at birth, we analyzed 25 protein biomarkers in dry blood spots obtained from 527 newborns delivered by Caesarean section in the 23rd to 27th gestation weeks. Bacteria were detected in placentas and characterized by culture techniques. Odds ratios for having protein concentrations in the top quartile for gestation age for individual and groups of microorganisms were calculated. Mixed bacterial vaginosis (BV) organisms were associated with a proinflammatory pattern similar to those of infectious facultative anaerobes. Prevotella and Gardnerella species, anaerobic streptococci, peptostreptococci, and genital mycoplasmas each appeared to be associated with a different pattern of elevated blood levels of inflammation-related proteins. Lactobacillus was associated with low odds of an inflammatory response. This study provides evidence that microorganisms colonizing the placenta provoke distinctive newborn inflammatory responses and that Lactobacillus may suppress these responses

Quantum Transport in Semiconductor Nanostructures

I. Introduction (Preface, Nanostructures in Si Inversion Layers, Nanostructures in GaAs-AlGaAs Heterostructures, Basic Properties). II. Diffusive and Quasi-Ballistic Transport (Classical Size Effects, Weak Localization, Conductance Fluctuations, Aharonov-Bohm Effect, Electron-Electron Interactions, Quantum Size Effects, Periodic Potential). III. Ballistic Transport (Conduction as a Transmission Problem, Quantum Point Contacts, Coherent Electron Focusing, Collimation, Junction Scattering, Tunneling). IV. Adiabatic Transport (Edge Channels and the Quantum Hall Effect, Selective Population and Detection of Edge Channels, Fractional Quantum Hall Effect, Aharonov-Bohm Effect in Strong Magnetic Fields, Magnetically Induced Band Structure).Comment: 111 pages including 109 figures; this review from 1991 has retained much of its usefulness, but it was not yet available electronicall