Water Electrolysis for the Production of Hydrogen to Be Employed in the Ironmaking and Steelmaking Industry

The way to decarbonization will be characterized by the huge production of hydrogen through sustainable routes. Thus, the basic production way is water electrolysis sustained by renewable energy sources allowing for obtaining "green hydrogen". The present paper reviews the main available technologies for the water electrolysis finalized to the hydrogen production. We describe the fundamental of water electrolysis and the problems related to purification and/or desalinization of water before electrolysis. As a matter of fact, we describe the energy efficiency issues with particular attention to the potential application in the steel industry. The fundamental aspects related to the choice of high-temperature or low-temperature technologies are analyzed. Keywords: water electrolysis; ironmaking; steelmaking;

Static Characterization of Curvature Sensors Based on Plastic Optical Fibers

Sensors able to measure curvature changes are emerging as an effective alternative to the more common strain gauges for structural health monitoring applications. Particularly interesting is the all-optical fiber implementation for its unique properties and the possibility of being embedded. This paper, after a brief description of curvature sensors using plastic optical fibers, focuses on their characterization in applications where high sensitivity is required, and compares their performance with commercial strain sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings. The choice of plastic optical fibers allows the realization of simple, compact and cheap sensors. A characterization setup to test different sensor typologies is proposed and the main uncertainty contributions are investigated

Development of a Flexible Lead-Free Piezoelectric Transducer for Health Monitoring in the Space Environment

In this work we report on the fabrication process for the development of a flexible piezopolymeric transducer for health monitoring applications, based on lead-free, piezoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. All the selected materials are compatible with the space environment and were deposited by the RF magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature, in view of preserving the total flexibility of the structures, which is an important requirement to guarantee coupling with cylindrical fuel tanks whose integrity we want to monitor. The overall transducer architecture was made of a c-axis-oriented ZnO thin film coupled to a pair of flexible Polyimide foils coated with gold (Au) electrodes. The fabrication process started with the deposition of the bottom electrode on Polyimide foils. The ZnO thin film and the top electrode were then deposited onto the Au/Polyimide substrates. Both the electrodes and ZnO layer were properly patterned by wet-chemical etching and optical lithography. The assembly of the final structure was then obtained by gluing the upper and lower Polyimide foils with an epoxy resin capable of guaranteeing low outgassing levels, as well as adequate thermal and electrical insulation of the transducers. The piezoelectric behavior of the prototypes was confirmed and evaluated by measuring the mechanical displacement induced from the application of an external voltage

Integration of Open Slag Bath Furnace with Direct Reduction Reactors for New‐Generation Steelmaking

The present paper illustrates an innovative steel processing route developed by employing hydrogen direct reduced pellets and an open slag bath furnace. The paper illustrates the direct reduction reactor employing hydrogen as reductant on an industrial scale. The solution allows for the production of steel from blast furnace pellets transformed in the direct reduction reactor. The reduced pellets are then melted in open slag bath furnaces, allowing carburization for further refining. The proposed solution is clean for the decarbonization of the steel industry. The kinetic, chemical and thermodynamic issues are detailed with particular attention paid to the slag conditions. The proposed solution is also supported by the economic evaluation compared to traditional route

Submicron pattern transfer to binary semiconductors via micromolding in capillaries

We report on the high-resolution patterning of III–V semiconductors through polymeric masks by a soft lithographic technique based on micromolding in capillaries. The basic study of the capillarity process and the optimization of the technological steps allowed us to transfer patterns on both GaAs and InP with resolution of 800 nm over areas up to 1 cm2 and of a few microns over areas up to 4 cm2