Experimental and thermodynamic investigations on the chlorine-induced corrosion of HVOF thermal sprayed NiAl coatings and 304 stainless steels at 700 °C

Alumina-forming β-NiAl coatings were deposited by high Velocity Oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spray onto 304 stainless steels for protection against chlorine induced corrosion in a biomass-fired boiler. The corrosion test was conducted in a synthetic gas containing 500 ppm HCl with 10 wt% KCl ash deposit at 700 °C for 250 hours. Severe corrosion was observed with the fast growing alumina at the coating/substrate interface initiating from sample edges. Possible corrosion mechanism was proposed: as supplied by HCl/KCl, the formation of volatile chlorine/chloride acted as a catalyst and promoted the growth of alumina at relatively lower application temperatures (<900 °C)

Preparation of MCrAlY-Al2O3 composite coatings with enhanced oxidation resistance through a novel powder manufacturing process

MCrAlY-Al 2 O 3 composite coatings were prepared by using high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying with bespoke composite powder feedstock for high temperature applications. Powder processing via a suspension route was employed to achieve a fine dispersion of α-Al 2 O 3 sub-micron particles on the MCrAlY powder surfaces. This was, however, compromised by ~50% less flow-ability of the feedstock during spraying. Nevertheless, the novel powder manufacturing process introduced in this study has shown potential as an alternative route to prepare tailored composite powder feedstock for the production of metal matrix composites (MMC) materials. In addition, the newly developed MCrAlY-Al 2 O 3 composite coatings exhibited superior oxidation resistance, compared to conventional MCrAlY coatings, with the formation of nearly exclusively Al 2 O 3 scale after isothermal oxidation at 900 °C for 10 h. The addition of α-Al 2 O 3 particles in the MCrAlY coatings as a second phase was found to have promoted the formation of YAG oxides (Y x Al y O z) during spraying, and also accelerated the outwards diffusion of Al, which resulted in enhanced oxidation resistance

Chlorine-induced high temperature corrosion of HVAF-sprayed Ni-based alumina and chromia forming coatings

Chlorine-induced corrosion of HVAF-sprayed Ni21Cr and Ni5Al coatings was investigated in 5 vol.% O2 + 500vppm HCl + N2 with and without KCl at 600 °C up to 168 h. Both coatings were protective in the absence of KCl. With KCl, Ni21Cr degraded through a two-stage mechanism: 1) formation of K2CrO4 followed by diffusion of Cl− through the oxide grain boundaries to yield chlorine and a non-protective oxide, and 2) inward diffusion of chlorine though defects in the non-protective oxide, leading to breakaway oxidation. Cl−/Cl2 could not diffuse through the protective alumina scale formed on Ni5Al, hence the corrosion resistance increased

Process parameter optimisation of laser clad iron based alloy: predictive models of deposition efficiency, porosity and dilution

As a candidate coating material for heat-exchanger surfaces in commercial power generation boiler, an amorphous/glass forming Fe-Cr-B alloy NanoSteel SHS 7170 was deposited by a 2 kW fibre laser onto a boiler grade steel substrate (15Mo3). A comprehensive trial with 28 single track optimisation runs was carried out to develop models of the influence of three processing parameters, laser power, laser traverse speed and powder feed rate, on powder deposition efficiency, dilution and porosity. It was found that deposition efficiency is dependent on laser power and powder feed rate, increasing with increasing power and decreasing powder feed rate when tested within the parameter window of laser power ranging from 0.4 to 2 kW; traverse speed varying from 150 to 1200 mm min‑1; and powder feed rate varying from 4 to 10 g min‑1. Similarly, it was found that dilution is also dependent on laser power and powder feed rate. Dilution increases with increasing power and decreases with increasing powder feed rate within the same parameter window discussed above. This means that through processing parameter selection, these properties can be adjusted to suit their application. Porosity was found to be independent of processing parameters and instead mostly dependent on the feedstock material. A model was produced for predicting porosity within a powder feedstock, found to be 8.5%. These models were used to successfully produce an optimised coating

Evolution of system embedded optical interconnect in sub-top of rack data center systems

This research was funded by the EU FP7 project “PhoxTrot”, for which it has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement No. 318240, the Horizon2020 Nephele project (Grant No. 645212), the Horizon2020 COSMICC project (Grant No. 688516).In this paper we review key technological milestones in system embedded optical interconnects in data centers that have been achieved between 2014 and 2020 on major European Union research and development projects. This includes the development of proprietary optically enabled data storage and switch systems and optically enabled data storage and compute subsystems. We report on four optically enabled data center system demonstrators: LightningValley, ThunderValley2, Pegasus and Aurora, which include advanced optical circuits based on polymer waveguides and fibers and proprietary electro-optical connectors. We also report on optically enabled subsystems including Ethernet-connected hard disk drives and microservers. Both are designed in the same pluggable carrier form factor and with embedded optical transceiver and connector interfaces, thus allowing, for the first time, both compute and storage nodes to be optically interchangeable and directly interconnectable over long distances. Finally, we present the Nexus platform, which allows different optically enabled data center test systems and subsystems to be interconnected and comparatively characterized within a data center test environment.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Diamond nano-pillar arrays for quantum microscopy of neuronal signals

Modern neuroscience is currently limited in its capacity to perform long term, wide-field measurements of neuron electromagnetics with nanoscale resolution. Quantum microscopy using the nitrogen vacancy centre (NV) can provide a potential solution to this problem with electric and magnetic field sensing at nano-scale resolution and good biocompatibility. However, the performance of existing NV sensing technology does not allow for studies of small mammalian neurons yet. In this paper, we propose a solution to this problem by engineering NV quantum sensors in diamond nanopillar arrays. The pillars improve light collection efficiency by guiding excitation/emission light, which improves sensitivity. More importantly, they also improve the size of the signal at the NV by removing screening charges as well as coordinating the neuron growth to the tips of the pillars where the NV is located. Here, we provide a growth study to demonstrate coordinated neuron growth as well as the first simulation of nano-scopic neuron electric and magnetic fields to assess the enhancement provided by the nanopillar geometry.Comment: 18 pages including supplementary and references, 12 figure

HVOF and laser cladded Fe-Cr-B coating in simulated biomass combustion: microstructure and fireside corrosion

Biomass is often considered as a low carbon alternative to fossil fuels in the power industry. However the heat exchangers in biomass plants can suffer from chloride based aggressive fireside corrosion. A commercially available amorphous Fe-Cr-B alloy was deposited onto a stainless steel substrate by HVOF thermal spray and laser cladding. The controlled environment corrosion tests were conducted in a HCl rich environment at 700°C for 250 h with and without KCl deposits. The samples were examined with XRD, SEM and EDX mapping to understand the corrosion mechanisms. In the absence of any deposits, the amorphous HVOF coating performed very well with a thin oxide growth whereas the crystalline laser cladding suffered from ~350 μm metal loss. The scales were composed of MnWO₄, Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄ and Cr₂O₃. When a KCl deposit was present, the HVOF sprayed coating delaminated from the substrate and MnCl₂ was found in the scale

Institutional and behaviour-change interventions to support COVID-19 public health measures: a review by the Lancet Commission Task Force on public health measures to suppress the pandemic

The Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force for Public Health Measures to Suppress the Pandemic was launched to identify critical points for consideration by governments on public health interventions to control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Drawing on our review of published studies of data analytics and modelling, evidence synthesis and contextualisation, and behavioural science evidence and theory on public health interventions from a range of sources, we outline evidence for a range of institutional measures and behaviour-change measures. We cite examples of measures adopted by a range of countries, but especially jurisdictions that have, thus far, achieved low numbers of COVID-19 deaths and limited community transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Finally, we highlight gaps in knowledge where research should be undertaken. As countries consider long-term measures, there is an opportunity to learn, improve the response and prepare for future pandemics.publishedVersio

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life