On the Potential of Gallium- and Indium-Based Liquid Metal Membranes for Hydrogen Separation

The concept of liquid metal membranes for hydrogen separation, based on gallium or indium, was recently introduced as an alternative to conventional palladium-based membranes. The potential of this class of gas separation materials was mainly attributed to the promise of higher hydrogen diffusivity. The postulated improvements are only beneficial to the flux if diffusion through the membrane is the rate-determining step in the permeation sequence. Whilst this is a valid assumption for hydrogen transport through palladium-based membranes, the relatively low adsorption energy of hydrogen on both liquid metals suggests that other phenomena may be relevant. In the current study, a microkinetic modeling approach is used to enable simulations based on a five-step permeation mechanism. The calculation results show that for the liquid metal membranes, the flux is limited by the dissociative adsorption over a large temperature range, and that the membrane flux is expected to be orders of magnitude lower compared to the membrane flux through pure palladium membranes. Even when accounting for the lower cost of the liquid metals compared to palladium, the latter still outperforms both gallium and indium in all realistic scenarios, in part due to the practical difficulties associated with making liquid metal thin films.

Microstructural Evolution And Mechanical Properties of FCAW Joints In 9% Ni Steel Prepared With Two Types of Ni-Based Weld Metals

The microstructural and mechanical evaluation of 9% Ni steel with Flux-Cored Arc Welding was performed with two different Ni-based weld metals: Inconel 625 and Hastelloy 609. Weld metals showed the microstructural change depending on the temperature gradient and crystal growth rate for each region during the cooling after welding. At the bottom of the weld metal, which is rapidly cooled in contact with the cold base metal, a cellular/planar growth was exhibited due to a large temperature gradient and low crystal growth rate. While, columnar dendrites were exhibited in the central region cooled relatively slowly and precipitates were observed in the interdendritic region. In the low-temperature toughness test, the absorbed impact energies were 89 and 55 J for Inconel 625 and Hastelloy 609, respectively. When Inconel 625 is used as the weld metal compared to Hastelloy 609, the high content of the γ stabilizer and martensite start temperature decreasing elements leads to the formation of a thicker γ-phase layer and thinner martensite layer in the transition region. In addition, high content of these elements suppresses the martensite transformation and maintains the stability of the weld joint interface even at low temperatures, resulting in the higher absorbed impact energy.

Formation, preservation and extinction of high-pressure minerals in meteorites: temperature effects in shock metamorphism and shock classification

The goal of classifying shock metamorphic features in meteorites is to estimate the corresponding shock pressure conditions. However, the temperature variability of shock metamorphism is equally important and can result in a diverse and heterogeneous set of shock features in samples with a common overall shock pressure. In particular, high-pressure (HP) minerals, which were previously used as a solid indicator of high shock pressure in meteorites, require complex pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) histories to form and survive. First, parts of the sample must be heated to melting temperatures, at high pressure, to enable rapid formation of HP minerals before pressure release. Second, the HP minerals must be rapidly cooled to below a critical temperature, before the pressure returns to ambient conditions, to avoid retrograde transformation to their low-pressure polymorphs. These two constraints require the sample to contain large temperature heterogeneities, e.g. melt veins in a cooler groundmass, during shock. In this study, we calculated shock temperatures and possible P–T paths of chondritic and differentiated mafic–ultramafic rocks for various shock pressures. These P–T conditions and paths, combined with observations from shocked meteorites, are used to constrain shock conditions and P–T–t histories of HP-mineral bearing samples. The need for rapid thermal quench of HP phases requires a relatively low bulk-shock temperature and therefore moderate shock pressures below ~ 30 GPa, which matches the stabilities of these HP minerals. The low-temperature moderate-pressure host rock generally shows moderate shock-deformation features consistent with S4 and, less commonly, S5 shock stages. Shock pressures in excess of 50 GPa in meteorites result in melt breccias with high overall post-shock temperatures that anneal out HP-mineral signatures. The presence of ringwoodite, which is commonly considered an indicator of the S6 shock stage, is inconsistent with pressures in excess of 30 GPa and does not represent shock conditions different from S4 shock conditions. Indeed, ringwoodite and coexisting HP minerals should be considered as robust evidence for moderate shock pressures (S4) rather than extreme shock (S6) near whole-rock melting.

Гибридные режимы работы термоэлектрических модулей

It is suggested that thermoelectric coolers designing should not be limited to the extreme modes of their operation. In some cases, it is convenient to use the so called hybrid modes - a combination of the extreme mode of maximum coefficient of performance for large temperature differences and a general cooling mode for small ones. The proposed hybrid mode makes it possible to control the cooling capacity of the module and not to confine this value to that under the extreme operating conditions, the maximum coefficient of performance in particular.

Effect Of Attapulgite as Internal Curing in High-Performance Concrete with Variable Temperature Curing to Enhance Mechanical Properties

One of the most important elements in the development of compressive strength is concrete curing, and a large temperature differential during curing may decrease strength. This exudation is caused by microcracks in the concrete caused by the continuous temperature fluctuation. By minimizing autogenous shrinkage, internal curing has become popular for reducing the danger of early-age cracking in high-performance concrete (HPC). The efficacy of internal wet curing provided by fine Attapulgite aggregate is investigated in this research. On three different HPCs, both with and without internal curing materials, the development of observed mechanical properties is investigated. Two different amounts of normal weight fine aggregate were replaced with attapulgite fine aggregates. Internal cure has been found to benefit from attapulgite fine aggregates. It has been found that adding 20% Attapulgite fine aggregates to HPC enhances the material’s characteristics, resulting in low internal stress and a significant increase in compressive strength. It should be noted that, unlike certain conventional lightweight aggregates, the different amounts of Attapulgite fine aggregates added at various ages have shown no decrease in compressive strength.

Calibration of Automatic Sun Photometer with Temperature Correction in Field Environment

Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is an important atmospheric correction parameter in remote sensing. In order to obtain AOD accurately, the surface-based automatic sun photometer needs to carry out calibration regularly. The normally used Langley method can be effective only when the AOD and the calibration coefficients of the instrument remain unchanged throughout the day. However, when observing the AOD with CE318 sun photometer in field environment, it was found that the AOD of silicon (Si) detector at 1020 nm and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector at 1639 nm was strongly influenced by temperature due to the large temperature difference at the Dunhuang site. Based on the corresponding relationship between AOD and wavelength, the model of the calibration coefficients varying with temperature was established by nonlinear regression method in field environment. By comparing the AOD before and after temperature correction with the theoretical one, the ratio of data with relative error (RE) less than 5% increased from 0.195 and 0.14 to 0.894 and 0.355, respectively. By this method, calibration can be carried out without the limit of constant AOD. In addition, it is simpler, more convenient, and less costly to perform temperature correction in a field environment than in a laboratory.

PHASE COMPOSITION, SUBSTRUCTURE AND RESIDUAL MACROSTRESSES IN THE SURFACE LAYER OF A TAPE OBTAINED BY ELECTRIC CONTACT WELDING

Методами рентгенографии и электронной микроскопии исследован поверхностный слой чугуна ВЧ50-2 после его обработки электроконтактной приваркой. В качестве присадочного материала использовалась лента из стали 50ХФА. Применялись технологии обработки с созданием промежуточного слоя из никелевого порошка ПГН-12Н-01 и без него. Получены результаты о фазовом составе, субструктуре и остаточных напряжениях. Исследуемая система состоит из фаз a - Fe и у - Fe . Параметры субструктуры (микродеформации и измельчение блоков) имеют одинаковые значения для различных режимов электроконтактной приварки. Остаточные напряжения носят растягивающий характер и уменьшаются при создании промежуточного слоя из никелевого порошкового материала. Основной механизм их образования - термические воздействия на материал, обрабатываемый электроконтактной приваркой. Установлено, что после электроконтактной приварки ленты могут образовываться трещины, их ориентация преимущественно параллельно обрабатываемой поверхности обусловлена наличием большого градиента температур. The surface layer of DI50-2 cast iron after its processing by electric contact welding has been investigated by methods of X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. A 50HVA steel strip was used as a filler material. Processing technologies were used with the creation of an intermediate layer of nickel powder PC-12N-01 and without it. Results on phase composition, substructure and residual stresses are obtained. The system under study consists of a-Fe and у-Fe phases. Substructure parameters (microstrain and block refinement) have the same values for different modes of electrical contact welding. Residual stresses are of a tensile nature and decrease when an intermediate layer of nickel powder material is created. The main mechanism of their formation is thermal effects on the material processed by electrocontact welding. Cracks may form after electrical contact welding of the tape. They are oriented mainly parallel to the surface to be treated and are due to the presence of a large temperature gradient.