Lubricating a bright future:Lubrication contribution to energy saving and low carbon emission

Both the academic society and the industry are hunting for new energy forms for the future.However,the world should not forget the conventional technologies that contribute to the sustainable society by technical innovations.Among them,lubrication plays a significant role in energy saving and in low CO2emission by increasing the fuel efficiency and by prolonging the service life of machines.With the advance of novel synthetic approaches,and nanoscience and technologies,novel lubrication oils and additives and their formulations are being developed to reduce friction and wear,and novel surface treatment routes and surface coatings are invented and provide more efficient lubrication.These technologies create tremendous chances for machines to work more efficiently with low energy consumption.Here we review the recent progresses and challenges associated with some novel lubrication techniques that include novel surface treatment(such as texturing,high-performance nanocomposite coatings,adapting coating),tribology design(solid and liquid lubrication),energy-conserving engine oil and novel lubricants and formula(such as ionic liquids,low S,P content additives)which are to be adopted to enhance the fuel efficiency to achieve energy saving and low carbon emission.There is increased demand to replace fossil lubricants by degradable green lubricants.Specially designed coatings can reduce drag significantly during navigation of both airplanes and ships.All these aspects will be also reviewed in the paper.

Non-isothermal reduction process analysis of iron-bearing burden with charging iron coke hot briquette under simulated blast furnace conditions

Highly reactive iron coke hot briquette(ICHB)prepared by carbonizing the agglomerate of iron-bearing substance and blended coals is regarded as an alternative fuel to mitigate carbon emission and energy consumption of blast furnace.Simultaneously,the reduction process of iron-bearing burden is extremely crucial for blast furnace smelting.The effects of ICHB on the non-isothermal reduction process of iron-bearing burden with different reduction properties were thus experimentally studied under the conditions of simulated blast furnace lump zone(below 1100°C),and the related mechanism was discussed and analyzed.The results showed that the non-isothermal reduction process of iron-bearing burden is promoted by adding ICHB.As the charging ratio of ICHB is increased from 0%to 30%,the reduction degree of pellet is increased from 22.91%to 36.62%,but the increased amplitude is leveled off.Furthermore,the reduction degree of sinter is raised from 35.10%to 93.33%.It is also indicated that the promotion effect of ICHB on the non-isothermal reduction of iron-bearing burden depends on the reduction property of burden.Compared with the burden with poor reduction performance(such as pellet 1),the promotion is more significant for the burden with good reduction property(such as sinter 1)since the reduction reaction of iron oxide in iron-bearing burden and the gasification of carbon in ICHB are remarkably reinforced each other.The practical application of ICHB in blast furnace should be utilized with highly reductive iron-bearing burden.