Dissolution behavior of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions into CaO-MgO-SiO_(2)-Al_(2)O_(3)-TiO_(2)system ladle slags

To investigate the dissolution behaviors of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions in CaO-5wt%MgO-SiO_(2)-30wt%Al_(2)O_(3)-TiO_(2)system ladle slags,confocal scanning laser microscopy was conducted on the slags with different TiO_(2)contents(0-10wt%),and scanning electron microscopy was performed to study the interfacial reaction between Al_(2)O_(3)and this slag system.The results disclose that the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions does not result in the formation of new phases at the boundary between the slag and the inclusions.In TiO_(2)-bearing and TiO_(2)-free ladle slags,there is no difference in the dissolution mechanism of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions at steelmaking temperatures.Boundary layer diffusion is found as the controlling step of the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3),and the diffusion coefficient is in the range of 4.18×10^(-10)to 2.18×10^(-9)m^(2)/s at 1450-1500℃.Compared with the solubility of Al_(2)O_(3)in the slags,slag viscosity and temperature play a more profound role in the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions.A lower viscosity and a lower melting point of the slags are beneficial for the dissolution.Suitable addition of TiO_(2)(e.g.,5wt%)in ladle slags can enhance the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions because of the low viscosity and melting point of the slags,while excessive addition of TiO_(2)(e.g.,10wt%)shows the opposite trend.

Exploration and Practice of Nitrogen Addition Process for LF Refining Ladle Bottom Blowing Nitrogen Steel Liquid

This article discusses and analyzes the law of nitrogen increase in liquid steel and the main factors affect-ing the nitrogen increasing of molten steel,through the way of adding nitrogen to molten steel by bottom blowing nitrogen gas in LF refining process.It is considered that the main factors affecting the nitrogen increasing instability of molten steel are the initial temperature of LF refining,nitrogen relative element,surface active elements[O]and[S]of steel liquid,and bottom blowing rate of ladle.The large-scale production practice shows that T[O]not more than 50×10-6 and[S]is not more than 0.020 in LF refining at the initial temperature of not less than 1570.The liquid steel nitrogen enrichment test is carried out by ladle bottom blowing nitrogen gas after 20 min of refining,the flow rate is set as(6.0~7.0)NL/min per ton,and it is turned to 2 NL/min at 6 min before the end of refining,the nitrogen increasing rate of liquid steel is basically stable at(5~6)×10-6 per minute.

Experimental Research on Refining Slag Systems Containing BaO for Ultra-Low Sulphur Steel

The experimental research on refining slag systems for ultra-low sulphur steel was carried out in a 10 kg induction furnace.It was proved that sulphur element in molten steel can be removed to less than 5×10^(-6) by adding CaO-Al_2O_3-SiO_2-MgO-CaF_2 slag on the surface of molten steel and feeding CaO-BaO-CaF2 wire into molten steel.And L_s,which is the coefficient of sulphur between slag and molten steel,that is ω(s)/ω[s],increases by increasing I(I = ωBaO/ωCaO).When I=5/3,L_s can be up to its maximum of 633.The CaSi is effective for deep desulphurization,especially when it is added to the slag of wire feeding.

Effect of gas blowing nozzle angle on multiphase flow and mass transfer during RH refining process

A three-dimensional mathematical model was developed to investigate the effect of gas blowing nozzle angles on multiphase flow,circulation flow rate,and mixing time during Ruhrstahl-Heraeus(RH) refining process.Also,a water model with a geometric scale of 1:4 from an industrial RH furnace of 260 t was built up,and measurements were carried out to validate the mathematical model.The results show that,with a conventional gas blowing nozzle and the total gas flow rate of 40 L·min^(-1),the mixing time predicted by the mathematical model agrees well with the measured values.The deviations between the model predictions and the measured values are in the range of about 1.3%–7.3% at the selected three monitoring locations,where the mixing time was defined as the required time when the dimensionless concentration is within 3% deviation from the bath averaged value.In addition,the circulation flow rate was 9 kg·s^(-1).When the gas blowing nozzle was horizontally rotated by either 30° or 45°,the circulation flow rate was found to be increased by about 15% compared to a conventional nozzle,due to the rotational flow formed in the up-snorkel.Furthermore,the mixing time at the monitoring point 1,2,and 3 was shortened by around 21.3%,28.2%,and 12.3%,respectively.With the nozzle angle of 30° and 45°,the averaged residence time of 128 bubbles in liquid was increased by around 33.3%.

Foaminess of Refining Slags System

The experiments on the foaminess of the CaO-MgO-Al2O3 -SiO2 -CaF2 refining slag system have been carried out. The obtained results are as followst (1) relative foaming height linearly increases with the increasing of the flowrate of blowing gas; (2) the proper content of MgO is about 11% when slag basicity B<2.5 and it should lower when slag basicity will be higher; (3) the better content of Al2O3, (MgO)+(Al2O3 ) is 15% and 20 % ～ 26 % respectively at the range of lower basicities; (4) the effect of slag basicity on the foaminess is complex and its optimizing vaiue is 1.9 at the specific contents of MgO, Al2O3 and CaF2.

Simultaneously removal of P and B from Si by Sr and Zr co-addition during Al–Si low-temperature solvent refining

To remove the key impurity elements,P and B,from primary Si simultaneously,Sr and Zr co-addition to Al-Si alloy systems during solvent refining has been investigated.Sr reacts with Al,Si,and P in the melt to form a P-containing Al_(2)Si_(2)Sr phase and Zr reacts with B to form a ZrB_(2) phase.In the Al-Si-Sr-Zr system,high removal fractions of P and B in the primary Si,with 84.8%-98.4%and 90.7%-96.7%,respectively,are achieved at the same time,respectively.The best removal effect is obtained in the sample with the addition of Sr-32000+Zr-3000μg·kg^(-1),and the removal fractions of P and B in the purified Si reach 98.4%and 96.1%.Compared with the Sr/Zr single-addition,the removal effects of Sr and Zr co-addition on P and B do not show a significant downward trend,indicating that the nucleation and growth of the B/P-containing impurity phases are mutually independent.Finally,an evolution model is proposed to describe the nucleation and the growth stages of Sr/Zr-containing compound phases,which reveals the interaction between the impurity phases and the primary Si.

Effect of Refiner Plate Bar Angle and Pulp Properties on the Low Consistency Refining Efficiency in Terms of Power Consumption

Power consumption is the energy source of the impact on fibers or pulp during low-consistency(LC)pulp refining,and the strength of refining affects refining quality and efficiency.The pulp properties,operating parameters,and bar parameters of the refiner plates are important parameters affecting refining efficiency,which can be defined as the ratio of net to total refining power.In this study,LC refining trials for pulps with different consistencies and fiber lengths were conducted using five isometric straightbar plates with different bar angles to explore the influences of the plate bar angle and pulp properties on the no-load power,impact capacity on fibers and refining efficiency.It was found that the no-load power of the LC refining process decreased with an increase in the plate bar angle while increased when pulp with higher consistency was refined under the same refining conditions.However,the effect of pulp consistency on the no-load power can be neglected when refining is conducted using plates with larger bar angles.Meanwhile,a critical bar angle for straight-bar plates in LC refining may exist,which has the strongest impact on the pulp and highest refining efficiency under the same refining conditions.In addition,the impact capacity of the plate on the pulp and refining efficiency in LC refining can be enhanced by appropriately increasing the pulp consistency and average fiber length when the bar angle of the refiner plate with a sector angle of 40°is less than 30°.Therefore,the efficiency and power consumption of the LC refining process can be adjusted by optimizing the pulp consistency and bar parameters of the refining plates.

Status and Trends of China’s Refining and Petrochemical Industry

China’s refining and petrochemical industry has developed rapidly,with the quality of industry development improving rapidly.The scale of oil refining,ethylene,and PX ranks first in the world,and the quality of refined oil is among the world’s leading levels.However,the industry’s profitability is not strong enough,and there are still technological shortcomings,as well as defects in industry structure and product structure.Under the backdrop of the dual carbon goals,energy transition,electric revolution,and demand differentiation,China’s refining and petrochemical industry will continue to exert efforts in energy conservation and consumption reduction,integrated development with new energy,promotion of oil conversion and the conversion of oil to special products,integration and upgrading of capacity,development of green hydrogen refining and CCUS,diversification of raw materials,circular economy,and other aspects to enhance industrial competitiveness.

Refinement Mechanism of Microstructure of Undercooled Nickel Based Alloys

Through the use of purification and recirculation superheating techniques on molten glass,the Ni65Cu33Co2 alloy was successfully undercooled to a maximum temperature of 292 K.High-speed photography was employed to capture the process of interface migration of the alloy liquid,allowing for an analysis of the relationship between the morphological characteristics of the alloy liquid solidification front and the degree of undercooling.Additionally,the microstructure of the alloy was examined using metallographic microscopy,leading to a systematic study of the microscopic morphological characteristics and evolution laws of the refined structure during rapid solidification.The research reveals that the grain refining mechanism of the Ni-Cu-Co ternary alloy is consistent with that of the binary alloy(Ni-Cu).Specifically,under low undercooling conditions,intense dendritic remelting was found to cause grain refinement,while under high undercooling conditions,recrystallization driven by accumulated stress and plastic strain resulting from the interaction between the liquid flow and the primary dendrites caused by rapid solidification was identified as the main factor contributing to grain refinement.Furthermore,the study highlights the significant role of the Co element in influencing the solidification rate and reheat effect of the alloy.The addition of Co was also found to facilitate the formation of non-segregated solidification structure,indicating its importance in the overall solidification process.

Mechanism in Solidification of a Ternary Nickel Based Alloy

The experiment employed the use of melt purification and cyclic superheating technique to achieve maximum undercooling of Ni65Cu31Co4 alloy at 300K.Simultaneously,high-speed photography techniques were used to capture the process of alloy liquid phase interface migration,and analyzed the relationship between the shape characteristics of the front end of alloy solidification and undercooling.The microstructure of the alloy was observed through metallographic microscopy,and the micro-morphological characteristics and evolution of the rapidly solidified microstructure were systematically studied.It is found that the grain refinement mechanism of Ni-Cu-Co ternary alloy is similar to that of Ni-Cu binary alloy.Grain refinement at low undercooling is caused by intense dendritic remelting,while grain refinement at high undercooling is attributed to recrystallization,driven by the stress and plastic strain accumulated from the interaction of liquid flow and primary dendrites caused by rapid solidification.It also shows that the addition of the third element Co plays a significant role in solidification rate and re-ignition effect.

Grain refinement of Mg-Ca alloys by native MgO particles

In Mg-Ca alloys the grain refining mechanism,in particular regarding the role of nucleant substrates,remains the object of debates.Although native MgO is being recognised as a nucleating substrate accounting for grain refinement of Mg alloys,the possible interactions of MgO with alloying elements that may alter the nucleation potency have not been elucidated yet.Herein,we design casting experiments of Mg-xCa alloys varied qualitatively in number density of native MgO,which are then comprehensively studied by advanced electron microscopy.The results show that grain refinement is enhanced as the particle number density of MgO increases.The native MgO particles are modified by interfacial layers due to the co-segregation of Ca and N solute atoms at the MgO/Mg interface.Using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy,we reveal the nature of these Ca/N interfacial layers at the atomic scale.Irrespective of the crystallographic termination of MgO,Ca and N co-segregate at the MgO/Mg interface and occupy Mg and O sites,respectively,forming an interfacial structure of a few atomic layers.The interfacial structure is slightly expanded,less ordered and defective compared to the MgO matrix due to compositional deviations,whereby the MgO substrate is altered as a poorer template to nucleate Mg solid.Upon solidification in a TP-1 mould,the impotent MgO particles account for the grain refining mechanism,where they are suggested to participate into nucleation and grain initiation processes in an explosive manner.This work not only reveals the atomic engineering of a substrate through interfacial segregation but also demonstrates the effectiveness of a strategy whereby native MgO particles can be harnessed for grain refinement in Mg-Ca alloys.

Engineering fibrillar morphology for highly efficient organic solar cells

The power conversion efficiency(PCE)for single-junction organic solar cells(OSCs),wherein the photoactive layer is a typical bulk-heterojunction containing donor and acceptor materials,has surpassed 19%[1−4].The advance is ascribed to the development of Y-series non-fullerene acceptors(NFAs)[5,6]and polymer donors[7−13],and the refined control of the blend film morphology.

Application of novel constrained friction processing method to produce fine grained biomedical Mg-Zn-Ca alloy

In order to obtain Mg alloys with fine microstructures and high mechanical performances,a novel friction-based processing method,name as“constrained friction processing(CFP)”,was investigated.Via CFP,defect-free Mg-Zn-Ca rods with greatly refined grains and high mechanical properties were produced.Compared to the previous as-cast microstructure,the grain size was reduced from more than 1 mm to around 4μm within 3 s by a single process cycle.The compressive yield strength was increased by 350%while the ultimate compressive strength by 53%.According to the established material flow behaviors by“tracer material”,the plastic material was transported by shear deformation.From the base material to the rod,the material experienced three stages,i.e.deformation by the tool,upward flow with additional tilt,followed by upward transportation.The microstructural evolution was revealed by“stop-action”technique.The microstructural development at regions adjacent to the rod is mainly controlled by twinning,dynamic recrystallization(DRX)as well as particle stimulated nucleation,while that within the rod is related to DRX combined with grain growth.

Brent vs.West Texas Intermediate in the US petro derivatives price formation

In this paper,we apply the spatial panel model to explore the relationship between the dynamic of two types of crude oil prices(WTI and Brent crude oil)and their refined products over time.Considering the turbulent months of 2011,when Cushing Oklahoma had reached capacity and the crude oil export ban removal in 2015 as breakpoints,we apply this method both in the full sample and the three resultant regimes.First,results suggest our results show that both WTI and Brent display very similar behaviour with the refined products.Second,when attending to each regime,results derived from the first and third regimes are quite similar to the full sample results.Therefore,during the second regime,Brent crude oil became the benchmark in the petrol market,and it influenced the distillate products.Furthermore,our model can let us determine the price-setters and price-followers in the price formation mechanism through refined products.These results possess important considerations to policymakers and the market participants and the price formation.

Effect of nano-CaO particle on the microstructure,mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of lean Mg-1Zn alloy

The effects of nano-CaO contents on the microstructure,mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of lean Mg-1Zn alloy were investigated.The results showed that the addition of nano-CaO significantly refined the grain size and improved mechanical properties of the Mg-1Zn alloy.At the same time,CaO reacted with molten Mg in situ to form nano-MgO,whose corrosion product in SBF solution was the same with the degradation product of Mg matrix,resulting in the enhanced compactness of the Mg(OH)_(2) layer and reduced corrosion rate of matrix.The Mg-1Zn alloy had lower corrosion resistance due to excessively large grain size and shedding of corrosion products.The composite with 0.5 wt.%CaO had the best corrosion resistance with a weight loss of 9.875 mg·y^(-1)·mm^(-2)due to the small number of Ca_(2)Mg_(6)Zn_(3) phase and suitable grain size.While for composites with high content of CaO(0.7 wt.%and 1.0 wt.%),they had lower corrosion resistance due to the coexistence of large number of Ca_(2)Mg_(6)Zn_(3) and Mg_(2)Ca at grain boundaries,especially for 1.0 wt.%CaO composite,resulting from the strong micro-galvanic corrosion.

Refined Anam-Net:Lightweight Deep Learning Model for Improved Segmentation Performance of Optic Cup and Disc for Glaucoma Diagnosis

In this work,we aim to introduce some modifications to the Anam-Net deep neural network(DNN)model for segmenting optic cup(OC)and optic disc(OD)in retinal fundus images to estimate the cup-to-disc ratio(CDR).The CDR is a reliable measure for the early diagnosis of Glaucoma.In this study,we developed a lightweight DNN model for OC and OD segmentation in retinal fundus images.Our DNN model is based on modifications to Anam-Net,incorporating an anamorphic depth embedding block.To reduce computational complexity,we employ a fixed filter size for all convolution layers in the encoder and decoder stages as the network deepens.This modification significantly reduces the number of trainable parameters,making the model lightweight and suitable for resource-constrained applications.We evaluate the performance of the developed model using two publicly available retinal image databases,namely RIM-ONE and Drishti-GS.The results demonstrate promising OC segmentation performance across most standard evaluation metrics while achieving analogous results for OD segmentation.We used two retinal fundus image databases named RIM-ONE and Drishti-GS that contained 159 images and 101 retinal images,respectively.For OD segmentation using the RIM-ONE we obtain an f1-score(F1),Jaccard coefficient(JC),and overlapping error(OE)of 0.950,0.9219,and 0.0781,respectively.Similarly,for OC segmentation using the same databases,we achieve scores of 0.8481(F1),0.7428(JC),and 0.2572(OE).Based on these experimental results and the significantly lower number of trainable parameters,we conclude that the developed model is highly suitable for the early diagnosis of glaucoma by accurately estimating the CDR.

Exact solution for thermal vibration of multi-directional functionally graded porous plates submerged in fluid medium

An analytical method for analyzing the thermal vibration of multi-directional functionally graded porous rectangular plates in fluid media with novel porosity patterns is developed in this study.Mechanical properties of MFG porous plates change according to the length,width,and thickness directions for various materials and the porosity distribution which can be widely applied in many fields of engineering and defence technology.Especially,new porous rules that depend on spatial coordinates and grading indexes are proposed in the present work.Applying Hamilton's principle and the refined higher-order shear deformation plate theory,the governing equation of motion of an MFG porous rectangular plate in a fluid medium(the fluid-plate system)is obtained.The fluid velocity potential is derived from the boundary conditions of the fluid-plate system and is used to compute the extra mass.The GalerkinVlasov solution is used to solve and give natural frequencies of MFG porous plates with various boundary conditions in a fluid medium.The validity and reliability of the suggested method are confirmed by comparing numerical results of the present work with those from available works in the literature.The effects of different parameters on the thermal vibration response of MFG porous rectangular plates are studied in detail.These findings demonstrate that the behavior of the structure within a liquid medium differs significantly from that within a vacuum medium.Thereby,they offer appropriate operational approaches for the structure when employed in various mediums.

Integrated multi-scale approach combining global homogenization and local refinement for multi-field analysis of high-temperature superconducting composite magnets

Second-generation high-temperature superconducting(HTS)conductors,specifically rare earth-barium-copper-oxide(REBCO)coated conductor(CC)tapes,are promising candidates for high-energy and high-field superconducting applications.With respect to epoxy-impregnated REBCO composite magnets that comprise multilayer components,the thermomechanical characteristics of each component differ considerably under extremely low temperatures and strong electromagnetic fields.Traditional numerical models include homogenized orthotropic models,which simplify overall field calculation but miss detailed multi-physics aspects,and full refinement(FR)ones that are thorough but computationally demanding.Herein,we propose an extended multi-scale approach for analyzing the multi-field characteristics of an epoxy-impregnated composite magnet assembled by HTS pancake coils.This approach combines a global homogenization(GH)scheme based on the homogenized electromagnetic T-A model,a method for solving Maxwell's equations for superconducting materials based on the current vector potential T and the magnetic field vector potential A,and a homogenized orthotropic thermoelastic model to assess the electromagnetic and thermoelastic properties at the macroscopic scale.We then identify“dangerous regions”at the macroscopic scale and obtain finer details using a local refinement(LR)scheme to capture the responses of each component material in the HTS composite tapes at the mesoscopic scale.The results of the present GH-LR multi-scale approach agree well with those of the FR scheme and the experimental data in the literature,indicating that the present approach is accurate and efficient.The proposed GH-LR multi-scale approach can serve as a valuable tool for evaluating the risk of failure in large-scale HTS composite magnets.

Impact of early refined nursing program on prognosis of middleaged and elderly patients with cognitive dysfunction combined with cerebral infarction

BACKGROUND Cerebral infarction is a local or extensive necrosis of brain tissue.Subsequently,the corresponding neurological deficits appear.The incidence of cerebrovascular diseases in China is increasing gradually.After the onset of cerebrovascular disease,the most common sequelae include movement disorders,language disorders,and cognitive dysfunction.AIM To investigate the effect of early refined nursing program on the prognosis of middle-aged and elderly patients with cerebral infarction combined with cognitive dysfunction.METHODS A retrospective study was conducted to divide 60 patients with cerebral infarction and cognitive impairment into an experimental group(n=32)and a control group(n=28).The experimental group received early intensive care every day,and the control group received daily routine care.The scores of the Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE)and the Trail Making Test(TMT),as well as the latency and amplitude of the event-related potential P300,were used as main indicators to evaluate changes in cognitive function,and changes in BDNF,TGF-β,and GDNF expression were used as secondary indicators.RESULTS Both groups experienced notable enhancements in MMSE scores,with the experi-mental group demonstrating higher scores than the control group(experimental:28.75±2.31;control:25.84±2.87).Moreover,reductions in TMT-A and TMT-B scores were observed in both groups(experimental:TMT-A 52.36±6.18,TMT-B 98.47±10.23;control:TMT-A 61.48±7.92,TMT-B 112.63±12.55),with the experimental group displaying lower scores.P300 Latency decreased(experimental:270.63 ms±14.28 ms;control:285.72 ms±16.45 ms),while amplitude increased(experimental:7.82μV±1.05μV;control:6.35μV±0.98μV)significantly in both groups,with superior outcomes in the experimental cohort.Additionally,the levels of the growth factors BDNF,TGF-β1,and GDNF surged(experimental:BDNF 48.37 ng/mL±5.62 ng/mL,TGF-β152.14 pg/mL±4.28 pg/mL,GDNF 34.76 ng/mL±3.89 ng/mL;control:BDNF 42.58 ng/mL±4.73 ng/mL,TGF-β146.23 pg/mL±3.94 pg/mL,GDNF 30.25 ng/mL±2.98 ng/mL)in both groups,with higher levels in the experimental group.CONCLUSION For middle-aged and elderly patients with cerebral infarction and cognitive dysfunction,early refined nursing can significantly improve their cognitive function and prognosis.

Size-dependent thermomechanical vibration characteristics of rotating pre-twisted functionally graded shear deformable microbeams

A three-dimensional(3D)thermomechanical vibration model is developed for rotating pre-twisted functionally graded(FG)microbeams according to the refined shear deformation theory(RSDT)and the modified couple stress theory(MCST).The material properties are assumed to follow a power-law distribution along the chordwise direction.The model introduces one axial stretching variable and four transverse deflection variables including two pure bending components and two pure shear ones.The complex modal analysis and assumed mode methods are used to solve the governing equations of motion under different boundary conditions(BCs).Several examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the developed model.By coupling the slenderness ratio,gradient index,rotation speed,and size effect with the pre-twisted angle,the effects of these factors on the thermomechanical vibration of the microbeam with different BCs are investigated.It is found that with the increase in the pre-twisted angle,the critical slenderness ratio and gradient index corresponding to the thermal instability of the microbeam increase,while the critical material length scale parameter(MLSP)and rotation speed decrease.The sensitivity of the fundamental frequency to temperature increases with the increasing slenderness ratio and gradient index,and decreases with the other increasing parameters.Moreover,the size effect can suppress the dynamic stiffening effect and enhance the Coriolis effect.Finally,the mode transition is quantitatively demonstrated by a modal assurance criterion(MAC).