Characterization and technology of fast reducing roasting for fine iron materials

The features of the techniques of fast reducing roasting （FRR） and conventional magnetic roasting, as well as tremendous demands of iron ores in iron and steel industry of China, were briefly described. The test equipment suitable for FRR of fine-grained materials was introduced. Weakly magnetic materials with grain size of 〈0.30 mm were converted into strongly magnetic materials by FRR for several to dozens of seconds. In a weakly reducing atmosphere and at 740-800 ~C, refractory powder iron material （〈0.30 mm） which is rich in specularite, limonite and Mg-Mn siderite was subjected to FRR for a few seconds to 60 s. Concentrate with iron grade of 55.67%-55.21%, high contents of Mg and Mn in the ore is obtained and the yield of magnetic separation reaches 81.66%-86.57%. The results of X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis and magnetism detection of the material before and after FRR indicate that weakly magnetic material is mainly converted into strongly magnetic material Fe304 with specific saturation magnetic moment. The efficiency of FRR is consistent with TFe recovery of magnetic separation; meantime, the specific sa^u＇ation magnetic moment increases from 33 to 42 times after FRR. Calculations show that speeds of flash magnetic roasting are obtained from several dozen to two or three hundred times, compared with rotary kiln or shaft furnace. This indicates that it is practicable to use the fast reducing roasting technique to improve the comprehensive utilization of iron ore resources.

Recent Advances in Flame Tomography

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel fired power plants,a range of new combustion technologies are being developed or refined,including oxy-fuel combustion,co-firing biomass with coal and fluidized bed combustion.Flame characteristics under such combustion conditions are expected to be different from those in normal air fired combustion processes.Quantified flame characteristics such as temperature distribution,oscillation frequency,and ignition volume play an important part in the optimized design and operation of the environmentally friendly power generation systems.However,it is challenging to obtain such flame characteristics particularly through a three-dimensional and non-intrusive means.Various tomography methods have been proposed to visualize and characterize flames,including passive optical tomography,laser based tomography,and electrical tomography.This paper identifies the challenges in flame tomography and reviews existing techniques for the quantitative characterization of flames.Future trends in flame tomography for industrial applications are discussed.

Synthesis and spark plasma sintering of Al-Mg-Zr alloys

Although casting is commonly used to process aluminum alloys, powder metallurgy remains a promising technique to develop aluminum based materials for structural and functional applications. The possibility to synthesize Al-Mg-Zr alloys through mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering techniques was explored. Al-10Mg-5Zr and Al-5Mg-1Zr alloyed powders were synthesized through wet ball milling the appropriate amount of elemental powders. The dried milled powders were spark plasma sintered through passing constant pulsed electric current with fixed pulse duration at a pressure of 35 MPa. The samples were vacuum sintered at 450, 500, 550, 600 and 620 ℃ for 10, 15 and 20 min. The Al-10Mg-5Zr alloy displays poor densification at lower sintering temperatures of 450, 500, 550 and 600 ℃. Its sinterability is improved at a temperature of 620 ℃ whereas sintering temperatures higher than 620 ℃ leads to partial melting of the alloy. It is possible to sinter the Al-5Mg-1Zr alloy at 450, 500 and 550 ℃. The increase of sintering temperature improves its densification and increases its hardness. The Al-5Mg-IZr alloy displays better densification and hardness compared to Al-10Mg-5Zr alloys.

NOx Emission Characteristics in Radiant Tube Burner with Oscillating Combustion Technology

An experimental study was carried out in a small-scale furnace to investigate the performance, such as NOx emission, enhancement of heat transfer, uniformity of temperature, and etc., of oscillating combustion applied in radiant tube burner sy stem for heat treatment furnace. A premixed type burner and a solenoid type oscillating control valve were designed and used. The fuel was used commercial LPG in this study and the fuel flow was oscillated by periodically opening and shutoff of the solenoid valve. From the tests, it was found that NOx emission, compared to no oscillation, could be reduced by 32% at 2.0 Hz. However, as oscillating frequency was increased, abatement of NOx emission was gradually reduced. At the high NOx abatement of 1.0 Hz, carbon monoxide was emitted above 10,000 ppm. Although rate of NOx abatement was low, oscillation condition of 2.5 Hz and duty ratio of 10-30% was recommended for low carbon monoxide emission. From the measurement of furnace heating time from 100 ℃ to 720 ℃, it was shown that heat transfer was increased by 11.5% at 2 Hz oscillating frequency. Temperature distribution of radiant tube surface was more uniform at 2 Hz oscillating frequency with drop of the peak temperature and rise of low temperature. From these results, it was confirmed that oscillating combustion was useful in radiant tube burner system.