Thermodynamics calculation on the oxidation and sulfur removal abilities of slag in EAF dust pellet reduction process

The valuable metals in the dust can be recycled by mixing it with reducing agent carbon and lignosulfonate as the binder to make pellets, then returning the pellets to electric arc furnace (EAF) and adding ferro silicon. Part of valuable metals in the dust is reduced by carbon and part of them reduced by ferro silicon for the economical consideration. The reduced metals get into the steel in the stainless steel or special steel production. But the sulfur in the lignosulfonate may affect the quality of produced steel, which is dependent on the status of the smelting slag. The experiments were conducted in the way of changing the ratio of start iron, pellets, ferro silicon and lime. The content of the slag was checked by XRF for the calculation thermodynamics study. The active concentrations of materials in the slag, the slag abilities of oxidation and sulfur removal in EAF dust reduction process were determined by thermodynamics calculation study on CaO MgO FeO Fe 2O 3 SiO 2 S slag at 1 550 ℃. The oxidation ability of slag can be expressed as N (FetO)= N (FeO)+6 N (Fe 2O 3)+8 N (Fe 3O 4). The sulfur removal ability is dependent on the amount of added ferro silicon and the basicity of the slag. The calculation thermodynamics model was set up and it could be applied to the practical production.

Prediction of the thermal conductivity of Mg–Al–La alloys by CALPHAD method

Mg-Al alloys have excellent strength and ductility but relatively low thermal conductivity due to Al addition.The accurate prediction of thermal conductivity is a prerequisite for designing Mg-Al alloys with high thermal conductivity.Thus,databases for predicting temperature-and composition-dependent thermal conductivities must be established.In this study,Mg-Al-La alloys with different contents of Al2La,Al3La,and Al11La3phases and solid solubility of Al in the α-Mg phase were designed.The influence of the second phase(s) and Al solid solubility on thermal conductivity was investigated.Experimental results revealed a second phase transformation from Al_(2)La to Al_(3)La and further to Al_(11)La_(3)with the increasing Al content at a constant La amount.The degree of the negative effect of the second phase(s) on thermal diffusivity followed the sequence of Al2La>Al3La>Al_(11)La_(3).Compared with the second phase,an increase in the solid solubility of Al in α-Mg remarkably reduced the thermal conductivity.On the basis of the experimental data,a database of the reciprocal thermal diffusivity of the Mg-Al-La system was established by calculation of the phase diagram (CALPHAD)method.With a standard error of±1.2 W/(m·K),the predicted results were in good agreement with the experimental data.The established database can be used to design Mg-Al alloys with high thermal conductivity and provide valuable guidance for expanding their application prospects.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION AND THERMODYNAMIC CALCULATION ON PHASE PRECIPITATION OF INCONEL 740

A novel nickel-based superalloy INCONEL 740 was under development for application in ultra-supercritical superheater tubers above 750℃. The precipitation behaviors of η phase and γ' particles of the alloy were investigated through experimental study and phase computation. Experimental results showed that η phase formed a Widmanst?tten pattern structure following long-term exposure at elevated temperatures and that the coarsening of γ' particle follows a cube rate law:r-3 ∝ t. Thermodynamic calculation results showed that Al and Ti had an important effect on the precipitation behavior of γ' andη phases. Two suggested novel modified alloys, wherein the Al and Ti contents were modified, were designed and melted for the experimental study. The preliminary results indicated that the modified alloys exhibited higher structural stability following long-term exposure at 750℃ till 5000h.

Influence of alloying elements on hot tearing susceptibility of Mg-Zn alloys based on thermodynamic calculation and experimental

Based on the hot tearing index|△T/△(fs)^(0.5)|recently proposed by Kou and the thermodynamic calculations of Pandat software,Al,Cu,and Mn elements were picked up and their influence on hot tearing susceptibility of Mg-x Zn(x=6,8,10,wt%)alloys was studied by experiments.The results indicate that Al addition can significantly reduce the hot tearing susceptibility of Mg-Zn alloys.Either 0.5Cu or 0.3Mn addition individually can reduce the HTS of the Mg-6Zn-(1,4)Al alloys,while adding together increases the susceptibility.The addition of 0.5Cu and 0.3Mn both individually and together increases the HTS of Mg-8/10Zn-1Al alloys.Based on the experimental and calculation results,the index can be modified to|△T/△(fs)^(0.5)|(d)^(2)for more accurate prediction on the hot tearing resistance of Mg-Zn based alloys.Grain refinement significantly improves the hot tearing resistance of Mg-Zn based alloys.

Thermodynamic calculations and experiments on inclusions to be nucleation sites for intragranular ferrite in Si-Mn-Ti deoxidized steel

Microstructures and inclusions in the Si-Mn-Ti deoxidized steels after cooling in the furnace were investigated. The composition and morphology of the inclusions were analyzed using a field emission scanning electron microscope （FE-SEM） with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry （EDS）. The kind and composition of the inclusions calculated from the thermodynamic database were in good agreement with the experimental results. There were two main kinds of inclusions formed in the Si-Mn-Ti deoxidized steels. One kind of inclusion was the manganese titanium oxide （Mn-Ti oxide）. Another kind of inclusion was the MnS inclusion with segregation points containing Ti and N. According to the thermodynamic calculation, those segregation points were TiN precipitates. The formation of intragranular ferrite （IGF） microstructures refined the grain size during the austenite-ferrite transformation. The mechanisms of IGF formation were discussed. Mn-Ti oxide inclusions with Mn-depleted zone （MDZ） were effective to be nucleation sites for IGF formation, because the MDZ increased the austenite-ferrite transformation temperature. TiN had the low misfit ratio with IGF, so the TiN precipitated on the MnS surface also promoted the formation of IGF because of decreasing interfacial energies.

Thermodynamic Calculation of A_(r3) Temperature inLow Alloy Steels

On the basis of superelement model, Cahn's transformation kinetics theory and Scheil's additivity rule, actual γ/α transformation start temperature, A.3 in Fe-Σ Xi-C (Xi=Mn, Si, Ni, Mo etc.)multi-component low alloy Steels during continuous cooling process was calculated. Influences of chemical composition, hot deformation of γ and cooling rate on Ar3 temperature were analyzed. Calculated Ar3 temperatures are in reasonable agreement with measured ones.

Effect of Atmosphere on Sintering of High Cr_2O_3 Bearing Refractories Considered from Thermodynamic Calculation

Pure Cr2O3 refractories and high Cr2O3 bearing refractories are difficult to sinter in oxidizing atmosphere, but they can be sintered easily in carbon embedded conditions. In the latter case it is attributed to the formation of liquid CrO in reducing atmosphere. The thermodynamic calculation shows that the Cr2O3 is reduced by CO at 1 550 ℃ to chromium carbides, which disproves the existence of liquid CrO. This is confirmed by further sintering experiment of the Cr2O3 refractories. Effect of atmosphere on sintering of high Cr2O3 bearing refractories and measures to accelerate the sintering process are discussed based on the experiment and thermodynamic calculation.

First-principles calculations of structural and thermodynamic properties of β-PbO

We employed ab-initio calculations to investigate the structural and thermodynamic properties of Massicot or orthorhombic phase of PbO named β-PbO using the projector augmented-wave（PAW） method within the generalized gradient approximation（GGA）. The temperature and pressure dependence of bulk modulus, heat capacity at constant pressure and constant volume, entropy, thermal expansion coefficient and Grüneisen parameter were discussed. Accuracy of two different models, the Debye and Debye-Grüneisen which are based on the quasi-harmonic approximation（QHA） for producing thermodynamic properties of material were compared. According to calculation results, these two models can be used to designate thermodynamic properties for β-PbO with sensible accuracy over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, and our work on the properties of this structure will be useful for more deeply understanding various properties of this structure.

Phase transition and thermodynamic properties of BiFeO_3 from first-principles calculations

The first-principles projector-augmented wave method employing the quasi-harmonic Debye model,is applied to investigate the thermodynamic properties and the phase transition between the trigonal R3c structure and the orthorhombic Pnma structure.It is found that at ambient temperature,the phase transition from the trigonal R3c phase to the orthorhombic Pnma phase is a first-order antiferromagnetic-nonmagnetic and insulator-metal transition,and occurs at 10.56 GPa,which is in good agreement with experimental data.With increasing temperature,the transition pressure decreases almost linearly.Moreover,the thermodynamic properties including Grneisen parameter,heat capacity,entropy,and the dependences of thermal expansion coefficient on temperature and pressure are also obtained.

Thermodynamic Calculation of Carbide Precipitate in Niobium Microalloyed Steels

On the basis of regular solution sublattice model, thermodynamic equilibrium of austenite/carbide in Fe-Nb-C ternary system was investigated. The equilibrium volume fraction, chemical driving force of carbide precipitates and molar fraction of niobium and carbon in solution at different temperatures were evaluated respectively. The volume fraction of precipitates increases, molar fraction of niobium dissolved in austenite decreases and molar fraction of carbon increases with decreasing the niobium content. The driving force increases with the decrease of temperature, and then comes to be stable at relatively low temperatures. The predicted ratio of carbon in precipitates is in good agreement with the measured one.

Calculating detonation performance of explosives by VLWR thermodynamics code introduced with universal VINET equation of state

Thermodynamic calculation is the theoretical basis for the study of initiation and detonation,as well as the prerequisite for forecasting the detonation performance of unknown explosives.Based on the VLWR(Virial-Wu)thermodynamic code,this paper introduced the universal solid equation of state(EOS)VINET.In order to truly reflect the compressibility of nanocarbon under the extremely high-temperature and high-pressure environment in detonation,an SVM(support vector machine)was utilized to optimize the input parameters of carbon.The detonation performance of several explosives with different densities was calculated by the optimized universal EOS,and the results show that the thermodynamic code coupled with the universal solid EOS VINET can predict the detonation performance parameters of explosives well.To investigate the application of the thermodynamic code with the improved VINET EOS in the working capacity of explosives,the interrelationship between pressure P-particle velocity u and pressure P-volume V were computed for the detonation products of TNT and HMX-based PBX(HMX:binder:insensitive agent=95:4.3:0.7)in the CJ isentropic state.A universal curve proposed by Cooper was used to compared the computed isentropic state,where the ratio of pressure to CJ state were plotted against the ratio of velocity to CJ state.The parameters of the JWL(Jones-Wilkins-Lee)EOS for detonation products were obtained by fitting the P-V curve.The cylinder tests of TNT and HMX-based PBX were numerically simulated using the LS-DYNA,it is verified that,within a certain range,the improved algorithm has superiority in describing the working capacity of explosives.

VARIATIONAL CALCULATION OF THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF SUPERCOOLED LIQUID METALS

By means of Gibbs-Bogoliubov (GB) thermodynamic variational calculation,the thermodynamic properties of the supercooled liquid metals,such as the 3rd family elements Al,Ga and Tl and transition metal Ti were calculated using the hard-sphere (HS) system as reference.The values of mean atomic volume,Helmholtz free energy,internal energy and entropy as well as specific heat at constant volume,isothermal bulk modulus,thermal expan- sion coefficient and specfic heat under constant pressure were evaluated.The glass transition temperature,T_g,is easily obtained from the C_p-T plot.The glass forming ability for metal can be predicted from T_g/T_m,which is in agreement with the experimental results.

Thermodynamic Calculation Method for Formation of Rare Earth Inclusions in Conductive Copper

The thermodynamic calculation method for the formation of rare-earth inclusions in conductive copper was discussed. After the formation sequence was calculated, the thermodynamic condition for the inter-change between RE inclusions was further calculated. As an example, thermodynamic law of the formation for all kinds of cerium inclusions was discussed in conductive copper alloyed by cerium. The theoretical results are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results.

Experimental Study and Thermodynamical Calculation on the Formation of Eutectic Phase of MnS-RE_2S_3 and(Mn,Ca)S-RE_2S_3 in Sulfur-Containing Free-Cutting Steel

The free-cutting phase in RE or Ca-RE treated sulfur-containing free-cutting steel is the eutectic phases of MnS-RE_2S_3 and (Mn,Ca)S-RE_2S_3,respectively.The atomic ratio of RE/S needed to modify all the MnS into the eutectic phase is higher than 1.48 or 1.41-1.37 Ca/S,when RE or Ca-RE is used as the modifiz- er in the sulfur-containing free-cutting steel.Moreover,the thermodynamical calculation shows that the eutectic temperature is lower than the solidifying temperature,which is the key condition for the eutectic phase to keep globual during solidifying.

Thermodynamic Calculation of Si_3N_4-SiC Phase Equilibrium

SisN4 and SiC phase stability via gas phase reactions among SiO, CO/CO2 and N2 has been calculated based on thermochemical equilibrium. The influences of carbon activity (αC), and the partial pressure of SiO (PSiO), CO (PCO) and N2 (PN2) on the Si3N4-SiC stability have been studied and the related phase diagrams have been constructed. Result shows that the lowering αC and PCO/PSiO ratio and the increasing PN2 greatly elevate the Si3N4-SiC equilibrium temperature. Some previously observed experimental results related to Si3N4 and SiC formation at different temperature from the gas phase reactions have been discussed and some guides for sintering and synthesis Of the Si3N4 materials have been proposed

Suggestions for Sintering Technologies of High Cr_2O_3 Bearing Refractories Based on Thermodynamic Calculation

Cr2O3 can be sintered well at 1500℃ in carbonembedded condition or H2 atmosphere. But the high chrome bearing refractories can not reach densification when sintered at 1 700℃ .for 10 h in weak reducing atmosphere formed by the combustion of fuel, and its ap- parent porosity is about 18%. The high chrome bearing refractories are mainly used in coal gasifiers. The temperature in the furnace is about 1 500℃ and the products are H2 and CO, which are just the sintering conditions of the dense chrome refractories with apparent porosity less than 10%. The high chrome bearing refractories used in coal gasifiers may be sintered again and then shrink, destroying the gasifier lining. The thermodynamic calculation shows that it is safe about the high chrome bearing refractories used in gasifiers. It is also explained that the high chrome bearing refractories can＇t be sintered densely in weak reducing atmosphere formed by the combustion of fuel. The new sintering technologies can be used to improve the bulk density of the high chrome bearing refractories.

THERMODYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION AND CALCULATION OF THE Fe-Pr SYSTEM

Based on the phase diagram of the Fe-Pr system available,the thermodynamic optimization and calcula- tion of the system have been carried out by the least square method.The lattice stabilities of Fe and Pr are described by the expression recommended by SGTE organization.The liquid phase is described by the subregular solution model.The intermetallic compounds,Fe_(17)Pr_2 and Fe_2Pr,are treated as stoichiometric compounds.The optimized parameters describing phases in the system are presented.The comparision be- tween the calculated and experimentally determined phase diagram shows that the agreement is generally very good except for the liquid+δ-Fe equilibrium.It is suggested to measure this part of phase diagram again.

Thermodynamic Calculation of the SrO-Nb_2O_5 System

The SrO-Nb2O5 quasibinary system is assessed using the Calculation of Phase Diagram (CAL PHAD) technique. A set of self-consistent parameters is obtained and the calculated phase diagram is consistent with the experimental data. It is suggested that further tentative investigation is required especially in the SrO-riched region

Microstructural characterization of titanium matrix composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB + TiC fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding

Titanium-based composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC particles between titanium and B4C were successfully fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding. Phase constituents of the coatings were predicted by thermodynamic calculations in the Ti-BnC-Al and Ti-B-C-Al systems, respectively, and were validated well by X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis results. Microstructural and metallographic analyses were made by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and electron probe micro-analysis （EPMA）. The results show that the coatings are mainly composed of α-Ti cellular dendrites and the eutecticum in which a large number of needle-shaped TiB and a few equiaxial TiC particles are embedded. C is enriched in α-Ti cellular dendrites and far exceeds the theoretical maximum dissolubility, owing to the extension of saturation during laser cladding. The coatings have a good metallurgical bond with the substrate due to the existence of the dilution zone, in which a great amount of lamella β-Ti grains consisting of a thin needle-shaped martensitic microstructure are present and grow parallel to the heat flux direction; a few TiB and TiC reinforcements are observed at the boundaries of initial β-Ti grains.