Light Elements Technology: Light Elements: Hydrogen, Boron, Carbon
Sponsored by: TMS Light Metals Division
Program Organizers: Neale Neelameggham, IND LLC; Kiran Solanki, Arizona State University; Prashanth Saraswat, Department of Metallurgy; Huimin Lu, Beijing Ofikintai Technology Co Ltd.; Onuralp Yucel, Istanbul Technical University
Wednesday 8:30 AM
March 22, 2023
Room: 30D
Location: SDCC
Session Chair: Onuralp Yucel, Istanbul Institute of Technology; Kiran Solanki, Arizona State University
8:30 AM Introductory Comments by Neale Neelameggham
8:35 AM Keynote
Thoughts on the Role of Light Elements as Alternative Reductants in Major Ferroalloy Production: Joalet Steenkamp1; 1University of the Witwatersrand
Ferroalloys can be classified as major or bulk ferroalloys, which are produced in large quantities, and minor ferroalloys produced in smaller quantities but of high importance. The major ferroalloys are ferromanganese (FeMn), silicomanganese (SiMn), ferrochromium (FeCr), ferrosilicon (FeSi), and ferronickel (FeNi). These alloys are mainly used in carbon and/or stainless steelmaking. Apart from FeNi, production of these alloys are based on endothermic, carbothermic reduction processes and electric furnace technology primarily. Therefore, the contribution of bulk ferroalloy production to CO2 emissions is significant, even more so when electricity production is also carbon-based. Bulk ferroalloy production is also associated with large slag-to-alloy ratios and recoveries of valuable elements less than 100%. In this paper, the potential use of light elements as alternative reductants in the production of major ferroalloys is explored. The elements under consideration are hydrogen, lithium, beryllium, boron carbon, sodium, and to a smaller extent calcium, potassium, magnesium, and aluminium.
9:15 AM
Three Light Elements - Carbon - Hydrogen - Oxygen Make the Material World: Neale Neelameggham1; Praveen Kalamegham1; Ganesan Subramanian2; Sundaresan Asokan3; K.S. Raja4; Onuralp Yucel5; 1IND LLC; 2Sai Systems; 3Independent Geo Consultant; 4Vyzag BioEnergy Fuel Ltd.; 5Istanbul Technical University
Minerals of the world would have stayed as mineral rocks on earth but for their conversion using dead life of plant matter into metals, from the times of Iron age - when homosapiens understood the benefits of 'Agni' - Biofire for food as well as materials. Biomolecules consist of three major Light elements - Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen tied together with minor element Nitrogen, and other smaller component elements, in all parts of a plant in varying proportions. Use of these biomatter in mineral reduction requires effective use of carbon and hydrogen in it while maximizing the thermal benefits from inherent oxidation needed for the material production. Thermodynamics can show how best to use biomatter reductants with minimal waste thermal pollution, which is the main goal of NetZero 2050. Plants of yore, provided coal and coke reductants till now. Some examples are shown in the study.
9:35 AM
Spark Plasma Sintered Boron Carbide Ceramic Armor: Gokce Dara1; Gamze Sapancı1; 1ROKETSAN Mssiles Inc.
Boron carbide (B4C) is one of the most commonly used materials for armor applications due to its low specific density and high hardness. However, the high material cost is preventing the wide use of Boron carbide. Numerous studies have been carried out on the production of B4C-containing composite materials by the addition of different compounds such as SiC and TiC. In this study, optimum boron carbide - silicon carbide - titanium carbide multi-phase ceramic composite compositions were designed and produced by spark plasma sintering to optimize cost and ballistic properties relationship for armor applications. The addition of SiC did not affect the hardness and toughness, but the addition of TiC resulted in increased toughness in spite of decreased hardness. When SiC and TiC were added together, hardness decreased whereas fracture toughness increased. Additives studied in this study decreased the cost but increased the density of composite ceramic.
9:55 AM Break
10:10 AM
Utilizing of Tincal Ore Wastes in Ceramic Industry: Levent Özmen1; Yıldız Yıldırım2; Dilek Başoğlu3; Onuralp Yücel4; 1MEF University; 2Kaleseramik; 3Termal Seramik; 4Istanbul Technical University
Boron mining is carried out as opencast mining in Turkey. Boron containing wastes generating from production facilities are suitable raw materials for sectors when environmental impacts are taking into consideration, too. In this study, the effect of various amounts of boron waste added to the ceramic body on forming, firing processes have been analyzed. This study has been carried out in order to provide information for bringing in this inert potential resource to the advantage of the country's economy. The waste sample added into hard materials to form masse in the ratio of 3.5% and 7%, respectively to ceramic factory production line. Hard materials were minimized and homogenized with stamp mill before crushed in ball mill while plastic materials pretreated in blunger. Depending on the input ratio of wastes, an increased in viscosity was observed. Increase in cooking derogation and improvements in structural properties resulted in low water absorption
10:30 AM
Spark Plasma Sintering and Characterization of B4C- ZrB2 Composites: Leyla Yanmaz1; Filiz Cinar Sahin1; 1Istanbul Technical University
Boron carbide (B4C) is widely used in nuclear reactors, wear resistant components, abrasive materials and lightweight armors because of its outstanding properties such as high melting point, low density, high hardness, high neutron absorption capability and good wear resistance. However, high temperatures and long sintering times are required to obtain dense structures via conventional pressure-assisted sintering methods and it has low fracture toughness which limits its applications. Therefore, addition of an appropriate second phase and novel methods such as spark plasma sintering (SPS) emerges in latest studies to overcome limitations of B4C. Zirconium diboride (ZrB2) is a candidate material to promote boron carbide’s consolidation and to achieve good mechanical properties. In this study, B4C-ZrB2 composites in square geometry with the varying amounts of ZrB2 (0, 5, 10, 15 vol. %) will be prepared by SPS. The effects of ZrB2 addition on the densification, hardness and fracture toughness will be investigated.