A model for crack formation during active solid pyrolysis of a char-forming solid: crack patterns; surface area generation; volatile mass efflux

A model is developed for the formation and propagation of cracks in a material sample that is heated at its top surface, pyrolyses, and then thermally degrades to form char. In this work the sample is heated uniformly over its entire top surface by a hypothetical flame (a heat source). The pyrolysis mechanism is described by a one-step overall reaction that is dependent nonlinearly on the temperature (Arrhenius form). Stresses develop in response to the thermal degradation of the material by means of a shrinkage strain caused by local mass loss during pyrolysis. When the principal stress exceeds a prescribed threshold value, the material forms a local crack. Cracks are found to generally originate at the surface in response to heating, but occasionally they form in the bulk, away from ever-changing material boundaries. The resulting cracks evolve and form patterns whose characteristics are described. Quantities examined in detail are: the crack spacing in the pyrolysis zone; the crack length evolution; the formation and nature of crack loops which are defined as individual cracks that have joined to form loops that are disconnected from the remaining material; the formation of enhanced pyrolysis area; and the impact of all of the former quantities on mass flux. It is determined that the mass flux from the sample can be greatly enhanced over its nominal (non-cracking) counterpart. The mass efflux profile qualitatively resembles those observed in Cone Calorimeter tests.     

碳纳米管阵列、捆束的三步升温工艺制备及其形貌与结构

使用结构简单的单温炉设备，通过三步升温热解二茂铁、三聚氰氨混合物方法，在二氧化硅、多晶陶瓷基底上分别合成了碳纳米管阵列、碳纳米管捆束.使用扫描电子显微镜、透射电子显微镜、电子能量损失谱和x射线光电子能谱对合成样品进行了结构和成分分析.结果显示：两种基底上合成的纳米管均为多壁纯碳管；生长于光滑二氧化硅表面的碳纳米管具有高度取向性和一致的外径，长度为10—40μm.碳纳米管采取催化剂顶端生长模式并展示出类杯状形貌；生长于粗糙多晶陶瓷表面的碳纳米管捆束随机取向，碳纳米管直径为15—80nm，长度在几百微米，展示 关键词： 碳纳米管 热解法 三步升温工艺     

Isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate)/layered double hydroxide nanocomposites

Poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)/layered double hydroxides (LDHs) nanocomposites were prepared by mixing PHB and poly(ethylene glycol) phosphonates (PEOPAs)‐modified LDH (PMLDH) in chloroform solution. Both X‐ray diffraction data and TEM micrographs of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites indicate that the PMLDHs are randomly dispersed and exfoliated into the PHB matrix. In this study, the effect of PMLDH on the isothermal crystallization behavior of PHB was investigated using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy. Isothermal crystallization results of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites show that the addition of 2 wt % PMLDH into PHB induced more heterogeneous nucleation in the crystallization significantly increasing the crystallization rate and reducing their activation energy. By adding more PMLDH into the PHB probably causes more steric hindrance of the diffusion of PHB, reducing the transportation ability of polymer chains during crystallization, thus increasing the activation energy. The correlation among crystallization kinetics, melting behavior and crystalline structure of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites can also be discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3337–3347, 2006     

Assessing contaminated hydrogen peroxide for safe storage and transportation using the FTAI

Hydrogen peroxide is a very versatile oxidizing agent, and it is also environmentally compatible considering that the products of its exothermic decomposition are oxygen and water.When kept in a clean temperature-controlled environment, the self-reaction (decomposition) rate is extremely low. However, it is well known that even a small amount of contamination will dramatically increase the reaction rate. This paper describes the use of the fast thermal activity interpreter (FTAI) instrument to examine the chemical reactivity of commercially available 50% hydrogen peroxide at two different temperatures (30 and 40°C) both with and without contamination. The results show that at 30°C a small amount of rust (330 ppm) increases the reaction rate of 50% hydrogen peroxide by a factor of 50. When the temperature is increased to 40°C, the reaction rate is further increased by almost a factor of four. The implication for reactivity management is that at this contamination level most practical vessel sizes would require emergency venting capability. An evaluation was then performed to determine the emergency venting requirement for the safe transportation or storage of the contaminated hydrogen peroxide. It was determined that for quantities of the material less than 5 gallons, conventional breather vents would be sufficient to accommodate the gas evolved. However, for larger quantities, a safety relief device would be needed. For example, for a 400-gallon tote bin at 40°C the required minimum vent area is estimated to be 4.3 in², corresponding to a minimum vent diameter of 2.3 inches.     

A thermoanalytical study of the formation and activation of novel copper-carbon catalysts

Simultaneous DSC-TG and DTA-TG were used to investigate the calatytic effect of the metal on the thermal decomposition of a cellulose matrix containing small copper particles. The techniques were also used to demonstrate the effect of the metal particles on the subsequent activation of the carbon matrix, a process which develops the pore structure necessary to expose the metal particles to the gas phase. Temperature programmed desorption was used to study the initial mass loss found on activation. To quantify the catalytic effect of the copper particles on the activation process an estimate was made of the activation energy of the catalysed and uncatalysed reactions. The work gives valuable information on the processes involved in the preparation of a new range of metal-carbon catalysts. In celebration of the 60^th birthday of Dr. Andrew K. Galwey     

木质装饰板材贫氧条件下燃烧和热解特性研究

本文利用热重差热分析仪,在各种不同的氧气浓度下对落叶松、红木和红松样品进行实验。通过对TG、DTG和DTA曲线的分析,样品干燥基要经历两个失重过程,第一个失重过程主要是纤维素和半纤维素的热解,第二个失重过程主要是木质素的炭化分解和燃烧。在各氧气浓度条件下,热解失重的第一个阶段TG和DTG曲线差异很小;在各样品失重的第二个阶段,随着氧气浓度的增加,TG和DTG曲线左移,反应结束的温度明显降低。氧气能使木质素的炭化物氧化并进而可能使其着火燃烧,从而使反应进程加快。当氧气浓度大于6.32%时,各样品DTA曲线上均有两个明显放热峰,并且随着氧气浓度的增加,DTA曲线放热峰越尖锐,放热峰面积越大,说明氧气浓度越大,在两阶段失重过程中更多的挥发分物质和固体炭化物参与燃烧。     

Flame Temperature Effect on the Structure of SiC Nanoparticles Grown by Laser Pyrolysis

Small SiC nanoparticles (10 nm diameter) have been grown in a flow reactor by CO₂ laser pyrolysis from a C₂H₂ and SiH₄ mixture. The laser radiation is strongly absorbed by SiH₄ vibration. The energy is transferred to the reactive medium and leads to the dissociation of molecules and the subsequent growth of the nanoparticles. The reaction happens with a flame. The purpose of the experiments reported in this paper is to limit the size of the growing particles to the nanometric scale for which specific properties are expected to appear. Therefore the effects of experimental parameters on the structure and chemical composition of nanoparticles have been investigated. For a given reactive mixture and gas velocity, the flame temperature is governed by the laser power. In this study, the temperature was varied from 875°C to 1100°C. The chemical analysis of the products indicate that their composition is a function of the temperature. For the same C/Si atomic ratio in the gaseous phase, the C/Si ratio in the powder increases from 0.7 at 875°C up to 1.02 at 1100°C, indicating a growth mechanism limited by C₂H₂ dissociation. As expected, X-ray diffraction has shown an improved crystallisation with increasing temperature. Transmission electron microscopy observations have revealed the formation of 10 nm grains for all values of laser power (or flame temperature). These grains appear amorphous at low temperature, whereas they contain an increasing number of nanocrystals (2 nm diameter) when the temperature increases. These results pave the way to a better control of the structure and chemical composition of laser synthesised SiC nanoparticles in the 10 nm range.     

医疗和危险废物高温洁净热处理及环境力学

结合2003年中国的突发危害公众健康的事件，分析了医疗、化学战剂及危险废物的分类、特性，比较了各种高温热处理技术的基本要求，方法分类和设备特点，包括：各类焚烧炉、热解炉和等离子体裂解装置．还对前处理工艺要求，尾气处理工艺等进行了分析讨论，讨论了防止二次污染的技术手段，特别介绍了二噁英等高危险性产物的特性．还介绍了发达国家的医疗废物和危险废物的管理、处置和二次污染防治等情况．     

Magnetic properties of lanthanum orthoferrite fine powders prepared by different chemical routes

Fine powders of lanthanum iron oxide, LaFeO₃, have been prepared by solid state reaction as well as sol-gel synthesis and nebulized spray pyrolysis. Structures, morphologies and magnetic susceptibility measurements of these powders have been examined. The powders prepared by all the three low-temperature routes contain nearly spherical particles with an average diameter of 40 nm. These samples show a lower Neel temperature than the powder prepared by solid state reaction besides showing much lower magnetic susceptibility at low temperatures. Dedicated to Professor C N R Rao on his 70th birthday     

Preparation and characterization of iron oxide thin films by spray pyrolysis using methanolic and ethanolic solutions

Iron oxide thin films have been obtained by spray pyrolysis using 100% methanolic and ethanolic solutions of iron tri-chloride. The films were deposited onto ITO-coated glass substrates. The preparative conditions have been optimized to obtain compact, pin-hole-free and smooth thin films which are adherent to the substrate. The structural, morphological and compositional characterizations have been carried out by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The films deposited using ethanolic solution results into pure hematite; α-Fe₂O₃ thin films, however, films deposited using methanolic solution consists of hematite and maghemite-c phases of iron oxide. The films are nanocrystalline with particle size of 30-40 nm. The optical absorbance of the film was of the order of 10⁵ cm⁻¹. The optical band gap of films was found to be 2.26 and 2.20 eV for the films deposited using methanolic and ethanolic solutions, respectively.