MSE 560 The Production of Inorganic Materials

Sem. 1. Class 3, cr. 3. (offered in alternate years). Prerequisite: senior or graduate standing in engineering or science.

MSE 560 is an elective course.

Weekly Schedule: Three 50-minute lectures.

Examination of the production of inorganic materials of engineering importance (metals, ceramics, and glasses) from ore concentrates, raw materials, and recycled materials. Individual stages in the extraction, refining, and syntheses processes are examined from the viewpoints of thermodynamics and kinetics, and alternative production routes are compared and contrasted. Topics covered include carbothermic and metallothermic reduction of oxide concentrates, smelting and conversion of sulfide mattes, electrolysis and electrowinning from aqueous solutions and molten salts, distillation and vacuum refining, glass-forming, and the synthesis of carbide and nitride ceramics. Offered in alternate years.

Relation of Course to Program Outcomes
1. an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to problems in materials engineering.
5. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems, particularly in the context of materials selection and design.

Goals
1.  To understand the means by which raw and recycled materials can be converted to materials of engineering importance.
2.  To understand what determines the limitations set on the purities of engineering materials.
3.  To understand the materials and thermal balance criteria required to operate continuous high temperature processes at steady state.
4.  To understand the manipulation of electrode potential and pH required to extract condensed phases from aqueous solutions.
5.  To understand the principles of electrochemistry applied in the extraction of elements by electrolysis.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course the student is expected to:

  • be capable of recognizing, from an examination of the phase diagram for the system ZrO2-SiO2, how ZrO2 can be obtained from zircon. Be capable of understanding the principles of production of ZrO2 by alkali decomposition and lime fusion from examination of the appropriate ternary phase diagrams.
  • be capable of understanding the mechanism of stabilization of ZrO2 from examination of the phase diagrams for the binary systems CaO-ZrO2, MgO-ZrO2 and Y2O3-ZrO2.
  • be capable of understanding the use of stabilized ZrO2 in oxygen sensors, hydrogen generators and fuel cells.
  • be capable of understanding how pure alumina is extracted from bauxite by manipulation of pH, temperature and pressure in the Bayer process.
  • be capable of understanding the principles of electrochemistry, half cell potentials, electrolytic and galvanic cells, molality, molarity, the thermodynamic treatment of aqueous solutions, the Gibbs energy of formation of ions, the Standard Hydrogen Electrode, calculation of the molalities of H+ and OH- in water.
  • be capable of constructing the Pourbaix diagram for Al2O3 and calculating the variation, with pH, of the solubilities of Al3+ and AlO-2.
  • be capable of understanding the production of Al by electrolysis in the Hall-Heroult cell. Be capable of understanding the criteria used for selection of the electrolyte. Be capable of understanding the advantages of using graphite as the anode material and the disadvantages of using graphite as the cathode material. Be capable of understanding the requirements of an ideal cathode.
  • be capable of understanding the thermodynamics of the carbothermic reduction of ZnO in a blast furnace and understand the reasons for rapid quenching of the zinc vapor produced. Be capable of understanding the mechanism of quenching the zinc vapor in liquid lead.
  • be capable of constructing phase stability diagrams for ternary systems containing carbon and oxygen and be capable of using phase stability diagrams of the system Si-O-C to determine the thermodynamic conditions required for the production of metallurgical grade silicon and ferrosilicon in a low-shaft furnace. Be capable of understanding the process which allows semiconductor-grade silicon (with an impurity level of 10-3 ppm) from metallurgical-grade silicon (with an impurity level of 103 ppm). Be capable of understanding the requirements for the production of SiC and Si3N4 from examination of the appropriate phase stability diagrams.
  • be capable of understanding the production of iron by the iron blast furnace from examination of the Ellingham diagram for the oxides of iron and carbon. Be capable of understanding the requirements of CaO as a flux by reference to the phase diagram for the system CaO-Al2O3-SiO2. Be capable of using the Rist model to determine the adjustment of process variables (air blast rate, oxygen enrichment, blast temperature) required to produce the materials and enthalpy balances required for steady-state operation of the blast furnace. Be capable of understanding the nature of reactions which occur between the hot metal and the slag.
  • be capable of understanding the means of production of steel by preferential oxidation of hot metal in a converter. Be capable of understanding the various refining reactions which occur during conversion. Be capable of understanding the flux requirements and understanding the mechanism of slag formation by examination of the phase diagram for the system CaO-FeO-SiO2. Be capable of understanding the various processes used during ladle treatment of the steel.

Instructor
 

Contribution of course to meeting the professional component:  MSE 560 is a materials-specific technical elective course.

Prepared by: Elliott Slamovich                                                            Date: April 25th, 2007