Cellulose Nano Fibrils (CNFs) can be extracted from wood and other plants. These CNFs are expected to play a large roll in future materials owing to their interesting properties and biobased nature. In this project, dewatering of gels made from CNF by non-confined mechanical pressing has been studied. A CNF suspension was gelled by the addition of HCl at pH 2 to form gel cakes and then pressed mechanically. The goal was to find the pressure limits of the gel cakes for different starting concentrations, in weight percentage [wt%], of CNF to optimize the pressure used when dewatering CNF gels. The non-confined pressing was achieved via the useof a Zwick/Roell Torsion multi-axis testing system. Gel cakes were pressed until a pressing equilibrium was reached. Equilibrium was reached when compression was less than 0.01 mm per 100 seconds. Gel cakes were frozen with liquid N2, freeze-dried, and analysed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results observed from the pressing data showed that gel cakes with higher CNF starting concentrations could survive higher pressures. Using the highest pressure available, at the pressure limit, yielded both the shortest run time and the highest dryness content. SEM imaging showed that the compression of the gel cakes starts at the surfaces and continuous inwards through the bulk. The mechanical pressure creates sheets of CNF both vertically and horizontally. By plotting the starting concentrations vs applied pressure a limit map with pressure regions could be created. From the limit map further optimization can be achieved to shorten the dewatering process of the CNF gels.

The kraft pulping process is the most dominant pulping process consisting of 90% of the chemical virgin pulp production in the world. This process is extensive, especially considering the large chemical recycling, and improvements are constantly ongoing [1]. In 1966, G.H. Tomlinson II published a patent in where a white liquor of 100% sulphidity was used, i.e. only sodium sulphide (Na2S) as a cooking chemical and not sodium hydroxide (NaOH). A higher sulphidity gives an improved delignification and a stronger pulp with a higher yield. In addition, when NaOH is not used in the process, the causticizing plant can be eliminated. According to Tomlinson II, this would mean lower investment and operating costs.  The smelt from the recovery boiler undergoes leaching or evaporating to separate the sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and Na2S. Na2CO3 recirculates to the black liquor to reduce the sulphur/sodium ratio, which is necessary for the function of the recovery boiler. A sufficiently high proportion of recirculated Na2CO3 is used to ensure that no SO2-emissions occur from the recovery boiler [2]. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate different cases of high sulphidity processes through heat and mass balances and compare it with a reference case of kraft pulp, in order to potentially find a more efficient process. The high sulphidity cases vary with e.g. dry solids content, effective alkali charge and the amount of recirculated Na2CO3. Also, a combination between the conventional kraft pulping process and high sulphidity process will be investigated. Tools for these calculations are given from AFRY and is done in excel. The focus is on the recovery boiler, since it is the most critical aspect in the process, but overall flow charts will also be made.  It turns out that the amount of recirculated Na2CO3 is one of the major factors that determine the outcome of the results. An increased amount of Na2CO3, which contains inert carbon, leads to a lower heating load in the recovery boiler, resulting in too low temperatures. For the high sulphidity process to be feasible, a lower effective alkali charge is required in the digester to reduce the amount of chemicals in the process. This can be achieved through a pre-impregnation step in the digester. All high sulphidity cases also resulted in a decrease in CAPEX and OPEX compared to the reference case. The most interesting result is a combination between the high sulphidity and kraft pulping process, as the results was comparable with the reference case, but at the same time containing advantages of the high sulphidity process. / Kraftmassaprocessen är den dominerade massaframställningen bestående av 90% av världens kemiska jungfrumassa. Denna process är omfattande och förbättringar pågår ständigt, särskilt med tanke på den stora kemikalieåtervinningen [1]. 1966 publicerade G.H. Tomlinson II ett patent där en vitlut av 100% sulfiditet användes, alltså endast natriumsulfid (Na2S) och inte natriumhydroxid (NaOH) som kokkemikalie. En högre sulfiditet ger en förbättrad delignifiering och därmed en starkare massa med ett högre utbyte. När NaOH inte används i kokeriet kan dessutom kaustiseringen elimineras. Det skulle, enligt Tomlinson II, innebära lägre investerings- och driftskostnader.  Smältan som kommer ut från sodapannan genomgår en laknings- eller indunstningsprocess för att separera ut natriumkarbonatet (Na2CO3) och Na2S. Na2CO3 återcirkulerar till svartluten innan sodapannan för att på så sätt minska på svavel till natriumkvoten, vilket är nödvändigt för sodapannans funktion. En tillräckligt hög andel av Na2CO3 återcirkuleras för att inga SO2-emissioner ska förekomma [2]. Syftet med denna rapport är därför att undersöka olika fall av högsulfiditetsprocesser genom värme och massbalanser och jämföra med ett referensfall av kraftmassa, för att i slutändan undersöka en potentiellt mer effektiv process. Fallen varierar med torrhalt på svartluten, effektiv alkali laddning, och mängden återcirkulerad Na2CO3. Ett kombinerat fall mellan den konventionella kraftmassa- och högsulfiditetsprocessen kommer även att undersökas. Verktyg för dessa beräkningsbalanser fås via AFRY och används i Excel. Fokuset ligger på sodapannan då denna del av processen är avgörande för processens genomförbarhet.  Övergripande flödesscheman kommer även att göras för de olika fallen.  Det ska visa sig att mängden återcirkulerad Na2CO3 är en av de större faktorerna till förändringar i resultatet. En ökad mängd Na2CO3, som innehåller inert kol, ger en lägre värmebelastning i sodapannan, och därmed för låga temperaturer i pannan. För att högsulfiditetsprocessen ska kunna vara genomförbar krävs en lägre effektiv alkali laddning i kokeriet för att minska på mängden kemikalier i processen, detta kan göras via ett förimpregneringssteg i kokeriet. Alla högsulfiditetsfall gav även en minskning i CAPEX och OPEX jämfört med referensfallet. Mest intressant resultat gavs av en kombination mellan högsulfiditet och kraftmassaprocess, då den mest efterliknade referensfallet, men samtidigt innehåller fördelar av högsulfiditetsfallet.

Denna studie utvärderar olika scenarier som innebär att ersätta dieselbilar och värmare med elektriska versioner samt använda mer miljövänligt bränsle med hänsyn till CO2-utsläpp och ekonomisk analys av dessa förändringar. Det primära fokuset för denna forskning är att hitta sätt att minska CO2-utsläppen orsakade av vägtransporter och värmare som används av Ramudden AB i Sverige. Detta masterprojekt är inriktat på att minska utsläppen med beaktande av kostnaden för förändringarna. Eftersom källan till utsläpp varierar och är specifik för verksamheten kommer varje företag att ha sina egna lösningar. För att lösa problemet inkluderar tillvägagångssättet att ersätta fordon, särskilt tunga fordon och värmare, med elektriska versioner och övergå till mer miljövänligt bränsle baserat på företagets behov. Denna studie innehåller olika antaganden eftersom teknisk tillgänglighet, teknologiska framsteg och ekonomiska förhållanden inte är konstanta. De viktigaste resultaten visar att användning av HVO som bränsle kommer att producera lägst utsläpp bland de olika scenarier. Men på grund av bränslets tillgänglighet och kostnadsbekymmer skulle kombinationen av elektriska fordon och värmare med ett bättre bränsleval resultera i mer robusta resultat än att bara välja miljövänliga bränsletyper i scenarierna. / This study assesses different scenarios involving replacing diesel vehicles and heaters with electric versions and using more eco-friendly fuel while considering the CO2 emissions and economic analysis of these changes. The primary focus of this research is to find ways to reduce CO2 emissions caused by road transportation and heaters used by Ramudden AB in Sweden. This Master's thesis project is centered on reducing emissions while considering the cost of the changes. Since the source of emissions varies and is specific to the business, each company will have its own solutions. To solve the problem, the approach includes replacing vehicles, particularly heavy-duty vehicles and heaters, with electric versions and adopting eco-friendly fuel behavior based on company guidance. This study contains various assumptions since technical availability, technological developments, and economic conditions are not constant. The key findings reveal that using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as fuel will produce the lowest emissions among the various scenarios. However, due to fuel availability and cost concerns, combining electric vehicles and heaters with a better fuel choice would result in more robust results than just opting for eco-friendlier fuel types in the scenarios.

O desafio para a área de monitoramento de processos, em indústrias químicas, ainda é a etapa de detecção, com a necessidade de desenvolvimento de sistemas confiáveis. Pode-se resumir que um sistema é confiável, ao ser capaz de detectar as situações anormais, de modo precoce, e, ao mesmo tempo, de minimizar a geração de alarmes falsos. Ao se ter um sistema confiável, pode-se empregá-lo para auxiliar o operador, de fábricas, no processo de tomada de decisões. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar uma metodologia, baseada na técnica, modelo oculto de Markov (HMM, acrônimo de ?Hidden Markov Model?), para se detectar situações anormais em caldeiras de recuperação química. As aplicações de maior sucesso de HMM são na área de reconhecimento de fala. Pode-se citar como aspectos positivos: o raciocínio probabilístico, a modelagem explícita, e a identificação a partir de dados históricos. Fez-se duas aplicações. O primeiro estudo de caso é no ?benchmark? de um sistema de evaporação múltiplo efeito de uma fábrica de produção de açúcar. Identificou-se um HMM, característico de operação normal, para se detectar cinco situações anormais no atuador responsável por regular o fluxo de xarope de açúcar para o primeiro evaporador. A detecção, para as três situações abruptas, é imediata, uma vez que o HMM foi capaz de detectar alterações, abruptas, no sinal da variável monitorada. Em relação às duas situações incipientes, foi possível detectá-las ainda em estágio inicial; ao ser o valor de f (vetor responsável por representar a intensidade de um evento anormal, com o tempo), no instante da detecção, próximo a zero, igual a 2,8% e 2,1%, respectivamente. O segundo estudo de caso é em uma caldeira de recuperação química, de uma fábrica de produção de celulose, no Brasil. O objetivo é monitorar o acúmulo de depósitos de cinzas sobre os equipamentos da sessão de transferência de calor convectivo, através de medições de perda de carga. Este é um dos principais desafios para se aumentar a eficiência operacional deste equipamento. Após a identificação de um HMM característico de perda de carga alta, pôde-se verificar a sua capacidade de informar o estado atual e, por consequência, a tendência do sistema, de modo similar à um preditor. Pôde-se demonstrar também a utilidade de se definir limites de controle, com o objetivo de se ter a informação sobre a distância entre o estado atual e os níveis de alarme de perda de carga. / The greatest challenge faced by the area of process monitoring in chemical industries still resides in the fault detection task, which aims at developing reliable systems. One may say that a system is reliable if it is able to perform early fault detection and, at the same time, to reduce the generation of false alarms. Once there is a reliable system available, it can be employed to help operators, in factories, in the decisionmaking process. The aim of this study is presenting a methodology, based on the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) technique, suggesting its use in the detection of abnormal situations in chemical recovery boilers. The most successful applications of HMM are in the area of speech recognition. Some of its advantages are: probabilistic reasoning, explicit modeling and the identification based on process history data. This study discusses two applications. The first one is on a benchmark of a multiple evaporation system in a sugar factory. A HMM representative of the normal operation was identified, in order to detect five abnormal situations at the actuator responsible for controlling the syrup flow to the first evaporator. The detection result for the three abrupt situations was immediate, since the HMM was capable of detecting the statistical changes on the signal of the monitored variable as soon as they occurred. Regarding to the two incipient situations, the detection was done at an early stage. For both events, the value of vector f (responsible for representing the strength of an abnormal event over time), at the time it occurred, was near zero, equal to 2.8 and 2.1%, respectively. The second case study deals with the application of HMM in a chemical recovery boiler, belonging to a cellulose mill, in Brazil. The aim is monitoring the accumulation of ash deposits over the equipments of the convective heat transfer section, through pressure drop measures. This is one of the main challenges to be overcome nowadays, bearing in mind the interest that exists in increasing the operational efficiency of this equipment. Initially, a HMM for high values of pressure drop was identified. With this model, it was possible to check its capacity to inform the current state, and consequently, the tendency of the system (similarly as a predictor). It was also possible to show the utility of defining control limits, in order to inform the operator the relative distance between the current state of the system and the alarm levels of pressure drop.

O desafio para a área de monitoramento de processos, em indústrias químicas, ainda é a etapa de detecção, com a necessidade de desenvolvimento de sistemas confiáveis. Pode-se resumir que um sistema é confiável, ao ser capaz de detectar as situações anormais, de modo precoce, e, ao mesmo tempo, de minimizar a geração de alarmes falsos. Ao se ter um sistema confiável, pode-se empregá-lo para auxiliar o operador, de fábricas, no processo de tomada de decisões. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar uma metodologia, baseada na técnica, modelo oculto de Markov (HMM, acrônimo de ?Hidden Markov Model?), para se detectar situações anormais em caldeiras de recuperação química. As aplicações de maior sucesso de HMM são na área de reconhecimento de fala. Pode-se citar como aspectos positivos: o raciocínio probabilístico, a modelagem explícita, e a identificação a partir de dados históricos. Fez-se duas aplicações. O primeiro estudo de caso é no ?benchmark? de um sistema de evaporação múltiplo efeito de uma fábrica de produção de açúcar. Identificou-se um HMM, característico de operação normal, para se detectar cinco situações anormais no atuador responsável por regular o fluxo de xarope de açúcar para o primeiro evaporador. A detecção, para as três situações abruptas, é imediata, uma vez que o HMM foi capaz de detectar alterações, abruptas, no sinal da variável monitorada. Em relação às duas situações incipientes, foi possível detectá-las ainda em estágio inicial; ao ser o valor de f (vetor responsável por representar a intensidade de um evento anormal, com o tempo), no instante da detecção, próximo a zero, igual a 2,8% e 2,1%, respectivamente. O segundo estudo de caso é em uma caldeira de recuperação química, de uma fábrica de produção de celulose, no Brasil. O objetivo é monitorar o acúmulo de depósitos de cinzas sobre os equipamentos da sessão de transferência de calor convectivo, através de medições de perda de carga. Este é um dos principais desafios para se aumentar a eficiência operacional deste equipamento. Após a identificação de um HMM característico de perda de carga alta, pôde-se verificar a sua capacidade de informar o estado atual e, por consequência, a tendência do sistema, de modo similar à um preditor. Pôde-se demonstrar também a utilidade de se definir limites de controle, com o objetivo de se ter a informação sobre a distância entre o estado atual e os níveis de alarme de perda de carga. / The greatest challenge faced by the area of process monitoring in chemical industries still resides in the fault detection task, which aims at developing reliable systems. One may say that a system is reliable if it is able to perform early fault detection and, at the same time, to reduce the generation of false alarms. Once there is a reliable system available, it can be employed to help operators, in factories, in the decisionmaking process. The aim of this study is presenting a methodology, based on the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) technique, suggesting its use in the detection of abnormal situations in chemical recovery boilers. The most successful applications of HMM are in the area of speech recognition. Some of its advantages are: probabilistic reasoning, explicit modeling and the identification based on process history data. This study discusses two applications. The first one is on a benchmark of a multiple evaporation system in a sugar factory. A HMM representative of the normal operation was identified, in order to detect five abnormal situations at the actuator responsible for controlling the syrup flow to the first evaporator. The detection result for the three abrupt situations was immediate, since the HMM was capable of detecting the statistical changes on the signal of the monitored variable as soon as they occurred. Regarding to the two incipient situations, the detection was done at an early stage. For both events, the value of vector f (responsible for representing the strength of an abnormal event over time), at the time it occurred, was near zero, equal to 2.8 and 2.1%, respectively. The second case study deals with the application of HMM in a chemical recovery boiler, belonging to a cellulose mill, in Brazil. The aim is monitoring the accumulation of ash deposits over the equipments of the convective heat transfer section, through pressure drop measures. This is one of the main challenges to be overcome nowadays, bearing in mind the interest that exists in increasing the operational efficiency of this equipment. Initially, a HMM for high values of pressure drop was identified. With this model, it was possible to check its capacity to inform the current state, and consequently, the tendency of the system (similarly as a predictor). It was also possible to show the utility of defining control limits, in order to inform the operator the relative distance between the current state of the system and the alarm levels of pressure drop.

Carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere today cause problems around the world. In Sweden, the steel production contributes significantly to carbon dioxide emissions. The steel industry challenge is to improve the metallurgical processes to decrease the carbon dioxide emissions. One way to reduce the emissions is to use renewable carbon sources. The blast furnace process is a counter current reduction process for ironmaking. Raw materials such as iron ore agglomerates, coke and slag formers are charged at the top of the furnace while oxygen-rich blast air and powdered coal are injected in the bottom. The gases produced by combustion rise through the burden on the top of the furnace. The combustion of carbon produces carbon monoxide which is the reducing gas used for the reduction of iron oxides to pig iron. The process is the highest producer of CO2 emissions in Sweden; biomass can partially replace fossil carbon in coal blends for cokemaking, coal powder for coal injection and coke in self-reducing briquettes.  The purpose of this project was to maximize the addition of biomass in coal blends for cokemaking and the addition in briquettes produced for the recovery of iron bearing rest products. The challenge with biomass in cokemaking is its low density and high reactivity which decrease the coke yield and coke strength at the same time that it increases the coke reactivity. The coke quality has to be kept at sufficient quality in order to avoid effects on productivity and process stability in the blast furnace. The addition of biomass in briquettes is limited due to the low density of the biomass which may affect the strength of the briquettes. The effect of the addition of sawdust in coke and briquettes has been studied to understand the effect on reaction behaviour of bio-coal. Heat-treatment of sawdust with high volatile coal was performed in order to achieve a coating of coal on the sawdust surface and get less reactive sawdust. Torrefied sawdust contained 23 wt. % fixed carbon while the pre-treatment of sawdust with high volatile coal increased the content to about 60 wt. %. Pre-treated sawdust was added to coal blend for coke making and briquettes containing iron oxide. The pre-treated sawdust was added to five coal blends for coke production, the contents were 5, 10 and 20 wt. %, and a base blend was used as reference. Coke reactivity, chemical composition and cold compression strength in coke were studied. This work resulted in an improved bulk density; up to 20 wt. % pre-treated sawdust could be added to the coal blend and still keep a bulk density of 800 kg/m3. The coke yields in cokes with pre-treated sawdust were comparable to the coke reference. The temperature at which carbon in coke began to be consumed was slightly higher in coke containing sawdust treated with 50 wt. % high volatile coal. It was estimated that the CO2 emission from fossil coal could be reduced with 8.6 % per ton hot metal (THM) with the addition of 10 wt. % pre-treated sawdust to coal blends for cokemaking. The addition of 20 wt. % pre-treated sawdust could reduce the CO2 emission with 10% per THM. In addition, two different mixes of briquettes were produced, one with torrefied sawdust and one with pre-treated sawdust. The chemical composition and reduction of iron oxides in briquettes was also studied and evaluated. Briquettes with treated sawdust were more compact, i.e. had a higher density than briquettes containing torrefied sawdust. The amount of hematite that could be added to the briquette mixes was 0.107 moles in briquettes with torrefied sawdust and 0.112 moles in briquettes with pre-treated torrefied sawdust. / Koldioxidutsläppet till atmosfären orsakar idag problem runt om i världen. I Sverige bidrar stålproduktionen avsevärt till koldioxidutsläppet. Stålindustrin har som en utmaning att förbättra de metallurgiska processerna för att sänka utsläppet av koldioxid. Ett sätt att sänka koldioxidutsläppen är att minska påverkan genom att använda förnybara kolkällor. Masugnsprocessen är en kontinuerlig reduktionsprocess för råjärnframställning och en av processerna där det används reduktionsmedel från fossila kolkällor. Råmaterial som järnmalm, koks och slaggformare chargeras på toppen av ugnen medan syrgasberikad blästerluft och pulveriserat kol injiceras i botten av ugnen genom masugnens formor. De gaser som produceras vid förbränning stiger upp genom beskickningen upp till ugnens topp. Vid förgasning av kol bildas kolmonoxid som är den reducerande gasen, den möjliggör reduktionen av järnoxider vid framställning av råjärn. Torrefierad biomassa kan delvis ersätta fossilt kol i kolblandningarna för kokstillverkning, i kolinjektionen och i briketter. Syftet med detta projekt var att maximera mängden tillsatt biomassa i kolblandningarna för kokstillverkning och i briketter för återvinning av järnbärande restprodukter. Utmaningen med biomassa i kokstillverkningen är den höga reaktiviteten och den låga densiteten av kol, vilket resulterar i låg koksutbyte när den tillsätts i kolblandningar. Biomassa innehåller också en högt halt flyktiga ämnen vilket resulterar i koks med låg hållfasthet och hög reaktivitet. Kokskvalitén måste behållas för att undvika processvariationer i masugnen. Tillsatsen av biomassa i briketter, är begränsat då biomassa kan påverka briketternas hållfasthet. Effekten av tillsatsen av biomassa i koks och briketter har studerats för att kunna förstå reaktionsbeteendet i dessa när torrefied sågspån och förbehandlat sågspån med hög fluiditetskol har tillsatts till blandningarna. Värmebehandling av torrifierat sågspån med en hög fluiditeteskol gjordes för att uppnå en mindre reaktiv biomassa. Torrifierat sågspån innehöll 22.9 viktsprocent kol, förbehandlingen av sågspån med hög fluiditetskol ökade halten till cirka 60 viktsprocent. Den behandlade sågspånen tillsattes till fem kolblandningar för koksframställning, 5, 10 och 20 viktprocent tillsattes till en bas blandning som användes referens. Koksreaktiviteten, kemisk sammansättning och hållfasthet i koks studerades. Arbetet resulterade i en förbättrad bulkdensitet då upp till 20 viktprocent förbehandlad biomassa kunde tillsättas i kolblandningen och fortfarande behålla en bulkdensitet på 800 kg/m3. Koksutbytet i alla koks med förbehandlat sågspån var jämförbart med koksreferensen. Temperaturen där kemisk kol i koks började förbrukas, var något högre i koks som innehöll sågspån med 50 viktsprocent hög fluiditetskol. Koldioxidutsläppen från fossilt kol per ton råjärn (THM) uppskattades att vara 8,6 % lägre med tillsatsen av 10 viktprocent förbehandlat sågspån i kolblandningar för kokstillverkning. Tillsatsen av 20 viktprocent skulle innebära en minskning på 10 % per ton råjärn. Briketter med två olika blandningar framställdes, en blandning med torrifierat sågspån och en blandning med behandlat sågspån. Briketterna karakteriserades genom att analysera den kemiska sammansättningen och reduktionen av järnoxider i termisk reducerade briketter. Briketter med behandlat sågspån var mer kompakta, d.v.s. hade en högre densitet än briketter som innehöll torrifierad sågspån. Mängden hematit som kunde tillsättas i mixen med torrifierad sågspån var 0.107 mol, medan i mixen med förbehandlat sågspån 0.112 mol kunde tillsättas. / Bio4metals / CAMM

The Dissertation work is focused on finding the effectivity of the inquiry-based science education of Chemistry subject at elementary schools and grammar schools concerning the topic of Chemistry process. The theoretical part proves the knowledge of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) in the 21 century, specifies the level of research, learning cycle 5E, its positives and negatives. The practical part is created by the files of methodology, particularly the methodological worksheets for teachers and worksheets for pupils as well, regarding the topic Substance Transformation for the elementary schools and for the grammar schools the topic Chemical Reactions and Chemical Equations. In the research part, there are shown the results of paedagogical research aiming at verifying the influence IBSE on to develop the higher mind operations according to Bloom taxonomy, to develop the scientific skills, as well as the survey of pupils' attitudes to this particular educational teaching process. The results obtained from the IBSE implementation and its verification performed by the cognitive tests and further by statistical evaluation, have confirmed the validity of the set hypotheses - the level of pupils' knowledge and skills has been increased, especially at weaker pupils in both degree of schools. By...

Vid SSAB Europé i Luleå produceras höghållfaststål. För att uppnå sådan kvalité måste renligheten i stålet vara god i hela processen. Risken att få förhöjda värden av exempelvis vanadin efter LD-processen vid deoxidationssteget, då medföljande vanadininhållande slagg som återreduceras till stålet är hög. Det finns olika system som jobbar för att förhindra medföljande slagg vid tappning av LD-konvertern. På SSAB i Luleå används IR-kamera för att identifiera slagg vid tappning och en mekanisk slaggstoppare som blockerar tapphålet samt tvingar flödet tillbaka in i konvertern med hjälp av kvävgas. Ett annat möjligt system att använda skulle kunna vara slaggens viskositet, då en högviskös slagg skulle fungera som en vortexinhibitor och därigenom reducera mängden medföljande slagg. Målet med examensarbetet har varit att undersöka sena tillsatsers påverkan av medföljande slagg, där de sena tillsatserna syftar till att öka viskositeten på slaggen genom att skapa fasta partiklar. I daglig drift görs ingen uppskattning av mängden medföljande slagg eller hur sena slaggtillsatser påverkar detta. Genom slaggprovtagning samt stålprover innan och efter tappning av LD-konvertern kan en massbalans göras av mängden medföljande slagg. Beräkningsämnena som passade bäst i denna studie var kisel och vanadin, två ämnen som oftast återfinns endast i slaggen. Utifrån resultatet av proverna visade sena tillsatser inte ha någon påverkan av mängden medföljande slagg. Ingen påvisad skillnad av viskositetsberäkningarna kunde kopplas till de sena tillsatserna, där beräkningarna gjordes i FactSage. Studien visade att sena tillsatser inte har den önskade effekten på medföljande slagg som man tidigare trott och skulle kunna tas bort helt. Detta för att reducera kostnaderna för tillsatser och deponi. Slaggen fick flytegenskaper redan vid 72% andel fasta partiklar och en temperatur på 1379°C. Vid LD-processen har slaggen 8% andel fasta partiklar och temperatur på 1739°C. Detta påvisar att det blir praktiskt omöjligt att styva upp slaggen i LD-processen med hjälp av sena tillsatser. / SSAB Europé in Luleå produce high-strength steel. To reach this quality the purity must be good in the whole process. There is a risk to get a high value of for example vanadium in the steel after the LD-process at the deoxidations step. The carried-over slag from the LD-process has a high content of vanadium that may reduce back to the steel from the deoxidation agent.  Several process systems work to reduce the amount of carried-over slag at LD-converter. At SSAB in Luleå this system is an IR-camera that is used for detecting carried-over slag at the tapping of the converter and a mechanical slagblocker that block the tapping jet and blow back the slag using nitrogen.  Another possible system could be to use the slag viscosity. High viscous slag will work like a vortex inhibitor and reduce the amount of carried-over slag. The goal of this master thesis is to study late additives impact of the amount of carried-over slag, there the purpose of the late additives is to increase the viscosity of the slag through solve in solid particles.  In the daily operations SSAB doesn´t do an estimate of the amount of carried-over slag or how the late additives affect carried-over slag. By conducting slag and steel sampling before and after tapping the LD-converter a mass balance can be used to calculate the amount of carried-over slag. The base of the mass calculation that fit beast in this study was silicon and vanadium. Two substances that often occurs in the slag. From the results of the samples, the late additive didn´t do any impact on the amount of carried-over slag. No impact of the viscosity calculation could connect to the amount of carried-over slag. The calculation has been done in FactSage. The study shows that late additive don´t have any impact on the amount of carried-over slag and that is why it should be avoided. This could decrease the cost of additive and landfill. The slag gets flow properties as early as 72% share solid particles and temperature at 1379°C and in the LD-process the slag had 8% share solid particles and temperature at 1739°C. This shows that it´s practically impossible to stiff up the slag in the LD-process with help of late additive.

The aim of this research is to develop a wet-chemical silvering method for a three-dimensional (3D) textile material made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to prevent and eliminate biological contaminants in drinking water and other liquid-containing systems. Three-dimensional textile fabrics are particularly well-suited as silvered disinfection materials in water systems, because they have 3D structures, pressure-elastic textile design, and provide large contact areas. Furthermore, water can easily be passed through the structure. The developed wet-chemical procedures are based on aminosilane, which consists of at least two amine groups and is well-suited to form a silver diamine complex. The silvered textile material was coated with cationic silver. After the chemical reduction, the cationic silver turns into metallic silver on the surface of PET spacer fabrics. The surface morphology of silver-coated spacer fabrics was analyzed and the uniform silver layer on the PET fiber surface was found. X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis spectrums showed that the silver was immobilized on the PET fiber surface. The layer thickness and the silver amount were also determined. The silvered spacer fabrics can be used in sealing and/or cooling water systems; therefore, the silver ion release in water was analyzed. Furthermore, textile physical tests for the measurement of breaking force and elongation were carried out. No significant change in breaking force and elongation was observed after silvering of PET spacer fabric.

Det ständigt växande behovet av att minska CO2-utsläpp har lett till en ökad tonvikt på teknik för avskiljning av koldioxid från rökgas. MEA (monoetanolamin) anses vara riktmärket för lösningsmedel för att fånga in koldioxid på grund av dess höga absorptionshastighet. MEA är dock benäget att brytas ner, bilda giftiga biprodukter och dess regenerering har ett högt energibehov. Ett annat lösningsmedel med liknande teknisk mognad är vattenlösning med kaliumkarbonat (K2CO3) som används i den så kallade hot-potash carbonate (HPC)-processen. Emellertid är absorptionshastigheten i K2CO3-lösningen låg i jämförelse med MEA, vilket kräver tillsats av hastighetspromotorer för att öka absorptionshastigheten. Denna avhandling undersöker effekten av olika hastighetspromotorer på absorptionshastigheten av kaliumkarbonat. För detta utfördes absorptionsexperiment i laboratorieskala i en autoklavreaktor av rostfritt stål under kontrollerade förhållanden. Olika promotorer har undersökts, nämligen de organiska promotorerna glycin, piperazin och MEA, och de oorganiska promotorerna borsyra och vanadinpentoxid. Promotorkoncentrationen varierades mellan 3 vikt% till 7 vikt% samtidigt som koncentrationen av K2CO3 hölls konstant vid 25 vikt%. Driftförhållandena såsom det initiala partialtrycket av CO2 och temperaturen var respektiva 5 bar och 50 °C. De oorganiska promotorerna studerades enskilt såväl som i blandningar med K2CO3 för att studera effekten av varje promotor. De organiska promotorerna visade en signifikant förbättring av absorptionshastigheten jämfört med icke promoterad K2CO3. När det gäller de oorganiska promotorerna visade vanadinpentoxid jämförbara resultat med organiska promotorer med endast 3 vikt%. Ökad tillsatts av borsyra minskade absorptionshastigheten av lösningen promoterad av vanadin. Den experimentellt uppmätta absorptionshastigheten är anpassad till en enkel absorptionsmodell från vilken en skenbar absorptionshastighet för de främjade lösningsmedlen härleddes / The ever-growing need to reduce CO2 emissions has led to an increased emphasis on carbon capture technologies. MEA (monoethanolamine) is considered the benchmark solvent for CO2 capture due to its high rate of absorption. However, MEA is prone to degradation, forms toxic side products and its regeneration has a high energy demand. Another solvent with similar technological maturity is aqueous potassium carbonate (K2CO3) that is used in the so-called hot-potash carbonate (HPC) process. However, the rate of absorption in aqueous K2CO3 is low in comparison to MEA calling for the addition of rate promoters to enhance the absorption rate.  This thesis investigates the effect of different rate promoters on the absorption rate of potassium carbonate. For this, absorption experiments on the laboratory scale were conducted in a stainless-steel autoclave reactor under controlled conditions. Various promoters have been explored, namely the organic promoters glycine, piperazine, and MEA, and the inorganic promoters boric acid and vanadium pentoxide. The promoter concentration was varied between 3 wt% to 7 wt% while keeping the concentration of K2CO3 constant at 25 wt%. The operating conditions, such as the initial partial pressure of CO2 and the temperature were 5 bar and 50°C, respectively. The inorganic promoters were studied alone as well as in blends with K2CO3 to understand the effect of each promoter. The organic promoters demonstrated a significant enhancement of the absorption rate compared to unpromoted K2CO3. Regarding the inorganic promoters, vanadium pentoxide showed comparable results to organic promoters with only 3 wt%. When looking at the results of vanadium and boric acid, increasing concentration of boric acid resulted in a decrease in the absorption rate. The experimentally measured absorption rate are fitted to a simple absorption model from which an apparent absorption rate for the promoted solvents was derived.