Ultrafine particle emissions in motor-vehicle exhaust are associated with cardiopulmonary health impacts and increased mortality. The emission, evolution, and exposure-uptake of these particles, one hundred nanometers and smaller in diameter, are fundamentally quantified by the number concentration as a function of particle size. Ultrafine particle number distributions are widely varying and fast changing as they are strongly influenced by local environmental conditions and variation in vehicle operation and maintenance. Research and regulation to quantify and control such emissions rely on measurement of the number distribution of ultrafine particles in vehicle exhaust and by the roadside. Instruments to make such measurements are commercially available, but they are expensive, non-portable, and have slow response times. A new instrument, the NanoAPA, is being developed for these in-situ applications as an inexpensive, portable, and real-time instrument. The instrument is designed to perform ultrafine particle sizing and counting through electronic control of a microfabricated device that charges sampled airborne particles with a corona ionizer and then incrementally size-separates, collects, and counts the number of particles in the aerosol. The focus of this thesis was the development and characterization of the smallest device known that can perform these sizing and counting functions. The device miniaturizes a classical instrument from the aerosol field, the double-condenser of Whipple (1960) used for the sizing and counting of atmospheric ions, into a microfabricated device designed to utilize voltage-and-flowrate-variable electrophoresis to measure ultrafine particle aerosols. Performance characterization of the microfabricated device required development of an apparatus for the generation and conditioning of aerosols appropriate to this application. This Standard Aerosol apparatus was demonstrated to produce repeatable, temperature and humidity stable, charge-neutral, monodisperse exhaust-analog aerosols of particles 10 to 100 nanometer in diameter. The microfabricated device was characterized with the Standard Aerosol apparatus for the operating conditions of 0.1 to 1.5 liter per minute flow rate and 0 to 3000 volt separator voltage. Results of the characterization demonstrated effective selection and collection of solvent droplets in the diameter range 10-100nm. The selection and collection results for engine-exhaust analog particles were inconclusive, likely due to particle re-entrainment. Repeatable measurements of particle number proved elusive, likely due to electrical field interference, the limited particle concentration obtainable from the Standard Aerosol apparatus, and signal-to-noise and temporal stability issues with the electrometer electronics. Recommendations are made for approaches likely to overcome these issues.

The mechanical properties of materials strongly depend on their microstructure. Therefore, engineering the material's microstructure can lead to improving its mechanical properties. One method for enhancing the strength of metallic materials consists of refining the grain size down to the nanometer scale. Such nanostructured materials possess remarkable strength without using conventional metallurgical strengthening methods. However, this strength often comes at the expense of workhardening capacity, thus favoring flow localization and loss of ductility and toughness. The deformation behavior of nanostructured metallic materials has been extensively studied in the literature. However, little is known of their fracture behavior. In this study, the mechanical behavior of a nanostructured, nearly pure material is investigated in order to link processing conditions, microstructure, and fracture locus in stress space. With focus laid on BCC materials which can undergo a ductile-to-brittle transition, Interstitial- Free (IF) steel is chosen. The microstructure is refined using Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) to achieve ultra-fine grain (UFG) materials with grain sizes in the range 100nm- 1 mu m. Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE) is used to obtain three types of UFG-IF steel microstructures by varying the extrusion rate and processing temperature. The deformation behavior is investigated for the three UFG materials using round smooth bars and is compared with the behavior of the as-received material. The damage behavior and the fracture mechanisms are studied using tensile round notched bars with varying notch radii. The findings indicate a remarkable combination of strength and notch ductility at room temperature, including for the material with the finest microstructure. They also point to the need for careful characterization of temperature effects before such materials can be considered in structural applications.

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Depuis quelques décennies, l’élaboration et l’étude des propriétés physiques et mécaniques des microstructures UFG et NC se sont fortement développées. L’intérêt croissant suscité par ces matériaux provient des comportements nouveaux qu’ils présentent et qui ouvrent des perspectives prometteuses d’applications dans divers domaines des sciences et d’ingénieries. Des secteurs d’activité à forte valeur ajoutée et aux enjeux économiques importants tels que la microélectronique, les télécommunications, l’aéronautique, l’énergie et l’armement s’y intéressent. En mécanique, l’intérêt porté à ces microstructures réside dans la possibilité de produire des matériaux ayant à la fois une résistance mécanique et une ductilité élevées. Cependant, ces microstructures ont montré un faible taux d’écrouissage quoiqu’ayant une résistance mécanique élevée. Des mécanismes de déformation nouveaux sont soupçonnés être à l’origine de ce phénomène notamment des mécanismes de déformation aux joints de grains conduisant dans certains cas à une inversion de la loi de Hall-Petch et à un endommagement et/ou rupture précoce. Expérimentalement, des méthodes visant à améliorer le taux d’écrouissage tout en garantissant une résistance mécanique élevée existent et sont de plus en plus nombreuses. De même, des outils numériques de simulation ont permis d’explorer certains phénomènes encore inaccessibles par l’expérience. C’est dans cette optique qu’un modèle micromécanique capable de suivre l’évolution de la texture cristallographique, de caractériser l’influence de la microstructure sur la contrainte d’écoulement et l’endommagement, est proposé dans ce travail. / Since decades, the study of mechanical and physical properties of UFG and NC microstructures has considerably increased as well as processing techniques. The growing interest in these materials comes from new behaviors encountered with wide range of applications perspectives in many scientific and technologic engineering fields, with high added value and important economic issues such as microelectronics, telecommunications, aeronautics, energy and army. In mechanics, the growing interest resides in both the possibility of processing microstructures with high mechanical strength and high ductility. However, these last microstructures have shown a very low strain hardening capacity although they were observed to have a high mechanical strength. New deformation mechanisms are suspected to induce these behaviors namely grain size deformation mechanisms which cause Hall-Petch strain profile inversion and/or early damage. Nowadays, there are many techniques to process UFG and NC microstructures with both high mechanical strength and improved strain hardening capacities. Similarly, simulation numerical tools have helped to understand some phenomenon still not accessible via experiments. Boring in mind this last aspect, a micromechanics modeling was proposed in this work to characterize microstructure influence on yield stress and damage and to study the crystalline texture evolution.

A new dewatering technology, called low temperature drying, has been developed to remove water from ultrafine (minus 325 mesh) coal particles. The process subjects partially dewatered solids to intense mechanical shearing in the presence of unsaturated air. Theoretical analysis of the thermodynamic properties of water indicates residual surface moisture should spontaneously evaporate under these conditions. This is contingent on the large surface area of these fine particles being adequately exposed to an unsaturated stream of air. To demonstrate this process, three dispersion methods were selected for bench-scale testing; the static breaker, air jet conveyor, and centrifugal fan. Each of these devices was chosen for its ability to fully disperse and pneumatically convey the feed cake. The moisture content of the feed cake, and the temperature and relative humidity of the process air were the key parameters that most significantly affected dryer performance. Of the three methods tested, the centrifugal fan produced the best results. The fan was capable of handling feeds as wet as 21.5% and consistently dried the coal fines below 2% moisture. The cost of the air and heat required to provide good drying performance was modeled to explore the practicality of the drying process. Modeling was accomplished by modifying equations developed for thermal dryers. The modeling results indicate, if good exposure of the fine particle surface area is achieved, dryers operating with either heated or unheated (ambient) air can be used for drying ultrafine coal. / Master of Science

No description available.

This thesis pertains to the processing of ultra-fine mineral particles and low rank coal using the hydrophobic--hydrophilic separation (HHS) method. Several explorative experimental tests have been carried out to study the effect of the various physical and chemical parameters on the HHS process. In this study, the HHS process has been employed to upgrade a chalcopyrite ore. A systematic experimental study on the effects of various physical and chemical parameters such as particle size, reagent dosage and reaction time on the separation efficiencies have been performed. For this, a copper rougher concentrate (assaying 15.9 %Cu) was wet ground and treated with a reagent to selectively hydrophobize the copper-bearing mineral (chalcopyrite), leaving the siliceous gangue minerals hydrophilic. The slurry was subjected to a high-shear agitation to selectively agglomerate the chalcopyrite and to leave the siliceous gangue dispersed in aqueous phase. The agglomerates were then separated from dispersed gangue minerals by screening and the agglomerates dispersed in a hydrophobic liquid (n-pentane) to liberate the water trapped in the agglomerates. The chalcopyrite dispersed in the hydrophobic liquid was separated from the medium to obtain a concentrate substantially free of gangue minerals and moisture. The copper recoveries were substantially higher than those obtained by flotation. The HHS process was also tested on ultrafine mono-sized silica beads. The results were superior to those obtained by flotation, particularly with ultrafine particles. The HHS process has also been tested successfully for upgrading subbituminous coals. Low-rank coals are not as hydrophobic as high-rank coals such as bituminous and anthracite coals. In the present work, a low-rank coal from Wyoming was hydrophobized with appropriate reagents and subjected to the HHS in a similar manner as described for processing copper. The results showed that the HHS process reduced the moisture substantially and increased the heating value up to 50% without heating the coal. Laboratory-scale tests conducted under different conditions, e.g., particle size, reagent type, reaction time, and pretreatments, showed promising results. Implementation for the HHS process for upgrading low-rank coals should help reduce CO2 emissions by improving combustion efficiencies. / Master of Science

<p>Flertalet studier har påvisat ett samband mellan koncentrationen av partiklar ≤ 10µm i luftföroreningar och cardiovaskulär- och pulmonell morbiditet och mortalitet. Vid resektion, koagulering/bränning med diatermipenna under operationer alstras rök. Denna rök innehåller bland annat mutagena och carcinogena partiklar i inhalerbar storlek (partiklar ≤ 10µm).</p><p>Ett första syfte med denna studie var att kvantifiera den mängd ultra-fina partiklar (UFP) och partiklar ≤ 10µm som operationspersonal exponeras för i operationsrummet, vid användande av diatermi med mobilt rökutsug. Ett andra syfte var också att ta reda på om operations-personal exponeras olika mycket beroende på var i rummet de befinner sig, samt undersöka om partikelnivåerna skiljer sig på olika operationssalar. Partikelmätningar utfördes under 14 ortopediska operationer där diatermi med rökutsug använts.</p><p>Medelvärdena av UFP visar på relativt låga partikelkoncentrationer på höftprotes- och ryggoperationer, med mycket korta stunder av höga värden upp till ett maxvärde på 88 396pt/ml vid operationsområdet. Även partiklar i storleken 1-10µm låg inom låga nivåer och under gränsvärdena vid jämförelse med organisk damm. Resultaten i studien indikerar att personal som står vid operationssåret exponeras av högre partikelkoncentrationer av ultra-fina partiklar och partiklar 1-10µm än övrig personal, även vid användande av mobilt rökutsug. Vid jämförelse av partikelnivåer av ultra-fina partiklar på två olika operationssalar framkom det att på den sal med lägst antal luftväxlingar i operationsrummet, var partikelkoncentrationen signifikant högre.</p>

QC20100709

Flertalet studier har påvisat ett samband mellan koncentrationen av partiklar ≤ 10µm i luftföroreningar och cardiovaskulär- och pulmonell morbiditet och mortalitet. Vid resektion, koagulering/bränning med diatermipenna under operationer alstras rök. Denna rök innehåller bland annat mutagena och carcinogena partiklar i inhalerbar storlek (partiklar ≤ 10µm). Ett första syfte med denna studie var att kvantifiera den mängd ultra-fina partiklar (UFP) och partiklar ≤ 10µm som operationspersonal exponeras för i operationsrummet, vid användande av diatermi med mobilt rökutsug. Ett andra syfte var också att ta reda på om operations-personal exponeras olika mycket beroende på var i rummet de befinner sig, samt undersöka om partikelnivåerna skiljer sig på olika operationssalar. Partikelmätningar utfördes under 14 ortopediska operationer där diatermi med rökutsug använts. Medelvärdena av UFP visar på relativt låga partikelkoncentrationer på höftprotes- och ryggoperationer, med mycket korta stunder av höga värden upp till ett maxvärde på 88 396pt/ml vid operationsområdet. Även partiklar i storleken 1-10µm låg inom låga nivåer och under gränsvärdena vid jämförelse med organisk damm. Resultaten i studien indikerar att personal som står vid operationssåret exponeras av högre partikelkoncentrationer av ultra-fina partiklar och partiklar 1-10µm än övrig personal, även vid användande av mobilt rökutsug. Vid jämförelse av partikelnivåer av ultra-fina partiklar på två olika operationssalar framkom det att på den sal med lägst antal luftväxlingar i operationsrummet, var partikelkoncentrationen signifikant högre.