Produção de estrutura com gradiente de porosidade a partir da sinterização por plasma da mistura de pós Ti-Nb-Sn

Porous structures are being widely investigated for use in biomedical implants, aiming to mechanically integrate and functionally the implant inside the bone tissue. Moreover, this structure is also important for drugs that can be stored and can induce and accelerate the process of osseointegration. With the purpose to investigate this effect, Ti, Nb and Sn metal powders, were sintered by plasma using a hollow cathode discharge. Sintering was performed in argon plasma set at 4 mbar pressure and temperatures of 500 ° C, 600 ° C and 700 ° C. Samples were also sintered in the electrical resistance furnace at 1200 ° C in order to compare plasma sintering with the conventional method. It was observed that plasma samples sintered with the hollow cathode configuration showed a gradient in porosity, while the samples sintered in the resistive furnace did not. Furthermore, differences in the microstructure of the samples were found, were a surface with higher porosity and ales porous core were obtained at different temperatures. The percolation profile of distilled water and the chemical compositions of the porous layers of the plasma treated samples were the main results obtained. Based on these results, we can conclude that this structure is particularly important for application in the biomedical field such as scaffolds for drug delivery and implants

Síntese e caracterização de materiais mesoporosos para a captura de CO2: influência do óxido de níquel

Several materials are currently under study for the CO2 capture process, like the metal oxides and mixed metal oxides, zeolites, carbonaceous materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOF's) organosilica and modified silica surfaces. In this work, evaluated the adsorption capacity of CO2 in mesoporous materials of different structures, such as MCM-48 and SBA- 15 without impregnating and impregnated with nickel in the proportions 5 %, 10 % and 20 % (m/m), known as 5Ni-MCM-48, 10Ni-MCM-48, 20Ni-MCM-48 and 5Ni-SBA-15, 10NiSBA-15, 20Ni-SBA-15. The materials were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (TG and DTG), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), N2 adsorption and desorption (BET) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with EDS. The adsorption process was performed varying the pressure of 100 - 4000 kPa and keeping the temperature constant and equal to 298 K. At a pressure of 100 kPa, higher concentrations of adsorption occurred for the materials 5Ni-MCM-48 (0.795 mmol g-1 ) and SBA-15 (0.914 mmol g-1 ) is not impregnated, and at a pressure of 4000 kPa for MCM-48 materials (14.89 mmol g-1) and SBA-15 (9.97 mmol g-1) not impregnated. The results showed that the adsorption capacity varies positively with the specific area, however, has a direct dependency on the type and geometry of the porous structure of channels. The data were fitted using the Langmuir and Freundlich models and were evaluated thermodynamic parameters Gibbs free energy and entropy of the adsorption system

Study of porcelain-zirconia composites for dental applications

Materiais compósitos restauradores representam um dos mais bem sucedidos biomateriais na pesquisa moderna, na substituição do tecido biológico em aparência e função. Nesta linha, a porcelana feldspática tem sido largamente usada em odontologia devido suas interessantes qualidades como estabilidade de cor, propriedades estéticas, elevada durabilidade mecânica, biocompatibilidade, baixa condutividade térmica e elevada resistência ao desgaste. Entretanto, este material é frágil e pode falhar em ambiente oral devido ao micro-vazamento, baixa resistência à tração, descolagem ou fratura. Assim, para melhorar as propriedades mecânicas da porcelana, a zircônia parcialmente estabilizada com Ítria (Y-TZP) pode ser uma boa alternativa para fortalecer e produzir infraestruturas totalmente cerâmicas (coroas e próteses parciais fixas). Portanto, este estudo tem por objetivo avaliar as propriedades mecânicas e características microestruturais da porcelana reforçada com zircônia (3Y-TZP) em diferentes conteúdos e as variáveis que afetam as propriedades mecânicas destes materiais. O estudo de caracterização revelou que a zircônia comercial apresenta melhores resultados quando comparada com a zircônia sintetizada pelo CPM. Assim, os estudos seguintes utilizaram a zircônia comercial para todos os testes requeridos. As partículas de zircônia apresentam elevadas propriedades mecânicas quando comparadas a zircônia aglomerada. Os diferentes conteúdos revelam que as propriedades mecânicas dos compósitos aumentam com o aumento do conteúdo volumétrico até 30% vol.% (198,5Mpa), ou seja, maior resistência à flexão quando comparada com os outros compósitos. Do mesmo modo, a resistência ao desgaste para os compósitos com (30%, vol.% de zircônia) apresenta valores superiores quando comparado aos demais compósitos. Na adesão cerâmico-cerâmico a porcelana exibe elevada adesão para a superfície de zircônia porosa quando comparada a superfície rugosa. Os furos superficiais (PZ) e aplicação de compósitos com camada intermediária (RZI) na zircônia causam separadamente uma melhoria da resistência ao cisalhamento da zircônia-porcelana quando comparados as amostras convencionais de zircônia-porcelana (RZ), embora não sejam estatisticamente significativas (p>0.05). A presença de uma camada intermediaria produz um aumento significativo na força de ligação (~55%) em relação as amostras convencionais (RZ). Portanto, a correta a correta configuração e tratamento superficial podem produzir subestruturas com qualidade e força de ligação adequadas aos requisitos odontológicos.

Estudo e desenvolvimento de um capacitor eletrolítico de nióbio

It seeks to find an alternative to the current tantalum electrolytic capacitors in the market due to its high cost. Niobium is a potential substitute, since both belong to the same group of the periodic table and because of this have many similar physical and chemical properties. Niobium has several technologically important applications, and Brazil has the largest reserves, around 96%. There are including niobium in reserves of tantalite and columbite in Rio Grande do Norte. These electrolytic capacitors have high capacitance specifies, ie they can store high energy in small volumes compared to other types of capacitors. This is the main attraction of this type of capacitor because is growing demand in the production of capacitors with capacitance specifies increasingly high, this because of the miniaturization of various devices such as GPS devices, televisions, computers, phones and many others. The production route of the capacitor was made by powder metallurgy. The initial niobium powder supplied by EEL-USP was first characterized by XRD, SEM, XRF and laser particle size, to then be sieved into three particle size, 200, 400 e 635mesh. The powders were then compacted and sintered at 1350, 1450 and 1550°C using two sintering time 30 and 60min. Sintering is one of the most important parts of the process as it affects properties as porosity and surface cleaning of the samples, which greatly affected the quality of the capacitor. The sintered samples then underwent a process of anodic oxidation, which created a thin film of niobium pentóxido over the whole porous surface of the sample, this film is the dielectric capacitor. The oxidation process variables influence the performance of the film and therefore the capacitor. The samples were characterized by electrical measurements of capacitance, loss factor, ESR, relative density, porosity and surface area. After the characterizations was made an annealing in air ate 260ºC for 60min. After this treatment were made again the electrical measurements. The particle size of powders and sintering affected the porosity and in turn the specific area of the samples. The larger de area of the capacitor, greater is the capacitance. The powder showed the highest capacitance was with the smallest particle size. Higher temperatures and times of sintering caused samples with smaller surface area, but on the other hand the cleaning surface impurities was higher for this cases. So a balance must be made between the gain that is achieved with the cleaning of impurities and the loss with the decreased in specific area. The best results were obtained for the temperature of 1450ºC/60min. The influence of annealing on the loss factor and ESR did not follow a well-defined pattern, because their values increased in some cases and decreased in others. The most interesting results due to heat treatment were with respect to capacitance, which showed an increase for all samples after treatment

Análise gráfica de estruturas porosas sobre a ótica da estereologia

In this work we developed a computer simulation program for physics porous structures based on programming language C + + using a Geforce 9600 GT with the PhysX chip, originally developed for video games. With this tool, the ability of physical interaction between simulated objects is enlarged, allowing to simulate a porous structure, for example, reservoir rocks and structures with high density. The initial procedure for developing the simulation is the construction of porous cubic structure consisting of spheres with a single size and with varying sizes. In addition, structures can also be simulated with various volume fractions. The results presented are divided into two parts: first, the ball shall be deemed as solid grains, ie the matrix phase represents the porosity, the second, the spheres are considered as pores. In this case the matrix phase represents the solid phase. The simulations in both cases are the same, but the simulated structures are intrinsically different. To validate the results presented by the program, simulations were performed by varying the amount of grain, the grain size distribution and void fraction in the structure. All results showed statistically reliable and consistent with those presented in the literature. The mean values and distributions of stereological parameters measured, such as intercept linear section of perimeter area, sectional area and mean free path are in agreement with the results obtained in the literature for the structures simulated. The results may help the understanding of real structures.

Comportamento reológico de materiais cimentícios para poços de petróleo contendo naftaleno condensado ou policarboxilato

Pastas a base de cimento Portland são utilizadas na cimentação de poços de petróleo. Elas consistem de uma mistura de partículas sólidas de cimento dispersas em água e aditivos. Atualmente, diversos materiais alternativos são utilizados como aditivos, objetivando a modificação e a melhoria das propriedades das pastas de cimento, especialmente no aumento da fluidez. Novos aditivos plastificantes são capazes de suportar as diversas condições de poços, promovendo propriedades no estado fluido compatíveis às condições exigidas para cimentação.Dispersantes são os componentes da pasta que garantem fluidez, além de proporcionar controle na água perdida por filtração na formação porosa, garantindo o sucesso da operação de bombeio. Em deter minados campos, além do efeito da profundidade, as condições geológicas das formações promovemvariações do gradiente de pressão e temperatura ao longo da profundidade vertical do poço. Recentemente, diversos aditivos químicos da indústria da construção civil tem sido estudados em condições de cimentação de poços de petróleo. Vários produtos testados tem apresentado desempenho superior aos produtos normalmente empregados pela indústria de petróleo com boa relação custo/benefício em função do volume de mercado da construção civil. Resultados promissores na seleção de aditivos com função dispersante da construção civil para operações de cimentação de poços de petróleo onshore foram obtidos para temperaturas até 80°C. O potencial de uso desses aditivos permite estabelecer novas soluções para problemas encontrados na cimentação de poços de petróleo HPHT, poços sujeitos à injeção de vapor, poços depletados e poços produtores de gás. Na construção civil, os superplastificantes permitem reduzir o fator água/cimento das argamassas proporcionando melhoria de propriedades como resistência mecânica e fluidez. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi o estudo e a caracterização reológica de pastas constituídas de cimento Portland, água e aditivos do tipo plastificante, com função dispersante a base de naftaleno condensado e policarboxilato, na faixa de temperaturas de 58°C e 70ºC. As condições utilizadas para a avaliação dos aditivos alternativos foram baseadas em uma cimentação primária para um poço hipotético de 2200 m de profundidade e gradientes geotérmicos de 1,7°F/100 pés e 2,1°F/100 pés. Os resultados demonstraram a grande eficiência e o poder dispersivo do policarboxilato para as temperaturas estudadas. O aditivo promoveu alta fluidez, sem efeitos de sedimentação da pasta. O dispersante à base de naftaleno reduziutant o a viscosidade plástica como o limite de escoamento acimada concentração a partir de 0,13%. O modelo de Bingham descreveu bem o comportamento reológico das pastas com policarboxilato para todas as concentrações

Protótipo de um microgerador termoelétrico de estado sólido: cogeração a gás

The thermoelectric energy conversion can be performed directly on generators without moving parts, using the principle of SEEBECK effect, obtained in junctions of drivers' thermocouples and most recently in semiconductor junctions type p-n which have increased efficiency of conversion. When termogenerators are exposed to the temperature difference (thermal gradient) eletromotriz a force is generated inducing the appearance of an electric current in the circuit. Thus, it is possible to convert the heat of combustion of a gas through a burner in power, being a thermoelectric generator. The development of infrared burners, using porous ceramic plate, is possible to improve the efficiency of heating, and reduce harmful emissions such as CO, CO2, NOx, etc.. In recent years the meliorate of thermoelectric modules semiconductor (TEG's) has stimulated the development of devices generating and recovery of thermal irreversibility of thermal machines and processes, improving energy efficiency and exergy these systems, especially processes that enable the cogeneration of energy. This work is based on the construction and evaluation of a prototype in a pilot scale, for energy generation to specific applications. The unit uses a fuel gas (LPG) as a primary energy source. The prototype consists of a porous plate burner infrared, an adapter to the module generator, a set of semiconductor modules purchased from Hi-Z Inc. and a heat exchanger to be used as cold source. The prototype was mounted on a test bench, using a system of acquisition of temperature, a system of application of load and instrumentation to assess its functioning and performance. The prototype had an efficiency of chemical conversion of 0.31% for electrical and heat recovery for cogeneration of about 33.2%, resulting in an overall efficiency of 33.51%. The efficiency of energy exergy next shows that the use of primary energy to useful fuel was satisfactory, although the proposed mechanism has also has a low performance due to underuse of the area heated by the small number of modules, as well as a thermal gradient below the ideal informed by the manufacturer, and other factors. The test methodology adopted proved to be suitable for evaluating the prototype

Estudo do processo de combustão in-situ em reservatórios maduros de óleos médios e leves (high pressure air injection)

Nearly 3 x 1011 m3 of medium and light oils will remain in reservoirs worldwide after conventional recovery methods have been exhausted and much of this volume would be recovered by Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods. The in-situ combustion (ISC) is an EOR method in which an oxygen-containing gas is injected into a reservoir where it reacts with the crude oil to create a high-temperature combustion front that is propagated through the reservoir. The High Pressure Air Injection (HPAI) method is a particular denomination of the air injection process applied in light oil reservoirs, for which the combustion reactions are dominant between 150 and 300°C and the generation of flue gas is the main factor to the oil displacement. A simulation model of a homogeneous reservoir was built to study, which was initially undergone to primary production, for 3 years, next by a waterflooding process for 21 more years. At this point, with the mature condition established into the reservoir, three variations of this model were selected, according to the recovery factors (RF) reached, for study the in-situ combustion (HPAI) technique. Next to this, a sensitivity analysis on the RF of characteristic operational parameters of the method was carried out: air injection rate per well, oxygen concentration into the injected gas, patterns of air injection and wells perforations configuration. This analysis, for 10 more years of production time, was performed with assistance of the central composite design. The reservoir behavior and the impacts of chemical reactions parameters and of reservoir particularities on the RF were also evaluated. An economic analysis and a study to maximize the RF of the process were also carried out. The simulation runs were performed in the simulator of thermal processes in reservoirs STARS (Steam, Thermal, and Advanced Processes Reservoir Simulator) from CMG (Computer Modelling Group). The results showed the incremental RF were small and the net present value (NPV) is affected by high initial investments to compress the air. It was noticed that the adoption of high oxygen concentration into the injected gas and of the five spot pattern tends to improve the RF, and the wells perforations configuration has more influence with the increase of the oil thickness. Simulated cases relating to the reservoir particularities showed that smaller residual oil saturations to gas lead to greater RF and the presence of heterogeneities results in important variations on the RF and on the production curves

Simulação de fluxo de fluidos em meios porosos desordenados uma análise de efeito de escala na estimativa da permeabilidade e do coeficiente de arrasto

The present study provides a methodology that gives a predictive character the computer simulations based on detailed models of the geometry of a porous medium. We using the software FLUENT to investigate the flow of a viscous Newtonian fluid through a random fractal medium which simplifies a two-dimensional disordered porous medium representing a petroleum reservoir. This fractal model is formed by obstacles of various sizes, whose size distribution function follows a power law where exponent is defined as the fractal dimension of fractionation Dff of the model characterizing the process of fragmentation these obstacles. They are randomly disposed in a rectangular channel. The modeling process incorporates modern concepts, scaling laws, to analyze the influence of heterogeneity found in the fields of the porosity and of the permeability in such a way as to characterize the medium in terms of their fractal properties. This procedure allows numerically analyze the measurements of permeability k and the drag coefficient Cd proposed relationships, like power law, for these properties on various modeling schemes. The purpose of this research is to study the variability provided by these heterogeneities where the velocity field and other details of viscous fluid dynamics are obtained by solving numerically the continuity and Navier-Stokes equations at pore level and observe how the fractal dimension of fractionation of the model can affect their hydrodynamic properties. This study were considered two classes of models, models with constant porosity, MPC, and models with varying porosity, MPV. The results have allowed us to find numerical relationship between the permeability, drag coefficient and the fractal dimension of fractionation of the medium. Based on these numerical results we have proposed scaling relations and algebraic expressions involving the relevant parameters of the phenomenon. In this study analytical equations were determined for Dff depending on the geometrical parameters of the models. We also found a relation between the permeability and the drag coefficient which is inversely proportional to one another. As for the difference in behavior it is most striking in the classes of models MPV. That is, the fact that the porosity vary in these models is an additional factor that plays a significant role in flow analysis. Finally, the results proved satisfactory and consistent, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the referred methodology for all applications analyzed in this study.