Category Archives: Metals

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 3,000,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 129 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

U.S. Navy Buys $81 Million Lithium-Iron Battery

Energy storage technology just got a big boost courtesy of Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club, also known as the U.S. Navy.

The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded an $81 million contract to K2 Energy Solutions, a developer and manufacturer of lithium-iron phosphate battery technology based in Henderson, Nevada, to design an energy storage system capable of powering “a large modular capacitor bank for the electromagnetic railgun.”

Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2015/01/05/u-s-navy-buys-81-million-lithium-iron-battery/

 

Microscopy reveals how atom-high steps impede oxidation of metal surfaces

Microscopy reveals how atom-high steps impede oxidation of metal surfaces

Low-energy electron microscopy images of the nickel-aluminum surface before and after oxidation. The faint lines before oxidation indicate the atom-high steps that separate flat terrace sections of the crystal surface. As oxidation begins at a point on one terrace, the oxide spreads in elongated stripes along that terrace, pushing steps out of the way and bunching them closer and closer together. Eventually the bunching of steps stops the growth of the oxide stripe and another begins to form, often at right angles, to produce a grid-like pattern. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

Rust never sleeps. Whether a reference to the 1979 Neil Young album or a product designed to protect metal surfaces, the phrase invokes the idea that corrosion from oxidation—the more general chemical name for rust and other reactions of metal with oxygen—is an inevitable, persistent process. But a new study performed at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory reveals that certain features of metal surfaces can stop the process of oxidation in its tracks.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-12-microscopy-reveals-atom-high-impede-oxidation.html#jCp

Millions of damage after New Caledonia nickel spill

Initial assessments from last week’s nickel spill at New Caledonia’s Koniambo plant put the damage at more than three million US dollars.

The incident on the day after Christmas prompted the evacuation of all staff from the seven-billion US dollar plant in the territory’s north and led to a temporary stop to production.

There are no reports of any injuries.

About 500 tonnes of liquid nickel was spilled from one of the furnaces for reasons yet to be determined.

Read more at: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/262733/millions-of-damage-after-new-caledonia-nickel-spill

POSCO builds lithium extracting plant in Argentina

POSCO Co., South Korea’s largest steelmaker, said Monday that it has completed the construction of a lithium plant in Argentina that will mass produce the material needed to make batteries for electronic devices.

The plant located in Jujuy, in the northern part of Argentina, can produce up to 200 tons of lithium every year by directly extracting the material from water from a nearby lake through chemical reactions, a technique that requires less time than traditional means of production.

Read more at: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20141222000422

IMF team praises Indonesia`s macroeconomic management

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised the countrys macroeconomic management after visiting several cities in Indonesia from December 3 to 17.

In order to evaluate the current development in the country with regard to short-term, medium-term, and future perspectives, the team led by David Cowen held a discussion about 2014 Article Consultation with the government and Bank Indonesia on the IMF website.

Read more at: http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/96995/imf-team-praises-indonesias-macroeconomic-management

Test post

India looks to sway Americans with nuclear power insurance plan

NEW DELHI: India is offering to set up an insurance pool to indemnify global nuclear suppliers against liability in the case of a nuclear accident, in a bid to unblock billions of dollars in trade held up by concerns over exposure to risk.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is hoping the plan will be enough to convince major U.S. companies such as General Electric to enter the Indian market ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit at the end of next month.

ORNL’s Goyal elected fellow of National Academy of Inventors

The National Academy of Inventors has elected Amit Goyal as a fellow. Goyal is a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The organization recognized Goyal for “having demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.”

Read more at: http://oakridgetoday.com/2014/12/19/ornls-goyal-elected-fellow-national-academy-inventors/

US: IMF reviews Burundi’s economic performance, gives passmark

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed an economic review mission to Burundi during which it conducted discussions with Burundi’s authorities for the sixth review of the government’s economic and financial programme supported by the IMF under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF).

Read more at: http://www.africanmanager.com/site_eng/detail_article.php?art_id=22884

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