Characterization of the joined components in industrial application

Abstract

In this master's thesis, the characterization of the joined components in industrial applications has been investigated. In the first project, materials were joined to integrate an Oxygen Transport Membrane (OTM) module for industrial applications. Oxygen is one of the world's largest chemical commodities, produced at a rate of more than 100 million tons per year. There are many industrial applications for pure O2, including making glass, cement, ceramics, chemicals, and petrochemicals. Therefore, low-cost, environmentally friendly methods of producing high-purity O2 are vitally important [1]. Cryogenic distillation and pressure swing adsorption are currently the most commonly used methods to produce commercial oxygen. Nevertheless, these technologies consume large amounts of energy and require high operating costs [2]. Ceramic oxygen transport membranes (OTMs) are a promising alternative to traditional processes because of their low-efficiency losses [3]. Perovskite-based membranes have been identified as promising mixed ionic membrane conductor that allows oxygen to diffuse through vacancies and defects of lattice to enhance the thermo-mechanical properties of the entire system: High-temperature resistance, robustness, and reliability are the most important. In particular, in this thesis, the focus is on joining materials that are suitable for the integration of an Oxygen Transport Membrane (OTMs) module for high-temperature applications. Due to the wide range of materials with different compositions and thermomechanical properties, attention is growing on innovative joining mechanisms. The study also explored the properties and analysis GC2 glass-ceramics, selected as promising joining material for the integration of Oxygen Transport Membrane (OTM) modules in an asymmetrical configuration for high temperature applications. Gas mixing and subsequent device failures due to gas mixing are prevented with glass-ceramic sealants in the energy production sector. The sealants must be highly gas-tight, thermo-chemical and thermo-mechanically compatible with metallic and ceramic substances, and stable under the applicable operating conditions (950 °C, for thousand hours). In order to compensate for mismatches in CTE between a metallic substrate made of Inconel 625 and a LSCF membrane made of a dense, tight layer supported by a porous layer, adhesive joining has been applied. The glass has been completely formed and characterized through thermal analysis. Following the production and characterization of the glass, the joining configuration has been assembled and then analyzed using several different equipment in order to determine all physical-chemical characteristics. The second project has been employed Cationic Photopolymerization in order to Mechanical characterization of joints for internal leakage limit device. Organic-inorganic polymer nanocomposites have drawn considerable attention, in recent years, due to improvements in various properties, including resistance to scratching, abrasion, heat, as well as other mechanical properties. Different metal oxide nanoparticles can be employed as fillers, in particular SiO2, TiO2, ZnO, and CeO. Silica nanoparticles were employed to obtain organic-inorganic coatings via UV curing of an epoxy-based system. The silica-containing nanocomposites show remarkable barrier properties to gases and moisture as well as very good resistance to staining. Thus, it is particularly interesting the preparation of silica-reinforced polymeric thin films for coating application. The aim of the addition of the nanopowder inorganic particles is to increase the modulus, strength, and other properties of the polymeric films.