The Centre’s access to UQ’s advanced engineering groups supports HBIS’s strategic business objectives for developing innovative technologies in environmental engineering, metallurgical resources and high quality steel materials. More than a collaborative research centre, ICSS also enriches training in research and business management with internships and customised executive courses through UQ Business School.
Our primary research fields are high temperature processing, bridging the gap between the fundamental study and industrial application for pyrometallurgical production and refining of metals.
Our research interests include:
Advanced High Temperature Furnaces
Electric resistance furnaces are featured with lanthanum chromate heating elements, heating temperature up to 1650 °C, and controllable heating and cooling rate by program. The furnaces are modified to fit the requirements of various high temperature experiments, e.g. sealed system with controllable gas composition, accurate temperature monitoring, moving and spinning of samples at the hot zone, as well as quenching of the samples. A series of high temperature experiments such as phase equilibria, viscosity, reaction kinetics, chemical corrosion of refractories, heat treatment as well as de-oxidation of steel refining can be well conducted using the advanced furnaces.
Advanced High Temperature Furnaces
Water model of bath smelter
Water model of horizontal cylinder fitted with gas injection lances is used to simulate the flow dynamics of melts in the smelter or converter. Gas injection rate, angle, bath layers and height can be easily adjusted. These parameters will be used to build empirical equations to guide the process optimisation of industrial application. Formation of wave, plume eye and splashing can also be investigated at different conditions.
Water model of bath smelter
Thermodynamic software
FactSage software is a powerful tool to predict the thermodynamic equilibria for complex multi-component slag/alloy/gas systems. It has also the capability to predict viscosity of complex slags. The case study of inclusion formation and stability in steel refining process and oxide metallurgy of steels can be calculated by FactSage software.
FactSage software
Electron Probe X-ray Microanalyser (EPMA) is a high accuracy analytical instrument to measure elemental compositions. It uses a conventional W electron source, has five high resolution WD spectrometers and one ED spectrometer for X-ray analysis. Low atomic number elements such as Boron, Carbon and Oxygen may be measured with synthetic multi-layer crystals that produce a much greater signal intensity than conventional X-ray detectors. The probe stage has a permanently mounted Taylor Standard Reference block for accurate calibration.
JEOL JXA-8200 EPMA
The FEI Scios Dual Beam system is a combination of two systems: a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) system. While the SEM produces high resolution images of a variety of specimens in a digital format, the FIB is capable of fast and precise site-specific milling of the specimen material, revealing the structure under the surface layer, making cross sections, deposition layers, etc. The integration of both systems yields a powerful analytical tool which delivers outstanding 2D and 3D performance for a broad range of applications. The SCIOS is equipped with three in-lens/column SE/BSE detectors, Everhart-Thornley SE detector, ICE detector (secondary electrons and ions), retractable segmented under lens BSE detector, and STEM retractable segmented detector (BF, DF, HADF, HAADF). An Oxford Instruments AZtec integrated EDS-EBSD system is installed for elemental composition and crystal structure characterizations. The system also offers a package of software applications for automated sequential mill and acquire of series of slice images and EDS (chemical maps)/EBSD (texture or orientation maps) maps and subsequent 3D reconstruction.
FEI Scios FIB - Dual Beam SEM
The Philips Tecnai F20 FEG-S/TEM is an analytical transmission electron microscope with the capability to deliver one nanoamp (10-9A) of current into a probe of one nanometre (10-9m) in diameter. The unique analytical resolution is a result of the high brightness field emission gun (FEG) which acts an electron source in the microscope. The instrument can be operated in TEM-microprobe, TEM-nanoprobe or STEM (Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope) mode. It is fitted with an Oxford SDD thin window X-ray (EDS) detector which is capable of detecting elements ranging from boron upwards. The TEM operation is integrated within the Windows NT platform along with a 4kx4k OneView CMOS camera with in-situ software. A Gatan Image Filter (GIF) is fitted to the bottom of the microscope column and comes with a 2kx2k slow scan CCD, a bright field (BF), dark field (DF), and high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) STEM detectors are all located just above the entrance aperture for the GIF. The GIF is able to analyze elements from lithium upwards and thus is ideal for light element analysis. Just like EDS, the GIF can perform elemental analysis, and also deliver bonding information at the nanoscale. The instrument has a twin-lens objective pole-piece and is capable of ±70°. There are cryo-sample holders (-183 °C), tilt-rotate holder, double-tilt (±30°) low background (Be) EDS holder, a high temperature double-tilt holder (±30°) capable of heating samples up to 1000 °C.
FEI F20 FEG-STEM