Department of Material Structure and Properties

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Department of Material Structure and Properties study the relationships between the structure and properties of inorganic and organic materials, their preparation and processing, using experiments and mathematic modeling. Research topics is focused on a) vitrification processes, melting processes of various types of glass, including special glass types for photonics, b) aluminium silicate bonding agents and the fixation of inorganic waste in a geopolymer matrix, and c) technologies for processing of organic wastes into usable products. The department includes the Laboratory of Inorganic Materials , which is a joint research centre with the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague.

Research topics is focused on a) vitrification processes, melting processes of various types of glass, including special glass types for photonics, b) aluminium silicate bonding agents and the fixation of inorganic waste in a geopolymer matrix, and c) technologies for processing of organic wastes into usable products. The Department includes the Laboratory of Inorganic Materials , which is a joint research centre with the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague.

1. Modelling of glass melting processes
Research works are focused on the design and application of advanced technologies and relevant glass melting spaces under conditions leading to a reduction in energy consumption and a substantial increase in melting performance or to miniaturized compact melting spaces.

2. Batch to glass conversion and vitrification
The ultimate goal of our batch melting studies is to develop an advanced batch to glass conversion model and incorporate it in the full CFD glass melting or vitrification space model as its integral component. We are performing studies to investigate the processes occurring during the batch melting and analyze the batch thermal and mechanical properties to solve the heat and mass balance.

3. Special glasses for infrared radiation
Research of special heavy metal oxide glasses and chalcogenide glasses capable of transmitting radiation at longer wavelengths compared to conventional glasses based on classic glass-forming oxides SiO2 and B2O3. Characterization of physicochemical properties of new glassy materials with emphasis on their optical transmittance and, in the case of glasses doped with rare earth ions, also on their photoluminescence properties.

4. Novel geopolymers 
Preparation of geopolymer materials; study of reaction conditions and determination of properties of formed solidificates; characterization of raw materials for the preparation of geopolymer materials and the use of new non-traditional sources of raw materials; solidification and inhibition of hazardous waste; design of possible application of geopolymer composite according to specified properties, X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF).

International Cooperation

IPGR (International Partners in Glass Research)
Germany, Aachen

Joint project was launched in mid-2013. The project aims to substantially reduce energy consumption in glass melting process and increase efficiencies operated melting furnaces. The task of the Czech team is to seek and find the conditions under which in industrial melting furnaces exercise control the flow of the melt. Grant's partner is a Czech Glass Service Inc.

Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul
(Turkey)
Turkey
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
USA

Modelling of glass melting processes-optimizing of a melter for vitrification of a radioactive waste.
Collaboration with American laboratories has helped to develop further contacts with the world's leading workplaces in the field - included internships of team members and students at PNNL and visiting researchers from PNNL and TITECH in our laboratory. Team of PhD students spent 12 months at PNNL. The joint work in Prague and in Richland brought a large amount of experimental results, which resulted in successful defence of thesis in 2019 and five publications mostly in the first and second quartile journals. During 2018-2019, a PNNL researcher worked reciprocally on his post-doc project in our laboratory. The project focused on the topic of batch to glass conversion, and was fully financed by US Department of Energy (US DOE). The collaboration with PNNL resulted in about 15 scientific publications published mostly in the first quartile journals. The increasing prestige of the joint international team led to the preparation of the paper entitled "Modeling Batch Melting: Roles of Heat Transfer and Reaction", which was published at the end of 2019 as an Invited Feature Article (including a cover Photo) in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, a journal of the first quartile in the category Materials Science - Ceramics.

University of Biskra
Algeria
Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, ID
USA

Collaboration with American laboratories has helped to develop further contacts with the world's leading workplaces in the field - an exchange program of students and staff.

Georgi Nadjakov Institute of Solid State Physics,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Bulgaria
Tokyo University of Technology in Japan (TITECH)
Japan

Four-month internship of a student from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

University of Mines ParisTech
France

Establishment of cooperation with the University of Mines ParisTech and the research centre CEA Marcoule: Researcher Team members were invited to present lectures at the Seminar on Modelling of glass melting processes, held in Marcoule, France, in July 2018. PhD student from ParisTech spent four weeks in our laboratory, working on the topic of bubble behaviour in glass melt. Obtained experimental results are currently analysed and prepared for a common publication.

University of Nottingham
England, UK

Team group for "Special glasses for infrared radiation" has developed a broad international cooperation, resulting in the exchange programs and joint publications

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava
Slovakia

exchange programs and joint publications

University of Novi Sad
Serbia

Team group for "Special glasses for infrared radiation" has developed a broad international cooperation, resulting in the exchange programs and joint publications

Karabük University
Turkey

Team group for "Special glasses for infrared radiation" has developed a broad international cooperation, resulting in the exchange programs and joint publications

Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Japan
Japan
National Research Council - Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics
Italy

Joint projects in the years 2011 - 2014

Rennes Institute of Chemical Sciences - Université de Rennes 1(ISCR - UMR CNRS 6226)
France

Results

Geopolymer-based grinding stones utilizable in metal machining

2023

A clay-slag geopolymer with corundum grains was first time used to prepare novel abrasive tools for metal grinding. The results have proven that, in case of metal grinding, a geopolymer matrix can substitute for ceramic binder in grinding tools. The geopolymer grinding stones are an opportunity to sustainable development of a new generation of abrasive materials which utilize waste materials, save primary raw material resources and energy consumption and has a minimum impact on the environment.
The result was achieved in cooperation with the industrial company I&AAT s.r.o., Bustehrad - Kladno.

Publication:
Perná I., Hanzlíček T., Lučaník A., Šupová M. (2023): Geopolymer-based grinding stones utilizable in metal machining. Construction and Building Materials 363, 129869.  doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129869
 

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Fig. General view of a ground seam steel tube.
Fig. General view of a ground seam steel tube.

Effect of sucrose on the oxidation-reduction conditions and retention of rhenium during vitrification of low-activity waste

2023

Khawand J., Kloužek J., Vernerová M., Cincibusová P., Hrma P., Kruger A., Pokorný R. (2023): Effect of sucrose on the oxidation-reduction conditions and retention of rhenium during vitrification of low-activity waste. Journal of Nuclear Materials. 573 (January 2023), 154155. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.154155

Degradation Processes of Medieval and Renaissance Glazed Ceramics

2023

Kolářová M., Kloužková A., Kohoutková M., Kloužek J., Dvořáková P. (2023): Degradation Processes of Medieval and Renaissance Glazed Ceramics. Materials. 16 (1), 375. 
https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16010375

Alternative reductants for foam control during vitrification of high-iron High Level Waste (HLW) feeds

2023

Rigby J.C., Dixon D.R., Kloužek J., Pokorný R., Thompson P.B.J., Scrimshire A., Kruger A.A., Bell A.M.T., Bingham P.A. (2023): Alternative reductants for foam control during vitrification of high-iron High Level Waste (HLW) feeds. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids. 608, 122240. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2023.122240

Effect of material properties on batch-to-glass conversion kinetics.

2023

Ferkl P., Hrma P., Kloužek J., Kruger A., Pokorný R. (2023): Effect of material properties on batch-to-glass conversion kinetics. International Journal of Applied Glass Science. 14, 491-501. 
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijag.16631

Transient melt formation and its effect on conversion phenomena during nuclear waste vitrification – HT-ESEM analysis

2023

Pokorný R., Vernerová M., Kloužek J., Cincibusová P., Kohoutková M., Pezl R., Ferkl P., Hrma P., Podor R., Schuller S., Kruger A. (2023): Transient Melt Formation and its Effect on Conversion Phenomena during Nuclear Waste Vitrification – HT-ESEM Analysis. Journal of the American Ceramic Society. 1–15
https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.19361

Cold-cap structure in a slurry-fed electric melter

2023

Ferkl P., Hrma P., Kloužek J., Kruger A., Pokorný R. (2023): Cold-cap structure in a slurry-fed electric melter. International Journal of Applied Glass Science, 15, 73-87
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijag.16645

Geopolymer-based grinding stones utilizable in metal machining.

2023

Perná I., Hanzlíček T., Lučaník A., Šupová M. (2023): Geopolymer-based grinding stones utilizable in metal machining. Construction and Building Materials 363, 129869 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129869

The characterization and renovation of parterre floor tiles in the pilgrimage church of St. John of Nepomuk (Czech Republic).

2023

Hanzlíček T., Perná I., Michoinová D., Rafl J. (2023): The characterization and renovation of parterre floor tiles in the pilgrimage church of St. John of Nepomuk (Czech Republic). Case Studies in Construction Materials 19, e02297 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2023.e02297

 

Biochar as an effective material for acetone sorption and the effect of surface area on the mechanism of sorption

2023

Švábová M. Bičáková O., Vorokhta M. (2023): Biochar as an effective material for acetone sorption and the effect of surface area on the mechanism of sorption. Journal of Environmental Management 348, 119205. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119205

Thermal, optical, structural, and electrical properties of ZnO–MoO3–TeO2 glasses

2023

Miray Celikbilek Ersundu, Ali Ercin Ersundu, Ondrej Bosak, Marian Kubliha, Petr Kostka (2023): Thermal, optical, structural, and electrical properties of ZnO-MoO3-TeO2 glasses. Ceramics International 49, 12950-12958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2022.12.166

Influence of Silicate Rock Glass Compositions on the Efficacy of Prebiotic RNA Polymerization Reactions: The Case of 3’,5’ Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate.

2023

Šponer J.E., Kloužek J., Výravský J., Wunnava S., Scheu B., Braun D., Mojzsis S.J., Palacký J., Vorlíčková M., Šponer J., Matyášek R., Kovařík A. (2023): Influence of Silicate Rock Glass Compositions on the Efficacy of Prebiotic RNA Polymerization Reactions: The Case of 3’,5’ Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate. ChemSystemsChem. 5. https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202300016

Transient Melt Formation and its Effect on Conversion Phenomena during Nuclear Waste Vitrification – HT-ESEM Analysis

2023

Pokorný R., Vernerová M., Kloužek J., Cincibusová P., Kohoutková M., Pezl R., Ferkl P., Hrma P., Podor R., Schuller S., Kruger A. (2023): Transient Melt Formation and its Effect on Conversion Phenomena during Nuclear Waste Vitrification – HT-ESEM Analysis. Journal of the American Ceramic Society. 
https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.19361

Cold-cap structure in a slurry-fed electric melter.

2023

Ferkl P., Hrma P., Kloužek J., Kruger A., Pokorný R. (2023): Cold-cap structure in a slurry-fed electric melter. International Journal of Applied Glass Science. Volume15, Issue, January 2024, 73-87
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijag.16645

Effect of feed composition on the production of off-gases during vitrification of simulated low-activity nuclear waste

2023

Kunc J., Kloužek J., Vernerová M., Cincibusová P., Ferkl P., Hall M., Eaton W., Hrma P., Guillen D., Kruger A., Pokorný R. (2023): Effect of feed composition on the production of off-gases during vitrification of simulated low-activity nuclear waste. Progress in Nuclear Energy. 166, 104932. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2023.104932

A comprehensive study of Power-to-Gas technology: Technical implementations overview, economic assessments, methanation plant as auxiliary operation of lignite-fired power station

2021

This work is focused on the evaluation of technical implementations and related techno-economic aspects, the usability of CO2 sources, and possibility of mass deployment of Power-to-Gas technology (P-t-G), with energy storage being the primary objective. For P-t-G, to ensure a low price of surplus electricity is quite necessary. A possible way is to eliminate the regulated electricity distribution fees by associating a methanation plant with the main CO2-producing plant. The methanation plant will then be an auxiliary plant (auxiliary operation) with its own technological consumption and will be exempt from fees. Further, because attractiveness and competitiveness of P-t-G depends on interconnectedness with other technologies, the use of P-t-G as an auxiliary operation of lignite-fired station with nominal capacity of 110 MWhel was evaluated. As a result, the discounted payback period 3.8 (for a discount rate 8%) or 5.1 (for a discount rate 15%) years was calculated. These and other indicators show that the lignite-fired power plant's investment in P-t-G can have a good return.



Publication: Straka Pavel: A comprehensive study of Power-to-Gas technology: Technical implementations overview, economic assessments, methanation plant as auxiliary operation of lignite-fired power station. Journal of Cleaner Production 311, 2021, 127642. Doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127642

obr.: Power-to-Gas-technology2
obr.: Power-to-Gas-technology2

 

Model for batch-to-glass conversion: coupling the heat transfer with conversion kinetics

2022

This study describes the batch-to-glass conversion model for a container glass melting furnace. The model accounts for the relationship between the temperature history of the batch particles, batch properties, and the rate of melting by coupling the heat transfer and batch conversion kinetics models. The heat transfer within the batch is modeled by a spatially one-dimensional, convective-conductive heat balance, while the conversion kinetics is described using stretched exponential, differential Avrami, and Šesták–Berggren models based on silica dissolution data. Spolupracující subjekt: VŠCHT Praha, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA), U.S. Department of Energy (USA)

Publication: Ferkl, P., Hrma, P., Kloužek, J., Vernerová, M., Kruger, A.A., Pokorný, R.: Model for batch-to-glass conversion: coupling the heat transfer with conversion kinetics. Journal of Asian Ceramic Societies 9, 652-664 (2021). DOI: doi.org/10.1111/jace.17406

Schéma struktury plovoucího kmene v peci otápěné zemním plynem. Horní povrch je nakloněný, kmen se otavuje kontinuálně. Červená čárkovaná čára ilustruje teplotní profil T, Q je tok tepla a L je tloušťka reakční oblasti. Indexy S, R, B, T, FO a MB odpovídají kmeni, reakční zóně, spodní hraně kmene, horní vrstvě kmene oblasti pěny a skelné tavenině
Scheme of the floating batch structure in fossil-fuel fired furnaces, the top surface is inclined, and the material is continuously removed by ablation. The red dashed line illustrates an approximate temperature profile, T; Q is the heat flux and L is the reaction zone thickness. Subscripts S, R, B, T, FO, and MB correspond to the core zone, core zone-reaction zone interface, batch bottom, batch top, foam onset, and bulk melt

Modified Geopolymers for the Photocatalytic Dye Decomposition.

2022

Novotná M., Knotek P., Hanzlíček T., Kutálek P., Perná I., Melánová K., Černošková E., Kopecká K. (2021): TiO2 Modified Geopolymers for the Photocatalytic Dye Decomposition. Crystals 11(12), 1511. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11121511

Conversion degree and heat transfer in the cold cap and their effect on glass production rate in an electric melter

2023

The predictive model of melt rate in waste glass vitrification operations is needed to inform melter operations during normal and off-normal operations. the development of a model of the cold cap describes that couples heat transfer with the feed to glass conversion kinetics. The model was applied to four melter feeds designed for high-level and low-activity nuclear waste feeds using the material properties, either measured or estimated, to obtain temperature and conversion distribution within the cold cap. The cold cap model, when coupled with a computational fluid dynamics model of a Joule-heated glass melter, allows the prediction of the glass production rate and power consumption. The results show reasonable agreement with the melting rates measured during pilot-scale melter tests.
Publication:
Ferkl P., Hrma P., Abboud A., Guillen D., Vernerová M., Kloužek J., Hall M., Kruger A.A., Pokorný R. (2023): Conversion degree and heat transfer in the cold cap and their effect on glass production rate in an electric melter. International Journal of Applied Glass Science 14, 318-329. doi: 10.1111/ijag.16615
 

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Conversion degree and heat transfer in the cold cap
Fig. Energy balance of glass strain melting in a melting unit for radioactive waste vitrification

Projects

Services

Přípravy a analýzy vzorků

Zařízení na přípravu vzorků
Třecí mlýnky, vibrační třídič, čelisťové drtiče, vibrační mlýn, desintegrátor   Tomáš Hanzlíček
(Oddělení struktury a vlastností materiálů)

Ivana Perná
(Oddělení struktury a vlastností materiálů)
Pec na výpal materiálů  
Sítová analýza tuhých vzorků  



Stanovení
Chemická analýza hlavních a stopových prvků pevných, práškových a kapalných vzorků Rentgen fluorescenční analyzátor Spectro, Kleve (XRF) Tomáš Hanzlíček
(Oddělení struktury a vlastností materiálů)

Ivana Perná
(Oddělení struktury a vlastností materiálů)
Stanovení ztráty žíháním  
Lis na stanovení pevnosti materiálů v tlaku a v tahu za ohybu  
Měření velikosti částic a jejich distribuce s rozsahem 0,7 – 400,0 μm Laserový granulometr CILAS 920

Termické analýzy

Charakterizace rozkladných reakcí
Rozklady pevných i kapalných vzorků v inertní i oxidační atmosféře (TGA, DSC) TG : SETARAM Sestys Evolution, Perkin-Elmer, TERI-MOM Jana Náhunková
(Oddělení struktury a vlastností materiálů)

Analýza paliv

Stanovení
Stanovení obsahu vody (ČSN 44 1377)   Olga Bičáková
(Oddělení struktury a vlastností materiálů
Stanovení popela (ČSN ISO 1171)  
Stanovení prchavé hořlaviny (ČSN ISO 562)  
Stanovení indexu puchnutí (ČSN 44 1373)  
Stanovení zdánlivé hustoty uhlí (ČSN 441321:1985/Z1)  
Stanovení skutečné hustoty, pórovitosti (ČSN 44 1322)  
Plynná paliva. Fyzikální konstanty (ČSN 385509)  
Hmotové bilance tepelných rozkladů uhlí a biomasy