CANMET, Materials Technologies Laboratory
CANMET, the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology, is a leading Canadian R&D organization with world-class expertise in a variety of areas related to minerals, metals and energy.
Much of CANMET's research is done in partnership with industry, provincial governments, other federal departments, universities and international agencies. These activities cover a broad range of in-house research and contracting-out on a cost-shared, task-shared or cost-recovery basis.
CANMET offers opportunities in many current fields of interest, including R&D consortia, personnel interchanges, simulation software and modelling, technical services, technical assessments and field trials, standards, and technology transfer. Clients include mining and mineral-processing companies, environmental and engineering service consultants, and government agencies.
Areas of expertise in metals technology are:
Steel technology; casting technology; advanced materials; manufactured products; pipelines; regulatory support; nondestructive testing personnel certification
Company Details
Company Information
Alan Bowles
Title:
Business Manager
Telephone:
(613) 995-8814
Fax:
(613) 992-8735
Email:
Click Here
Carole Champion
Title:
Manager
Telephone:
(613) 995-8814
Fax:
(613) 992-8735
Products
Environmental Products And Services
New Materials And Coatings For Coal Gasification And Low Nox Boilers
Technologies have been developed that reduce the levels of NOx in coal-fuelled boilers in electricity generating plants. The difficulty is that, in the reducing atmospheres required to lower NOx emissions, the rapid erosive and corrosive wear of the boiler walls can make the new processes inefficient and expensive. The sulphidation resulting from the reducing atmosphere weakens the steel linings, which were designed for oxidizing rather than reducing atmospheres.
Another technology, generally termed Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), not only produces coal gasification but also, through improved hot-gas heat extraction and clean burning of the cooled gases, raises thermal efficiency and reduces emissions of SO2, and CO2. However, erosion and corrosion of the materials in the coal gasifiers diminish the efficiencies of the process, rendering it more costly.
Working in partnership with the utilities sector, CANMET's Metals Technology Laboratories, noted for its expertise in erosion/corrosion and wear, has developed an understanding of the process of materials degradation in coal gasification and has recommended new materials for more efficient processes. Research continues on coating materials for use in retrofitting boilers for low-NOx processes.
Pre-construction Evaluation Of Steel Service Performance And Development Of Codes And Regulations
Greater use of high-strength steels in shipping and other marine structures offers both enhanced performance and reduced construction costs. But difficult operating conditions (ice, low ambient temperatures, and waves) can affect the mechanical behaviour of the steels, leading to fracture, structural failure, and environmentally damaging oil spills. CANMET's Metals Technology Laboratories are known throughout the world for their ability to evaluate the performance of steels in actual operating conditions. The laboratories also use this expertise to develop codes and standards for high-strength steels.
CANMET data on steels have been used to revise Arctic Shipping Pollution Prevention Regulations (Transport Canada). Other CANMET results have formed the basis of Canadian Standard CSA S473 for offshore structures.
New Processes And Replacement Materials
Canadian foundries manufacture 25,000 tons of lead-containing brass products a year, employing a process called sand casting. Lead is a well-established, plentiful, and cheap metal that allows the castings to be easily machined to a finished, marketable product. The sand required for this process (some 200,000 tons) is difficult to dispose of, owing to the hazard created by its lead content, which in some cases leaches into the soil and into watercourses. Using its expertise in foundry technology and metals development, CANMET is attacking this problem with new alloy concepts and processes.
In partnership with international industrial associations, CANMET has demonstrated a technology known as permanent-mould casting. It eliminates the need for sand and offers opportunities for higher productivity and improved product quality.
Based on its own research, CANMET has also recommended environmentally benign metals and materials to replace lead. Already the use of bismuth for this purpose is very near the point of commercial production.
Services