#Phase diagrams geology software

Temperature–composition diagram example: the lipid cubic phase We will also realise that not every line casually drawn in a phase diagram is meaningful or physico-chemically justified.Ģ.1. In the following, we will investigate what these crystallization phase diagrams actually are, where they originate from and how we can use them to understand protein crystallization. While we only can guess where the (extremely narrow) phase fields of stable crystals may be located (for further details, see § 3.9), we can use the crystallization phase diagrams as a conceptual aid and an operational playground for imagination when analysing or designing crystallization experiments. Very little is known a priori about each specific protein as far as optimal crystallization conditions are concerned. Thermodynamics is ignorant of such microscopic subtleties. In addition, kinetic processes are by definition time-dependent for example, the speed at which supersaturation is reached affects nucleation, or slower crystal growth may give better quality crystals. The outcome, however, of the experiment in a microgravity environment (∼10 −6 g) can differ for example as a result of the practical absence of buoyancy-driven convection (DeLucas et al., 1989 ▶) and the absence of gravity-induced sedimentation of impurities on the crystal surface (Koszelak et al., 1995 ▶). Even in space, thermodynamic phase equilibria do not change. Nucleation and crystal growth are dynamic microscopic processes determining the kinetics (see McPherson & Kuznetsov, 2014 ▶), and they are in general much harder to control and to adjust than macroscopic thermodynamic conditions, which are defined by easily controllable parameters such as the mother liquor (drop) and reservoir composition and volumes, temperature and pressure. This mechanism is a new tool to study chemical conversions in complex metallurgical processes, which will be very useful for metallurgists, chemists, and technologists.The actual realisation of the possible outcomes of a crystallization experiment depends critically on the controlling kinetics. The diagrams proposed herein allow establishing a quantitative relationship between the temperature, the ratio of independent components (metal, oxygen, and carbon), on the one hand, and the complete equilibrium composition of the system, which implies data on the amount and type of condensed and gas phases in the system and their ratios, on the other hand.

#Phase diagrams geology software

The equilibrium compositions of the system were obtained to plot diagrams from not only experimental studies but also the chemical equilibria mathematical simulation results using the Selector software package.

The main research objective was to determine the equilibrium composition of the Me-O-C system, i.e., the amount or ratio of its various compounds such as carbides, oxides, pure substances, and, possibly, ternary compounds. Diagrams have been proposed that are more common, informative, and herewith universal to study pyrometallurgical processes.

To study such processes, mathematical (thermodynamic) simulation and other techniques are widely used, among which graphical diagrams illustrating the equilibrium between individual phases or their systems occupy a special place. This is due to the complex physical and chemical interactions occurring in high-temperature metallurgical systems with the formation of various compounds. Metallurgical processes in Me-O-C systems cannot be studied and controlled using conventional analytical and physicochemical techniques.