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Date: | Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:33:35 -0400 |
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Well, I guess we can keep on using the thorium, but I understand the cerium and yttrium are rare earth minerals and will soon be export restricted by the Chinese government. Since 90% of the world supply of rare earths come from China and "domestic demand is so great there will not be any for export".
What will we do when we can't get gas mantles - camp in the dark? And, we can't stay home and work on disk drive computers that use neodymium magnets in the motors. Or use fiber optics that are erbium doped. Darn!!
-----Original Message-----
From: David D. Hillman <[log in to unmask]>
To: TechNet <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Aug 20, 2010 3:59 pm
Subject: [TN] NTC Friday Element Quiz: The Answer
Hi folks - here is the Friday Element Quiz Question and Answer:
he Question:
I am an element that was first produced in 1828 but was identified
enturies earlier. Peak demand for this element was in the 1960s. This
lement has been extensively studied for possible use in reactor fuel
reeding but only one master alloy is commercially available. The dominant
isotope of this element has a half life of 1.41 x 1010 years. This
lement's compounds were part of an invention in 1891 and have been a
ignificant part of people's camping experience. This element comprises
.1 ppm of the earth's crust. What element am I?
The Answer:
The element is Thorium (Th). Thorium oxide (ThO2)was part of the
ncandescent gas light mantle patent (which I didn't know myself until
oday). Gas camping lanterns have woven cotton mantles that are soaked in
ThO2 and Ce(NO3)3 solution. The cotton burns away when first lit leaving
delicate web of sintered nitrate residues. The ThO2 has low thermal
onductivity and supports/insulates the CeO2 particles which catalyze gas
ombustion. Today, U.S manufacturers have substituted Yttrium to avoid
he regulatory costs associated with Th.
he winner of the quiz is Bev Christian, RIM, will get the services of
lumpy, the 8th dwarf, for one task. Bev - you will need to let us know
hat Clumpy accomplished for you.
veryone have a good weekend.
Dave Hillman
ockwell Collins
[log in to unmask]
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