Mill scale (MS) is a iron-rich waste generated in the wire drawing process with high iron content and is still mainly disposed in landfills. The scientific community has been studied its use in other applications such as pigments, concretes, among others. This work aims to study a new added-value application for MS—the development of coloured ceramic pastes. For this purpose, the influence of the added amount (0, 1, 3, 5 and 10 wt.%), the pre-treatment (milling + sieving at 212 μμm), the maximum firing temperature (from 1043 to 1165 °C) and the type of furnace (laboratory/industrial) were analysed on the sample’s characteristics. A dark grey stoneware product was obtained through the incorporation of 10 wt.% of MS and leaching tests conducted at pilot scale with cups confirmed its immobilization in the ceramic matrix. Furthermore, it was proved that the firing temperature can be reduced by about 100 °C without affecting the specimen’s characteristics. This reduction leads to a considerable decrease in the energy consumption upon firing, inducing economic and environmental advantages. Therefore, this work provides a new added-value application for MS and contributes to the reduction of virgin raw materials consumption and development of more sustainable stoneware products.
Abstract-Orthogonal ray imaging is a new low-dose imaging technology under study aimed at assist externalbeam radiotherapy (EBRT) treatments. It consists in detecting radiation scattered in the patient and emitted perpendicularly to the incident beam. Such radiation can be collected by positioning a multi-sliced, collimator-based, 1D detector system parallel to the beam axis, hence collecting such orthogonal rays, or by using a pinhole-like detector system positioned above or below the patient. This system can potentially be useful for on-board imaging, or real-time EBRT monitoring. In terms of prostate cancer irradiation, the use of implanted fiducial markers allows a more precise verification of the gland position relative to the bony anatomy. The prostate target normally exhibits intra-and interfraction motion induced by the daily variation in rectal and bladder filling. In order to solve this issue, three gold fiducial markers are inserted into the prostate. In the present study, the imaging capability provided by utilizing X-rays escaping the patient/fiducial markers orthogonally in respect to the incoming beam direction is studied by GEANT4 simulation. The results allow concluding that the signal provided by such X-rays is highly coincident with the position of the gold fiducial markers, even in situations where these have been deviated by as little as 3.0 mm. Index Terms-image-guided radiotherapy, OrthoCT, Monte Carlo simulation, gold fiducial markers, prostate cancer
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