This review covers the sustainable development of advanced improvements in CO2 capture and utilization.

The lithium ion (Li-ion) battery industry has been growing exponentially since its initial inception in the late 20th century. As battery materials evolve, the applications for Li-ion batteries have become even more diverse. To date, the main source of Li-ion battery use varies from consumer portable electronics to electric/hybrid electric vehicles. However, even with the continued rise of Liion battery development and commercialization, the recycling industry is lagging; approximately 95% of Li-ion batteries are landfilled instead of recycled upon reaching end of life. Industrialized recycling processes are limited and only capable of recovering secondary raw materials, not suitable for direct reuse in new batteries. Most technologies are also reliant on high concentrations of cobalt to be profitable, and intense battery sortation is necessary prior to processing. For this reason, it is critical that a new recycling process be commercialized that is capable of recovering more valuable materials at a higher efficiency. A new technology has been developed by the researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute which is capable of recovering LiNi x Mn y Co z O 2 cathode material from a hydrometallurgical process, making the recycling system as a whole more economically viable. By implementing a flexible recycling system that is closed-loop, recycling of Li-ion batteries will become more prevalent saving millions of pounds of batteries from entering the waste stream each year.

To develop an effective technology to prevent vortex forming in ladles, the mechanism underlying vortex formation during steel teeming must be studied. For simulations using the numerical simulation software Fluent, a geometric model of the ladle was generated, and initially water teeming in the ladle was simulated for different initial tangential velocities. The results obtained help to verify the validity of the numerical computations. Similar simulation conducted for steel showed that the tangential velocity increases from the liquid level to the bottom of the ladle, and the flow at the bottom is related to vortex formation. The inference is that vortex formation begins from the ladle bottom. Causes for vortex formation during teeming are discussed to help lay a theoretical basis for ladle design in preventing vortex formation during steel teeming.KEY WORDS: free-surface vortex; slag entrapment in the ladle; clean steel; critical height; volume-of-fluid model (VOF).

To suppress slag entrapment by vortexes during steel teeming, and to improve steel cleanliness, key factors affecting free surface vortex formation have been analyzed in this study. It was found that Coriolis forces have little effect on vortex formation. The initial tangential disturbance is the main factor for vortex formation. And when the nozzle position is central or eccentric, the effects of initial tangential velocity, nozzle diameter on the critical height are different. Physical properties of liquid steel have a small effect on the critical height. A formula for calculating the height was discussed.