Development of Commercializable High-Performance High-Cr Cast Irons through Multi-Level Control

阿尔伯塔/加拿大油砂业拥有世界第三大探明原油储量，在保障国家燃料自给方面发挥着重要作用。但从油砂中提取石油的高成本使这一行业容易受到油价波动的影响，这使国民经济受到震动，目前油价下跌对加拿大经济的影响就是明证。必须通过降低油砂生产的高成本来改变这种状况，以增强加拿大经济对石油冲击的抵抗力。油砂作业中的大成本之一来自油砂浆输送系统中磨损部件的维修和更换，例如，泥浆泵尽管已经做出了重大努力来开发坚固的材料，但成功是有限的，因为缺乏材料设计和有效制造控制的合理指导方针。

With the third-largest proven crude oil reserve in the world, the Alberta/Canadian oil sand industry is playing an important role in guaranteeing the national fuel self-sufficiency. However, the high cost of extracting oil from oil sand makes this industry vulnerable to oil price fluctuations, which trembles the national economy, evidenced by the impact of current oil price drop on Canadian economy. Such a situation must be changed through reducing the high cost of oil sand production in order to increase resistance of Canadian economy to oil-shock. One of large costs in oil sand operation comes from repair and replacement of worn components in oil sand slurry transport system, e.g., slurry pumps. Although significant efforts have been made to develop strong materials, success is limited since there is lack of sound guidelines for material design and control towards effective manufacturing.