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

阿尔伯塔省/加拿大油砂行业拥有世界第三大已探明原油储量，在保障国家燃料自给自足方面发挥着重要作用。然而，从油砂中开采石油的高昂成本使该行业容易受到油价波动的影响，当前油价下跌对加拿大经济的影响就是明证。为了提高加拿大经济对石油冲击的抵抗力，必须通过降低油砂生产的高成本来改变这种状况。油砂作业的一大成本来自修复和更换油砂泥浆输送系统中的磨损部件，如渣浆泵。虽然已经做出了重大努力来开发坚固材料，但由于缺乏有效制造的材料设计和控制的健全指导方针，成功是有限的。

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.