Engineering MECHANICS

TERM PAPER ON
METLABS

SUBMITTED BY: Adil

Hussain Lone
SUBMITTED TO: Preet Kaur

SECTION: G5001

ROLL NO: B-74

REGD NO: 11013757

Acknowledgement
It is my profound pleasure to express my sincerest gratitude to my esteemed
supervisor,Ms Preet Kour,Lecturer ,department of physics Lovely Professional
University ,Phagwara[ Punjab], for her inspiring guidance for all the times. It is
both encouraging and informative .i feel it is my pleasure to work under her
expert guidance and supervision.

I feel highly obliged to my teacher for her keen interest and valuable
suggestions .

I owe my gratitude to my dear parents and would like to say special thanks
to my brother for their help ,support ,and motivation. Above all, I thank
Almighty God for all this grace,blessings and strength throughout the journey
of this term paper.

ADIL HUSSAIN LONE .

contents
(1) Introduction

(2)History

(3)overview

(4)Benefits

(5)Applications

(6)Mechanical testing

(7)Services

(8)Equipments

(9) Client Base

Introduction:
The Metallurgical Laboratory or "Met Lab" at the University of Chicago was part
of the World War II–era Manhattan Project, created by the United States to
develop an atomic bomb. It was where Enrico Fermi created the first self-
sustaining nuclear chain reaction under the university's football stadium.

History:
In July 1939, at the urging of physicists Eugene Wigner and Leó Szilárd, Albert
Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the military
potential of nuclear fission and calling for the United States to develop atomic
weapons before Nazi Germany did.

In response, Roosevelt appointed a committee to direct the research. Early

funding was meager, but in 1940, scientists at Columbia University and the
University of California were able to demonstrate the weapons potential of the
isotope uranium-235 and the newly-discovered element plutonium.

Immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,

Nobel Prize laureate Arthur H. Compton quickly gained support for
consolidating plutonium research at Chicago and for an ambitious schedule
that called for producing the first atomic bomb in January 1945, a goal that was
missed by only six months.

"Metallurgical Laboratory" was the "cover" name given to Compton's facility. Its
objectives were to produce chain-reacting "piles" of uranium to convert to
plutonium, find ways to separate the plutonium from the uranium and to design
a bomb. Most of the offices were in the university's Eckhart Hall; Szilard later
wrote that "the morale of the scientists could almost be plotted in a graph by
counting the number of lights burning after dinner in the offices at Eckhart
Hall."[1]

In August 1942, a team of scientists under Glenn T. Seaborg isolated the first
weighable amount of plutonium from uranium irradiated in cyclotrons.
Meanwhile, work continued under the renowned Italian physicist Enrico Fermi
to build uranium and graphite piles that could be brought to critical mass in a
controlled, self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

A labor strike prevented the construction of the piles at a laboratory in the

Argonne forest preserve, so Fermi and his associates Martin Whittaker and
Walter Zinn set about building the piles (really the world's first "nuclear
reactor," although that term was not used until 1952) in a racquets court under
the abandoned west stands of the university's Alonzo Stagg Field.[2] The piles
consisted of uranium pellets as a neutron–producing "core" separated from one
another by graphite blocks to slow the neutrons. Fermi himself described the
apparatus as "a crude pile of black bricks and wooden timbers." The controls
consisted of cadmium-coated rods that absorbed neutrons. Withdrawing the
rods would increase neutron activity in the pile to lead to a self-sustaining
chain reaction. Re-inserting the rods would dampen the reaction.

On December 2, 1942, Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) was ready for a demonstration.

Before a group of dignitaries, a young scientist named George Weil worked the
final control rod while Fermi carefully monitored the neutron activity. The pile
went critical at 3:20 p.m. Fermi shut it down 33 minutes later. In 1943, he
rebuilt the pile as CP-2 at the Argonne National Laboratory, in Red Gate Woods.

The stadium was demolished in 1957. The location is commemorated as the

Site of the First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Reaction, a National Historic Landmark,
featuring a sculpture by Henry Moore.

Overview:

Metlab scrutinized the amount and cost of natural gas and electricity consumed
during the

years 1999 and 2000 and found that cost and consumption for both energy
sources rose during the 2-year period. The increase in the cost of natural gas
was especially high, providing Metlab with an incentive to find ways to reduce
its fuel use and costs.

Metlab’s goal in performing the assessment was to identify ways that the
company might improve productivity and at the same time reduce energy
consumption, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide
(CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The assessment was structured to include a
comprehensive survey and assessment of energy use, emissions, and
production practices at the plant, with special emphasis placed on the large
gas-fired furnaces Metlab uses to perform metal heat-treating operations. The
plan for performing the assessment included:

• An inventory of all energy-consuming equipment in the plant, including

furnaces, Black Oxide

Coating System, plant water system, plant compressor system, and the
endothermic gas

generator station

• An examination of the use of plant-wide electricity, natural gas, water,

compressed air,

emissions, discharges, and other plant services

• An analysis of selected furnaces’ performance measurements including

energy use for

critical process cycles, emissions, and energy efficiency.

Metlab managed the assessment with support from Energy Research Company,
CSGI, Inc.,

and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Energy

Research Company

collected data and analyzed the thermal performance of the two pit furnaces
(the “two major furnaces” mentioned below under “Assessment
Implementation”). CSGI, Inc. wrote the report and did the bulk of the
assessment. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
provided energy-saving related assistance. Each of these entities and the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Office of Industrial Technology (OIT) shared
assessment costs with Metlab. OIT’s contribution was $100,000, or about 42%
of the total assessment cost. OIT supports plant-wide energy efficiency
assessments that will lead to improvements in industrial efficiency, waste and
emissions reduction, productivity, and global competitiveness in OIT’s
Industries of the Future

BENEFITS:
• Saves an estimated $528,400

annually in operating and energy

costs

• Reduces natural gas use by

50,070 million British thermal units

(MMBtu) per year

• Reduces electrical use by

329,400 kWh per year

APPLICATIONS:

Metlab uses large amounts of naturalgas and electricity for process heatingand
process services. The significantresults of Metlab’s plant-wideassessment may
encourage otherindustries with similar equipment andprocess lines to seek
opportunities tosave energy and cut cost

MECHANICAL TESTING:
This mechanical testing facility positions METLAB very well for a wide range of
tests such as product testing, welder certification, weld procedure qualification
and re-certification of material.

• American (ASTM) and British/European (BSEN) standard test procedures

are followed.

• All test equipment is calibrated against a preset calibration programme

as determined by international standards, using SANAS approved
facilities.

• Tensile testing is performed on four (4) tensile machines with a capacity

of 7.5 - 60 ton (75 - 600KN)

• Elevated tensile testing is performed on a 7.5 ton machine, temperatures

ranging form 100ºC to 950ºC

• Bend testing is performed around 4 - 150mm formers

• Impact testing is performed on two (2) impact machines, 294 Joule (ASTM
E23 calibrated) and 300 Joule (BSEN10045 calibrated), temperatures
ranging form -196ºC to +300ºCs.

SERVICES:
A comprehensive range of destructive and non-destructive metallurgical
testing is available, which may be conducted in our testing house, or
where suitable on clients' sites. The METLAB replication, hardness and
chemical test technicians have an excellent reputation for specialized
testing on our clients' premises throughout Africa. A dedicated machine
shop is located on the premises, well equipped to produce machined test
samples of the highest standards in accordance with BS/ISO/ASME/AWS
 requirements.

This expertise positions METLAB very well for a wide range of tests /
services, such as:

Chemical Laboratory:

• Spectrographic analysis (in-house/on site)

• Wet chemical analysis

Mechanical Test Laboratory:

• Tensile testing (ambient/elevated to 950ºC)

• Bend testing

• Load testing

• Impact testing (-196ºC to 300ºC)

• Welding procedure qualification

• Welder certification

Metallographic Laboratory:

• Hardness testing (in-house/on site)

• Corrosion testing (salt spray/inter-granular)

• Replication
 • Fracture mechanics assessment

• Delta ferrite testing (microstructure / ferrite scope)

Consultancy:

• Metallurgical, material engineering consultancy

• Welding engineering consultancy

• Quality Assurance consultancy

On site services:

• Spectrographic analysis

• Hardness testing

• Replication

• Delta ferrite testing (ferrite scope)

Machining:

Specialise in machining of test samples for destructive testing in accordance

BS/ISO/ASME/AWS requirements.
EQUIPMENT:

• Calibrated equipment available to conduct the services provided

are:-

• 4 Tensile testing machines with a machine capacity of 7.5 - 60 ton

(75-600KN)

• 2 Impact testing machines, 294 Joule (ASM) 300 Joule (BSM)

• 4 hardness testing machines including portable, Brinnell, Rockwell,

Vickers

• 1 Spectrometer for laboratory testing

• 1 Mobile Spectrometer for site testing

• 1 Wet analysis equipment: I.C.P.

• 1 Leco Carbon Sulphur Analyzer

• 1 Salt spray cabinet

• 1 Ferrite scope for laboratory and site testing

• General laboratory equipment

 CLIENT BASE:

The services supplied by METLAB since 1982, are currently utilised by

companies in all sectors of African business including:-

• Transport

• Manufacturing

• Power Generation

• Petrochemical

• Food and Beverage

• Utilities

• Steel Suppliers

• Construction

• Consultants

Reference Cited :-

• www.britannica.com/metlabs
• www.wikipedia.com/en/metlabs
• www.martain metlabs.com
• www.metlabs.com