Skip navigation, view page content
 |
Charles H. Drummond, IIIAssociate ProfessorPh.D. Harvard University, 1974 Tel. (614) 292-6732 Office: 388 Watts Hall
|
 |
| Molten glass/ceramic material exiting the Seiler High Temperature Vitrification System. Industrial waste is combined with Si at high temperatures to produce a chemically stable, commercially useful end product. Image provided by Seiler Pollution Control Systems, Inc. Dublin, Ohio |
Dr. Drummond's research is concerned primarily with the structure and properties of amorphous solids or glasses. This includes bulk glasses of scientific and commercial interest and glasses present in crystalline materials. Of interest is the nature of the glassy state and the structure and crystallization of glasses. Properties being studied include the diffusion of ions through the structure and thermal properties of glasses. Current research is focused on the vitrification of industrial and governmental wastes to produce commercially salable products. This work is concentrated on product development incorporating hazardous elements, such as Cr and Pb, into balsaltic glass-ceramic compositions. Products that can be produced include high-grade abrasive materials, architectural tiles, fibrous insulation and foam glass. This work is being conducted with both laboratory and pilot scale quantities with the expectation that commercial vitrification will take place in both the United States and in Europe. Crystallization and phase development as a function of thermal history and partial pressure of oxygen during melting and subsequent heat treatment schedules are being studied. Work is also under way to produce a series of soda-lime-silica glasses with unusual properties for various commercial and residential applications.
The formation of glasses from melts and by other techniques such as sol-gel and as a second phase in other materials is also a research interest. For example, the addition of yttria aids in the densification of silicon nitride but results in the formation of an intergranular glassy phase that softens at these temperatures. This is detrimental to the mechanical properties of components of silicon nitride at use temperatures. Other materials that have been investigated for high temperature applications are celsian glass-ceramic matrix composites. The addition of a second phase, such as high strength SiC fiber, results in tough materials capable of withstanding loads at elevated temperature. The crystallization of these barium aluminosilicate glasses and the optimization of the processing of these composites results in improved high-temperature materials.
 |
A basaltic simulated industrial waste glass with 2.0wt% Cr2O3 loading as toxic constituent, air quenched. The dendritic spinel phase crystallizes during the cooling; the dark background consists of glass and augite phases. |
| Microstructure of high grade abrasive product produced from industrial waste illustrating equiaxed spinel, dendritic augite in a glassy matrix. |  |
 |
A basaltic simulated industrial waste glass with 1.5wt% Cr2O3 as toxic loading, water quenched. The central equiaxial phase is the Primary Spinel, which is formed in 1500C liquid state with high Cr/Fe ratio; the dientritic phase is the Secondary Spinel, which crystallizes during cooling with low Cr/Fe ratio. The dark matrix is glass phase. |
