Abstract: A process for producing a refractory material comprising essentially beta'-SiAlON wherein initial reactants comprising Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and SiO.sub.2 are nitrided for sufficient times and temperatures to convert at least a portion of the initial reactants to at least a portion of effective reactants and the effective reactants are then further heated to produce an essentially beta'-SiAlON refractory material.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for the carbothermic reduction of aluminum oxide to form an aluminum alloy including producing silicon carbide by heating a first mix of carbon and silicon oxide in a combustion reactor to an elevated temperature sufficient to produce silicon carbide at an accelerated rate, the heating being provided by an in situ combustion with oxygen gas, and then admixing the silicon carbide with carbon and aluminum oxide to form a second mix and heating the second mix in a second reactor to an elevated metal-forming temperature sufficient to produce aluminum-silicon alloy. The prereduction step includes holding aluminum oxide substantially absent from the combustion reactor. The metal-forming step includes feeding silicon oxide in a preferred ratio with silicon carbide.

Abstract: Disclosed are apparatus and method of carbothermic direct reduction for producing an aluminum alloy from a raw material mix including aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, and carbon wherein parallel heat sources are provided by a combustion heat source and by an electrical heat source at essentially the same position in the reactor, e.g., such as at the same horizontal level in the path of a gravity-fed moving bed in a vertical reactor. The present invention includes providing at least 79% of the heat energy required in the process by the electrical heat source.

Abstract: Energy measuring systems particularly adapted for use in conjunction with load moving devices which comprise apparatus for measuring and providing an indication of the energy expended in moving a load, and for converting a signal corresponding to such energy to a signal corresponding to the weight of the load.