Kerneos (France)

The MEET project is a Multidisciplinary and multi-context demonstration of Enhanced Geothermal Systems exploration and Exploitation Techniques and potentials, which received funding from the European Commission in the framework of the Horizon 2020 program [...]

The extraction of the main content of a web page is a major issue in text mining. It provides less noisy input content prior to fine grained natural language processing methods. We present an unsupervised learning method to extract the main textual content of a web page. It relies on three stages: a clustering step of text blocks within a single web page, a phase of selection of the clusters associated with the main content, and a classification phase carried out on the data labeled by the two previous steps. The overall method allows to extract the main content at scale since it is fully unsupervised and the complexity at prediction time is low. Experiments are conducted to validate the generalization of the classifier and the quality of the obtained results.

Stratlingite is one of the constituent minerals of the bonding matrix of low–cement castables. In this study, the crystallization processes of stratlingite in hydrates of high alumina cement at 60 °C and 10 °C were analyzed using X–ray diffraction (XRD) and electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA). The stratlingite has crystallized in large quantities in the samples cured at 60 °C, while in the samples cured at 10 °C, stratlingite was not detected beyond the period of fifteen months.

Sewer networks are subjected to degradation, including biodeterioration of materials, in the presence of biogenic sulfuric acid, leading to costly repairs. To ensure durable structures, it is essential to select the best adapted materials. Two cementitious materials based on ordinary Portland cement (OPC) or calcium aluminate cement (CAC), were subjected to biodeterioration in the headspace of an operating sewer network. After a few month OPC materials started to deteriorate whereas CAC materials were still intact. The better durability of CAC materials is due to the presence of alumina providing a combination of protective mechanisms. On-site environmental parameters were monitored and analysed in the context of the biological and chemical mechanisms involved in material degradation. These data will eventually feed into the development of a representative, reproducible and accelerated laboratory test.

A significant part of downtime during the installation of refractory castables is spent waiting for hardening to occur so that molds and formwork can be stripped. In order to reduce this downtime, an optimization of the hardening properties is necessary. Traditional methods used to measure the hardening profile of a refractory castable do not provide enough information for significant breakthroughs to be made in the optimization of the hardening phase. There is therefore a need for better information about the early age hardening profile and volume change characteristics that can help the formulator optimize the castable binder systems. This paper will present an approach by which the early age properties of refractory castables can be followed with two complementary techniques. The techniques measure hardening kinetics through ultrasonics and early age linear shrinkage through a unique piece of equipment. Both can be done in an automated and continuous fashion. Different model castable formulations will be presented and comparisons will be made with existing tests such as flow, set, and compressive strength measurements to demonstrate the additional information that can be gained. Conclusions will be drawn about the impact of changes in binder composition and their effects on the castable hardening.