An engine control system configured to operate an engine is configured to predict an expected duty cycle including an expected demand from the engine, and calculate two or more future operating conditions, each future operating condition including engine control parameters that, when used to control the engine, are expected to result in the engine meeting the expected demand. One of the future operating conditions is selected, and a present operation of the engine is adjusted in response to the selected future operating condition. A vehicle and/or offroad diesel apparatus may comprise the engine control system.

A ceramsite produced by using a river/lake/sea sludge and seashell powder as raw materials and a preparation method thereof are provided. The ceramsite is made of the following raw materials in parts by weight: 15-50 parts of shell powder, 5-15 parts of kaolin, 1-5 parts of peat ash, 15-30 parts of siliceous shale, 15-40 parts of furnace slag, 10-20 parts of fly ash, 15-40 parts of zeolite, 10-30 parts of river/lake/sea sludge, and 10-25 parts of peat. The shell powder is pulverized to a particle size of 60-200 mesh in fineness. A content of silica in the siliceous shale is 87.0%-89.5%. The preparation method of the ceramsite includes the following steps: taking raw materials, pulverizing, stirring, granulating, calcining, and naturally cooling, so as to obtain the ceramsite.

A ceramic composition which can be used as a sintering aid includes 1-2 mol % of magnesium oxide (MgO), 5-15 mol % of aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2O.sub.3), 25-40 mol % of silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2), 40-55 mol % of calcium oxide (CaO), 0.1-8 mol % of ferric oxide (Fe.sub.2O.sub.3), 0.1-2 mol % of sulfur trioxide (SO.sub.3) and 0.1-2 mol % of titanium oxide (TiO.sub.2). Alternatively, the ceramic composition includes 1-8 mol % of MgO, 5-15 mol % of Al.sub.2O.sub.3, 25-40 mol % of SiO.sub.2, 40-55 mol % of CaO, 0.1-8 mol % of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, 0.1-2 mol % of SO.sub.3 and 0.9-2 mol % of TiO.sub.2.

The present invention relates to a heating cooker using a ceramic heating element and a manufacturing method thereof, the method comprising: a cooker body preparation step; a heating element material preparation step of preparing any one or more selected from among mill scale, steelmaking slag and magnetite (Fe.sub.3O.sub.4); an inorganic binder preparation step of preparing, as an inorganic binder, a colloidal silica sol having a colloidal silica content of 8 to 30 wt %; a mixing step of mixing 20 to 40 parts by weight of the colloidal silica sol as the inorganic binder with 100 parts by weight of the heating element material, thereby making a heating material paste; an application step of applying the heating element paste to the bottom of the cooker body; and a drying and curing step of drying and curing the heating element paste, thereby forming a solid heating element.

Methods are described to make strong, tough, and/or lightweight glass-ceramic composites having a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase generated by viscous reaction sintering of a complex mixture of oxides and other materials. The present invention further relates to strong, tough, and lightweight glass-ceramic composites that can be used as proppants and for other uses.

Methods are described to make strong, tough, and/or lightweight glass-ceramic composites having a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase generated by viscous reaction sintering of a complex mixture of oxides and other materials. The present invention further relates to strong, tough, and lightweight glass-ceramic composites that can be used as proppants and for other uses.

Materials that seamlessly transition from opaque to transparent or translucent, such as advanced geopolymer-based ceramics to glass structures, which can be directly and seamlessly bonded without the use of an intermediate adhesive or use of a frame are disclosed. That is, a GP-based ceramic to glass structure can be bonded directly and seamlessly and without any mechanical joints, connective tissue or adhesives such as caulking or epoxy. Such ceramic to glass materials can be prepared by sintering an engineered geopolymer with glass to form the geopolymer-based advanced ceramic-glass structure in which the interface is visually abruptly or in which the material is a graded composition with a controlled transition from one material to the other.

The present invention provides a method of preparing a proppant material by heating a reaction mixture comprising a plurality of oxides in a reactive atmosphere to a temperature above the melting point of the reaction mixture to form a melt, and then allowing the melt to solidify in a mold in the form of spherical particles. The present invention also provides a method of preparing a proppant material by heating a reaction mixture comprising a plurality of oxides and one or more additives in a reactive atmosphere to a temperature below the melting point of the reaction mixture to form a powder including one or more reaction products, and then processing the powder to form spherical particles. The present invention also provides a proppant material including spherical particles characterized by a specific gravity of about 1.0 to 3.0 and a crush strength of at least about 10,000 psi.

Provided are thermally insulating materials comprising 1 to 95 wt % ceramic oxide, 1 to 30 wt % inorganic binding agent, and treated at a temperature of less than about 1000 C.; processes for producing the insulating materials; and uses thereof.

Systems and methods for treating a fluid with a body are disclosed. Various aspects involve treating a fluid with a porous body. In select embodiments, a body comprises ash particles, and the ash particles used to form the body may be selected based on their providing one or more desired properties for a given treatment. Various bodies provide for the reaction and/or removal of a substance in a fluid, often using a porous body comprised of ash particles. Computer-operable methods for matching a source material to an application are disclosed. Certain aspects feature a porous body comprised of ash particles, the ash particles have a particle size distribution and interparticle connectivity that creates a plurality of pores having a pore size distribution and pore connectivity, and the pore size distribution and pore connectivity are such that a first fluid may substantially penetrate the pores.