Over the past few years there has been a significant growth in the commercial application of a variety of processes which are all essentially based upon the very rapid heat treatment of powdered solid material in dilute gas suspensions. The objective of flash heating is usually to create a desirable product by means of physical and/or chemical transformations in the solid phase, usually with a high degree of control and with lower specific energy consumption than dense phase systems. Examples of successful flash reaction processing are to be found in the areas ofpyrometallurgy, mineral processing, plasma processing and, most recently, rapid prototyping. These developments have been based on, and have inspired, an expansion in fundamental research activities. As our understanding of flash reaction technology improves so does the need increase for the review of progress and the dissemination of accumulated knowl edge. Previous stocktaking on selected areas of flash reaction technology occurred in 1988 and can be found in the proceedings of three conferences held in that year: Flash Reaction Processes, Eds. D.G.C.Robertson, H.y'Sohn and N.J.Themelis, published by the Center for Pyrometallurgy, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO 65401-0249; Production and Processing of Fine Particles, Ed. A.J .Plumpton, Pergamon Press, LeN 88-22755; High Temperature Dust-Laden Jets in Plasma Technology, Eds. O.P.Solonenko and A.I.Fedorchenko, VSP, Utrecht, ISBN 90- 6764-120-0.

Inhalt
Section 1 Basic Physics and Chemistry of Rapid Thermal Transformations.- 1. Structural chemistry of thermal processes accompanying flash calcination.- 2. Physical and chemical transformations of kaolinite caused by flash calcination.- 3. Thennochemical activation of crystalline compounds.- Section 2 Specialised Experimental Techniques used to Study Fast Thermally Driven Processes.- 1. Monitoring particle impact on a substrate during plasma spray process.- 2. Solid state NMR:a characterisation tool for flash calcines.- Section 3 Modelling of Flash Reaction Processes.- 1. Solid combustion synthesis of silicon-containing high-temperature materials.- 2. Experimental and mathematical investigation of the flash combustion of copper sulfide particles in a turbulent gas jet.- 3. Modelling the burners and reaction shaft of a flash smelting furnace.- 4. Modelling the impact of particles on a rigid substrate under plasma spraying conditions.- Section 4 Design and Development of Commercial Flash Reactors.- 1. Outokumpu flash technology recent commercial applications.- 2. Flash reduction of metal oxides.- 3. Prototyping flash calciners for the manufacture of synthetic pozzolana from kaolinite clay.- 4. Cyclone flash reactors fundamentals and applications in iron ore reduction.- Section 5 Some Applications of Microwave Heating.- 1. Microwave calcination of hydrated borax compounds.- 2. Microwave heating of asphalt-mix.- 3. Reduction of chemical oxygen demand of Kestelek colemanite by chemically enhanced decrepitation.