Origami Lamp

A student at Germany’s Offenbach University of Art and Design, Alice Gruhle, has designed an innovative lamp, namely “Polymorph” lamp by taking its inspiration from origami and Lego™ concept. This “Polymorph” lamp, that can be easily adapted into different sculptural shapes, is formed from diamond-shaped modules made from 6mm-thick polypropylene (PP) sheets by using an injection molding process. Then the injected molded PP modules are linked together in order to allow folds at the joint. The first lamp prototype has been created with 150 modules, creating a cocoon-like hanging lamp. This innovative lamp concept has already won a competition at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach. It has also been featured in several German design magazines and has been showcased at the latest Euromold exhibition.

S+S Sorting Systems Enable High-quality Plastics from Waste Electrical Equipment

All over Europe, electrical and electronic scrap is the waste stream showing the highest growth rates. Since electronic equipment contains the most varied kinds of materials, the recycling of such waste involves high demands with respect to separation and sorting processes. The German plant manufacturer MeWa builds state-of-the-art recycling plants for large international waste management companies.

In the United Kingdom MeWa realised a plant where old refrigerators, computers, vacuum cleaners, Hi-Fi systems, and other kinds of electrical waste are processed on two separate lines. For the recycling of high-quality plastics such as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) or PC (polycarbonate) and of printed circuit boards MeWa uses three VARISORT N sorting systems made by S+S. "The decision to use E-Schrott Elektronic Waste S+S systems was based on the high output quality of these VARISORT systems. Only absolutely pure fractions can be sold at a good price in today's difficult times", explains Peter Mayer, Sales Manager - sorting technology at S+S Separation and Sorting Technology.

Innovative technology for outstanding value creation:

Polymer separators of type VARISORT N are based on near-infrared technology. At the MeWa facility these systems in fully automatic operation separate plastic types from precrushed electrical waste. Optimally scattered on a fast-running conveyor belt this waste reaches the detection area of the near-infrared detector which determines and locates the plastic types of the passing pieces.

The electronic evaluation unit determines the exact position of the unwanted types, and with accurate timing and positioning activates the corresponding nozzles of the air-blast unit. The user can freely select which types of polymers should be separated. In one VARISORT sorting system the near-infrared sensor is combined with a color sensor. With this multi-sensor system design the color of the particle and its plastic type can be combined as sorting criteria, which results in an even higher separation accuracy for the pcb-fraction.

Recycling materials are economically efficient and environmentally friendly:

VARISORT N polymer separators are characterised by highest throughput capacities. Sorting is performed at a speed of up to 3m/sec. Air-blast valves that have been specifically developed for this application keep the loss of good material at an absolute minimum. In the recycling of electrical waste VARISORT N separators are an economically efficient solution for the reclaiming of high-quality plastic fractions and of the pcb-fraction.

The resulting pure plastics can be profitably returned to the production cycle again, and valuable (precious) metals can subsequently be reclaimed from the separated printed circuit boards.

Flexible and future-proof solutions provided by S+S:

Says Peter Mayer: "Recycling companies that produce clean, economically-priced material have the biggest competitive advantage. Because of their outstanding flexibility VARISORT sorting systems are ideal for the sorting of electrical waste. No matter what type of electrical waste should be sorted in the current job, a VARISORT will always optimally perform the sorting task by employing different kinds of sensors. Since the markets for recycled materials are rapidly changing especially in the field of electrical waste, and since quality requirements for recycled materials are high, and recycled material has to compete with the price of new materials, the VARISORT sorting system with its flexibility is a future-proof investment here because the employed technologies are highly sophisticated and the systems provide high-purity material fractions."

Fraunhofer's Plastics Laser Welding Machine Helps Achieve Invisible Weld Seams

At this year's plastics trade show in Düsseldorf (October 27 to November 3, 2010) the Fraunhofer ILT is presenting the TransTWIST laser-based plastics welding machine at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft stand (E91) in Hall 3. In live demonstrations the researchers will show how two transparent joining partners made of plastic can be lap-welded using laser radiation. In conventional laser welding a suitable radiation absorber is normally applied to the underlying joining partner. This is time consuming and costly. Furthermore, the appearance of the component or weld is affected by the color of the radiation absorber.

In order to be able to weld transparent plastics without any seam marks, the researchers at the Fraunhofer ILT have developed a laser machine for welding plastics. In a lap joint configuration transparent polymers are welded without the addition of infrared absorbers. This eliminates the need for elaborate pretreatment, saving process time and costs, and represents a breakthrough in plastics laser welding. TransTWIST produces high-quality welds that meet all the usual requirements in terms of being free from weld marks and restricting the zone influenced by heat. TransTWIST shows a great potential for use in biomedical field, especially microfluidics, packaging industry and in design applications.

Deep-Freeze Packaging made from Renewable Resources

The German company Dettmer Verpackunger, i.e. DeLo, which is specialized in flexible packaging systems, has designed an innovative deep-freeze packaging for frozen potato products that is entirely made from a copolyester material stemming from renewable resources. The company has in fact chosen the Bio-Flex™ F2110 grade from the German material producer FKuR to produce the new packaging. This material is a blend based on poly(acid lactic) and does not contain any starch or starch derivatives. It provides the high mechanical properties required for deep-frozen applications such as high impact resistance and dart drop strength at low temperature. Furthermore it complies with the EN 13432 standard. This new deep-freeze bio-based packaging has been chosen by the American company Mc Cain for its “Bio Harvest” products line.

MIT Study Recognises Importance of Natural Gas as Bridge to Future

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has completed a two year study which examined the scale of U.S. natural gas reserves and the potential of this fuel to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Undertaken by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), the study concluded that natural gas will play a leading role in reducing GHG emissions over the next several decades.

The findings, summarized in an 83-page report, were presented to lawmakers and senior administration officials in Washington.

“Much has been said about natural gas as a bridge to a low-carbon future, with little underlying analysis to back up this contention. The analysis in this study provides the confirmation — natural gas truly is a bridge to a low-carbon future,” said MITEI Director Ernest J. Moniz in introducing the report.

The study found that there are significant global supplies of conventional gas. How much of this gas gets produced and used, and the extent of its impact on greenhouse gas reductions, depends critically on some key political and regulatory decisions.

Some of the study’s key findings:

• The United States has a significant natural gas resource base, enough to equal about 92 years’ worth at present domestic consumption rates. Much of this is from unconventional sources, including gas shales. While there is substantial uncertainty surrounding the producibility of this gas, there is a significant amount of shale gas that can be affordably produced.

• Globally, baseline estimates show that recoverable gas resources probably amount to 16,200 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) — enough to last over 160 years at current global consumption rates. Further, this global resource figure, excluding the U.S. and Canada, does not include any unconventional gas resources, which are largely uncharacterized in the rest of the world.

• In order to bring about the kind of significant expansion in the use of natural gas identified in this study, substantial additions to the existing processing, delivery and storage facilities will be required in order to handle greater amounts and the changing patterns of distribution (such as the delivery of gas from newly developed sources in the Midwest and Northeast).

• Environmental issues associated with producing unconventional gas resources are manageable but challenging.

In the transportation sector, the study found a somewhat smaller role for natural gas. The use of compressed or liquefied natural gas as a fuel for vehicles could help to displace oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but to a limited extent because of the high cost of converting vehicles to use these fuels. By contrast, making methanol, a liquid fuel, out of natural gas requires much less up-front conversion cost and could have an impact on oil usage and thus improve energy security, but would not reduce greenhouse gases.

From the report comes one recommendation directed toward the transportation sector: remove policy and regulatory barriers to natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Ceramic/Plastic Component for LED

The German ceramics materials specialist OxiMaTec GmbH has been the winner of the 2009 EuroMold Gold Award fort its innovative ceramic/plastic composite-based components that have been designed for automotive light-emitting diode (LED) headlamp housing. These components, which are produced by Graveurbetrieb Leonhardt, a specialist in ceramics pressing, sintering, machining and injection molding, have a hybrid structure based on a high-heat ceramic functional part overmolded with a thermoplastic material. As a result the new headlamp housing exhibit high temperature resistance and allows eliminating wear problems. The ceramic takes care of heat dissipation while the thermoplastic provides elasticity and impact resistance.

Ford Formulates Soy-based Formula to Improve Car Parts Made of Rubber

Ford Motor Company's biomaterial researchers have engineered a patent-pending formula to use renewable soy oil to improve rubber car parts and make them more environmentally friendly.

By using renewable soy oil as a 25 percent replacement for petroleum oil, Ford researchers more than doubled rubber's stretchability and reduced its environmental impact. Soy-based rubber parts such as radiator deflector shields, air baffles, cupholder inserts and floor mats are under consideration for future Ford vehicle programs.

"Ford is focused on finding innovative ways to make our vehicles more eco-friendly," said Cynthia Flanigan, Ford technical leader in elastomeric polymers. "Soy-based rubber has win-win potential as it provides superior stretchability and serves as a renewable resource that helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions from raw materials."

Beyond soy oil

The scope of Ford's recent rubber research, which was funded in part by grants from the United Soybean Board (USB), included the use of soy fillers (flour, meal) as well as soy oils. Ford researchers found that soy fillers could provide an inexpensive and environmentally friendly partial replacement of carbon black, a petroleum-based material traditionally used to reinforce rubber. Used together, soy oil and soy fillers could replace up to 26 percent of the petroleum-based content in automotive rubber applications.

While rubber's role in automotive applications is generally not a glamorous one, it is significant. According to the International Rubber Study Group, the automotive sector accounts for more than 50 percent of worldwide rubber consumption, which exceeded 22 million metric tons in 2008. Automotive rubber usage is expected to rise more than 4 percent through 2013.

Sustainable solutions

Ford demonstrated that soy-based foams could be formulated to pass stringent requirements for automotive applications, starting with seats for the 2008 Ford Mustang and headliners for the 2010 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. The new 2011 Ford Explorer will become the 23rd model to feature soy foam. With bio foam on more than 2 million vehicles, Ford has annually reduced its petroleum oil usage by more than 3 million pounds and its carbon dioxide emissions by 11 million pounds.

The use of soy content in automotive applications also supports American farmers. The United Soybean Board, which oversees investments of all U.S. soybean farmers for research and promotion efforts, works closely with Ford in an effort to get soy-based technology commercialized. "USB remains committed to funding the research, development and commercialization of new industrial uses for soybeans, and works with companies like Ford to leverage industry research dollars," says Marty Ross, USB New Uses Committee chair and a soybean farmer from Delmar, Del. "Use of soy-based products reduces the U.S. dependence on imported oil and decreases the country's use of petrochemicals."

Ford also is looking at the use of other renewable sources for foam, including grape seed and sunflower oil. In addition to bio foam, the company is working with post-consumer recycled resins to make underbody systems, post-industrial recycled yarns for seat fabrics, repurposed nylon carpeting made into nylon resin and molded into cylinder head covers, and wheat straw-reinforced plastic parts.

"By increasing the use of recycled or renewable content and reducing the use of undesirable materials whenever possible, we're helping to reduce waste to landfills by millions of pounds - and we're doing it around the world," said John Viera, Director - Sustainability and Environmental Policy, Ford.

The use of recycled or renewable content is making a positive impact on the environment and Ford's bottom line. In 2009, Ford reduced the amount of automotive-related plastics to landfills by nearly 30 million pounds and saved approximately $4.5 million by reusing recycled materials.