Certifiably Complicated

One thing that became apparent at the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018 was that the issue of hydrogen tank approval had yet to be resolved. Though it had already been said years ago that tanks “must only get approved,” the process is taking much longer than expected. At present, there are few 700-bar type IV units for sale in Germany.

The key reason for the lack of products seems to be that European automakers have not made a firm commitment to purchase tanks in large quantities for their vehicles. So far, OEMs have been ordering only few units for testing or integration into prototypes. At the same time, they have been demanding a lot from the manufacturers of those tanks, for example, by restricting the space in which units could be installed.

 Tank manufacturers in Europe are deeply frustrated about the entire situation. Circumstances will not permit them to ramp up production capacity and make their business economically viable, so they are waiting to get products approved until companies start asking for more.
The outlook is a bit of a different for those manufacturing tanks for a pressure of 350 bars or 500 bars. Type IV units in that pressure range are available for sale. The needed tank volume is a bit higher than that for 700-bar ones, as the lower pressure level reduces energy density. However, 350-bar tanks, for example, are mainly used in commercial and railroad vehicles, which offer more space to install a unit. And 500-bar tanks are typically found in stationary systems, which is why they are produced in higher numbers, so that unit prices have fallen as well. Sometimes, more than a hundred of them make up a single system, which is sold as a containerized solution. For instance, in Meckenheim, Cologne’s mass transit company is planning to install a fueling station that includes a stationary container housing 162 individual 500-bar pressure cylinders with a total weight of 1 metric ton.

In Asia, the above-mentioned issues have already been dealt with. Toyota has built tank factories and uses 700-bar units in its Sora buses. Hyundai has partnered with a manufacturer that can rely on Nexo car sales to drive demand. By contrast, reports say Daimler will need barely more than 1,000 units for the time being and after a few fuel cell vehicles leave the factory, production will again be put on hold.
As for the tank manufacturers, they said that those many delays in bringing fuel cell cars to market in Germany had nothing to do with their products. The bottleneck was not the tank: Approval could be obtained in around 12 months.

Duisburg’s ZBT research institute, however, has determined that there is still some more work to do when it comes to hydrogen tank regulations. In partnership with the National Organization Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology, or NOW for short, and Germany’s Materials Research and Testing Institute, BAM, it will hold a workshop in Berlin for tank manufacturers from all corners of the country to figure out whether there really is a need for all those efforts to remove a pressure vessel from a system and test it for leaks by filling the tank with water.


Not without reason did the German transportation ministry launch a project called Delfin right before year’s end. Its aim is to develop a pressure vessel at a reduced cost and weight. The ministry said that it would provide around EUR 7.5 million to “clear away one of the main barriers to market growth.” It is worth noting that the list of project partners includes not only automaker BMW, Daimler subsidiary NuCellSys and supplier Nproxx but also Ford. It has been a long time since the corporation announced anything fuel cell-related.

It seems there are still some points to clear up.

Green Dot Secures USD6.5 Mn Funding to Develop & Commercialize New Bioplastics

Green Dot Bioplastics has closed a $6.5 million Series A Round of funding led by Fulcrum Global Capital. Funds will be used to implement management’s strategic plan to capitalize on rapidly rising demand for more sustainable plastics. Fulcrum Global Capital led the investment round with the participation of existing and new investors, including Open Prairie through its Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund and iiM (Innovations in Motion).

Green Dot Bioplastics: Offering Sustainable Solutions

Governments, advocacy groups and consumers are increasingly aware of the problems associated with traditional plastics and demanding more sustainable solutions. In response, the bioplastic sector is predicted to grow at a brisk pace of 18.8% CAGR to reach more than $68 billion by 2024. To capitalize on this opportunity, Green Dot will use the funds raised to implement management’s strategic plan in key areas: accelerate organic growth, develop and commercialize new bioplastic products and uses, and invest in new IP and capabilities.

• Headquartered in Emporia, Kansas, Green Dot Bioplastics is making plastics more sustainable by reducing the amount of petroleum-based feedstocks, maximizing the use of renewable and reclaimed materials, and enhancing the performance of biodegradable materials. 
• The Company began formal operations in 2011, introducing the market’s first compostable elastomeric bioplastic – a soft rubber-like plastic that is strong, pliable, and biodegradable. In 2013, Green Dot acquired a state-of-the-art research facility and commercial manufacturing plant. 
• The Company now offers a full line of bioplastics and biocomposites used in footwear, textiles, home furnishings, electronics cases, pet supplies, toys, outdoor recreation, lawn and garden, horticulture and construction.

Investors: Fulcrum Global, Open Prairie & iiM

“We are delighted to team with Fulcrum, Open Prairie and iiM as we aggressively move to accelerate our growth,” said Mark Remmert, CEO, Green Dot Bioplastics. “I am personally excited to have these highly regarded institutional investors join our Board of Directors and bring their leadership and professionalism to partner with our original investors and management. Together, we are a talented and motivated team seeking to make lasting change for the planet.”

Duane Cantrell, Managing Partner and CEO of Fulcrum Global Capital noted, “There is an increasing global issue with plastic pollution coupled with a growing demand to reduce or eliminate our footprint of plastic pollution in our landfills and oceans. With the increasing global challenge of plastic pollution, we are excited to invest in a company using agricultural byproducts to provide corporations with near-term solutions for truly biodegradable products and packaging that can reduce our use of chemical based plastics and begin to eliminate plastic pollution. As well, we are equally excited to partner with CEO Mark Remmert and the impressive Green Dot team. Mark brings a lengthy and impressive career from the plastics industry and has made remarkable advancements in new bio-based solutions since Green Dot was founded.”

Supporting Rural-Based Companies

“Green Dot Bioplastics is a leading example of our efforts to support rural-based companies operating at the intersection of science, agriculture, and sustainability. We look forward to working with the Green Dot Bioplastics team as the company enters its next phase of growth and executes on its mission of improving the environment through the implementation of innovative bio-based solutions,” said Matt McKenna, who will represent Open Prairie on the Green Dot Bioplastics Board of Directors.


Source: Green Dot Bioplastics

New Method to Produce Graphene Fibers with Optimized Conductivity & Strength

A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a new microfluidics-assisted technique for developing high-performance macroscopic graphene fibers. Graphene fiber, a recently discovered member of the carbon fiber family, has potential applications in diverse technological areas, from:

• Energy storage 
• Electronics and optics 
• Electro-magnetics 
• Thermal conductor and thermal management
• Structural applications

Their findings are published in a newly released issue of Nature Nanotechnology. It has historically been difficult to simultaneously optimize both the thermal/electrical and the mechanical properties of graphene fibers. However, the Rensselaer team has demonstrated their ability to do both.

High Thermal, Electrical & Mechanical Properties

Macroscopic graphene fibers can be manufactured by fluidics-enabled assembly from 2D graphene oxide sheets dispersed in aqueous solutions forming lyotropic liquid crystal. 

• Strong shape and size confinements are demonstrated for fine control of the graphene sheet alignment and orientation, critical for realizing graphene fibers with high thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. 
• This microfluidics-enabled assembly method also provides the flexibility to tailor the microstructures of the graphene fibers by controlling flow patterns.

“The control of different flow patterns offers a unique opportunity and flexibility in tailoring macroscopic graphene structures from perfectly aligned graphene fibers and tubes to 3D open architecture with vertically aligned graphene sheet arrangement,” said Jie Lian, a professor in the Rensselaer Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) and the lead author on the article.

Optimizing Fiber Assembly and Microstructure

The latest article builds on work by Lian’s group that was previously published in Science in 2015. This work, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration with fellow MANE researchers, including Associate Professor Lucy Zhang and Professor Suvranu De, who heads the department.

“This research paves the way for new sciences to optimize the fiber assembly and microstructure to develop high-performance graphene fibers,” said Lian. “This approach could be extended to other materials to manufacture hierarchical structures for diverse functional applications.”
 

Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Airbus and Dassault Systèmes embark on a five-year strategic partnership

Airbus and Dassault Systèmes have signed a five-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to cooperate on the implementation of collaborative 3D design, engineering, manufacturing, simulation and intelligence applications.

This will enable Airbus to take a major step forward in its digital transformation and lay the foundation for a new European industrial ecosystem in aviation.
Under the MOA, Airbus will deploy Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform, which delivers digital continuity, from design to operations, in a single data model for a unified user experience, making digital design, manufacturing and services (DDMS) a company-wide reality for all Airbus divisions and product lines.

DDMS paves the way for breakthroughs in new product design, operational performance, support and maintenance, customer satisfaction and new business models, as it represents a move from sequential to parallel development processes. Instead of first focusing on product performance, Airbus will be able to co-design and develop the next generation of aircraft with the manufacturing facilities that will produce them, reducing costs and time to market.

 “We are not just talking about digitalisation or a 3D experience, we are rethinking the way aircraft are designed and operated, streamlining and speeding up our processes with customer satisfaction in mind.” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “DDMS is a catalyst for change and with it we are building a new model for the European aerospace industry with state of the art technology. Our target is a robust production setup that offers a reduction in product development lead time.”

 “Nothing exemplifies the intersection of technology, science and art more than aviation. When we reflect on how the industry has evolved to where it is today, it’s a blend of technical prowess, digital precision and inspiration,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “The Aerospace industry has a proven track record of fast transformation, faster than in most industries. It delivers high quality innovation and new services for operations in highly complex and regulated environments. The 3DExperience platform will accelerate the digital transformation of Airbus. Airbus can capture insights and expertise from across its ecosystem to deliver new experiences that only the digital world makes possible.”

Source:AIRBUS

SABIC Begins Production & Commercialization of Certified Circular Polymers

SABIC has announced another major milestone in its ground-breaking project to pioneer the production of certified circular polymers using a feedstock from mixed plastic waste.

Commercializing Certified Circular Polymers

The latest achievement – the production of the first certified circular polymers – is part of what is known as a ‘market foundation stage’. Launched in January, this stage is an important step towards creating a new circular value chain for plastics. During this stage, initial volumes of pyrolysis oil from plastic waste are introduced as feedstock at SABIC’s Geleen production site in The Netherlands. The patented pyrolysis oil has been produced by PLASTIC ENERGY Ltd from the recycling of low quality, mixed plastic waste otherwise destined for incineration or landfill.

As part of the market foundation stage, SABIC has begun to produce and commercialize the first monthly volumes of certified circular polymers - polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). This is prior to the projected start-up in 2021 of the commercial plants planned by SABIC and PLASTIC ENERGY in the Netherlands to manufacture and process the alternative feedstock.

Closing the Loop on Reutilizing Plastic Waste

Frank Kuijpers, General Manager Corporate Sustainability at SABIC said, “Certified circular polymers are a disruptive innovation and SABIC’s market foundation stage is a critical phase in their development,”

“It will act as a bridge moving from a linear economy to a circular one and will enable the value chain to become familiar with the products and consider how they can best be implemented in their own markets. It will allow confidence in this pioneering product to grow before SABIC goes into full scale production.”

The polymers are certified through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification plus (ISCC+) scheme that certifies:

• Circular content, and 
• Standards across the value chain from source to end product

The ISCC+ certification works on what is known as a “mass balance system”, meaning that for each ton of circular feedstock fed into the cracker and substituting fossil-based feedstock, a ton of the output can be classified as circular.

Certified circular polymers will help SABIC’s customers to meet consumer demand for more sustainable products and will contribute to closing the loop on reutilizing plastic waste.

Source: SABIC

Recent Study Reveals New Renewable FR Material Using Coffee Waste

Dr Henry Leung from the School of Chemical and Life Sciences and his team of three final-year students from the Diploma in Medicinal Chemistry found a way to lessen the environmental impact of coffee waste. They have turned used coffee grounds into a flame retardant that could potentially be used to improve fire safety in homes and offices.

Leveraging Slow-burning Properties of Coffee By treating coffee waste and mixing it with epoxy resin – a material commonly found in floorings and walls of homes – the team were able to leverage the slow-burning properties of coffee to create a material that could withstand a fire by as much as two times that of regular epoxy resin. This new material has also attained an “HB” grading, which indicates slow burning on a horizontal specimen, based on initial findings by a third-party testing laboratory. Apart from its fire-resistant qualities, the coffee-epoxy resin has the potential to become a total solution for reducing coffee waste as grounding coffee waste into compost requires large storage space. The incineration of compost is also a space- and energy-consuming process. Source: NYP

Calvera delivers mobile gas pipeline to transport biomethane in Finland

The Industrial Group Calvera has recently supplied a customer in Finland with several units of their containers for the transport of biomethane, a mobile gas pipeline solution. The innovative equipment is designed under the flexible Hooklift system that includes easy loading and unloading with a Multilift hydraulic arm coupled to a truck, which makes logistics much easier by taking natural gas storage where it is needed and without leaving the tanker truck, only the container.

Calvera’s equipment was custom-made in terms of capacity and weight, adjusting the product as much as possible to the client’s specific needs and offering high levels of efficiency and profitability through the use of the latest available technology.

In this case, the client produces renewable natural gas from a wood waste digester, which is then compressed and marketed in biomethane service stations that serve buses, trucks, cars and light vehicles in Finland.

The Nordic countries and Finland in particular have been betting on biomethane and on this type of mobility solutions that are gradually being extended thanks.

Source: Calvera/Gasnam