Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: METHANOL

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

METHANOL

Methanol occupies a critical position in the chemical industry as a highly versatile building block for the manufacture of countless everyday products such as paints, carpeting, plastics, and more.

Increasingly, methanol is being employed around the globe in many innovative applications to meet our growing energy demand. We use methanol to fuel our cars and trucks, marine vessels, boilers, cookstoves, and kilns, among an increasing list of market applications.

Methanol is a highly versatile product that finds itself in many ubiquitous household products, essential components for cars, and the production of other valuable chemicals. Methanol’s versatility lies in its ability to be produced from different feedstocks – from natural gas, waste, and captured CO2 combined with green hydrogen. Increasingly, methanol is considered a clean and sustainable fuel rather than just a petrochemical. Its inherent clean-burning properties produce lower emissions (while improving fuel efficiency) upon land/marine vehicle combustion. When made from renewable feedstocks like captured CO2 or waste, methanol becomes a net carbon-neutral fuel aligned with climate change policies to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable Methanol:

Compared to conventional fuels, renewable methanol cuts carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95%, reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80%, and completely eliminates sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions.

Methanol (CH3OH) is a liquid chemical used in thousands of everyday products, including plastics, paints, cosmetics and fuels. Liquid methanol is made from synthesis gas, a mix of hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. These simple ingredients can be sourced from a wide range of feedstocks and using different technology approaches.

Renewable methanol is an ultra-low carbon chemical produced from sustainable biomass, often called bio-methanol, or from carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced from renewable electricity.

The Methanol Institute (MI) is tracking more than 80 renewable methanol projects around the globe that are projected to produce more than eight million metric tons (2.7 billion gallons or 10 billion liters) per year of e-methanol and bio-methanol by 2027. 

Methanol is an essential chemical building block and emerging energy resource. Methanol is synthesized using a mixture of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. These elements can be derived from a variety of feedstocks and processes, with conventional methanol produced from natural gas or coal. Renewable methanol is a low carbon and net carbon neutral liquid chemical and fuel produced from sustainable biomass, often called bio-methanol, or from captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced from renewable electricity, referred to as e-methanol.

Source:Methanol Institute

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#methanol #renewableenergy # #carbonneutral #alternativeenergy #sustainable #marine

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Failure modes:

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Failure modes:

What are the most common failure modes for fiber reinforced composites? Let's check them out in detail! 

This image shows three different failure modes: delamination, fiber breakage, and tensile/shear matrix cracks in a composite laminate! 

Fracture analysis when zoomed-in can reveal a lot of info to engineers! 

Image Credits: Vinoda Yakkundi here on LinkedIn

Source:#managingcomposites #thenativelab

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#composites #failure #microscopy #failureanalysis #fiber #crack

India’s First-ever Methanol Fueled Buses launched by Transport Minister, Know about Clean Energy Mission here

On March 12, 2023 (Sunday), Nitin Gadkari showcased 100% methanol-powered buses that will be run by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). The buses will be operated with methanol blended fuel as part of Mission Clean Energy.

The preliminary tests will be run on a pilot basis. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently announced several pilot trials of MD15 buses on the premises of Vidhana Soudha. Moreover, they are to be tested with 15% methanol-blended fuel provided by Indian Oil. On this occasion, a truck that runs on 100% methanol (M 100) was also introduced by the government.

Government’s Clean Energy Project

An official of BMTC stated that this methanol-focused initiative has been put forth by the Central Government and NITI Aayog. The corporation will be providing 10 buses including both BSVI (Bharat Stage Emission Standards) and BSIV (Bharat Stage IV) for the implementation.

This illustrious project of the Union government aims at solving air quality problems and also curbing pollution along with promoting dependency on the import of fuel. Experiments will be done in order to determine the success rate of these buses. The newly designed buses are to be operated for a total period of three months. Methanol blended fuel will be taken from Indian Oil for conducting the trial run.

‘Methanol Economy’ Programme by NITI Aayog

According to the data given by Niti Aayog on “Methanol Economy”, Methanol is a good alternative to conventional transportation fuels. This is a low-carbon, hydrogen-carrier fuel produced from high ash coal, agricultural residue, and CO2 from thermal power plants as well as natural gas.

NITI Aayog’s ‘Methanol Economy’ Programme is determined to significantly decrease India’s oil import bill and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, the aim is to convert coal reserves and municipal solid waste into methanol, as stated by the resource centre.

Blending 15% methanol in gasoline would as a consequence lead to at least a 15% reduction in the import of gasoline/crude oil. In addition to this, this would cut down GHG emissions by 20%. Therefore, improving urban air quality. NITI Aayog emphasized Methanol Economy as it can create more than 5 million job opportunities through methanol production or application and other distribution services.

Benefits of Methanol

In the production of Methanol, lower cost is involved hence it is preferred by the economies as compared to other fuel alternatives. Talking about its multiple benefits, Methanol as a fuel has a much lower risk of flammability relative to gasoline which is quite hazardous.

Source:Methanol Institute

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#methanol #efuel #energy #sustainable #energytransition #futurefuel #cleanfuel #alternativefuel #marine #maritime #cleanenergy

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Failure Analysis on Poly Carbonate hub

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Failure Analysis on Poly Carbonate hub
I recently completed a failure analysis on a polycarbonate hub used to secure a steel tube. A number of parts had cracked while undergoing engineering use testing in the laboratory. The fractographic examination, which included scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealed fracture surface features that indicated that the parts failed though the application of stress at a high strain rate. It was concluded that the engineering testing produced rapid mechanical overload, in which the stresses exceeded the short-term strength of the material. Plastic materials, including polycarbonate, can undergo a ductile-to-brittle transition associated with high strain rate events.

The high strain rate failure mechanism was specifically identified in the SEM images by the presence of features known as river markings. They extended out from and bounded the crack origin. The crack origin area also displayed a relatively smooth texture, which was indicative of a brittle fracture mode. The cracking initiated with a design corner (yellow circle), which likely acted as a point of stress concentration.

Source:The MADISON GROUP
Visit MY BLOG https://lnkd.in/fcSeK9e

 #plastics #plasticsengineering #crack # #failureanalysis #fractography #SEM #failure #polymerscience #materialsscience #polycarbonate #microscopy #design

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Fiber properties:

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Fiber properties:

As you may already know, fibers and their properties are very important to the performance of the final composite material being developed! 

Not only that, but the material price also needs to be in accordance with the business case of the project! 

That said, how does the most common high performance reinforcements fare against each other when it comes to Specific Fiber Toughness, Compressive Modulus, Tensile Modulus, Compressive Strength, Tensile Strength, Density and Cost? 

This graph offers an easy way to compare and select the best option between them! 

Bibliographical Reference:

Structural Composite Materials - Page 35

Source:#managingcomposites #thenativelab

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#composites #fiber #tensile #compression #toughness #materialsscience #polymerscience

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Strength of fibers

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Strength of fibers

Fibers generally exhibit much higher strengths than the bulk form of the same material. The probability of a flaw per unit length present in a sample is an inverse function of the volume of the material. Since fibers have a very low volume per unit length, they are much stronger on average than the bulk material, which has a high volume per unit length. On the other hand, because a bulk material has a much higher content of weakening flaws, it exhibits much lower variability in strength. Thus, the smaller the fiber diameter and the shorter its length, the higher the average and maximum strength but the greater the variability. Therefore, fibers have higher strength than their bulk counterparts, but they have greater scatter in their strength. The variability in the strength of fibers is a function of the flaws they contain and, in particular, the flaws they contain on the surface. 

Flaws can be minimized by careful manufacturing processes and the application of coatings to protect them from mechanical and environmental damage. Precursors used in fiber manufacturing processes must be of high purity and free of inclusions. Many fiber manufacturing processes involve drawing or spinning operations that impose very high degrees of orientation parallel to the fiber axis, thus producing a more favorable orientation in the crystalline or atomic structure. In addition, some processes involve very high cooling rates that produce ultrafine-grained structures, which are not achievable in most bulk materials. 

That said, how do commercially important fibers fair against each other when it comes to specific strength and specific modulus? Check out this graph to discover! 

Bibliographical Reference:

Structural Composite Materials - Page 32

Source:#managingcomposites #thenativelab

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#fibers #strength #mechanical #composites #manufacturing