India's Logistic Market

 India’s Logistic market = 27,000+ Cr

Delhivery has cracked the industry code

Here’s how they made 7,000+ CR in revenue

Context :

In 2011, Delhivery spotted India's upcoming e-commerce boom. They knew the gold was in solving logistics for this industry. They cracked this by becoming India's fastest-growing logistics player and capturing 22% market share. Here's how they did it.

Jio-like Network ⚡️

To solve for cost, speed & efficiency in the industry, Delhivery built a telecom-like network for logistics. Their insight: reduce overall touchpoints in shipment & handling.

This allowed them to handle changing volumes, shipment profiles & environmental conditions. Result? They were able to lower their service costs & crack India's price-sensitive logistics market.

Unleashing Logistics OS :

Delhivery has a clear philosophy: build technology first & shape logistics operations around it. Their "Logistics OS" served as the core, with 80+ applications designed to optimize costs, speed, and efficiency. Delhivery also offers this Logistics OS as a SaaS solution to other enterprises and customers, further expanding its geographical reach.

No Hub & Spoke Model :

Logistics players globally follow the Hub & Spoke model. But India has unique geographical challenges. Because of this, parcel movements are vastly different. To nail this, Delhivery has a Point-to-Point model. This allows their trucks to reach any center directly & establishes multiple facilities as their own hubs & sorting centers.

Asset light model :

Delhivery disrupted logistics by building a managed marketplace. Connecting clients with a vast network of small-scale providers, carefully matching partners based on quality & pricing. Operating over 12.42 million sq ft of logistics space across India, they scale quickly without large upfront costs. The best part? They lease the infrastructure they need & scale up quickly without incurring huge upfront costs.

Ecosystem :

To retain customers & get a high wallet share, Delhivery created a super app for logistics. From express parcel & heavy goods delivery to freight transportation, cross-border services, and even supply chain software. Doing this allows Delhivery to reduce dependency on any single business line.

But, there’s more to the story :

In the latest episode of Wireframe, we've made a complete breakdown of Delhivery’s growth strategy.

Source:GrowthX

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#india #logistics

Carbon-free flights promised 'within two years

An aviation company plans to run commercial flights using an electric engine that creates no carbon emissions by 2025.

ZeroAvia has flown nine test flights with its hydrogen-electric engine at Cotswold Airport, near Cirencester.

The only emission created by the engine is water.

How does it work?

The Gloucestershire-based company are moving much faster because they are not designing an entirely new aircraft.

ZeroAvia is working on the Dornier 228, a conventional 19-seater plane that has two propellers, usually powered by kerosene.

One of these has been replaced by an electric engine, and the electricity is generated on-board using a hydrogen fuel cell. For the testing period, the other engine remains fuelled by kerosene, in case of failure.

But once the technology is proved, both engines will run on electricity from the hydrogen fuel cell.

Only the new engine needs to pass safety tests, and the company is working with the Civil Aviation Authority to achieve certification.

Test pilot Jon Killerby flew the aircraft and told me that once airborne, they have managed without the kerosene engine.

"We can throttle right back on the conventional engine,"

Is it really 'green'?

Hydrogen fuel cells are not new, and have been widely used in cars and trucks.

They use a chemical process called "reverse hydrolysis" which combines hydrogen with oxygen and creates heat, water vapour and, crucially, electricity.

So the on-board engine creates no greenhouse gases.

But what matters is where you get your hydrogen.

How big, how far?

It is not a big plane.

The Dornier 228 will carry about 12 passengers with the hydrogen engine on board.

It can fly about 250-310 miles (400-500km),

That would get you from Bristol Airport to Newcastle, or London to Paris.

By 2027, the company plans a larger hydrogen-electric engine which would power bigger aircraft. This could carry around 50 passengers and go nearer to 620 miles (1,000 km).

What are the problems?

"Like all technologies, there are challenges," smiles Prof Mays.

"Making it, transporting it, and storing it."

The aviation industry needs to build an entirely new infrastructure. Hydrogen production centres, a network to get the fuel to airports, storage at airports, the lot. And hydrogen is very different from conventional kerosene.

Hydrogen takes up a lot of space. To carry it all manageably, the gas is compressed to 350 or 700 times atmospheric pressure.

Even then, it takes up more space than kerosene. If you want to transport it as a liquid, you must first chill it to 253 degrees below zero.

So exactly where to make it, how to move it around and store it are all being examined now by airports and aerospace firms.

Prof Mays put it like this: "You can fly using hydrogen as a fuel, but it is not optimised, not super efficient yet, and the infrastructure is not there yet."

Source:bbc news

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#hydrogen #zeroemissions

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Green Hydrogen via electrolysis:

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Green Hydrogen via electrolysis:

The world's largest electrolyzer in Rjukan, Norway, in 1929, would still be one of the largest electrolyzers, even today in 2023!

This fascinating history showcases Norway's early leadership in harnessing renewable energy for large-scale hydrogen production.

In 1911, the Rjukan Falls Hydroelectric Plant became operational, one of the world's largest hydroelectric power stations. It provided the necessary electricity to power the massive electrolysis facility later built in Rjukan.

Electrolysis, the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electric current, was a nascent technology. With scarce HVDC cables and the abundant electricity available from the hydroelectric plant, utilizing it for hydrogen production was an obvious choice, particularly in conjunction with the Haber-Bosch process.

Engineer and entrepreneur Sam Eyde, co-founder of Norsk Hydro, was the driving force behind this visionary project. Eyde envisioned leveraging renewable hydropower to produce hydrogen through electrolysis, creating valuable chemical products and fertilizers.

The Rjukan site became operational in 1929, and a second site in Glomfjord came online in 1956. Both sites utilized alkaline electrolyzers, similar to today's techniques, but slightly improved and matured over time.

Together, these two sites boasted an impressive installed capacity of 270MW in 1956. It's truly remarkable when you consider it; even today, finding a larger setup is challenging.

If you know of any operational sites that can surpass this capacity, I would be genuinely intrigued to learn about them.This captivating story is rooted in the origins of Nel Hydrogen, the largest Norwegian electrolyzer company.

It highlights Norway's historical contributions to electrolysis technology and is a testament to its ongoing commitment to sustainable hydrogen production.

Green hydrogen produced through electrolysis continues gaining global momentum as a crucial element in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Norway's early achievements in this field have paved the way for advancements and innovations in electrolysis technology worldwide.

As we move towards a greener and more sustainable future, we must recognize the significant historical milestones that have shaped the landscape of hydrogen production. The legacy of the Rjukan and Glomfjord electrolyzers is a testament to the power of innovation, renewable energy, and the potential of electrolysis to drive the hydrogen economy forward.

It's also important to note the key reason WHY this became a success, the abundance of low-carbon electricity (in this case, stranded electricity)

Source:Terje Hauan

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#hydrogen #electrolysers #hydrogeneconomy

New Project to Develop Lightweight Sustainable Materials for Transport Sector

 AIMPLAS coordinates the FOREST project, a new EU funded research to delve into advanced lightweight bio-based or recycled materials to facilitate the decarbonization of the transport sector.

The project consortium is made of 14 partners from 8 different countries developing innovative bio-based polymers & additives and recycled carbon fibers for sustainable and safe transport applications.

Multifunctional Bio Composites as Alternative to Conventional Composites:

The FOREST project will last until May 2026 and is fully aligned with EU 2030 Climate and Energy challenges. FOREST will reduce the structural weight of vehicles by providing light components made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. In this way, less fuel and energy consumption will be necessary to cover the same distance, thanks to the development of novel lightweight multifunctional bio composites as a competitive alternative to conventional composites.

These bio composite candidates will be obtained using one-shot manufacturing techniques, involving Out-of-Autoclave (OoA) processes to build and test prototypes with improved multifunctional properties (mechanical resistance, fire-retardant, EMI-shielding) for transport application.

In addition, new chemistries based on high-biobased content for polymers and additives will be developed. In this regard, the fossil sources dependency will be reduced.

Carbon Fiber Waste to High-quality Semi-Finished Materials:

Furthermore, FOREST is focusing on efficient methods to recover 100% of carbon fiber waste to develop high-quality semi-finished materials for valuable transport applications. And finally, the consortium will research the influence of the multifunctional properties on the bio composite. Therefore, the project will combine the biobased, recycled and multifunctionality material nature to obtain sustainable solutions for the bus, aeronautic and automotive sectors.

This project is committed to effective circularity solutions applied to multifunctional bio composite constituents with more than 50% sustainable materials contained in lightweight products.

FOREST is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and Innovation program. Partners from Spain, France, Germany Turkey, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic and England collaborate to pave the way towards the decarbonization of mobility. The partners are IMPLAS, Arkema, BASF, Clariant, Fraunhofer, IRT Jules Verne, MBHA, Mercedes Benz, AIRBUS Atlantic Composites, CRF, Angaz Tech, Fenix TNT, Bitrez and Gen2 Carbon.

Source: AIMPLAS

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#composites #biocomposites #biobased #carbonneutral #automotive #sustainablematerials #carbonfiber #europeanunion #waste #transport

Today's KNOWLEDGE SHARE: SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope)

Today's KNOWLEDGE SHARE:

SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope):

The electron source (often called the electron gun) provides a stable beam of electrons of adjustable energy, usually from between 20–30 eV to 30 keV. Three types of gun are available: thermionic, lanthanum hexaboride, and field emission.

A thermionic emission gun features a thin tungsten filament that is heated to a high temperature (about 2,800°K) to generate an electron beam. The tungsten filament is inserted head-down into a cone called the Wehnelt cup. The filament and Wehnelt cup form the negatively charged cathode, which effectively “forces” the electrons to flow towards an anode, which is a metal disk with a hole in the center. This focuses the beam, and the finest point of the beam is emitted (usually called the cross over) creating the emergent electron beam.

A lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) gun uses a similar principle, but a lanthanum hexaboride crystal is used instead of the tungsten filament. Typically a LaB6 source achieves better resolutions and higher brightnesses compared to a tungsten source, but it is also a more expensive option, requiring a specialist technician to maintain the system and a superior vacuum to operate effectively.

A field emission gun heats a sharp metal tip, usually made of tungsten and with a radius of less than 100 nm, and uses two anodes to accelerate the resulting electron beam. Field emission guns achieve superior resolution, compared to thermionic emission and LaB6 guns, but they are also the most expensive type and require an ultra-high vacuum, which increases the O&M costs.

Lenses

In an SEM the lenses are magnetic. Each lens is made of current-carrying coils, where the current is adjusted to change the strength of the lens. There are two types of lens: condenser and objective. A condenser lens demagnifies the electron beam and is usually used in conjunction with apertures to collimate the beam. An objective lens focuses the beam on the sample, determining the final diameter of the electron probe. The objective lens is a key component of any SEM, affecting the final resolution and image quality.

SEM detectors

A field emission gun heats a sharp metal tip, usually made of tungsten and with a radius of less than 100 nm, and uses two anodes to accelerate the resulting electron beam. Field emission guns achieve superior resolution, compared to thermionic emission and LaB6 guns, but they are also the most expensive type and require an ultra-high vacuum, which increases the O&M costs.

When the electron beam reaches the sample surface, it “enters” the sample and interacts with it. The picture above shows the interaction volume, sometimes called interaction pear because of its distinctive shape.

The size and the shape of this interaction volume depend on the acceleration voltage and the density of the material. For example, if the voltage is high, the beam will penetrate more deeply into the sample. When it comes to the sample density, you have to understand how a beam will penetrate different material types where, for example, it is easier to penetrate a polymer material, compared to a stainless steel sample.

When the electrons enter the sample, one of three phenomena occurs. First, when the electrons hit the sample’s atoms, some are scattered off the sample’s surface. These are back-scattered electrons (BSE) and are high-energy electrons, which belong to the primary (incident electron) beam. They give compositional information about the sample and material contrast information. When interpreting BSEs, a higher grayscale level is usually synonymous with a higher atomic number. So, for example, gold will appear brighter than a polymer (which is mostly carbon and oxygen-based, representing low atomic number elements).

Second, secondary electrons (SE) are also used to generate the resultant image. Here, electrons from the primary beam hit the material’s atoms, and electrons from the material’s atoms are also kicked out of the sample’s surface. These are the secondary electrons, coming from the surface of the sample, and they provide information on the topography and morphology of the sample. The thickness of the region from where they are ejected is proportional to the accelerated voltage and density of the material.

The third, and final, type of signal commonly detected is characteristic X-rays. These are generated when a secondary electron is kicked out from a specific atom. This, in turn, generates a vacancy in a specific electron shell of that atom. Consequently, an electron from an outer shell (of the same atom) is forced to fill that vacancy, moving from an outer shell to an inner shell. This “movement” causes the ejection of a photon that has an energy that is characteristic of an element (hence, the name characteristic X-rays). These X-rays are detected by a specific detector called EDS (energy dispersive X-rays) that provides elemental information on the sample.

Source:Thermofisher

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#sem #image #resolution #materialsscience #electron #lenses #microscope