Wiltshire explorer attempts first Atlantic crossing in open-basket #hydrogen balloon.
A thrill-seeker from Wiltshire is among the three pilots aiming to be the first to brave the elements and cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open-basket hydrogen #gas balloon next month. The crew, with a combined age of 200, consists of the Wiltshire resident and explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 66, along with American balloon manufacturer Bert Padelt, 62, and Swiss scientist and entrepreneur Dr Frederik Paulsen, 72.
If successful in navigating the unique hydrogen balloon across the pond, they will be the oldest people to cross the Atlantic in an open basket gas balloon. Their route will take them from Maine in the US, over Newfoundland in Canada, across the Atlantic Ocean, and then over Ireland and Scottish waters before they land in Europe.
A thrill-seeker from Wiltshire is among the three pilots aiming to be the first to brave the elements and cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open-basket hydrogen gas balloon next month. The crew, with a combined age of 200, consists of the Wiltshire resident and explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 66, along with American balloon manufacturer Bert Padelt, 62, and Swiss scientist and entrepreneur Dr Frederik Paulsen, 72.
If successful in navigating the unique hydrogen balloon across the pond, they will be the oldest people to cross the Atlantic in an open basket gas balloon. Their route will take them from Maine in the US, over Newfoundland in Canada, across the Atlantic Ocean, and then over Ireland and Scottish waters before they land in Europe.
Sir David will also become the only person to have flown across the Atlantic three times in an open basket balloon, having first achieved the feat in 2003 and completing it again in 2007. The adventurer described how he and his crew are becoming “more adventurous with age”.
During the crossing, the team will be collecting air samples as part of a scientific study supported by Basecamp Research.
It is hoped this will uncover new #microbes that could lead to the discovery of new natural proteins which could be used to develop new products such as medicines, biofuels or bioplastics.
Sir David added: “A balloon is the perfect platform to investigate a location where the biome has never been sampled and the scientists we’ve partnered with are extremely excited about what we might find and what they will be able to learn from our adventures.”
A secondary scientific study, to measure the impact of the Canadian forest fires, will also be undertaken during the challenge in collaboration with the Institute for Climate and #Atmospheric Science at the University of Leeds.
The team will be able to collect samples at between 6,000 to 8,000 feet, weather permitting, from a mid-Atlantic location at an altitude that has not been sampled before.
Source:Hydrogen-Central
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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:
Shrinkage is sometimes explained simply in terms of CTE (coeff. of thermal expansion). The plastics cool down from melt to room T, hence... it shrinks.
In the Injection Molding process however we take advantage of melt compressibility and fairly high pressure (the packing) to compensate for the natural shrinkage of the material.
The result is that, although you can't change the coefficient of thermal expansion with your process, you ABSOLUTELY can change the final shrinkage of your part, almost at will !
Source:Vito Leo
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#plastics #polymerindustry #injectionmolding #shrinkage #expansion
INEOS Styrolution announced the introduction of a new ASA “MED” material dedicated to applications in the #healthcare industry. It was designed specifically having small #medicaldevice housings and casings in mind.
Excellent Mechanical Properties:
The new Luran® S MED 797S SPF30 is a member of INEOS #Styrolution’s #asa product family Luran® S. Luran® S excels with strong property performance such as chemical resistance, #UV resistance, and impact strength. Suitable for #injectionmolding applications, Luran® S offers excellent flowability for easy processing.
Luran® S MED 797S SPF30, available in NR (Natur) and in white (WT000112), builds on these strengths. The product shows excellent chemical resistance against alcohols (e.g., IPA, ethanol, propanol) or alcohol-based disinfectants. It also shows good resistance against #quaternary ammonium or glutaral based #disinfectants making it a material of choice for clinical environments.
High impact strength specifically at room temperature and at lower temperatures (5°C) contribute to a better protection of devices, e.g., avoiding cracking failures when a device drops to the floor. This particular performance trait makes Luran® S MED 797S SPF30 a compelling alternative to standard ABS materials.
The new Luran® S grade is also available using #renewablefeedstock, based on a mass balance process certified under ISCC PLUS. Luran® S ECO MED 797S SPF30 BC40 contains 40% renewable content resulting in a carbon footprint reduction of up to 52% compared to fossil based Luran® S.
Bernd Elbert, market development manager at #INEOS Styrolution says, “The market segment of small, mobile medical and hospital devices is growing rapidly. The properties of our new Luran® S MED 797S SPF30 make it a very strong contender for device housings and casings in this specific category. I invite every application designer to explore our new product for their next project.”
Source: INEOS Styrolution/Omnexus-spcialchem
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SABIC is now offering bio-based versions of all #NORYL™, Flexible NORYL™, NORYL™ GTX™ and NORYL™ PPX™ resin grades to help customers meet increasingly rigorous sustainability goals.
The bio-based versions, formulated with #polyphenyleneether (PPE) resin feedstocks certified under International #Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS, provide properties similar to those of fossil-based grades. Customers may select from multiple levels of #bio-based content for their chosen NORYL™ product.
Drop-in Replacements for Traditional Grades:
To demonstrate the feasibility of this bio-based approach, SABIC has proactively commercialized three popular NORYL™ grades; however, these example materials represent only a small percentage of the full offering.
The availability of bio-based versions broadens the choice of environmentally responsible NORYL™ resins beyond the company’s recently introduced post-consumer recycled (PCR)-based materials containing more than 25% PCR content.
"We’re pleased to provide customers with new choices to reduce the global warming potential of both existing and new applications made with NORYL™ materials,” said Joshua Chiaw, director, Business Management, LNP & NORYL™, Specialties, SABIC. “Bio-based PPE feedstocks enable SABIC to efficiently produce sustainable NORYL™ materials that can serve as drop-in replacements for traditional grades – with equivalent performance and processability. Expansion of our NORYL™ resin portfolio with bio-based versions is a key part of our strategy for helping brands, OEMs, tier suppliers and molders achieve their sustainability goals."
Properties of Sustainable Versions:
The following bio-based products are available now. Customers wishing to order bio-based versions of other NORYL™, NORYL™ GTX, Flex NORYL™ or NORYL™ PPX materials should contact their SABIC representative.
NORYL™ NH5120BIO4 resin is well suited for evaluation in housings and enclosures, heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) components and photovoltaic/solar junction boxes. It is a bio-based, non-brominated/non-chlorinated flame-retardant resin with a UL flame rating of V1 at 1.5mm with no intentionally added per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS). NORYL NH5120BIO4 resin delivers a balance of heat resistance, flow, hydrolytic and dimensional stability, and creep performance, and retains its good mechanical properties in harsh outdoor environments.
NORYL™ GFN2BIO3 resin features high strength, hydrolytic and dimensional stability, low warpage and low specific gravity. This bio-based material carries a UL746C outdoor suitability rating of F1 and is an excellent candidate for indoor and outdoor applications in the building & construction and lawn & garden industries.
Source: SABIC/specialchem
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Ashwin Sawant was a successful sales engineer in Dubai when he met a client who was cultivating green fodder hydroponically for his large livestock. The client's farm was so impressive that Ashwin decided to leave his lucrative job and return to India to pursue hydroponic farming.
He knew that hydroponics could revolutionise the fodder industry in India. Traditional methods of growing fodder require large tracts of land and gallons of water, which are major problems in water-scarce countries like India.
“With hydroponics, however, we can reduce the area and water requirements. A one-tonne unit, installable in a 1,000-square-foot area, allows a farmer to save at least seven acres of land. This land can then be utilised to grow other crops. Using hydroponics, farmers can harvest one kilo of green fodder by utilising just 1.5 litres of water, saving 99 per cent of water compared to conventional methods,” he explains.
To introduce farmers to the benefits of hydroponic farming, Ashwin set up a research lab in Pune. He also founded Scientific Hydroponics to sell hydroponic systems to farmers.
Traditional green fodder grown through conventional methods can cost anywhere from 8 to 14 rupees per kilogram, whereas hydroponically grown green fodder only costs around 2 rupees per kilogram.
While hydroponics offers various benefits, such as land and water conservation, it is also an expensive technology. The cost of a one-tonne unit can reach up to Rs 16 lakh.
Click the link https://buff.ly/44eSBkF to learn how Ashwin developed an economical, low-cost model, priced at an average of Rs 3 lakh, and successfully trained over 1,000 farmers in hydroponic farming.
Source:The Better India
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#sustainablefarming #hydroponicfarming #farming
Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:
DITF develops water-spun lignin fibers as a PAN precursor alternative!
"The German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research has developed a novel process for the production of carbon fibers from lignin, which the institute says is environmentally friendly and cost-saving through the avoidance of solvents and the use of natural raw materials. The process is also characterized by high energy savings in all process steps of the carbon fiber production process."
"Lignin, a rigid and woody polymer that is a key structural material for plants, replaces #polyacrylonitrile (PAN) for the production of precursor fibers, which are converted into carbon fibers in a second process step. According to DITF, the raw material, a waste product in paper production, is inexpensive and available in large quantities."
"The new process for producing lignin fibers is based on an aqueous solution of lignin, removing the requirement for solvents or toxic additives. For this purpose, wood is separated into its components, #lignin and #cellulose . A sulfite digestion process enables the production of lignosulfonate, which is dissolved in water. An aqueous solution of lignin is then the starting material for spinning the fibers.
"The #spinning process itself is carried out in a dry spinning process, where an extruder presses the spinning mass through a nozzle into a heated spinning shaft. The resulting continuous fibers are said to dry quickly and uniformly in the spinning shaft. Use of dry spinning, which enables high spinning speeds is said to produce more material in a shorter amount of time than what is possible with PAN fibers.
"The following steps for the production of carbon fibers, namely stabilization in hot air and subsequent carbonization in a high-temperature furnace, are similar to those of the usual process when PAN is used as a precursor fiber, DITF notes. However, lignin fibers provide an advantage in that they can be stabilized particularly quickly in the oven with hot air and only require relatively low temperatures in #carbonization. The #energysavings in these process steps compared with PAN are said to be around 50%. The resulting fibers are homogeneous, have smooth surfaces and no adhesions, and have almost comparable mechanical properties to PAN-based #carbonfibers, DITF says, in terms of strength, resistance and light weight.
Source:#managingcomposites
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WORKPLACE FLOOR MARKINGS Simple Lines. Clear Rules. Fewer Incidents. Clear floor markings are a visual management tool that improves safet...
