Final decision on anti-dumping duty on fiber optic cable imports from India‼️

The EC is taking another step against dumping prices on fiber optic products from outside EU borders. An anti-dumping investigation has just been closed for fiber optic cables imported from India.

After a thorough analysis of cable sales from India and a calculation of possible damages resulting from dumped prices, the EC has decided to set the final tariffs at 6.9 – 11.4 percent (depending on the manufacturer). The level of duties is in line with what the EC proposed as an interim measure in July 2024.

The EC's decision is expected to carry indirect positive aspects for customers. A significant increase in the influence of foreign suppliers could lead to a decrease in the innovation and quality of the products of domestic producers, who would have to increasingly reduce costs and adapt with the standard of products to producers from the East.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that cooperation with suppliers who are not affected by further imposed tariffs is a guarantee of deliveries on time, stability of order fulfillment and invariability of prices. This is certainly of particular importance in the era of large telecommunications projects.

In such a situation, we encourage cooperation with domestic manufacturers such as FIBRAIN, who at the same time ensure a restrictive approach to production and quality control in accordance with high European standards.

We encourage you to read the latest document on the EC website⤵️

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202403014

source:FIBRAIN

#antidumpingduty

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share ;PEKK (polyetherketoneketone) in 2024:

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

PEKK (polyetherketoneketone) in 2024:

Here’s a partial list of PEKK’s attributes as a musculoskeletal implant:

Antibacterial properties; no biofilm formation

A near bio-mechanical twin to cortical bone

Hypoallergenic

Modifiable for a more precise anatomical fit

Better inherent osseointegration than metal

Strategically, this combination of features could improve outcomes (fewer periprosthetic infections, reduced rates of stress shielding or allergic reactions, and a better anatomical fit) and reduce revision surgeries saving musculoskeletal care providers hundreds of millions of dollars.

If there were a way to meet or exceed metal’s performance and complex design innovation, most surgeons would take a long hard look at polymer constructs.

For five major reasons:

Metal complicates post-op visualization

Metal often leads to stress shielding and loosening

Metal implants cannot be modified by the surgeon in the O.R.

Some patients have an allergic response to metal

Biofilm formation and infection risk come with using metal

Since 2006, DeFelice has been piling up key PEKK milestones:

2006: first machined PEKK spinal cages

2010: FDA clears first PEKK tissue marker

2012: FDA clears first PEKK craniomaxillofacial device (OsteoFab®)

2015: FDA clears first OsteoFab PEKK VBR spinal implant

2016: PEKK Wins Best Technology in Spine Award

2017: FDA clears PEKK spine implants made with OsteoFab process

2019: FDA clears PEKK suture anchor for multiple indications

In addition to 3D printing PEKK implants, OPM sells PEKK in powder, rod, and pellet forms.

Comparing Cortical Bone to 3D-Printed PEKK

This study, conducted by Northeastern University, concluded that PEKK, when compared to PEEK, titanium and cobalt chrome, was most similar to cortical bone in terms of:

Density

Tensile strength – 2 measures

Elongation at break point

Modulus of Elasticity

Yield strength

source:Scott DeFelice (OMP) / (Ortho pedics)

Gevo & LG Chem Extend Agreement for Ethanol-to-Olefins Technology

GEVO AND LG CHEM EXTEND JOINT DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR BIO-PROPYLENE TO ACCELERATE COMMERCIALIZATION USING GEVO ETHANOL-TO-OLEFINS TECHNOLOGY

GEVO) and LG Chem leading global chemical companies committed to producing sustainable products, are extending their joint development agreement (the “Agreement”). The agreement extension enables LG Chem to assess existing assets for deploying Gevo’s Ethanol-to-Olefins (“ETO”) technology while accelerating commercialization activities, considering project scale and end-product markets.

“Gevo’s partnership with LG Chem is a great example of how we intend to accelerate development and commercialization of our patented ETO technology to enable renewable chemicals with our world-class partner,” said Gevo’s Chief Carbon and Innovation Officer, Dr. Paul Bloom. “Our ethanol-to-olefin process holds immense promise to decarbonize a substantial portion of the market for propylene, and LG Chem is starting commercial activities ahead of the timeline we originally planned.

Gevo’s patented ETO technology can target carbon-neutral or carbon-negative drop-in replacements for traditional petroleum-based building blocks. These are core olefins, that can be used for renewable fuels and chemicals, including sustainable aviation fuel and bio-propylene. ETO technology is just one of multiple patented technologies that Gevo is bringing to bear on the challenges of developing cost-effective bio-based renewable fuels and chemicals.

“LG Chem is committed to scaling pathways to sustainable products, and leveraging partnerships is a proven way to gain access to proprietary technologies and share ours,” said Dong-hyun Cho, Vice President, Head of LG Chem’s Petrochemicals R&D. “Our joint development agreement with Gevo is already helping LG Chem to shape sustainable and eco-friendly future business strategies.”

Because it can replace fossil-based products as a renewable raw material for various plastic products, bio-propylene is expected to play a pivotal role in the rapid growth of the bioplastic market and circular economy. Once commercialization is achieved, bio-propylene could be used as a drop-in replacement for use in a range of products from auto parts to flooring to diapers to replace petroleum products with bio-based materials with a low or negative carbon footprint.

source:Gevo

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues companies over “forever chemicals:

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Wednesday against chemical giants 3M and DuPont, accusing them of decades-long misrepresentations and omissions regarding the safety of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” sold for use in countless consumer products.

These products, sold under brand names such as Teflon, Stainmaster, and Scotchgard, have been staples in households across the nation despite mounting evidence that they contain chemicals that are harmful to human health.

“These companies knew for decades that PFAS chemicals could cause serious harm to human health yet continued to advertise them as safe for household use around families and children,” Paxton said in a press release.“Texas is taking action to penalize these companies and hold them accountable for deceiving Texans into buying consumer products without vital information.”

Daniel Turner, a spokesperson for DuPont, said in an email that the company has never manufactured PFOA and PFOS two types of PFAS chemicals or firefighting foam.

"While we don’t comment on litigation matters, we believe this complaint is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship.

Representatives of 3M could not be immediately reached for comment.

PFAS,or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,are a family of manmade chemicals used to make products that resist heat, oil,stains, grease,& water.Some estimates list more than 12,000 types of individual PFAS.They’ve been used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1940s and have earned the name “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down and can persist in water and soil indefinitely.

Exposure to specific PFAS has been linked to certain types of cancer, birth defects,damage to the liver and immune system.They also accumulate in animals,plants,and humans, contaminating drinking water and even circulating in human blood.

The lawsuit was filed in Johnson County nine days after a Texas Tribune story featured farmers in that county who have sued a fertilizer company,alleging the fertilizer they sell, which is made from municipal waste,contained PFAS that poisoned their land and killed their livestock.The farmers say they are not able to make a living off their own land because of the contamination.

Dana Ames, the environmental crime investigator for Johnson County who discovered the contamination on the farmers' land,said the lawsuit represents a significant step forward in the ongoing fight against PFAS contamination.

I was over the moon.It's a legal issue and he's [Paxton] our top lawyer for the state so I am very encouraged to see that he has taken this action,Ames said.

Many other farmers in other parts of the country have also shut down their operations due to PFAS contamination after using fertilizer made from biosolids produced from human waste.

Laura Dumais, a staff attorney with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said Paxton's lawsuit underlines how addressing PFAS is not a partisan issue. The environmental group helped the Texas farmers with PFAS testing.

"As the overwhelming scope of the 'forever chemicals' crisis becomes increasingly apparent, Americans across the spectrum of political affiliation are clamoring for an end to the poisoning of their land, water, and food," Dumais said. "I hope that emerging lawsuits, along with increased public awareness, will begin to make a difference."

DuPont and 3M are two of the most prominent companies associated with these chemicals. Both companies have been historically involved in the manufacture, use and distribution of PFAS. In 2022, 3M announced plans to exit PFAS manufacturing by 2025 as part of its response to growing environmental and legal pressures.

According to Paxton's lawsuit, 3M and DuPont marketed their PFAS products for more than 70 years despite knowing the dangers for more than half a century. The suit alleges that the companies concealed critical risks, misrepresented safety claims, and continued promoting the chemicals as safe for consumer use. The state is seeking $1 million or more in damages, including civil penalties, attorneys’ fees and costs.

Texas had already taken legal action against PFAS manufacturers, including a lawsuit against Aqueous Film Forming Foam, a firefighting product that has polluted Texas lands and waterways.

“Attorney General Paxton has been at the forefront of holding companies responsible for exposing people to dangerous 'forever chemicals.' ” said a statement from the AG’s office. “Today’s lawsuit marks a new stage in PFAS litigation.”

Texas has found PFAS contamination in some drinking water systems: Nearly 50 public water systems across the state have reported exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s newly-released PFAS limits for drinking water.

source:The Texas Tribune

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :Fatigue Failure

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Fatigue is a complicated aspect of plastic parts failure.

While most are aware of the need to keep frequency low in a fatigue test to avoid local heating of the sample, many may not be aware of the following extremely interesting tests to be done.

Let us say you test your sample (at some T and a given Stress Ratio, like 0.1) at 1 Hz and also 2 Hz.

Would you expect your part to fail after :

- the same number of cycles ? or

- the same testing time ?

Well, in a nutshell, if you fail at the same total time (twice the number of cycles) that indicates that your failure is Plasticity Controlled. A DUCTILE failure.

If you fail at the same number of cycles (i.e. half the testing time) your failure is Crack Growth controlled. A BRITTLE failure.

Of course things may be somewhat intermediate, but such simple tests will really inform you about the failure mechanism and help consider better materials for the application.

The test is particularly interesting for GF or CF filled polymers because the lack of visible deformation is often wrongly interpreted as BRITTLE fail !

source:Vito leo

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :Plasma Technology using Tire to Clean Energy

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

I will share the new design in the field of tire and plastic gasification.

The exiting very high temperature (800 C) level syngas transports the oil vapors from the rubber to the condenser, inside the pyrolysis of the rubber/plastic takes place together with the exiting gas, the gas temperature is further increased by the microwave radiation from the gas. the outside, which converts the exiting oil vapor into non-condensable gases above 1000 C, such as H2, CH4, CO, CxHx, etc.

We have recently started the production of a series for the gasification , the electrical energy requirement of microwave steam plasma torch excitation is one-tenth of that of arc plasma, and NOx is not generated.

In addition, plasma burners are used to oxidize flue gases, which is a key step in various industrial processes. The radiation from magnetrons can actually break down oil vapors into synthesis gas, making it a highly efficient way to produce clean energy.

In addition, the radiation from plasma torches can be directed through ceramics to reach temperatures above 1000°C. This high-temperature capability is vital for many applications, including material processing and waste management.

It's amazing how plasma technology can be utilized for such a wide range of applications!

microwave technology: www.gumienergia.hu

source:Jozsef Nagy

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Recycling of Colorants to second life

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

New recycling techniques aim to give colorants a second life

Over the next five years, Bert Weckhuysen will investigate how colorants from plastic bottles can be recycled more effectively. In August, he received a grant from the initiative Circular Plastics NL, funded by the Dutch National Growth Fund. Weckhuysen is collaborating with Jules Roelofs from Holland Colours, a manufacturer of colour concentrates, and CuRe Technology, a plastic recycling company.

Walk through any supermarket and you will see shelves lined with plastic bottles in every colour of the rainbow: green, red, blue – added to plastics to make packaging more appealing. But what happens to all those colorants once the bottle is empty and sent for recycling? At present, not much. Most colorants are lost in the recycling process as the plastic is often burned or, at best, reused. According to Bert Weckhuysen, Distinguished University Professor of Catalysis, Energy, and Sustainability at Utrecht University, this needs to change.

Thanks to a grant from Circular Plastics NL, Weckhuysen now has five years to explore how colorants in plastics can be recycled. Together with Holland Colours and CuRe Technology, his research group aims to develop technologies to recover both inorganic pigments and organic dyes from polyesters, evaluate their quality, and reuse them in recycled materials.

The value of colorants

Colorants in plastics are often lost during the recycling process – a missed opportunity, says Weckhuysen. “Colorants and other additives give PET bottles their desirable properties and therefore their value,” he explains. “These molecules are often expensive to produce and have a significant environmental footprint. What if we could recover those colorants and reuse them, just like we aim to do with the plastic itself?”

Greener solvents

Recycling colorants requires an overhaul of the current recycling process. “Right now, the focus is primarily on recycling the polymers – the long chains of atoms that form plastics,” says Weckhuysen. To include the colorants in this process, they first need to be extracted from the plastic.

This is where solvents come in, but many commonly used solvents are harmful to the environment. Weckhuysen’s team is taking a different approach: “We are opting for greener solvents made from bio-waste, making the entire process more sustainable.” This approach, which Weckhuysen calls ‘double green’, ensures that both the colorants and the plastic are given a second life in a more environmentally friendly way.

Step by step

The team has already devised a roadmap for extracting colorants from PET bottles. First, the colored PET bottles are dissolved in bio-based solvents, separating the colorants from the polymers. Next, they use light-based spectroscopy to determine which colorants are still usable. This technique allows the team to distinguish between damaged and intact colorant molecules, identifying which ones can go through another cycle. The usable molecules are then filtered out for reuse. “It’s a process of refinement,” Weckhuysen explains. “Every usable colorant we recover is another step closer to a fully circular system.”

Sorting challenges

Not all colorants will be equally easy to recycle, and sorting the colorants will be a key challenge for the project. Some colorants are more complex than others or more costly to process. “Colorants impact recycling in ways that aren’t always visible,” says Jules Roelofs, Global Innovation Manager at Holland Colours. He explains that different colorants require different approaches, which can complicate the recycling process, especially when it comes to detecting and separating colored plastics. “Sorting is crucial,” Roelofs emphasises. “We need to understand the different streams of colorants and determine which ones can be recovered and which might not be worth the effort.”

From research to real-world application

If all goes according to plan, Weckhuysen and Roelofs hope to scale up their project and implement it in practice. “Our ultimate goal is to apply this knowledge and bring the technique to market. CuRe Technology will play a pivotal role in this effort. This mid-sized company specialises in polyester recycling and has developed an innovative process for continuous polyester recycling. While they currently process several kilograms per hour, their ambition is to expand to installations capable of recycling multiple kilotons annually.

“It would be amazing if we could produce products using recovered colorants,” Roelofs says enthusiastically. “Our ultimate goal is 100% reusability. By extracting colorants from plastics, we can not only reuse the colorants but also preserve the quality of the plastic, enabling it to be recycled more frequently.”

source:Utrecht University