Scientific data in various fields of human endeavor. Interesting user friendly presentation of articles in sciences both recent and in the distant past
Lithium ion batteries were commercially introduced in 1991 for consumer electronics. The automotive and defense industries also look promising for these powerful rechargeable batteries. A123Systems makes lithium ion batteries suitable for both autos and heavy duty vehicles. The company is working with General Motors to produce batteries for the Saturn Vue and the Chevrolet Volt, both plug-in hybrids.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 31st March 2009
Another way to reduce fuel consumption and emissions is to switch the engine off when a car isn’t moving–in a traffic jam or at a stop light. Bosch offers an electronic stop-start system that turns the engine off when the vehicle is stopped and starts it again when the driver releases the brake. Bosch claims that in urban traffic their stop-start system reduces fuel consumption and CO-2 emissions by 8%. Currently the Bosch system is available on the BMW1 series.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 31 st March 2009
Ceramics are what you get when you shape and bake a nonmetallic mineral, such as clay. Advanced ceramics are made from synthetic raw material. Though they have some limitations, notably brittleness, advanced ceramics are hard, relatively lightweight and extraordinarily heat resistant. California-based company Ceradyne sees particular potential in the automotive market for its products, notably its shims–very thin fasteners made of metal but with a ceramic surface.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 31 st March 2009
One important element in designing more efficient cars is reducing weight. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic has been used in race cars but has only recently made its way to commercial car design. Several manufacturers have introduced cars with CFRP parts, notably the 2008 BMW M3 Coupe and M6.Watch and see others adopt the use of this material.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 31 st March 2009
The continuously variable transmission concept has been around for quite a time. Leonardo da Vinci sketched out a variation in 1490. In the last 25 years, automobile companies have seen the fuel economy advantages of the CVT. Unlike manual or automatic transmissions, the CVT allows for an infinite number of gear ratios. This allows the engine to run efficiently at any speed, which saves fuel. There are a number of automakers using CVT technology; Nissan has a CVT available in nearly all its models.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 31st March 2009
Direct injection refers to the delivery of fuel directly into the combustion chamber of each cylinder, rather than into the intake manifold. Its benefits are better combustion, increased fuel efficiency and lower pollution. An example: Ford introduced the EcoBoost engine this year and will make it available for the 2009 Lincoln MKS and Ford Flex. Using direct gasoline injection and turbo boosting, the smaller engine can produce as much power as a heavier traditional engine. Ford plans to have 500,000 EcoBoost vehicles on the road annually in the next five years.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 31st March 2009
Reliance Industries Ltd is planning to source locally developed technology from state-owned National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) to make carbon fibre. The carbon fibre is a scarce, steel-like material used in building light aircraft. India‘s one of the largest private sector companies by sales would make the carbon fibre at a 4,000-tonne plant in Gujarat, using technology developed at NAL. Carbon fibre is produced from polymers and is used to make composites that are as strong as steel. Vadodara-based Kemrock Industries and Exports Ltd, an export-focussed unit that makes fibre-reinforced plastic composites, is already engaged in building a 400-tonne carbon fibre plant to open in August 2009.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 30th March 2009
A perpetual calendar celebrating 12 important Italian Scientists that have given significant contributions to the development on Mineralogy. For each one picture, biograpy, original signature, main opera and mineral that has been dedicated to. Plus Plinius and Steno biograpies, two great contributors to mineralogy science.
In some regions of the world, the lack of a primary source such as water, could become a determining factor for economic and political instability whereas nearly 40% of the world’s population relies on river systems that cross two or more countries.
The increasing awareness towards the issue of water, as a precious and irreplaceable wealth, encourages some countries to make enormous investments to increase its availability of drinking water. The fact that the largest source of available water lies in the sea favours the research and investment in the realisation of efficient desalination plants.
FLOATING ON SEA WATER
In this period of impending crisis it’s up to technology to propose solutions that are reliable, feasible, with low environmental impact and with sustainable costs for the economies of the poorest areas of the globe.
The technologies used for the desalination of seawater are based on membrane processes, where the “heart” of the system is represented by Reverse Osmosis. BONO Artes has made some innovation in these technologies through the construction of plants capable of producing drinking water with reduced energy consumption.
Through the experience gained over the years, BONO Artes has provided a plant for the desalination of seawater for the “Peru LNG” project, the largest ever undertaken in Peru and all of South America for the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), developed by the US company, CB&I, leader in the realisation of industrial complexes in the energy and natural resources field.
The BONO Artes supply is an innovative system capable of obtaining both pure water, to be employed for industrial purposes and pure drinking water meeting the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) for human consumption.
The process occurs through two phases:
- The first stage consists of pre-treatment with two multilayer filters that allow the removal of suspended solids from water
- The second stage allows the production of deionized water through double step reverse osmosis.
At this point, part of the deionized water is used for feeding the boiler, while the remainder is further treated and made drinkable for human consumption at the nearby field site.
PURE DRINKING WATER
To cope with the energy necessary for the operation of the plant, BONO Artes has adopted a system that allows a turbine to recover energy from the residual pressure of the reverse osmosis concentrate in order to significantly reduce operation costs.
Another critical factor for this contract was the choice of materials since the plant was to be installed in the desert region of Peru. So, in the choice of materials, both the high salinity of seawater and the extreme conditions of operation imposed by the arid regions of South America, had to be taken into consideration.
Right now the plant is running at full speed with excellent results, both from the point of view of water quality, and cost efficiency. This success highlights the ability of BONO Artes to find solutions to deal with any type of water, even in extreme conditions, anywhere in the world.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 20th March 2009
This byproduct of mineral treatments has many uses
metals treatment for slag
But this is not the only slag to be produced during the production of steel. In an integrated steel plant the molten iron from the blast furnace is combined with steel scrap in a ratio of typically four parts molten iron to one part scrap. Lime is also added and oxygen is blasted through the resultant mixture. This process results in the production of steel and basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS) slag. Apart from the chemical differences, BOS slag is about 50 per cent more dense than its blast furnace counterpart.
Copper smelting also produces copper slag and coal slag is produced from coal fired power generation plants – so where does all this “man made mineral” end up? Blast furnace slag has a myriad of uses of which perhaps the most intriguing is for the production of mineral wool. It’s difficult to believe that a lump of dense slag can be turned into a low density material with a high insulating capacity. However the process for this is familiar on any fairground.
fibre glass wool-slag by-product
Just as candyfloss (cotton candy in North America or barbe à papa in French speaking parts of the world) is made by melting and spinning sugar, mineral wool is made by melting and spinning mixtures of basalt rock and slag (or slag on its own). This material is then processed into the low density wadding used in roofing to reduce energy consumption.
slag in raod surfacing
Have you looked at an asphalt surfaced road and wondered how such a smooth looking surface can react so well with your car’s tyres when you hit the brakes as the car in front slows down unexpectedly? You were able to brake safely because the wearing course of the asphalt contained steel slag – and it’s also very likely that the subsurface also contains the same material. Steel slag adheres to asphalt enhancing the overall performance of the road in spite of rain, sun or applied salt.
Have you heard the term pozzolan? Granulated blast furnace slag is a pozzolan and when this is further ground down it produces a fine powder that has cement-like properties when mixed with water.
