Last month, Jessica Oler posted a blog that discussed the reasons for upgrading your ultrasonic level transmitter. In the blog, she mentioned that I will not be able to attend WEFTEC this year. However, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to chime in on a few of the “must-sees” and “must-dos”, so I figured I’d give you my top four! 1 – Direct and Indirect Potable ...
More than 30,000 visitors, 130,000 kilometers and 290 stops: Siemens is saying goodbye to its Energy Efficiency Roadshow. On its way through Brazil, China and Europe, people were informed on how to optimize industrial processes and to improve competitiveness in a sustainable way. As a result, partnerships were formed and contracts entered. Some of these will be introduce...
By entering into joint ventures with Chinese companies, German manufacturers are conquering the Chinese automobile market – and Siemens is making a key contribution to their success. About 35 years ago, Volkswagen was the first Western car maker to establish a subsidiary in China. Today the country has become an important sales market for Volkswagen. There are good re...
Breweries in the U.S. are currently experiencing a boom, and there is a great deal of special appreciation for the traditional art of brewing beer. The brewmasters of small craft breweries, or microbreweries, are being supported by the Braumat process control system from Siemens. Combining a nostalgic touch with state-of-the-art technologies, local microbreweries in ...
The coating lets the company’s HuckBolts and collars sustain up to 1,000 hr of salt-spray testing — with no painting — while those only coated with zinc handle only 100 hr. While HuckBolts have always had a zinc coating, the fastener collars have always been the weak point because of the swaging process. Swaging creates sheer force on the collar, and can erode corrosion-...
A steam turbine is a turbo-machine for generating mechanical power from the energy of steam at high temperature and pressure; in other words, it converts the thermal energy of steam into useful mechanical work. Steam turbines can deliver constant or variable speed and are capable of close speed control; drive applications include pumps, compressors, electric generators a...
The tool was installed in a Netstal PET-LINE 6000 system and has subsequently produced some 3 billion preforms. Now, the tool has been reconditioned by MHT. The original preform design is being superseded with a new lightweight design. The new 22 gram preform has a lightweight PCO 1881 thread finish, and MHT has built complete new cold halves incorporating the latest ...
In electronic applications, however, the low thermal conductivity can result in local overheating. Since polymers usually do not have any freely moving electrons, thermal energy in plastics is transmitted primarily by elastic waves in the solid (so-called phonons). Strong bonds between the individual molecules are needed for heat to be conducted by thermal waves. In a...
Composites based on carbon fibers exhibit exceptional strength and toughness. Adhesion of carbon fibers to the matrix is an important criterion in this regard. If the surface of the fibers loosens its attachment to the matrix resin in response to application of a force, the absorption of force is concentrated in the fibers alone and material failure can result. Until ...
Alexima's patent application US20140367552 "Image sensors, methods, and pixels with tri-level biased transfer gates" by Jaroslav Hynecek and Alexander Krymski proposes a global shutter "pixel with a transfer gate that is controllable among at least three biasing conditions, including a first biasing condition in which electrons are transferable from a photodiode to a pot...
Redditor Zombiechic80 recently printed these tiny snowman molds using a design file at Thingiverse. "I planned on making a snowman army but only got 4 in before giving up." Zombiechic80 notes. His Calvin & Hobbes dreams were foiled because he didn't bring any gloves. But if you have access to a 3D printer you can create your own army of miniature snowmen by downloadi...
While you could of course construct one of the many 3D printable robots that populate the web nowadays, Go Time from Tennessee has been relying on 3D printing technology to develop a fun game with a theoretically endless replay value. It’s called Gear Time, and it essentially consists of a series of gears and other modular parts that can be used to create an endless num...
This new material-of-many-colors offers intriguing possibilities for an entirely new class of display technologies, color-shifting camouflage and sensors that can detect otherwise imperceptible defects in buildings, bridges and aircraft. "This is the first time anybody has made a flexible chameleon-like skin that can change color simply by flexing it," said Connie Cha...
When the first phase production began in the third quarter of 2007, the $190m (invested over ten years) plant was capable of producing about half a million pounds of cheese a day from an initial milk supply of 250,000gal per day. The plant is projected to employ more than 350 workers by year nine of production but had initially employed 120 people. The facility has been...
Alcoa has a definitive agreement to acquire RTI International Metals in a $1.5-billion, all-stock deal that would continue its aggressive expansion into commercial and defense aerospace markets. Directors of both firms have approved the takeover, and Alcoa expects to complete the purchase by mid-year, pending approval by regulators and RTI shareholders. The buyer’s pr...
The terms of the agreement were not announced, but GKN indicated it has a total value of $200 million over the life of the contract. The 787 Dreamliner is a twin-engine long-range jet in commercial service since 2011, with 230 deliveries to date and nearly 1,100 orders. The Trent 1000 is one of two engine options Boeing selected for the design. GKN Aerospace is a Tie...
Factory-Assembled, Induced-Draft Cooling Tower Line The company offers both custom-build field-erect and packaged cooling tower designs. These projects might entail replacing an existing inefficient or inoperable cooling tower, or adding capacity to a site to meet demand. Field-erect towers include counterflow or crossflow designs; fiberglass, wood or concrete structu...
Construction work at the new biorefinery was completed back in mid-August, with cellulosic ethanol production starting up at the end of September. Abengoa (MCE: ABG.B/P SM /NASDAQ: ABGB)explained that the plant utilises only ‘second generation’ biomass feedstocks for ethanol production, meaning non-edible agricultural crop residues (such as stalks and leaves) that do ...
According to St1, the Etanolix plant will produce ethanol for transport fuel, using feedstocks such as biowaste and process residue from local bakeries and bread from shops that is past its sell-by date. The plant, which is currently under construction at the refinery in Gothenburg, is expected to have an annual production capacity of 5 million litres of bioethanol. St...
Prevent failures from overload, manufacturing defect or damage; Reduce the frequency and cost of inspection during service; Provide real-time understanding of the fracture mechanics in composites and validation data for existing finite element models with a view also toward increasingly complex designs. SMARTFIBER is a 42-month project (Sept 2010 to April 2014) funded...
Using carbon fiber to achieve extreme weight savings while strengthening the vehicle structures and eliminating mechanical fastening for improved durability, the CR-1 will offer improved gas mileage when towing and a new level of luxury and connectivity for today’s consumers. The monocoque structure of the CR-1 was designed in collaboration with esteemed IndyCar manuf...
The Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Production (AZL) at RWTH Aachen University, Germany,announces the launch of their new department for Joining Technology, as of beginning of 2015. AZL, the worldwide unique competence network for Integrative Lightweight Production Technology, represents already nine research institutes on the Campus of RWTH Aachen Universit...
While the saying may certainly ring true, the use of standardized models that are created from compiled data can at least help designers and engineers determine a good ‘average’ body type depending on their intended design direction. The problem of course, is actually obtaining this data. Aiming to solve this problem once and for all, Body Labs has announced today t...
Z-Unlimited is an amazingly simple open source add-on that enables your Ultimaker 3D printer to print with an unlimited height. "The Z-Unlimited basically flips your 3D printer upside down and moves it all the way up along a wall while it is printing. To convert your 3D printer to reach unlimited height will only take you 10 minutes. And this operation is just as easy t...
The companies have created a line of unique monofilaments made from recycled ABS car parts and PET water bottles that complete two separate sustainability ‘loops’ within the plastic product manufacturing industries, thereby reducing waste and contributing to a more ecologically-friendly environment. It’s no secret that humans are producing and discarding waste at a dang...
The manufacturing industry has come a long way since it relied on rodents. Now highly sophisticated and increasingly automated production lines in industry are becoming a much more common sight in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0, as it's more commonly referred to. Surely everything in the smart factory of the future is going to be wireles...
This follows its significant investment in the company's Integrated Engineering & Design (IE&D) solution in 2013, which is now a standard for all new projects. Aveva E3D gives JSC NIIK a multi-discipline 3D plant design software that will bring increased efficiency across a project. "JSC NIIK has established a new engineering business approach, which we have based on ...
Under the terms of the LOI, Reservoir can acquire a 35% interest in Saxa Gres and a 65% interest in a new spinout company, Saxa Energy, by providing technical and financial support. Saxa Gres has agreements to acquire and refinance the assets of Area Industrie Ceramiche (AIC), a ceramic floor and roof tile factory located outside of Rome. The factory is in the proc...
In their paper, Future outflows of toxic material from end-of-life computers in India, Neelu Jain and Pamela Chawla estimated the potential number of obsolete desktop and notebook computers and the quantity of various toxic components that will be generated from these devices over the next ten to fifteen years in India. The authors suggested that it will take three de...
Each month ISWA publishes a Waste Business Monitor developed by Acuccom Ltd of the UK. Here is the extract from the latest issue regarding November's data: "This issue analyses 109 waste projects worldwide with an estimated value of US$10.26 billion. Looking at the types of facilities, 31 (28%) of the projects were for waste incineration with energy recovery followed by...
The Les Roches–Roussillon Chemical Platform is one of the key stakeholders of the ‘Rhône-Alpes Chemistry Valley’ industrial hub. It is a multi-operator platform built on 150 hectares of space and largely creates basic chemistry products that supply many chemical sites in the Rhône-Alpes region. According to SITA - a part of Suez Environnment (Paris: SEV, Brussels: SEVB)...
China is facing large challenges in the air, water and energy storage arenas that require new and innovative solutions. As a result of these unprecedented market needs, China has established itself as a world leader in implementing new technologies to address challenges regarding sustainability. The Chinese market, under the leadership of its new government, provides su...
Currently, Lockheed Martin maintains more than three million items destined for the station. The team exports and ships about 25,000 pounds of cargo to launch locations around the world annually, including the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan and Japan. The company also processes flight crew equipment, which includes buying, maintaining and preparing items for the IS...
The dispensing of compounds and coatings requires a 3D motion system to move either the printing head or the substrate with up to six degrees of freedom. Overall system accuracy and throughput are vitally important to creating complex structures with a commercially viable process. Component to Custom System-Level Solutions Aerotech offers a full range of additive ma...
The curing cycle is a 2-step process requiring (2) separate dwell times in the oven, but both at the same temperature. Instead of a traditional (2) oven system, LEWCO engineers developed an oven with (2) independent conveyors passing through the same workspace. Operators can adjust the speed of each conveyor separately to yield the proper dwell times in the oven. The ...
MEMPHIS, Tenn., – Thomas & Betts (T&B) has upgraded its Steel City® Ceiling Fan Boxes to improve the speed and ease of installing ceiling fans and large fixtures. "The improvements we made to Steel City® Ceiling Fan Boxes were driven by extensive research and development to simplify their installation," said Chad Smith, global product group manager at T&B. "The result...
