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The View from Europe: MAC brings out the knife
Andrew Gaved ManufacturingAfter over a year of stalemate, the European Commission appears to have finally run out of patience with carmaker Daimler over its defiant refusal to use the HFO refrigerant R1234yf in its new cars. EC industry minister Antonio Tajani recently announced that the Commission would be taking legal action against the carmaker.
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Solar energy global market drivers and challenges
Don Rosato ManufacturingThe worldwide solar energy or photovoltaic (PV) demand reached only 29 gigawatts (GW) last year, a 5 percent year-over-year increase. This is the first time in 10 years that the year-over-year PV industry market growth has been less than 10 percent. For supply and demand to have been balanced during 2012-13, end-market demand should have approached the 45 GW level. This overcapacity is having a significant effect on companies all along the supply chain as the industry consolidates.
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The impact of macrocells on underwater corrosion
Sasha Viasasha ManufacturingCorrosion due to macrocells is a serious threat to certain types of structures, especially in the ocean. New developments have recently shed light on how macrocells form in hollow undersea structures and what engineers can do to mitigate their effects.
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3-D printing taking center stage in additive manufacturing
Don Rosato ManufacturingAdditive manufacturing (AM) is a process of joining materials to make objects from 3-D model data, usually in successive layers, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies. The parts produced can be models, prototypes, tooling components, and increasingly, series production parts. They are generated from 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) data, medical scans, or data from 3-D scanning systems. Based on thin horizontal cross sections taken from a 3-D computer model, AM systems produce plastic, metal, ceramic, or composite parts, layer upon layer.
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The View from Europe: The quest for life beyond the compressor
Andrew Gaved ManufacturingThese look like exciting times for the future of refrigeration. One of the undisputed holy grails for researchers working at the frontiers of refrigeration science is to find a way to cool without requiring compressors and all the inefficiencies that vapor compression brings with it. And, crucially, they want to achieve them in a way that is commercially sustainable.
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Effective storage tank protection system: The use of anodic protection
Sable Mc'Oneal ManufacturingThere are certain circumstances that make it impractical for cathodic protection to be used, such as in extremely acidic or alkaline environments. For these situations, anodic protection can be a useful corrosion control technique, specifically in metal environment conditions that demonstrate active-passive behaviors.
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Innovative medical plastic devices define the road ahead
Don Rosato ManufacturingFuture medical device innovations are expected to center around six major technological areas.
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The end of gas prices as we know them
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesMany have heard about fears that exports of natural gas in the U.S. could lead to comparatively higher domestic gas prices, potentially hampering the growth of the U.S. economy. Antiexport proponents are mostly energy-intensive groups like the chemical and metal industries. On the contrary, a study done for the U.S. Department of Energy by the economic consultancy NERA in 2013 suggests that natural gas exports would actually benefit the U.S. economy, despite rising natural gas prices.
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Medical plastic process developments take center stage
Don Rosato ManufacturingPlastics are integral to the entire medical industry's supply chain and their use is projected to surge as the population ages. As demand for smaller medical devices grows, innovative manufacturing technologies are being adopted to allow for production of ultra-precise designs. The medical device universe encompasses a particularly imposing spectrum of constant technological innovation, including hundreds of different technologies and thousands of types of products.
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The View from Europe: Auto A/C resolution still facing bumpy road
Andrew Gaved Construction & Building MaterialsPolicymakers in Europe have had something of a headache in ensuring one of their prime pieces of climate legislation — the Mobile Air Conditioning Directive — is properly followed. Given that restricting refrigerant on the basis of its GWP will inevitably see similar legislation in the U.S., this Directive's tortuous passage could prove a cautionary tale — and we are still not yet at the end of the road.
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