Development and Testing of a Low-Cost Rapid-Cycle Hot Embossing System for Manufacturing Microscale Parts

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Hale ◽  
David E. Hardt
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Polymeric Materials ◽  
Hot Embossing ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Electrical Heating ◽  
Cycle Times ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

Hot embossing is an effective technology for replicating micro-scale features in polymeric materials, but large-scale adoption of this method is hindered by high capital costs and longer cycle times relative to other technologies. This paper details a hot embossing machine design strategy motivated by maximum production speed with minimal capital cost. Innovative design aspects include the choice of new ceramic substrate heaters for electrical heating, design of a moveable heat sink to minimize heat load during the heating cycle, and the careful design of the thermal elements to minimize the heating and cooling cycle times. The hot embossing equipment fabricated from this design has a capital cost estimated to be an order of magnitude less than currently available options. The minimum cycle time is two minutes, and microstructures are replicated within a maximum area of 25mm by 75mm. The hot embossing machine has been tested to characterize the process variability. Runs of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) parts manufactured using this equipment are measured to have submicron variation under a variety of processing conditions.

scholarly journals Development of a Low-Cost, Rapid-Cycle Hot Embossing System for Microscale Parts

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Hale ◽  
David E. Hardt
Keyword(s):  
Cycle Time ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Polymeric Materials ◽  
Hot Embossing ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Machine Design ◽  
Electrical Heating ◽  
Design System ◽  
Wide Range

Hot embossing is an effective technology for reproducing micro-scale features in polymeric materials, especially micron scale patterning. The equipment used for hot embossing to date is often research oriented, (intended to be flexible and provide a wide range of processing conditions), and a dedicated equipment industry has yet to develop. This paper details a hot embossing machine design strategy suitable for large-scale manufacturing. The design is motivated by capital cost reduction, right-size machine design, system simplicity, and production flexibility and scalability. Toward this end, a minimal number of components were used, commercially available off-the-shelf components were chosen where possible, system layout was designed to be modular, and system size was scaled for the intended products (in this case microfluidic devices). Innovative design aspects include the use of new ceramic substrate heaters for electrical heating, choice of a moveable heat sink to minimize heat load during the heating cycle, and the careful design of the thermal elements to minimize cycle time. The capital cost and the cost per part produced with this machine are estimated to be an order of magnitude less than currently available options. This design has a minimum cycle time of two minutes, and replicates microstructures within a 25mm by 75mm area.

Two-Station Embossing Process for Rapid Fabrication of Polymer Microstructures

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donggang Yao ◽  
Allen Y. Yi ◽  
Lei Li ◽  
Pratapkumar Nagarajan
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Cycling ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Polymeric Materials ◽  
Large Mass ◽  
Hot Embossing ◽  
Electrical Heating ◽  
Thermal Mass ◽  
Mold Surface ◽  
Cycle Times ◽  
Rapid Thermal Cycling

The hot embossing technique is becoming an increasingly important alternative to silicon-and glass-based microfabrication technologies. The advantage of hot embossing can be mainly attributed to the versatile properties and mass production capability of polymeric materials. However, because of the use of a large mass in thermal cycling, hot embossing is subject to substantially longer cycle times than those in traditional thermoplastic molding processes.1 The longer dwell time at elevated temperatures could further result in degradation of the embossing polymer, especially for thermally sensitive polymers. The problem exacerbates when thick polymer substrates are used. To address this problem, rapid thermal cycling of the tool is needed. One method for rapid thermal cycling is to employ a low-thermal-mass multilayer mold with electrical heating elements installed right beneath the mold surface.2 This method, however, is complex in nature and may be prone to problems caused by mismatching of thermal and mechanical properties between different layers.

scholarly journals Large-Scale Pumped Thermal Electricity Storages—Converting Energy Using Shallow Lined Rock Caverns, Carbon Dioxide and Underground Pumped-Hydro

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (19) ◽  
pp. 4150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Lalanne ◽  
Paul Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Low Emission ◽  
Rock Cavern ◽  
Lined Rock Cavern ◽  
Thermal Stores

A fast-paced energy transition needs a higher penetration of renewables, of heating and cooling in the worldwide energy mix. With three novelties 1-of using shallow high-pressure LRC (Lined Rock Cavern) excavated close to storage needs, 2-of using a slow-moving CO2 piston applying steady pressure on the hydro part of UPHES (Underground Pumped Hydro Energy Storage) and 3-of relying on inexpensive thermal stores for long-duration storage, CO2 UPHES coupled with PTES (Pumped Thermal Electricity Storage) could become, at expected Capex cost of only 20 USD/kWh electrical, a game-changer by allowing the complete integration of intermittent renewable sources. Moreover, even though this early conceptual work requires validation by simulation and experimentation, CO2 UPHES as well as UPHES-PTES hybrid storage could also allow a low-cost and low-emission integration of intermittent renewables with future district heating and cooling networks.

Design Considerations of Small Solar Collector Systems Using Plane Heliostats

1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Waldron ◽  
Kambiz Kheyrandish ◽  
A. C. Meyers
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Industrial Process ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Optical Simulation ◽  
Receiver Design ◽  
Design Studies ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Central Receiver ◽  
Primary Advantage

The primary advantage of the central receiver concept is the minimization of heat transmission in the form of enthalpy of a working fluid. This is replaced by efficient and low cost optical energy transmission. This characteristic renders collectors using heliostats to reflect solar radiation onto a stationary receiver attractive for small to medium scale, as well as large scale collection. This paper describes several years of design studies and simulations of central receiver systems scaled to be suitable for heating and cooling of commercial buildings or for some industrial process heat applications. The relatively small distances between the heliostats and receiver, vertical flat plate receiver geometry, and relatively low receiver result in optical simulation characteristics of such systems quite different to those of the large solar tower systems. The variation in radiation intensity over the surface of the receiver due to the relatively irregular shape of the insolated patch from a heliostat segment, and due to dispersion produced by off axis aberration in segmented heliostats, requires several unique features in the receiver design.

scholarly journals High-throughput, low-cost and rapid DNA sequencing using surface-coating techniques

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanzhe Qin ◽  
Stephan Koehler ◽  
Shengming Zhao ◽  
Ruibin Mai ◽  
Zhuo Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Coating ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Genetic Disorders ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Source Tracing ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Major Bottleneck ◽  
The Cost

The speed1–3, expense1–4 and throughput2 of genomic sequencing impose limitations on its use for time-sensitive acute cases, such as rare4,5 or antibiotic resistant infections6, and large-scale testing that is necessary for containing COVID-19 outbreaks using source-tracing7–9. The major bottleneck for increasing the bandwidth and decreasing operating costs of next-generation sequencers (NGS) is the flow cell that supplies reagents for the biochemical processes; this subsystem has not significantly improved since 200510–12. Here we report a new method for sourcing reagents based on surface coating technology (SCT): the DNA adhered onto the biochip is directly contacted by a reagent-coated polymeric strip. Compared with flow cells the reagent layers are an order of magnitude thinner while both the reagent exchange rate and biochip area are orders of magnitude greater. These improvements drop the turn-around time from days to twelve hours and the cost for whole genome sequencing (WGS) from about $1000 to $15, as well as increase data production by several orders of magnitude. This makes NGS more affordable than many blood tests while rapidly providing detailed genomic information about microbial and viral pathogens6,13, cancers14 and genetic disorders for targeted treatments6 and personalized medicine6,15. This data can be pooled in population-wide databases for accelerated research and development as well providing detailed real-time data for tracking and containing outbreaks, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Renewable Energy Bulk Storage for < $1.00 / KWh Capital Cost as Gaseous Hydrogen (GH2) and Liquid Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) C-Free Fuels

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C. Leighty ◽  
John H. Holbrook
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Systems Design ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Gaseous Hydrogen ◽  
Large Solution ◽  
Anhydrous Ammonia ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Salt Caverns

Electricity from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources may be converted to gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and anhydrous ammonia (NH3) carbon-free fuels and stored at < $1.00 / KWh capital cost in large, solution-mined salt caverns for GH2 and in large, refrigerated, “atmospheric” liquid surface tanks as NH3. This stored chemical energy is gathered and transmitted and distributed via continental-scale underground pipeline systems and converted to useful work, at residential to industrial scales, via combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants, via direct space heating and cooling, and as transportation fuels. We thus solve RE’s severe transmission, storage, and integration problems via complete, optimized, systems design — from photons and moving air and water molecules to delivered energy services. We need to supply all energy, not just electricity, from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources, both distributed and centralized, where the world’s richest RE resources — of large geographic extent and high intensity — are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. Electricity systems may be suboptimal, technically and economically, at such large scale. Electricity energy storage cannot affordably firm large, intermittent renewables at annual scale, while carbon-free GH2 and liquid NH3 fuels can: GH2 in large solution-mined salt caverns, NH3 in steel surface tanks, both pressurized and refrigerated.

scholarly journals High-throughput low-cost DNA sequencing using surface-coating technology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanzhe Qin ◽  
Stephan Koehler ◽  
Shengming Zhao ◽  
Ruibin Mai ◽  
Zhuo Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Coating ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Genetic Disorders ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Coating Technology ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Source Tracing ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Major Bottleneck

Abstract The speed, expense and throughput of genomic sequencing impose limitations on its use for time-sensitive acute applications, such as rare or antibiotic resistant infections, and large-scale testing that is necessary for population-wide source-tracing, as in the COVID-19 pandemic. A major bottleneck for increasing throughput and decreasing operating costs of next-generation sequencers (NGS) is the flow cell that supplies reagents for the biochemical processes; this subsystem has not significantly improved since 2005. Here we report a new method for sourcing reagents based on surface coating technology (SCT): the DNA adhered onto a biochip that is directly contacted by a reagent-coated polymeric strip. Compared with flow cells, reagent layers are an order of magnitude thinner while both the reagent exchange rate and biochip area are orders of magnitude greater. For whole genome sequencing (WGS), these improvements reduce turn-around time from days to twelve hours, reduce cost from about $1000 to $15, and increase data throughput by orders of magnitude. This makes NGS more affordable than many blood tests while rapidly providing detailed genomic information about microbial and viral pathogens, cancers and genetic disorders for targeted treatments and personalized medicine. The resulting data can be pooled in population-wide databases for accelerated research and development as well for providing detailed real-time data for tracking and containing pandemic outbreaks.

An Assessment of a Low-Cost Wastewater Disposal System after Twenty-Five Years of Operation

1987 ◽  
Vol 19 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 701-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Reidy ◽  
G. W. Samson
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Wastewater Disposal ◽  
Industrial Base ◽  
Industrial Wastewaters ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gasification Process ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Environmentally Safe ◽  
Coal Resource

A low-cost wastewater disposal system was commissioned in 1959 to treat domestic and industrial wastewaters generated in the Latrobe River valley in the province of Gippsland, within the State of Victoria, Australia (Figure 1). The Latrobe Valley is the centre for large-scale generation of electricity and for the production of pulp and paper. In addition other industries have utilized the brown coal resource of the region e.g. gasification process and char production. Consequently, industrial wastewaters have been dominant in the disposal system for the past twenty-five years. The mixed industrial-domestic wastewaters were to be transported some eighty kilometres to be treated and disposed of by irrigation to land. Several important lessons have been learnt during twenty-five years of operating this system. Firstly the composition of the mixed waste stream has varied significantly with the passage of time and the development of the industrial base in the Valley, so that what was appropriate treatment in 1959 is not necessarily acceptable in 1985. Secondly the magnitude of adverse environmental impacts engendered by this low-cost disposal procedure was not imagined when the proposal was implemented. As a consequence, clean-up procedures which could remedy the adverse effects of twenty-five years of impact are likely to be costly. The question then may be asked - when the total costs including rehabilitation are considered, is there really a low-cost solution for environmentally safe disposal of complex wastewater streams?

Surface Modification of Poly(Vinylchloride) for Manufacturing Advanced Catheters

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 1616-1633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oana Cristina Duta ◽  
Aurel Mihail Ţîţu ◽  
Alexandru Marin ◽  
Anton Ficai ◽  
Denisa Ficai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Modification ◽  
Chemical Modification ◽  
Medical Devices ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Physical And Mechanical Properties ◽  
Polymeric Materials ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Structural Failure ◽  
Chemical Grafting ◽  
One Step

Polymeric materials, due to their excellent physicochemical properties and versatility found applicability in multiples areas, including biomaterials used in tissue regeneration, prosthetics (hip, artificial valves), medical devices, controlled drug delivery systems, etc. Medical devices and their applications are very important in modern medicine and the need to develop new materials with improved properties or to improve the existent materials is increasing every day. Numerous reasearches are activated in this domain in order to obtain materials/surfaces that does not have drawbacks such as structural failure, calcifications, infections or thrombosis. One of the most used material is poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) due to its unique properties, availability and low cost. The most common method used for obtaining tubular devices that meet the requirements of medical use is the surface modification of polymers without changing their physical and mechanical properties, in bulk. PVC is a hydrophobic polymer and therefore many research studies were conducted in order to increase the hydrophilicity of the surface by chemical modification in order to improve biocompatibility, to enhance wettability, reduce friction or to make lubricious or antimicrobial coatings. Surface modification of PVC can be achieved by several strategies, in only one step or, in some cases, in two or more steps by applying several techniques consecutively to obtain the desired modification / performances. The most common processes used for modifying the surface of PVC devices are: plasma treatment, corona discharge, chemical grafting, electric discharge, vapour deposition of metals, flame treatment, direct chemical modification (oxidation, hydrolysis, etc.) or even some physical modification of the roughness of the surface.

scholarly journals Rapid, large-scale species discovery in hyperdiverse taxa using 1D MinION sequencing

BMC Biology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amrita Srivathsan ◽  
Emily Hartop ◽  
Jayanthi Puniamoorthy ◽  
Wan Ting Lee ◽  
Sujatha Narayanan Kutty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Morphological Examination ◽  
Species Discovery ◽  
Short Period

Abstract Background More than 80% of all animal species remain unknown to science. Most of these species live in the tropics and belong to animal taxa that combine small body size with high specimen abundance and large species richness. For such clades, using morphology for species discovery is slow because large numbers of specimens must be sorted based on detailed microscopic investigations. Fortunately, species discovery could be greatly accelerated if DNA sequences could be used for sorting specimens to species. Morphological verification of such “molecular operational taxonomic units” (mOTUs) could then be based on dissection of a small subset of specimens. However, this approach requires cost-effective and low-tech DNA barcoding techniques because well-equipped, well-funded molecular laboratories are not readily available in many biodiverse countries. Results We here document how MinION sequencing can be used for large-scale species discovery in a specimen- and species-rich taxon like the hyperdiverse fly family Phoridae (Diptera). We sequenced 7059 specimens collected in a single Malaise trap in Kibale National Park, Uganda, over the short period of 8 weeks. We discovered > 650 species which exceeds the number of phorid species currently described for the entire Afrotropical region. The barcodes were obtained using an improved low-cost MinION pipeline that increased the barcoding capacity sevenfold from 500 to 3500 barcodes per flowcell. This was achieved by adopting 1D sequencing, resequencing weak amplicons on a used flowcell, and improving demultiplexing. Comparison with Illumina data revealed that the MinION barcodes were very accurate (99.99% accuracy, 0.46% Ns) and thus yielded very similar species units (match ratio 0.991). Morphological examination of 100 mOTUs also confirmed good congruence with morphology (93% of mOTUs; > 99% of specimens) and revealed that 90% of the putative species belong to the neglected, megadiverse genus Megaselia. We demonstrate for one Megaselia species how the molecular data can guide the description of a new species (Megaselia sepsioides sp. nov.). Conclusions We document that one field site in Africa can be home to an estimated 1000 species of phorids and speculate that the Afrotropical diversity could exceed 200,000 species. We furthermore conclude that low-cost MinION sequencers are very suitable for reliable, rapid, and large-scale species discovery in hyperdiverse taxa. MinION sequencing could quickly reveal the extent of the unknown diversity and is especially suitable for biodiverse countries with limited access to capital-intensive sequencing facilities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document