Developing and evaluating strategies to increase the material utilisation rate of hardwoods: a hybrid policy Delphi-SWOT analysis

The indigenous hardwoods in German forests have a substantial ability to store carbon, and forestry reconstruction measures are anticipated to result in an increase in availability of hardwood on the wood market. Despite this, its material usage is declining with over two thirds of the harvested quantity being used for energy production. This study aims to identify policy measures and promising strategies for increasing hardwood utilisation using a combined policy Delphi-SWOT approach with literature review undertaken to identify the barriers and driving factors for an increase in its material use. The results were then ranked by a panel of experts and used as basis for the SWOT analysis, which was then applied to an extended SWOT approach. The resulting strategies were then discussed by the panel and ranked further in the 2nd and 3rd Delphi round. After three Delphi rounds, three strategies and associated policy recommendations were ranked as most effective by the experts: innovative hardwood products including manufacturing processes, research transfer and lobbying. This study provides both strategic analyses and effective strategies to stimulate the production of hardwood-based products and ends with a concise description of these strategies and policy recommendations, which are benchmarked against current literature and best practise examples.

Additive manufacturing in the oil and gas industries

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a process for creating prototypes and functional components achieved by consolidation of material layer upon layer. Applications of AM technologies have been witnessed in the healthcare, automotive, architecture, power generation, electronics and aviation industries. Some of the main benefits of AM include effective material utilisation, new design possibilities, improved functionality of the products and flexible production. The opportunities for the applications of additive manufacturing in the oil and gas industries are only just being explored. In this study, a review of the potential opportunities of AM technologies in oil and gas industries was reported. The adoption of the AM technologies necessitated the need for a rethink on design for manufacture and assembly of oil and gas component parts such as high-tech end burners, metal fuel nozzles, and submersible pump components amongst others. The possibility of employing AM technologies on-site for the production of spare parts for replacement of damage components in oil and gas equipment and facilities is commendable, as this brings about reduction in production downtime and replacement cost. The future of AM in the oil and gas industries is highly promising, however before AM can actualize its full-fledged potentials in these industries, further research is required in the area of new materials development and processing, improved surface finish of AM fabricated parts, enhanced fabrication speed and parametric optimisation to improve the mechanical properties of the fabricated components.

Thin CdTe Layers Deposited by a Chamberless Inline Process using MOCVD, Simulation and Experiment

The deposition of thin Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) layers was performed by a chamberless metalorganic chemical vapour deposition process, and trends in growth rates were compared with computational fluid dynamics numerical modelling. Dimethylcadmium and diisopropyltelluride were used as the reactants, released from a recently developed coating head orientated above the glass substrate (of area 15 × 15 cm2). Depositions were performed in static mode and dynamic mode (i.e., over a moving substrate). The deposited CdTe film weights were compared against the calculated theoretical value of the molar supply of the precursors, in order to estimate material utilisation. The numerical simulation gave insight into the effect that the exhaust’s restricted flow orifice configuration had on the deposition uniformity observed in the static experiments. It was shown that > 59% of material utilisation could be achieved under favourable deposition conditions. The activation energy determined from the Arrhenius plot of growth rate was ~ 60 kJ/mol and was in good agreement with previously reported CdTe growth using metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). Process requirements for using a chamberless environment for the inline deposition of compound semiconductor layers were presented.

Case study of industrial symbiosis for improved residual material utilisation in the steel industry

Steel production is a material and energy intensive industry which, in addition to steel products, generates residual materials such as metallurgical slag, dust and sludge. These residual materials are recycled and used to a great extent as well in-house as for external purposes. Even so, some materials are currently landfilled due to difficulties in finding use or recycling possibilities. This applies, for example, to zinc-containing sludge and dust from ore-based steel production and certain iron-rich, lime and carbon-containing materials from scrap-based steel production. A case study has been performed with the aim to develop a methodology for evaluating industrial symbiosis possibilities in regard to increased material efficiency in steel production systems. The methodology is based on system analysis of steel production routes in combination with economical assessment of hypothetical business concepts by using residual materials from one industry as secondary raw materials in another. The paper presents case study results and indicates how this methodology could be applied to maximise the residual materials utilisation. By the methodology discussed and with a circular-economic perspective, it is shown that high economic potential for one material could be used to increase the utilisation of other materials with lower economic potential.

Chassis Structural Design of Track Racing One Manned Formula Car

The current work contains the design and optimisation of a spaceframe chassis for a track racing one manned formula car able to participate in the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (Formula SAE) 2017/2018. Materials, profile cross section types were selected by considering the theories of elastic failure. The structural strength of the chassis was determined by Finite Element Analysis using ABAQUS software by determining the stress distribution during static and dynamic loading in addition to exposing the modal frequencies. Beam elements were used in the finite element model as it provides accurate modelling of small deflection bending responses. A simple baseline chassis design was developed that adheres to the Formula SAE 2017/2018 rules. Optimisations were made in terms of the configuration and material utilisation of the chassis members were done to prevent yielding during the static loading of car components and dynamic loading during acceleration and cornering. Furthermore, the same method of optimisation was used in prevention of the coincidence of natural frequency with the frequency of the engine.

Analisis Efektifitas Menara Distilasi Dengan Material-Utilisation Diagram (MUD)

analisis efektivitas menara distilasi dengan menggunakan konsep dasar hokum thermodinamika mempunyai peran penting untuk proses sintesa dan pengembangan proses distilasi yang efisien. Denagn analisis ini akan dapat diperoleh informasi tentang thermodynamic efficiency, lokasi/region yang mempunyai efisiensi energy rendah sehingga dapat dilakukan targeting untuk penghematan energi. Tulisan ini akan membahas analisi thermodinamika secara grafis pada menara distilasi untuk mengevaluasi karakteristik pemisahan serta karakteristik exergy pada menara distilasi menggunakan Materual Utilization Diagram (MUD). Informasi yang diperoleh berupa konsentrasi komponen ringan dan komponen berat di setiap plate dan karakteristik exergy yang berupa exergy loss due to mixing pada phase cair dan phase gas, exergy loss due to evaporation dari komponen ringan dan exergy loss due to condensation dari komponen berat. Tulisan dumulai dari pembahasan internal phenomena pada satu plate dan selanjutnya pembahasan pada seluruh plate. Tulisan ini juga akan membahas karakteristik pemisahan serta karakteristik exergy saat diubah-ubah.Kata kunci : exergy analysis, material utilization diagram (MUD), distilasi