Browse Topic: Waste materials
A process was developed for converting alcohol sourced from renewable or industrial waste gases into jet or diesel fuel. Two key technologies power the energy-efficient fuel production units. A single-step chemical conversion streamlines what is currently a multi-step process. The catalyst converts biofuel (ethanol) directly into a versatile “platform” chemical called n-butene. A microchannel reactor design further reduces costs while delivering a scalable modular processing system
3D printing has the potential to revolutionize product design and manufacturing in a vast range of fields, from custom components for consumer products, to 3D-printed bone and medical implants. But the process also creates a large amount of expensive and unsustainable waste and takes a long time, making it difficult for 3D printing to be implemented on a wide scale
Researchers have developed an innovative way to convert plastics to ingredients for jet fuel and other valuable products, making it easier and more cost effective to reuse plastics. The researchers converted 90% of plastic to jet fuel and other valuable hydrocarbon products within an hour at moderate temperatures and easily fine-tuned the process to create the products that they want
Conventional approaches for recycling metal waste are energy-intensive and some also generate environmentally harmful byproducts such as ammonia and methane during aluminum recycling. To address this challenge, researchers demonstrated an eco-friendly technique to convert aluminum and magnesium waste into high-value, multifunctional aerogels. This upcycling method could be applied to all types of metal waste such as metal chips and electronic waste
Litter is not only a problem on Earth. According to NASA, there are currently millions of pieces of space junk in the range of altitudes from 200 to 2000 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, which is known as low Earth orbit (LEO). Most of the junk is comprised of objects created by humans, like pieces of old spacecraft or defunct satellites. This space debris can reach speeds of up to 18,000 miles per hour, posing a major danger to the 2612 satellites that currently operate at LEO. Without effective tools for tracking space debris, parts of LEO may even become too hazardous for satellites
This research deals with the problem of modelling the orbit and attitude motion of uncontrolled manmade objects in orbit about the Earth, which tumble due to the natural influences of the near-Earth space environment. A mathematical, physics-based and computational approach is taken to model the forces and torques that drive the orbit and attitude evolution of such objects. The main influence modelled is solar radiation pressure (SRP), which is the interaction of solar electromagnetic radiation with the surface of an object, leading to both forces and torques that influence the orbital and attitude motion. Other influences, such as the gravitational field of the Earth, are also modelled
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