Smart Manufacturing Today

Fabrics detect dangerous gases

Researchers, from the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and Konkuk University in the Republic of Korea, coated cotton and polyester yarn with a nanoglue called bovine serum albumin (BSA). The yarns were then wrapped in graphene oxide sheets. Graphene is an incredibly strong one-atom-thick layer of carbon that is known for its excellent conductive properties of heat and electricity. The graphene sheets stuck very well to the nanoglue: so much so that further testing showed the fabrics retained their electrical conducting properties after 1,000 consecutive cycles of bending and straightening and ten washing tests with various chemical detergents. Finally, the graphene oxide yarns were exposed to a chemical reduction process, which involves the gaining of electrons. The reduced-graphene-oxide-coated materials were found to be particularly sensitive to detecting nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant gas commonly found in vehicle exhaust that also results from fossil fuel combustion. Prolonged exposure to nitrogen dioxide can be dangerous to human health, causing many respiratory-related illnesses. Exposure of these specially-treated fabrics to nitrogen dioxide led to a change in the electrical resistance of the reduced graphene oxide. The fabrics were so sensitive that 30 minutes of exposure to 0.25 parts per million of nitrogen dioxide (just under five times above the acceptable standard set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) elicited a response. The fabrics were three times as sensitive to nitrogen dioxide in air compared to another reduced graphene oxide sensor previously prepared on a flat material. The new technology, according to the researchers, can be immediately adopted in related industries because the coating process is a simple one, making it suitable for mass production. It would allow outdoor wearers to receive relevant information about air quality. The materials could also be incorporated with air-purifying filters to act as “smart filters” that can both detect and […]

IIoT gateways allow communication with power grids

A new family of Industrial IoT gateways for Smart Grid applications, the Anybus SG-gateways, enable communication between industrial applications and energy protocols. This communication is the very basis for the so called “Smart Grid” where power plants and energy equipment are interacting with industrial applications. The SG-gateways are yet another example of how HMS realizes the Industrial Internet of Things. Anybus SG-gateways make the Smart Grid possible The new SG-gateways enable communication between industrial devices running Modbus, PROFIBUS, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, or M-Bus and energy protocols (IEC61850 and IEC60870-5-104). This means that a power plant control room which is using the IEC protocols, can connect to industrial devices such as generators, drives, filters and protection equipment. Since the SG-gateways can act both as a master and slave, it is also possible to connect Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) which communicate over IEC-standards, to industrial networks, allowing them to be controlled by PLCs from e.g. Siemens, Rockwell or Mitsubishi. The Anybus SG-gateways can also be used to enable remote control and management of electrical equipment in power grids. Data is sent over Ethernet or the 3G cellular network using the telecontrol protocols, after which the data can be presented by a software application in the power plant control room. Different versions – same configuration The Anybus SG-gateways are available in different versions for handling various industrial networks and communication standards. These include I/O, Modbus, PROFIBUS, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, or M-Bus. All versions use the same web-based configuration tool where commands are dragged and dropped, allowing for a quick and easy installation. No additional engineering tools are needed, only a standard browser. Anybus SG-gateways are very powerful tools for handling the conversion between energy and industry standards. The Smart Grid can offer substantial energy savings and optimisations and there is a great demand in the […]

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Plastics economy report blueprint for a circular future

Applying circular economy principles to global plastic packaging flows could transform the plastics economy and drastically reduce negative externalities such as leakage into oceans, according to the latest report by the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, with analytical support from McKinsey & Company. The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics provides for the first time a vision of a global economy in which plastics never become waste, and outlines concrete steps towards achieving the systemic shift needed. The report, financially supported by the MAVA Foundation, was produced as part of Project MainStream, a global, multi-industry initiative that aims to accelerate business-driven innovations to help scale the circular economy. The new report acknowledges that while plastics and plastic packaging are an integral part of the global economy and deliver many benefits, their value chains currently entail significant drawbacks. Assessing global plastic packaging flows comprehensively for the first time, the report finds that most plastic packaging is used only once; 95% of the value of plastic packaging material, worth $80-120 billion annually, is lost to the economy. Additionally, plastic packaging generates negative externalities, valued conservatively by UNEP at $40 billion.[1] Given projected growth in consumption, in a business-as-usual scenario, by 2050 oceans are expected to contain more plastics than fish (by weight), and the entire plastics industry will consume 20% of total oil production, and 15% of the annual carbon budget.[2] In this context, an opportunity beckons for the plastics value chain to deliver better system-wide economic and environmental outcomes, while continuing to harness the benefits of plastic packaging. The New Plastics Economy, outlined in this report, envisages a new approach based on creating effective after-use pathways for plastics; drastically reducing leakage of plastics into natural systems, in particular oceans; and decoupling plastics from fossil feedstocks. Achieving such […]

IIoT and design engineers in the future

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is furthering its reach into engineering and design. Connected machines will give plant engineering operations the opportunity to identify points of inefficiency, improve upon those points, and in turn, improve profitability. To further discuss how IIoT is impacting work for design engineers, Mark Duncan, segment manager of material handling and packaging machinery for Schneider Electric’s industry business. In the future, Duncan believes engineers will have to focus on existing machine designs and their communications standards, and monitor those standards as they progress. Some examples of this include Internet protocols such as Ethernet, which promote machine-to-machine connectivity, more plug-and play-use, and a smoother transition into a plant environment. Duncan also believes that, as they look to the future, design engineers must be cognisant of the developing standards in machine-to-machine communication. “We have a customer that makes a machine for the coffee industry, and that machine is really built to be modular, connected, and is also built to be self-aware of its own capability and how it’s performing,” he said. “It’s also a safe machine, designed with safety built in. It communicates with other machines in a production line.” An example of this would be the material and product that comes into the machine, such as the one Duncan describes. That product would be processed by the machine, put into a package, and then moved to another machine, with the product cartons eventually taken to a palletizer. Using communication standards, this complete process is simpler than previous practices, where end users would have to reprogram each machine, allowing the machines to work together. Duncan expects that because of machine language standards (such as those for packaging machines using a language called PACKML) machines will be able to instantaneously communicate information in consistent data sets that could be operated by a central […]