Today's Interesting Engineering

DaveM · Jul 15, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Plans unveiled for recycled plastic roads in the Netherlands

Paving streets and roads with asphalt can – in a not so distant future – become a thing of the past. The alternative? Recycled plastic. And the Netherlands could be the first country to use this new type of road surface.

Plastic roads would last up to three times as much as asphalt. Image: VolkerWessels

The new project, called PlasticRoad, was developed by the Dutch construction firm VolkerWessels and uses only recycled materials for the production of road sections, which can be prefabricated. And if you think the idea could only be adopted in colder countries, the company guarantees that the material withstands higher temperatures of up to 80°C.

Among the many benefits of PlasticRoad are requiring less maintenance and having greater durability of up to three times that of asphalt. It’s construction would also be much faster, taking weeks instead of months to be finished.

Hollow structure gives room for power cables and utility pipelines below the surface. Image: VolkerWessels

The city of Rotterdam has already shown interest in the project and offered a kind of laboratory for the PlasticRoad be tested. Jaap Peters, from the city council’s engineering bureau, said: “We’re very positive towards the developments around PlasticRoad. Rotterdam is a city that is open to experiments and innovative adaptations in practice. We have a ‘street lab’ available where innovations like this can be tested.”

“It’s still an idea on paper at the moment,” VolkerWessels’ Rolf Mars told The Guardian. “The next stage is to build it and test it in a laboratory to make sure it’s safe in wet and slippery conditions and so on. We’re looking for partners who want to collaborate on a pilot – as well as manufacturers in the plastics industry, we’re thinking of the recycling sector, universities and other knowledge institutions.”

“Rotterdam is a very innovative city and has embraced the idea,” added Mars. “It fits very well within its sustainability policy and it has said it is keen to work on a pilot.”

Another benefit is that the mentioned roads are hollow, which creates room for power cables and utility pipelines below the surface. Although the idea is still a concept, VolkerWessels expects to finish the first fully paved public road with recycled plastic within three years.

Source: Science Alert

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DaveM · Jul 15, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Wind energy production in Denmark exceeds the country’s demand

The latest windy days in Denmark’s windfarms allowed the country to not only meet its domestic electricity demands but also to export the surplus energy to neighboring countries such as Germany, Norway and Sweden. The production of wind power in Denmark reached 140% of the nation’s energy needs last Friday (10), and with this, the country could export energy as well.

The amount of energy the country was able to produce is above the average even for very windy days. This new record was set when the energy demand of the country fell by around 3 o’clock on Friday.

“It shows that a world powered 100% by renewable energy is no fantasy,” Oliver Joy, a spokesman for trade body the European Wind Energy Association, told The Guardian. “Wind energy and renewables can be a solution to decarbonisation – and also security of supply at times of high demand.”

World leader in renewable energy, Denmark, which has a population of 5.6 million people, has the goal of producing half of its energy demand from renewable sources by 2020. Another goal is to completely eradicate the use of fossil fuels, not only from domestic energy, but also cars by 2050.

“They have a strong new builds programme with a net gain of 0.5GW in new onshore windfarms due before the end of the decade,” said Kees van der Leun, the chief commercial officer of the Ecofys energy consultancy. “Some 1.5GW from new offshore windfarms will also be built, more than doubling the present capacity. We’re seeing a year-on-year 18% growth in wind electricity, so there really is a lot of momentum.”

You can follow the renewable energy generation in Denmark on the website of the Danish transmission systems operator, energinet.dk. Even in the country’s most recent peak, the wind farms were not operating at it’s 4,8GW full capacity. Approximately three quarters of the country’s wind power comes from onshore wind farms, which have strong government support.

Source: The Guardian

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CarlS · Jul 16, 2015

DaveM said:
In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Plans unveiled for recycled plastic roads in the Netherlands

Paving streets and roads with asphalt can – in a not so distant future – become a thing of the past. The alternative? Recycled plastic. And the Netherlands could be the first country to use this new type of road surface.

Plastic roads would last up to three times as much as asphalt. Image: VolkerWessels

The new project, called PlasticRoad, was developed by the Dutch construction firm VolkerWessels and uses only recycled materials for the production of road sections, which can be prefabricated. And if you think the idea could only be adopted in colder countries, the company guarantees that the material withstands higher temperatures of up to 80°C.

Among the many benefits of PlasticRoad are requiring less maintenance and having greater durability of up to three times that of asphalt. It’s construction would also be much faster, taking weeks instead of months to be finished.

Hollow structure gives room for power cables and utility pipelines below the surface. Image: VolkerWessels

The city of Rotterdam has already shown interest in the project and offered a kind of laboratory for the PlasticRoad be tested. Jaap Peters, from the city council’s engineering bureau, said: “We’re very positive towards the developments around PlasticRoad. Rotterdam is a city that is open to experiments and innovative adaptations in practice. We have a ‘street lab’ available where innovations like this can be tested.”

“It’s still an idea on paper at the moment,” VolkerWessels’ Rolf Mars told The Guardian. “The next stage is to build it and test it in a laboratory to make sure it’s safe in wet and slippery conditions and so on. We’re looking for partners who want to collaborate on a pilot – as well as manufacturers in the plastics industry, we’re thinking of the recycling sector, universities and other knowledge institutions.”

“Rotterdam is a very innovative city and has embraced the idea,” added Mars. “It fits very well within its sustainability policy and it has said it is keen to work on a pilot.”

Another benefit is that the mentioned roads are hollow, which creates room for power cables and utility pipelines below the surface. Although the idea is still a concept, VolkerWessels expects to finish the first fully paved public road with recycled plastic within three years.

Source: Science Alert

The post Plans unveiled for recycled plastic roads in the Netherlands appeared first on Interesting Engineering.

I wonder how much weight these roads can support. I suppose they will be limited to light duty.

DaveM said:
In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Wind energy production in Denmark exceeds the country’s demand

The latest windy days in Denmark’s windfarms allowed the country to not only meet its domestic electricity demands but also to export the surplus energy to neighboring countries such as Germany, Norway and Sweden. The production of wind power in Denmark reached 140% of the nation’s energy needs last Friday (10), and with this, the country could export energy as well.

The amount of energy the country was able to produce is above the average even for very windy days. This new record was set when the energy demand of the country fell by around 3 o’clock on Friday.

“It shows that a world powered 100% by renewable energy is no fantasy,” Oliver Joy, a spokesman for trade body the European Wind Energy Association, told The Guardian. “Wind energy and renewables can be a solution to decarbonisation – and also security of supply at times of high demand.”

World leader in renewable energy, Denmark, which has a population of 5.6 million people, has the goal of producing half of its energy demand from renewable sources by 2020. Another goal is to completely eradicate the use of fossil fuels, not only from domestic energy, but also cars by 2050.

“They have a strong new builds programme with a net gain of 0.5GW in new onshore windfarms due before the end of the decade,” said Kees van der Leun, the chief commercial officer of the Ecofys energy consultancy. “Some 1.5GW from new offshore windfarms will also be built, more than doubling the present capacity. We’re seeing a year-on-year 18% growth in wind electricity, so there really is a lot of momentum.”

You can follow the renewable energy generation in Denmark on the website of the Danish transmission systems operator, energinet.dk. Even in the country’s most recent peak, the wind farms were not operating at it’s 4,8GW full capacity. Approximately three quarters of the country’s wind power comes from onshore wind farms, which have strong government support.

Source: The Guardian

The post Wind energy production in Denmark exceeds the country’s demand appeared first on Interesting Engineering.

There are many large windmill farms here in southern Ontario.

DaveM · Jul 16, 2015

I think those roads would need to be able to carry most heavy vehicles. The one thing that does make me think is when they wet how slippery would they be as we sure know anything else on a wet road we try and avoid on a bike

CarlS · Jul 16, 2015

I thought of that, too. I am sure they will have a textured surface.

DaveM · Jul 16, 2015

They would really need to have

CarlS · Jul 16, 2015

Even for cages they need a textured surface.

DaveM · Jul 16, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Contact has been re-established between NASA and New Horizons

NASA has been able to breathe a sigh of huge relief as the probe of the New Horizons has got back in touch with them. Contact was re-established with the Deep Space Network 13 hours and five minutes after the historic flyby took place.

[Image Courtesy of NASA]

NASA is now celebrating the success of the exploration of Pluto and it has managed to provide scientists with more information that may give them a better insight into the Solar System. The delay has been a long one as distances between them are huge. At the moment Pluto is around 4.77 billion kilometres from Earth and this means that the signals from the New Horizons to earth take 4 hours and 24 minutes. Along with this when undergoing the flyby the craft had been in position to bear the 7 scientific instruments on the planet and so the antenna hadn’t been in the right position for transmitting back to earth.

[Image Courtesy of NASA]

NASA was then faced with frustration as the information remained in the memory banks of the craft and they were unable to get their hands on it. The download is restricted to just 2 kilobytes a second. The team is now focusing on getting status updates from the craft. However a spokesperson has said that it may be possible to get high resolution images tomorrow.

[Image Courtesy of NASA]

The data that is being sent back has paid dividends already though as images shown during the time the New Horizons made its approach gave NASA an insight into settling a debate that has been ranging for 85 years, how large Pluto actually is. Thanks to them being able to use data taken from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager they have been able to determine that Pluto is 2,370 km in diameter and so it is larger than what was anticipated. It also means that it is the biggest object known in the Solar System beyond Neptune.

[Image Courtesy of NASA]

One of the highest resolution images has been seen and this was collected 16 hours prior to the flyby. A plain like feature that is informally called the heart was found measuring 1,600 km across and indications are that it is around billions of years old.

[Image Courtesy of NASA]

Via [NASA]

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CarlS · Jul 17, 2015

That has been a l-o-n-g trip!

DaveM · Jul 17, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

High Tech Produce

What do semiconductors and gourmet produce have in common? High tech produce is the answer. These two seemingly disparate things were set on a collision course of sorts during the Great Recession that began in 2008: Japan lost its crown as the world leader in semiconductor production, and companies like Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Hitachi found themselves in possession of expensive real estate that was sitting idle. Big outfits like that don’t stay big if they let their assets stay unproductive, so they decided to do something about it – they joined people all over the world who had taken an interest in gardening – they planted stuff.

Granted, what these companies did is a bit more complex than filling some pots with dirt; these are high tech companies, so naturally, they made high tech gardens. Their efforts were aided by the fact that the abandoned facilities they focused on had been exceptionally clean buildings, designed and used to build things that require a high degree of sterility. Initiating commercial gardening within a super clean environment imparts a distinct advantage to the things being grown – the ability to tailor the environment to benefit specific crops, while maximizing pest control. As such, literally every aspect of the growing environment is controlled, from air pressure and humidity, to temperature and light/dark cycles. And pest control? Quite simply, there are none – no bugs, bacteria, not even dust. Workers within the farming facilities don’t look that different than their high-tech manufacturing predecessors – They wear clean suits and go through multi-step decontamination procedures. What all this leads to is produce so clean, it doesn’t need to be washed; no bugs, no dirt, no pesticides – No worries.Seem like an odd idea for a high tech company? It’s actually not – companies like Toshiba have manufactured many of the components now used in their high tech farms, everything from the lighting and air purification systems, to the hard and software used for farm management.

And what do they grow? Strawberries, spinach, herbs, several varieties of lettuce, including a special low potassium variety for people who are potassium intolerant, like dialysis patients. The produce is being served in company cafes, naturally, but the lion’s share is sold on the open market.

Japan sports a population density of roughly 340 people per square kilometer, and as of 2011, slightly under 13% of Japan’s land was dedicated to agriculture, a drop from around 18% back in 1970. Add to these considerations the fact that, as of 2010, only 31% of the food consumed by Japanese citizens was raised, grown, or caught on Japanese soil, and you’ve got a serious problem. That scenario was of sufficient concern to the Japanese government that they started the Food Action Nippon campaign to fix things. The growing of high tech produces fits nicely into that plan.

It should come as no surprise that these operations are money makers; Toshiba alone expects to generate “tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue” from their farming operations, while producing in excess of 3 million heads of lettuce annually. And they’re not stopping there. Sharp is growing strawberries in Dubai, a hint at where this is headed. All the companies involved have stated intent to export the technology to countries where outdoor farming is environmentally difficult, like Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and Scandinavia. With arable land ever more expensive and scarce, converting existing but underused industrial space to viable farms seems a winning scenario.

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DaveM · Jul 17, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Nike designed new shoes for people with disability

Those who live with some form of physical disability overcome many obstacles every day. These everyday things may seem simple for those who don’t have limited mobility but can become very complicated for those who do. One of these difficulties is to tie the laces of their own shoes.

A new product launched by Nike promises to help people with this task. The Zoom Soldier 8 sneaker comes with a special Flyease tech, a wrap-around zipper solution that eliminates the need to tie traditional laces, providing sufficient lockdown. The most interesting part about the idea is knowing how it came about: it all began in 2012 when the student Matthew Walzer sent a letter – that went viral in 2012 – to the company telling them that he suffered from cerebral palsy and, despite having overcome many obstacles, he still needed help to tie his shoe laces.

The letter ended up in the hands of Nike designer Tobie Hatfield, creating a partnership between the two to develop the new model, which can be put on with one hand. “Your talented team of designers has thoughtfully created a shoe that, for the first time in my life, I can put on myself. When I put the shoes on every morning, they give the greatest sense of independence and accomplishment I have ever felt in my life,” said Walzer at the time.

“In talking to Matthew and many other athletes with disabilities, the ease of entry was just as important as the lacing solution,” explains Hatfield. “While varying levels of mobility make it difficult to provide a universal solution, we feel this is a significant development for anyone who has ever struggled with independently securing their foot within Nike shoes.”

The story became an exciting video, which also serves as a life lesson.

Source: NIKE

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DaveM · Jul 18, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Die Zauberlehrling – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice | A Dancing Power Pole in Oberhausen

It would not be out of line to state that the 1940 Disney movie classic, Fantasia, is one of the most iconic animated films ever made. From therein, the Mickey Mouse and broom fueled sorcerers apprentice scene is likely the most memorable of all. Thus it is only slightly tongue in cheek that the German art collective, Inges Idee, would chose that name for their whimsical take on a power pole – Die Zauberlehrling – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Erected in 2013 for the second Emscherkunst exhibition series, (the “world’s largest outdoor art show”), the work is a 35 meter high, 10 tonne steel homage to those dancing brooms. By careful placement and construction, the arms of the Zauberlehrling appear to wave, or ‘dance,’ as one approaches on foot. Located on the banks of the Emscher river in the city of Oberhausen, near the Gehölzgarten Ripshorst public park, the work has become a steady draw for art lovers worldwide. From certain views, one sees real power poles, bearing their transmission line burden, with the frolicking Zauberlehrling in front. The sense of freedom that view portrays is what inspired the artists of Inges Idee. The Zauberlehrling is proportioned based on those real towers, deepening the overall effect. While the annual art event has come and gone, Inges Idee’s work remains for us to enjoy.

The collective, formed in Berlin in 1992 by artists Hans Hemmert, Axel Lieber, Thomas Schmidt, and George Zey, has completed dozens of works worldwide, several of which are iconically large like the Zauberlehrling.

Art from industry, or the trappings thereof, isn’t a new idea, per se. Recycling old stuff, especially tools, vehicles, and formerly industrial items, has a long history. What probably began with a farmer or mechanic with an artistic bent has become, in some instances, successful business, as Inges Indee exemplifies – If they’ve not only survived, but obviously thrived in the last 23 years, they must be doing something right. This basic principles of recycled industry into art is certainly what spawned the Steampunk movement to a great degree. The trappings of that are based on late 19th century steam powered machinery, and very much reflect their roots.

What began as reclaiming discarded items has also become big business. Take a look through the offerings of Urban Remains, and you’ll see those discards carrying some pretty hefty price tags – a cast brass doorbell plaque for $350, and $895 for a mid-nineteenth century soda bottle. The remarkable success of the American TV series, American Pickers both reflects and may well have furthered such prices for yesterday’s castoffs.

For other art on a scale of and in the vein of the Zauberlehrling, look no further than Seattle, Washington’s Gas Works Park, a hugely popular venue reclaimed from a gasification plant and opened in 1975. Designed by landscape architect Richard Haag, the park is unusual in much the same way as the Zauberlehrling; here, pieces of the old plant remain, some as rusting ruins, while others, like the plants exhausted-compressor building, have been converted into a children’s play barn. Haag was awarded the American Society of Landscape Architects Presidents Award of Design Excellence for the project. Like the Sorcerers apprentice, the park is somewhat disorienting due to the mix of the industrial and the artistic. Both are highly unusual, and both are definitely worth a visit.

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DaveM · Jul 18, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Kenya gets a superhero for orphans

In Kisian, Kenya, there lives a 62 year old woman that goes by the name Mama Dolphine. Mama Dolpine is a widow and at a point in her life,she lost two of her sons in the same year. Due to this unfortunate event, she suffered from depression. After some time, she overcame this depression by launching an orphanage called Korando Educational Center.

At some point in time, our superhero – who is a German – happened to come across Mama Dolphine during his time in Kenya. His name is Torsten Kremer. After living with her for a week, he was so moved by her story and as a consequence, he decided to help her with her orphanage. He supported her orphanage by raising 700 euros and he also helped to improve the existing facility she had. He helped build a classroom which had a blackboard and a computer as well. He helped provide food by buying chickens and supplying them to the orphans. Everything was going great then sadly, Mama Dolphine’s husband passed away. Our superhero then founded Cheap Impact in order to help raise some money for the orphanage as a consequence of this unfortunate event. With this, he planned on building a home for her orphanage. Torsten’s said “I was overwhelmed by her selflessness and till today, I haven’t met anyone close to her. Since then I supported her whenever I could” Torsten doesn’t know anything about architecture but he did design a model for the home he wanted to build for her. Using Steve Areen’s project in Thailand as inspiration, he made the orphanage to have 4 domes. He found an engineer who helped him with the standardization of his models. They sorted out the dimensions and layed the foundations accordingly. Among these 4 domes, two were used as bedrooms with each dome having two separate bedrooms.

Each of these domes also had a bathroom that the two bedrooms share. Another dome is used as a living room and is central to the whole dome home. The last dome is the kitchen which can also be used for ablutions. It even has a balcony on its rooftop. Water from the kitchen as well as the bathroom are used for irrigation. Heating and electricity are provided by solar energy and the domes are designed so that optimal sunlight enters them. This is incredible work especially in the rural parts of Kenya. For the future, Torsten wishes to construct a biogas digester so that the orphanage can harvest the manure from their domestic animals which can be used for cooking. The main idea is that on the long term, the orphanage will be self sustainable. As of this point, up to 500 children are currently taking shelter in the orphanage and it costs about 6500 euros per month to keep it operational. Torsten is the orphans’ superhero. He said, “The special design of the building is meant to trigger attention worldwide. To stick out the crowd. We are giving this center a unique landmark and people from all over the world will learn about Mama’s incredible work here and hopefully we will find the support needed to turn this place into a sustainable, lasting institution with space for growth.”

Source: Inhabitat

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DaveM · Jul 18, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Airless tires are coming closer to reality

Airless tires have taken a huge step towards coming closer to production thanks to the Hankook iFlex tire having gone through many high speed tests. This is the companies fifth attempt at bringing tires without air to the market and with it comes numerous benefits to the environment in comparison to using the conventional tires.

The non-pneumatic tires of course don’t rely on air. Hankook have got around using the conventional construction of tires with one that is more energy efficient and which can be recycled. The material Hankook uses allows them to cut down the steps needed to manufacture by around half.

[Image Courtesy of Hankook]

Recently the iFlex was given tests in five various categories, including speed, stability, durability, hardness and slalom. Hankook used an electric car in the tests and they managed to get 130 km/h from it without doing the tires any damage. The iFlex tire was able to match the performance of any conventional tire during all the tests. However the company hasn’t revealed any more details about the tests.

Hankook may be enjoying success with their airless tire but they are not the only ones testing out the new design to the tires as Michelin have opened a plant which they have dedicated to producing Tweel tires and Bridgestone have been testing out their puncture proof tires which can be recycled on single person vehicles in Japan.

For now the airless tire is still in the testing phase but there is no doubt that the airless tires do offer a great deal of potential for the future. There are many benefits of the airless tires, including the fact that they do no pick up punctures as traditional tires do. Another thing in their favour is that depending on the materials chosen to use for the tires, they may be able to cut down emissions when it comes to production and the recycling of old tires.

Via [Hankook]

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DaveM · Jul 18, 2015

In today's Interesting Engineering we have the following

Wearsafe Tag helps family track you

The Wearsafe Tag is currently on Kickstarter raising funds and it is a security device that allows friends and family of the wearer to communicate discretely with loved ones. The simple device provides a layer of security and it allows audio to be picked up from the device and be sent to contacts.