This job, on occasion, stinks.But it’s all in a day’s work for <a href="https://aerometrix.ca/" target="_blank">Aerometrix</a>, Canada’s only company specialising in methane detection using drones. It’s not the methane itself that smells – it’s actually an odourless gas – but it’s the locations where methane can be emitted.Imagine flying a massive landfill on a hot day in California.&nbsp;Further imagine that, in order to keep the dust down, the landfill operators have recently sprayed the location with leachate – the slimy runoff juice created by the landfill itself. It’s very biologically active, and it smells really bad.“It’s horrendous – horrible,” chuckles Eric Saczuk, who often carries out the complex flights.“It just ends up just suffusing through you and anything that you’re wearing. It even seems like it goes into your skin.”Thankfully, not all missions are like that. But all of them do achieve results.And now, for multiple reasons, Aerometrix is poised to be taking on many more of them – branching out into detection at oil and gas refineries.Below: Flight Operations Lead Eric Saczuk prepares for an Aerometrix flight<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzA2MjA1NTM0ODQwLU1pY3Jvc29mdFRlYW1zLWltYWdlLTUtMi1qcGcud2VicCIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Flight Operations"> <h3 id="isPasted">Why Methane Detection?</h3>When it comes to climate change, methane is an invisible threat. Though we often hear about CO2emissions, methane is a serious problem when it comes to greenhouse gases.“Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere,” <a href="https://www.edf.org/climate/methane-crucial-opportunity-climate-fight" target="_blank">states the Environmental Defense Fund</a>.“Even though CO2 has a longer-lasting effect, methane sets the pace for warming in the near term.”So there’s increasing urgency to detect and mitigate methane emissions. At landfills, for example, once the emission points are detected, the gas can be trapped – and even used to generate electricity.“The main emphasis recently has been on landfills, both in Canada and the US,” explains Aerometrix Co-Founder Philip Reece. “We flew 16 missions over the last 12 months.”And these missions aren’t simply popping a drone up for a brief flight. Nor are they automated. Every Aerometrix flight has to be carried out manually.“Over large sites like the Vancouver landfill, that took us three days of flying, six hours a day,” says Saczuk. “We fly these missions at five metres above the ground – and there’s lots of things that can get in the way at that level.”Aerometrix flights deploy either the DJI M300 or M350 drone. But the secret sauce is not so much the drone as the sensors. (And it’s most certainly not the leachate.)&nbsp;<h3>Sensors</h3>Aerometrix deploys two different sensors to detect methane. One of them is called an Open Path Laser Spectrometer (OPLS), developed by NASA for use on the Mars Rover. It was designed to detect trace gases. In the case of methane detection, the laser is tuned to a specific frequency that is absorbed when it encounters that particular gas. The greater the absorption, the higher the methane concentration.The sensor requires “clean air” for accurate readings – meaning there can’t be any prop wash or turbulence caused by the drone itself. Aerometrix engineers built a brace that holds the sensor well forward of the drone for this purpose. Having that sensor and rod, of course, upsets the balance of the drone. In fact, Saczuk estimates the weight of the rod and sensor at roughly 800 grams, perched about 1.5 metres forward of the drone.And while the flight controller is capable of compensating for that, Saczuk always performs a calibration once the drone is in the air.“We take off to maybe three or four meters above the ground. Once the drone is airborne, we go into the controller and initiate the calibration. So the drone calculates its revised centre of gravity and knows what its steady state is. The two front propellers then spin a little bit faster to keep the nose from dipping.”Flying manually, Saczuk uses Tripod Mode to limit the drone’s speed. The most accurate readings occur when flying at about five metres per second.On an ideal flight day, there would be a steady wind at around eight metres per second. If the breeze is coming from the east and blowing over the landfill, this provides a couple of advantages. First of all, by positioning operations at the eastern end you can avoid most of the smell. But the real reason is because the drone will begin its flight in clean air not contaminated by methane. That will enable the methane, once detected, to really contrast with the surrounding environment.“What we don’t like is no wind, because then the methane just goes up vertically and it’s variable – it just gets pushed around by a little vortices here and there,” says Saczuk.The drone will make multiple passes (in this example, north and south) over the site. When the laser hits methane, some of those rays will be absorbed and some reflected, depending on the concentration. Flying multiple paths allows enough data to be gathered to create a visualization of methane in a vertical plane.“We’ll do this on the upwind and downwind side of the site as well as a full perimeter to understand where the main emissions source likely are,” he adds.&nbsp;“We shouldn’t be seeing much methane on that eastern side, assuming the wind is coming from the east. And then as we fly the western edge, that would capture all of the methane that’s being pushed by the wind and that would be the downwind curtain.”While Saczuk is piloting, there’s a second controller that displays the data. A Raspberry Pi onboard the drone takes the data from the sensor and merges it with the flight data from the aircraft. So Saczuk can see the invisible gas while piloting.The goal is obtain a really good cross-section, as illustrated below. Feel free to try your hand at the equation.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzA2MjA2MjA4MzE2LUZsdXgtQ3VydGFpbi1zY2hlbWF0aWMuanBnLndlYnAiLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Site Cross Section"><h3 id="isPasted">Sensor Two</h3>The second sensor deployed is called a Laser Falcon. The sensor, mounting hardware and accessories will set you back close to <a href="https://shop.sphengineering.com/products/laser-falcon-methane-detector-bundle" target="_blank">$60k CDN</a>. It is mounted directly on the drone and faces downward.In this case, the laser is factory tuned for methane detection – it is the only gas the Laser Falcon can detect."It's an active sensor that will detect the amount of absorption that's happening. The scattering of the laser in the air tells the sensor how much methane there is not at a point – but through a column of air."In both cases, the data is crunched to make the invisible visible. The result is called a "flux curtain" or "flux plane" – with differing colours representing different concentrations of methane, measured in parts per million. In the graphic below, the greatest concentrations are seen in the middle of the image, just below the centre.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzA2MjA2Mzk0NDA4LTIwMjJfMDhfMTNfZjJfZmx1eHBsYW5lLTEucG5nLndlYnAiLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 302px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Flux Plane"><h3 id="isPasted">Poised for Growth</h3>In December&nbsp;the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced draft methane regulations. These regulations aim to reduce methane emissions by 75 per cent by the year 2030, when compared with emission from 2012. The focus is on the oil and gas industry.“Oil and gas facilities are the largest industrial emitters of methane in Canada—they release about half of total methane emissions,” <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2023/12/draft-oil-and-gas-methane-regulations-amendments-published-in-december-2023-to-reduce-emissions-by-75-percent.html" target="_blank">reads the draft</a>.“These releases occur during normal operation of equipment and from leaks. To comply with Canada’s existing methane Regulations, industries had to adopt practices to monitor for leaks and ensure that repairs happen to reduce the amount of gas intentionally vented into the air.“Under the draft methane amendments, the Government of Canada is enhancing the emissions-monitoring requirements through a risk-based approach to structure inspections for fugitive emissions—facilities with equipment that has greater potential for emissions must undertake more frequent inspections. All inspections must be conducted using instruments with a standard minimum detection limit, and repair timelines will depend on emissions rates. Further, the draft regulations introduce an audit system, requiring one annual third-party inspection to validate company program results.”In other words, it won’t be long before oil and gas facilities will need to bring experts like Aerometrix onboard to verify that the reported data is accurate.“Lowering methane emissions from our oil and gas sector is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways we can cut the pollution that is fueling climate change,” said Minister Guilbeault in <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2023/12/minister-guilbeault-announces-canadas-draft-methane-regulations-to-support-cleaner-energy-and-climate-action.html" target="_blank">this news release</a>.“As the world’s fourth largest oil and gas producer, we have both the responsibility and the know-how to do everything we can. At this time of robust profit margins and high energy prices, there has never been a better time for the oil and gas sector to invest in slashing methane emissions.”&nbsp;<h3>New Investment&nbsp;</h3>In creating Aerometrix, co-Founders <a href="https://aerometrix.ca/company/#founders" target="_blank">Philip Reece and Michael Whiticar</a> developed a solution to a significant and largely invisible problem. Now, with even greater emphasis on reducing methane emissions, Aerometrix has attracted a major new investor.That investor is Omar Asad, the company’s new Director. He sees great potential ahead.“The cutting-edge technology utilised by Aerometrix is unmatched and has already translated into significant savings for clients,” says Asad. “What’s more, we offer both a much-needed and innovative solution – while helping to reduce methane emissions at a critical time.”Asad’s investment, in conjunction with Canada’s impending methane legislation, paves the way for accelerated growth.Below: Eric Saczuk points to the second controller, highlighting real-time methane detection<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1706206889738-MicrosoftTeams-image-1-2-jpg-2.webp" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3 id="isPasted">InDro's Take</h3>Philip Reece, of course, is also the Founder and CEO of InDro Robotics. And he’s clearly pleased with both the investment – and the growth trajectory.“Landfill detection alone has kept Aerometrix busy and profitable,” says Reece. “With the pending legislation we are poised for significant growth in the oil and gas sector.“Not only is using these sensors with drones more accurate than traditional hand-held walk-arounds, but Aerometrix has racked up years of experience in turning our findings into clear and actionable data. This company, particularly with Omar onboard, is ready for the next phase of growth.”Interested in learning more about methane detection by Aerometrix? Contact them <a href="mailto:Info@Aerometrix.ca" target="_blank">here</a>.

Empowering Environmental Safety Through Advanced Methane Detection Solutions

Aerometrix Methane Detection

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) sensors are key in detecting potentially dangerous air quality. 

VOC Sensors: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Applications and Maintenance

Operators of fine filtration systems need to move fluid efficiently from one side of the filter to the other while achieving their desired amount of filtration. The following examines how a three-dimensional woven metal filter cloth increases the number of pores and thus the open surface over the same area, which optimises the flow conditions and avoids turbulences around the filter cloth.Several potential limitations stand in the way of efficiency, including the level of filtration required, the amount of contaminants within the fluid, the fluid’s viscosity, the system’s pressure and turbulances, and much more. While certain variables are fixed and others can’t be predicted, system operators do have a choice in the type of filter they use. Making a simple change to that filter has the potential to make a major difference in achieving their filtration efficiency goals as well as lowering the total cost of ownership of a filtration system.Whether filtering contaminants from water and wastewater streams, oil and gas processes, pharmaceutical solutions, electronics fluids, or any other fluid stream, the need for fine particulate filtration has created a challenge that sacrifices flow rates for filtration capabilities. System designers want maximum filtration to remove very fine contaminants in the 5 µm to 40 µm range. That means filters must have as small a pore sizes as possible. Yet, smaller pores limit flow and also require more energy to move fluids through the filter. As result, fine filtration can potentially lack efficiency.The only way to increase the flow through a given filter would be to add more pores for more open surface area. That is physically impossible within the confines of a traditionally woven two-dimensional metal filter cloth. The cloth can only have a defined number of uniform pores, within a given surface area. However, by moving to a three-dimensional woven metal filter cloth design, developed and fabricated by Haver &amp; Boecker, the number of pores and the open surface area of the filter can be doubled within the same dimensional confines and using the same pore size.<h3>Double the flow rate</h3>Doubling the open surface area of the filter doubles its flow rate, providing three primary benefits for end users:<ol><li>They can process twice the amount of fluid per day without expanding operations</li><li>They can cut the time it takes to process a given volume in half to enable the production of more product batches per day</li><li>When specifying new equipment or retrofitting existing equipment, they can reduce the size of the equipment while maintaining or exceeding their original flow rate.</li></ol>These benefits, which are enabled by a 3-D woven metal filter cloth, represent considerable efficiency gains for a filtration system owner that can have an impact on the entire processing stream, both upstream and downstream. In addition, the 3-D woven filter design offers the potential to reduce the cost of ownership reductions in several ways. These are related to minimized pressure loss, enhanced purging capabilities, extended filter life, reduced system downtime, wider material options, reduced energy consumption and streamlined specifications.This paper will review how the 3-D filter design enables these efficiency gains and cost of ownership reductions.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwMTIwMjgxNjM3LVJQRC1ISUZMTy1TLTI1WDE3Y20gMzAwZHBpLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The 3D MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth opens up new dimensions for filtration.<h3>Twice the flow at the same pore size</h3>Filtration system operators and designers are under constant pressure to enhance the efficiency of their systems. The faster they can move fluid through the system, the better, as long as they are not sacrificing particle filtration in the process. This has traditionally been a tall order, given the existing physical limitations of a filter element which will be a defined size based on the equipment it is used in; it can only have a defined number of pores, and therefore open area, based on its dimensions. Designers can typically only alter the pore size of the filter to affect its flow rate. Yet, even when altering a filter’s pore size, designers are bound by simple physics. You can’t force any more fluid through a hole than what its physical size allows, and the smaller the hole, the lower the flow.Consider taking a flat, 2-D piece of sheet metal and drilling one 5 µm pore will double the flow rate. Fluid will flow through that pore at a low rate. Drilling one more 5 µm pore will double the flow rate. Drilling more 5 µm holes throughout the entire surface of the sheet metal will continue to increase the flow rate until there is no room for more holes. At this point, the sheet metal, which is now essentially a non-woven filter, has reached its total potential flow rate. The same would be true for a 2-D woven metal filter cloth with uniform 5 µm holes throughout.Going 3DBecause the flow rate through a filter is so closely tied to the total open area of the filter’s pores, the best way to enhance the efficiency of the filter is to increase that open area by adding more pores and the only way to do that is by going 3D.By adding an additional layer of weaving, a 3D filter cloth like the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S metal woven filter cloth may double the number of pores available for the given surface area of the filter element. Doubling the pores doubles the flow capacity, just as in the case of drilling the second hole in the 2D sheet metal noted above. The 3D weaving principle is different from simply stacking two 2D filter cloths on top of one another, which would just yield a double filter with no flow improvements. Instead the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S reverse plain Dutch weave essentially offsets the top and bottom layers of pores, effectively creating twice as many pores within a single 3D filter element.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwMTIwMzgyNTQ5LUJpbGRfRmxvd01lYXN1cmluZ18wMWFfZnJlaS5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A comparison of two different filters with 15 µm pore size shows that the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth (right) has more than double the flow rate of a conventional DTW-S filter cloth (left).<h3>Minimizing system pressure loss</h3>In addition to enhancing flow, doubling the number of pores for a given filter dimension also has important implications for managing pressure within the filtration system.Filtration system operators ideally want a balanced system that has equal pressure on either side of the filter. That also means having equal and consistent flow through the filter media. This ideal can be difficult to achieve with a conventionally woven 2D filter cloth, as the cloth’s open surface area limitations may not allow operators to achieve their desired balance. Simply put, the cloth may not have enough open surface area to let fluid pass through without pressure building upstream and dropping off downstream.Going back to the sheet metal example, a piece of metal with one 5µm hole will have a large pressure differential on either side of the metal. Pressure will build on the upstream side as more fluid pushes against the metal, while pressure will be very low on the downstream side as minimal fluid flows through. Drilling more 5 µm pores through the metal will continue to relieve upstream pressure and reduce the pressure differential until there is no room for more holes. At this maximum open surface area, there will still be a pressure differential within the system, simply because there is a barrier – the metal of the filter elements – between the upstream and downstream sides. More holes in this barrier will help, but that is not possible with a 2D filter cloth. Moving to the 3D weave structure of the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S doubles the number of pores within the filtration media’s surface area, allowing double the fluid to pass through the filter. This helps to further decrease the pressure differential and helps operators better achieve a balanced, more efficient system.<h3><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwMTIwNDgwMDg5LUFicmVpbmlndW5nIGJvdGguanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The dirt holding capacity of a MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO 40-S. The filter allows for longer backflushing intervals (left: loaded). Backflushing the filter easily purges contaminants as they do not physically enter the filter cloth (right: unloaded).Enhanced filter purging capabilities</h3>While a properly designed filtration system may be balanced initially, downstream pressure is likely to decrease gradually over time as the filter cloth captures contaminants from the upstream fluid. Those contaminants, which are all larger than the filter’s pore size, will progressively clog the filter, slowly reducing the open size of its pores and limiting the open surface area for the fluid to move through. The phenomenon is not a deficiency of the filtration system, but rather an expected outcome of filtering out unwanted particulates.When a system operator notices that downstream flow has slowed and efficiency has dropped, it is time to check the filter for clogging. The unclogging process typically involves a system backflush that reverses fluid flow to push contaminants out of the filter. The process works best when contaminants are not physically bound to the filter cloth, as they typically are in a conventional 2D filter cloth. The 3D MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth instead captures contaminants on the surface of the cloth, so they do not physically enter it and become stuck there. Therefore, contaminants wash away more easily from the 3D filter than they do from a conventional filter.The MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth can also capture more contaminants than a conventional filter without drastically reducing downstream pressure. This capability allows for longer backflushing intervals, which reduces system downtime and ownership costs.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwMTIxMjIzNDExLVAxMDAwMTY4LkpQRyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">With MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S corrosion- and temperature resistant filter cloth with pore sizes smaller than 40 µm are available.<h3>Expanding filter material options</h3>The total cost of ownership of a filtration system is also tied to the type of materials that can be used for the filter. Corrosions- and temperature-resistant materials help to maximize filter life due to their durability within process streams carrying hot and/or corrosive fluids. However, such materials have limitations in terms of the size of wires that can be produced. The restriction has traditionally limited the size of pores that can be created within a filter cloth, as well as the particle size the cloth can filter.Corrosion- and temperature-resistant materials, such as Alloy 310 S, Inconel 600, Superduplex, Duplex, Hastelloy C 22 and titanium, are brittle when they are extruded to very small-sized wires. The thin wires are often too brittle to enable weaving, which traditionally meant filter cloths made from exotic materials could only have pore sizes greater than 40 µm.However, the 3D weave structure of the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S metal filter cloth has changed this reality. It allows for the filter cloth to have pores sizes between 5 µm and 40 µm, while using thicker wires made from special materials. Therefore, it is possible to use corrosion- and temperature-resistant filter cloths with pore sizes smaller than 40 µm for the first time. This provides a wider range of possible applications for filtration system owners, who now have the capability to filter finer contaminants from corrosive and high-temperature process streams.<h3>Streamlining filter specification</h3>Another factor impacting the total cost of ownership of a filtration system is the filter specification process, which traditionally requires multiple rounds of trial and error. Historically, it has been difficult to match a filter element with a given system and have a clear idea of what the actual capabilities will be in terms of flow, filtration, turbulence and pressure drop. Equipment manufacturers must work with filter element suppliers to test various pore sizes and constructions within the actual equipment, taking time to run fluid through one filter, take measurements and then swap out the filter with a different pore size before going through the whole process again.To eliminate much of this guesswork, the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth uses a more scientific specification process that precisely calculates numerous variables in advance and fine tunes them to the end use requirements. Using simulation software, designers can optimize a virtualwoven filter cloth for a specific application and calculate the pore sizes, flow rates, turbulence and fluid dynamics before producing the actual cloth. These simulations essentially serve as a virtual trial-and-error process, while foregoing traditional physical trials. Ultimately the filter cloth will need to be tested in the actual system to confirm it performs as expected. However, due to the scientific simulation process, the resulting filter cloth is highly likely to deliver the expected results with much less potential for running multiple trials.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1700121543440-RPD+HiFlo+15+S+part+153481.jpg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The independent and internationally renowned institute Whitehouse Scientific has tested and confirmed the extremely high cut-points and dimensional stability of the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth.Bild RPD HIFLO 15 S part 153481 &nbsp;Bildzeile: The independent and internationally renowned institute Whitehouse Scientific has tested and confirmed the extremely high cut-points and dimensional stability of the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth.The simulation software plays a large role in streamlining filter design. However, such capabilities would not be possible without being able to ensure the actual manufactured filter cloth will be produced as specified in the virtual simulation. The independent and internationally renowned institute Whitehouse Scientific has tested and confirmed that the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S has uniform, precision pores with extremely high cut-points and dimensional stability from manufacturing run to manufacturing run. Whitehouse Scientific confirmed these properties by performing glass bead tests on various filter sizes.&nbsp;Further adding to filter specification efficiency, the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth can be produced in multiple pore sizes from 5 µm to 40 µm within one production batch as desired. Production volumes can therefore be precisely matched to the specific requirements for end use testing. With conventionally woven media, filter cloth manufacturers have to instead run one production batch for each pore size to be tested, creating a longer timeline for production as well as end user trials.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwMTIxMDUxMDE4LVRhYmVsbGVfTWluaW1lc2gtUlBELUhJRkxPLVMtZmlsdGVyc3BlY2lmaWNhdGlvbnMucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth specifications *Geometric pore size verified by glass bead test, tolerance ± 10%<h3>Conclusions</h3>While filtration system designers can make select adjustments to pumping pressures and flow paths to enhance the efficiency of their systems, the design of the filtration media has the most bearing on enhancing efficiency. By shifting from a conventionally woven 2D Filter cloth to the 3D MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth, designers have the ability to increase or even double their system flow rates while still filtering the same size of particles. This enables owners to avoid sacrificing filtration capabilities at the expense of increasing flow-through rates. In addition, the design of the 3D filter cloth can help minimize pressure loss, extend the filter’s life and reduce system downtime. Under pressure to increase the energy efficiency of a filtration system, designers now have a solution that not only doubles the capacity of the system, but also helps to reduce its total cost of ownership.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwMTIxMTY4NTIyLTVfUlBEIEhpZmxvIG1pdCBLdWdlbCB1IE1hw59lbi5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The scientific specification process for the MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth involves virtual simulations to optimize the filter for a given specification.

The 3D MINIMESH® RPD HIFLO-S filter cloth opens up new dimensions for filtration.

Operators of fine filtration systems need to move fluid efficiently from one side of the filter to the other while achieving the desired filtration amount. The article examines how a three-dimensional woven metal filter cloth optimises the flow conditions and avoids turbulences around the filter.

How a 3D High Performance Metal Filter Cloth increases filtration flow

<section id="isPasted">Mil-Spec, an abbreviation for ‘military specification’’ or military spec, outlines the rigorous standards the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) sets to describe the physical and functional requirements for products and systems it purchases. The term mil-spec simply means that something has met military standards. It is similar to mil-STD and can be used in the same way.Within the realm of PCB assemblies, Mil-Spec denotes a certification, indicating that a PCB design has met the exacting requirements established by the military for quality, durability, and performance. PCBAs are thus guaranteed to meet defense specifications and hold up in harsh environments.While Mil-Spec standards for PCBAs accommodate commercial PCBA manufacturing techniques, the primary objective remains uncompromised: ensuring PCBAs can withstand the demanding conditions of military operations.This article will guide you through standards relevant to Mil-Spec PCB assemblies, compare the unique attributes of military-grade PCBAs with other PCB assembly classes, outline essential design principles for these high-performing boards, and highlight the critical testing areas required for Mil-Spec certifications.<h2>Understanding Mil-Spec</h2>Mil-Specs are stringent standards pivotal to the U.S. defense procurement process, ensuring that every piece of military equipment, from fighter jets to printed circuit board assemblies, functions reliably under high-stakes conditions.Mil-specs are standardized documents. Standardization ensures equipment from different manufacturers is interoperable, and that replacement parts are consistent and dependable. This is especially important given the global scope of military operations and the need for reliable, predictable tools in various environments.Though initially developed for military applications, Mil-Spec components and assemblies are not unique to the military and may be used in other high-stakes industries such as aerospace and medicine. Many companies in these sectors now opt for using components from the Mil-Spec Qualified Product List (QPL) and also choose to work with certified manufacturers on the Mil-Spec Quality Manufacturer List (QML).<h2>Military Specifications Applicable to PCBAs</h2>Here, we delve into some of the most commonly cited Mil-specs for military-grade PCBs and what they entail:<a href="https://www.macrofab.com/blog/understanding-and-implementing-mil-spec-standards-in-pcb-assemblies/#" title="click to enlarge" target="_blank"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5ODg2MjE5NjQ5LTE2OTk4ODYyMTk2NDkucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" alt="Mil spec standards table" class="fr-fic fr-dii"></a><h2>Difference Between IPC Class 3 PCBs and Others</h2><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5ODg2MjE5NzE5LTE2OTk4ODYyMTk3MTkucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" alt="Magnified pcba" class="fr-fic fr-dii">IPC—formerly known as the Institute of Printed Circuits—is a global trade association serving the printed board and electronics assembly industries. IPC classifies PCBs into three main categories based on their reliability and the quality assurance processes they must undergo:<h3>IPC Class 1: Commercial Grade</h3>IPC Class 1 is geared towards consumer electronics and products where cost is a significant factor. These PCBs undergo basic quality control tests and are designed for general use under standard conditions. They typically have a shorter lifespan and are not built for high-stress environments.<h3>IPC Class 2: Industrial Grade</h3>If your project needs something more robust—maybe for industrial or some medical applications—you’ll be looking at IPC Class 2 PCBs. You get more extensive quality testing with these, and they’re built to last longer than Class 1.<h3>IPC Class 3: Military Grade</h3>If your application is mission-critical, like military or aerospace use, where a failure could be catastrophic, you’ll need IPC Class 3 PCBs. These are the best of the best. They undergo the most stringent quality tests and are engineered to work in the harshest, most demanding environments. They’re what you choose when reliability and performance can’t be compromised.Prior to assembly, the bare board must meet or exceed the desired post-assembly class. To put it another way, you cannot create a Class 3 PCB assembly from a Class 2 board.Quality processes, cleanliness standards, and defect reduction are all key to determining IPC assembly classes. To ensure they can withstand harsh conditions, Class 3 assemblies go through rigorous testing and inspection processes.<h2>Key Design Considerations for Mil-Spec PCBAs</h2>When designing or procuring PCBAs that comply with military specifications, there are a number of vital considerations to keep in mind:<ul><li>Ensure full compliance with relevant military specifications.</li><li>Ensure trace widths and materials can handle high currents.</li><li>Separate high-frequency and low-frequency components to minimize noise interference.</li><li>Shield and isolate clock signals to prevent interference.</li><li>Route traces at angles of 45° or less for better signal integrity.</li><li>Incorporate heat sinks, thermal vias, and layouts that promote efficient heat dissipation due to possible drastic temperature shifts.</li><li>Use protective coatings or encapsulation to shield against factors like moisture, salt spray, and chemicals.</li><li>Mil-Spec PCBAs require the use of high-quality materials and components to ensure they can withstand extreme conditions such as high temperatures, moisture, and mechanical stress.</li></ul><h2>Testing Mil-Spec PCBAs</h2><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5ODg2MjE5ODQ2LTE2OTk4ODYyMTk4NDYucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" alt="The word tested on green circuit board" class="fr-fic fr-dii">To ensure compliance with relevant requirements, military-grade PCBs undergo a battery of tests. Knowing these test areas can guide PCBA designers to focus on key aspects that are crucial for the assembly to meet military standards. The primary test areas are as follows:<h3>Chemical Tests</h3>Chemical tests ascertain the cleanliness and specific characteristics of the materials used, such as the plating. Under this, we have:<ul><li>Ionic Contamination:&nbsp;Assemblies are tested for levels of ionic contamination. For instance, the MIL-PRF-31032 requires that the ionic contamination must not exceed 1.56 micrograms/square centimeter prior to the application of a solder mask.</li><li>Copper Plating Characteristics: Elongation and tensile strength of copper plating are tested and must meet minimum standards of the relevant MIL-Spec.</li></ul><h3>Physical Tests</h3>Physical tests are conducted to evaluate the integrity of the PCBA in terms of adhesion and structural stability. Under this, we have:<ul><li>Adhesion Marking: Tests look for missing or smeared markings, any of which would constitute a failure.</li><li>Adhesion, Plating: These tests ensure no part of the conductor pattern or copper plating is removed.</li><li>Adhesion, Solder Mask: Criteria are set for the maximum percentage of solder mask that can lift from the board’s surface.</li><li>Bow and Twist:&nbsp;The extent of any deformity in the printed boards is measured.</li><li>Rework Simulation: This test ensures printed boards still meet specifications after simulated rework processes.</li><li>Solderability: Boards requiring soldering during assembly processes are tested for solderability, depending on their design.</li><li>Surface Peel Strength: It measures the peel strength of surface conductors, ensuring they meet specific standards.</li></ul><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5ODg2MjE5ODk3LTE2OTk4ODYyMTk4OTcucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" alt="Digital visualization of close up pcba blue" class="fr-fic fr-dii"><h3>Electrical Tests</h3>Electrical tests focus on ensuring proper conduction and insulation within the PCBA. Under this, we have:<ul><li>Continuity: Checks the resistance between end-points of conductor patterns, ensuring no resistance limits are exceeded.</li><li>Isolation: Tests are conducted to measure insulation resistance between mutually isolated conductors</li></ul><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5ODg2MjE5OTUyLTE2OTk4ODYyMTk5NTIucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" alt="Digital visualization of close up pcba green" class="fr-fic fr-dii"><h3>Environmental Test Methods</h3>Environmental tests evaluate the PCBA’s resilience against environmental stressors like moisture and heat. Under this, we have:<ul><li>Moisture and Insulation Resistance: These tests demonstrate that PCBAs perform well under humid conditions.</li><li>Resistance to Soldering Heat: These tests assess the board’s ability to withstand thermal stress during soldering processes</li></ul><h2>Conclusion</h2>The design and manufacturing of military-grade PCBs demand strict adherence to a set of rigorous standards. These standards govern everything from the quality of materials used to the thermal management systems in place, and they serve to ensure the ultimate reliability and safety of electronic components in critical military applications.Moreover, an understanding of the basic tests mandated by military specifications can significantly guide the design process.As the landscape of technology evolves, staying up-to-date with MIL-Spec standards is vital to ensure ongoing excellence in both compliance and performance.<h4>Flexibility Matters. Get It With MacroFab.</h4><a href="https://www.macrofab.com/rfq/" target="_blank">GET A QUOTE TODAY</a></section><section><h4> </h4></section>

When designing or procuring PCBAs that comply with military specifications, there are a number of vital considerations to keep in mind.  

Understanding and Implementing Mil-Spec Standards in PCB Assemblies

This article originally appeared in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kit.edu/kit/pi_2023_079_nachhaltigere-landwirtschaft-durch-globale-umverteilung-von-stickstoffduenger.php" target="_blank" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer">Karlsruhe Institute of Technology</a> and has been republished with permission.<hr>A growing world population needs sufficient food. Their production leads to increased nitrogen pollution in agriculture due to over-fertilization, which has a negative impact on people, the climate and ecosystems. Models from researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) show that current grain production could be maintained with significantly lower global fertilization if the use of nitrogen fertilizer were distributed evenly across cultivated areas worldwide. They report their results in Communications Earth &amp; Environment (DOI: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00970-8" target="_blank">10.1038/s43247-023-00970-8</a> ).Around 60 percent of the world's nitrogen fertilizer use currently occurs in grain crops such as corn, wheat and rice.&nbsp;These need nitrogen fertilizer to grow and increase their yields.&nbsp;However, large amounts of the fertilizer end up in the soil and groundwater or are released into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide.&nbsp;They pollute the environment and contribute to the loss of biological diversity, climate change and the depletion of the ozone layer.&nbsp;This is particularly problematic in the large growing areas in North America, Europe and East Asia, where comparatively large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer are used.&nbsp;KIT researchers have now modeled what effects a global redistribution of nitrogen fertilizer use would have.&nbsp;To do this, they simulated different amounts of fertilizer at different locations and used the LandscapeDNDC biogeochemical model to calculate the total production of corn, wheat and rice between 2015 and 2030. “The background to our investigations was the question of how we can produce enough food without exceeding ecological limits.” says Dr.&nbsp;Andrew Smerald from the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research - Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), KIT's Alpine Campus in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.<h2>Grain production levels could be maintained with significantly lower global fertilizer use</h2>“Our models show that global total nitrogen fertilizer consumption could be reduced by 32 percent through more even distribution without affecting current levels of grain production,” said Smerald. “This works by redistributing nitrogen fertilizer from traditional growing areas such as China, North America and Europe to less used areas such as sub-Saharan Africa.” The increase in production in these regions then offsets the decline in production in other regions. With this approach, wheat and corn production could use 45 percent and 33 percent less nitrogen fertilizer, respectively, without affecting global production levels. At the same time, nitrate leaching could be reduced by 71 percent in wheat and by 63 percent in corn.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1697111546455-2023_079_Nachhaltigere+Landwirtschaft+durch+globale+Umverteilung+von+Stickstoffduenger_2_72+dpi.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Models show that a global redistribution of nitrogen fertilizer use would have a positive impact on nitrous oxide emissions. (Photo: Andrew Smerald, KIT)“Our study shows that a more even distribution of nitrogen fertilizer across global cropland would reduce dependence on current breadbaskets and reduce nitrogen pollution in East Asia and other heavily fertilized regions,” says Smerald. Another advantage would be that crops could often be grown closer to where they are needed. For example, an increase in crop yields in Africa would bring the continent closer to self-sufficiency.<hr>Original publicationAndrew Smerald, David Kraus, Jaber Rahimi, Kathrin Fuchs, Ralf Kiese, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl &amp; Clemens Scheer: A redistribution of nitrogen fertilizer across global croplands can help achieve food security within environmental boundaries. Communications Earth &amp; Environment, 2023. DOI 10.1038/s43247-023-00970-8. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00970-8" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00970-8</a>

Growing grain worldwide requires a high level of nitrogen fertilizer use. KIT researchers show that global redistribution would have a positive impact on the environment. (Photo: Markus Breig, KIT)

Models show that an even global distribution of nitrogen fertilizer could significantly reduce total global fertilization and the resulting environmental impact

More sustainable agriculture through global redistribution of nitrogen fertilizer

In the Netherlands alone, some 150 million tons of CO2 disappear into the air every year. Anyone who realizes that we have been emitting this unlimited amount for a century and a half knows it will take a lot to halt this process. By 2050 we should be there: no more CO2 in the air worldwide. Whether we will succeed is far from certain, but even if we do, we still have to get rid of all those carbon dioxides already in the air. An impossible task? Not according to Carbyon, the Eindhoven start-up that has taken it upon itself to suck all the CO2 out of the air.Yes, that sucking should be taken literally. The prototype machine that Carbyon and Demcon have built together is essentially nothing more than a large-scale vacuum cleaner, wheels including. Eventually, there will be entire fields of these machines worldwide, running on green energy and continuously extracting CO2 from the air. On one side of the machine, the air enters, and in the heart, the chemical reaction takes place that binds CO2 to the absorbent material, after which the CO2-free air is pushed out of the machine again.The original idea for the Carbyon CO2 vacuum cleaner comes from Hans de Neve, who conceived it while still working for TNO at Solliance. In 2019, he stepped out with his Friday afternoon project on direct air capture, founded his own company, and knocked on HighTechXL&rsquo;s door for initial support. His big ambition is to contribute something substantial to solving the climate problem. That dream was so strong that he gave up his safe life for it and, partly with his own money, turned his focus to Carbyon.Fast forward to 2023: there are now 25 people working for the start-up, mostly engineers with research tasks. And there will be many more in the coming years. Because if there is one inevitable consequence to a dream like Carbyon&rsquo;s, it is that the only path to success is one of greatness. Great goals require great machinery and a great organization. As winners of the preliminary round of Elon Musks XPrize ($1 million), the first step on that path has already been taken.<h2>Not alone</h2>At the same time, De Neve and his team know they can&rsquo;t do it alone. The organization is too small to solve everything in-house. And there is plenty of expertise in the immediate area, so why not use it? So it was no coincidence that Carbyon and Demcon crossed paths. With more than 30 years of experience in developing mechatronic systems and expertise in high-tech, Medtech, battery technology, and climate tech, Demcon was the ideal party for Carbyon to help build the first prototype.Demcons project manager Leon van Breugel calls the collaboration a textbook example of how he and his colleagues like to operate. &ldquo;We want to be the enablers to make customers successful, from the early concept phase to realization, including production and maintenance. There is, of course, a business aspect to that, but preferably we work on projects with a major social impact. Of course, that is abundantly clear in this project, which is why Carbyon is also such a good fit for us. It really is co-creation.&rdquo; Van Breugel has worked for Demcon since 2020, with more than 200 employees at its Eindhoven location. He sees part of the added value in the diversity of experience gained from different customers. &ldquo;Every new customer provides us with new expertise. And every subsequent customer benefits from that in turn.&rdquo;Carbyon&rsquo;s COO Jasper Simons can only agree: &ldquo;Demcon&rsquo;s added value is essential for us in this phase. Their knowledge, their experience, the skills of their people; these are all aspects that have ensured that we can now work with that first prototype.&rdquo; Until recently, the machine was still at Demcon, but since this week, it has been moved to the High Tech Campus, where the process of air capture can really begin.<h2>Working together</h2>The project was initiated by Carbyon, but the prototype was born out of a joint search for the best solutions. &ldquo;So it&rsquo;s not like we threw the specs over the fence after which Demcon could start working on them,&rdquo; Simons says. &ldquo;That wouldn&rsquo;t be possible at all,&rdquo; Van Breugel immediately adds. &ldquo;Because we almost never work like that at Demcon. The success of every project with us depends on how we shape the collaboration. The project team has representatives from both sides continuously working together.&rdquo;Now that the first machine is ready, that does not mean Demcon&rsquo;s role is over. Van Breugel: &ldquo;On the contrary, we are still closely involved in the next iterations. When Carbyon is ready to start mass production, our part will be finished. But until then, we will be there for them, including the production of the first dozen machines.&rdquo;Carbyon hopes to scale up quickly. Simons: &ldquo;This prototype took a lot of time, of course, but soon we will be able to build one machine every two weeks, and a little later two per week. By 2030 there should be production as we know it from a car factory: assembly line work.&rdquo; The final model, by the way, will bear little resemblance to the machine that can start delivering its first results now, if only because of the size required. The current machine &ldquo;harvests&rdquo; about a ton of CO2 per year, the full-sized units &ndash; each the size of a shipping container &ndash; will soon gain 100 tons. By 2050, so many machines should be operating that a billion tons can be extracted from the air.<h2>Forest or city</h2>Isn&rsquo;t that the perfect condition for another discussion like the one now running around windmills? Who wants a shipping container in their backyard? Simons: &ldquo;First of all, if something is the size of a shipping container, that doesn&rsquo;t mean it looks like such a thing. But apart from that, we think mainly of industrial sites or remote places without high natural value. Because while we may need a lot of our devices, that doesn&rsquo;t mean you&rsquo;ll find them everywhere.&rdquo;Is there actually an ideal place for a CO2 extraction system? Simons: &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter that much because the proportion of CO2 in the air is more or less the same everywhere in the world. Everywhere now, you see a concentration of over 400 ppm; it hardly makes any difference whether you are in a forest or a city. Even between winter and summer, there is only a small difference. That also makes the CO2 problem global: CO2 does not respect borders, and it is nonsense to have as a goal to clean up your own CO2.&rdquo;A hard condition for the location of Carbyon&rsquo;s machines is the availability of green power. &ldquo;Southern Chile, where it is always windy, could be a good spot for that reason. Right next to wind turbines. Also, it would be good to use and store energy in one place.&rdquo; You can then create the &ldquo;Carbyon parks&rdquo; as big as you want. &ldquo;However, there must be a few meters distance between the devices themselves because it is not the intention that one machine will start sucking up the just-finished air of its neighbor. Then it makes little sense, of course.&rdquo;<h2>Effectiveness and price</h2>Carbyon is not the only company engaged in CO2 reduction through air capture, yet the start-up believes it can offer two key advantages over the competition: effectiveness and price. &ldquo;Our process takes five minutes, while at others, it takes five hours. In addition, it costs a thousand euros to capture a ton of CO2 with current machines. We think we should be able to do it with a hundred euros.&rdquo;The prospect of winning one of the top prizes in Musk&rsquo;s XPrize competition provides an extra incentive in this regard. Simons: &ldquo;When we were chosen as one of the first winners last year, we landed on a cloud; that&rsquo;s how happy we were. But it also motivated us as a team to continue working even harder to scale up. There is $50 million waiting for the one that manages to capture a thousand tons a year. A challenging goal, so we plan even more ambitiously than we already did. We are guided more by the principle of &lsquo;Fail fast, fail often&lsquo; than by an extremely detailed elaboration of the specs for each subsequent step. I must say: I can recommend every start-up to approach it this way; it gives an enormous spirit to your company. And working with an external development partner like Demcon helps us achieve this needed acceleration.&rdquo;

The prototype machine that Carbyon and Demcon have built together is essentially nothing more than a large-scale vacuum cleaner, wheels including. Eventually, there will be entire fields of these machines worldwide, running on green energy and continuously extracting CO2 from the air.

Demcon and Carbyon are tackling climate change in co-creation

COWVR, at center, and TEMPEST, not shown, were installed aboard the International Space Station in late 2021 and since then have provided valuable weather data to forecasters tracking tropical cyclones. The two instruments are part of the U.S. Space Force STP-H8 demonstration mission. Credit: NASA

In this episode, we talk about a new satellite system from NASA that leverages technologies used in other missions to accomplish the same performance that has been delivered by heritage satellites but smaller and less complex while also being a fraction of the cost.

Podcast: Eye of The Storm: NASA's New Weather & Tropical Storm Tracking Sensors

This article was discussed in our <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte&source=gmail&ust=1672821999265000&usg=AOvVaw3lLKdHdEN0YvCEsaHI7hx9" href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/788c4555-efa4-44a6-84d8-cf9cd503de92?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The full article will continue below.<hr>NASA recently built two weather instruments to test the potential of small, low-cost sensors to do some of the work of bulkier, pricier satellites. Both instruments have exceeded expectations as trial runs, and they are already delivering useful forecast information for the most devastating of storms, tropical cyclones.Launched in late 2021 to the International Space Station, <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/5-things-to-know-about-a-pair-of-small-but-mighty-weather-instruments" target="_blank">COWVR</a> (short for Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer) measures the speed and direction of wind at the ocean surface, and TEMPEST (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems) provides atmospheric water vapor measurements. Both instruments are part of Space Test Program-Houston 8 (STP-H8), a three-year demonstration mission funded by the U.S. Space Force, which also funded the construction of COWVR. TEMPEST was built by NASA as a flight spare for a prior mission, and Space Force repurposed it for STP-H8.Imagery created from their data is being used by the U.S. <a href="https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/jtwc.html" target="_blank">Joint Typhoon Warning Center</a> to track the location and intensity of tropical cyclones in the Indian and Pacific oceans. In fact, COWVR and TEMPEST images were among the sources used by a forecaster at the typhoon center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to pin down the location of Tropical Cyclone Mandous, which roiled the Bay of Bengal off southern India in December 2022.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjc3NjI5NTA1NjI3LWpwZWdQSUEyNTU2NS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 768px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Data from the COWVR and TEMPEST instruments aboard the ISS was used to create this image of Tropical Cyclone Mandous, which forecasters used to understand the December 2022 storm&#39;s intensity and predict its path toward southern India.&nbsp; Credit: U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center/U.S. Naval Research LaboratoryFor several months, images based on COWVR and TEMPEST data have been delivered to the center by the Monterey, California-based Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), which has been working with NASA to calibrate the instruments and validate their data. Storm forecasters have been trying out the imagery &ndash; evaluating how it affects predictions and comparing it with other data sources &ndash; said Brian Strahl, the center&rsquo;s director.Reliable, frequently updated information on storm structure and location, wind speed, and humidity is crucial to the center&rsquo;s mission to track tropical cyclones between Africa&rsquo;s east coast and the west coast of the Americas, an area that includes vast expanses of open ocean.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s challenging outside of the continental U.S. &ndash; where you don&rsquo;t have weather aircraft routinely flying &ndash; to give a really good ground-truth of where these storms are, so we&rsquo;re reliant on satellites,&rdquo; Strahl said. &ldquo;Any new additions of good quality data, which we believe these are, can be very useful.&rdquo;<h2 data-block-key="8jorb">Smaller, Less Costly</h2>COWVR and TEMPEST both measure microwave emissions from Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere and surface. Data from microwave readings have an advantage over those from infrared or visible light: They can give forecasters a look at the internal structure of a tropical cyclone and help them locate the eye, even if it&rsquo;s obscured by clouds.The idea for the mission emerged a decade ago as the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) started considering the next generation of instruments that could replace sensors such as WindSat, a DoD weather radiometer that operated until 2020.COWVR incorporates technology and designs developed at NASA&rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the agency&rsquo;s Jason series of ocean-observing satellites. With Jason, engineers had to correct for the presence of atmospheric water vapor when measuring sea surface height. With COWVR, the water vapor and how it moves are the focus.Larger weather radiometers are often built with spinning dishes to enable broader coverage than that provided by an instrument that points straight down. COWVR also uses a rotating dish, but JPL engineers managed to simplify the instrument&rsquo;s design, making it more power-efficient without compromising its capabilities.Around the size of a minifridge, the instrument weighs about 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and requires about 47 watts to run &ndash; approximately the same power demand as an actual minifridge. WindSat, by comparison, weighed 990 pounds (450 kilograms) and used 350 watts. COWVR&rsquo;s design and construction budget was $24 million, roughly one-fifth the cost of WindSat.TEMPEST was a flight spare left over from NASA&rsquo;s 2018&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/temporal-experiment-for-storms-and-tropical-systems-demonstration-tempest-d" target="_blank">TEMPEST-D mission</a>. About the size of a cereal box, it weighs roughly 8 pounds (4 kilograms), draws 6.5 watts of power, and had a budget of less than $2 million. TEMPEST-D was a CubeSat demonstration led by researchers from Colorado State University, JPL, and Blue Canyon Technologies.&ldquo;NASA developed these instruments to be compact and simple, without many moving parts, and using technology that has matured over the decades,&rdquo; said Shannon Brown, principal investigator for COWVR at JPL. &ldquo;We are now seeing that instruments like that can perform as well as the more expensive operational sensors.&rdquo;Separate from STP-H8, NASA also is exploring the use of data from COWVR and TEMPEST, as well as small satellites like them, for its own weather-related missions.<h2 data-block-key="2u9ui">What&rsquo;s Next</h2>The Naval Research Laboratory has sent data from COWVR and TEMPEST to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, where forecasters have started to evaluate it. And the Joint Typhoon Warning Center intends to take a closer look at COWVR&rsquo;s surface wind speed and direction data &ndash; not just the imagery &ndash; to see if it improves tropical cyclone forecasts.The Naval Research Laboratory also continues to evaluate raw data from COWVR and TEMPEST for use in the U.S. Navy&rsquo;s global numerical weather models.&ldquo;These are critical behind-the-scenes efforts that enable us to feel confident using measurements from these new instruments,&rdquo; said Steve Swadley, NRL&rsquo;s lead for calibration and validation of data from spaceborne microwave sensors. &ldquo;So far, it looks really, really good, so that&rsquo;s exciting.&rdquo;

Known as COWVR and TEMPEST, the duo is demonstrating that smaller, less expensive science instruments can play an important role in weather forecasting.

Dynamic NASA-Built Weather Sensors Enlisted to Track Tropical Cyclones

A new study has found that emission goals designed to achieve the world&rsquo;s most ambitious climate target &ndash; 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels &ndash; may in fact be required to avoid more extreme climate change of 2 degrees Celsius.&nbsp;The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2207183120" target="_blank">study</a>, published Jan. 30 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides new evidence that global warming is on track to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial averages in the early 2030s, regardless of how much greenhouse gas emissions rise or fall in the coming decade.The new &ldquo;time to threshold&rdquo; estimate results from an analysis that employs artificial intelligence to predict climate change using recent temperature observations from around the world.&ldquo;Using an entirely new approach that relies on the current state of the climate system to make predictions about the future, we confirm that the world is on the cusp of crossing the 1.5 C threshold,&rdquo; said the study&rsquo;s lead author, Stanford University climate scientist <a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/noah-diffenbaugh" target="_blank">Noah Diffenbaugh</a>.If emissions remain high over the next few decades, the AI predicts a one-in-two chance that Earth will become 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) hotter on average compared to pre-industrial times by the middle of this century, and a more than four-in-five chance of reaching that threshold by 2060.According to the analysis, which Diffenbaugh co-authored with Colorado State University atmospheric scientist <a href="https://www.atmos.colostate.edu/people/faculty/barnes/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Barnes</a>, the AI predicts the world would likely reach 2 C even in a scenario in which emissions decline in the coming decades. &ldquo;Our AI model is quite convinced that there has already been enough warming that 2 C is likely to be exceeded if reaching net-zero emissions takes another half century,&rdquo; said Diffenbaugh, who is the Kara J Foundation Professor and Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow in the <a href="https://sustainability.stanford.edu/" target="_blank">Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability</a>.This finding may be controversial among scientists and policymakers, Diffenbaugh said, because other authoritative assessments, including the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have concluded that the 2-degree mark is unlikely to be reached if emissions decline to net zero before 2080.<h2>Why does half a degree matter?</h2>Crossing the 1.5 C and 2 C thresholds would mean failing to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, in which countries pledged to keep global warming to &ldquo;well below&rdquo; 2 C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing the more ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5 C.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1675135662976-Emissions-chart-v6-795x1193.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Image credit: Dana Granoski/Data source: Diffenbaugh and Barnes, 2023&nbsp;Already, the world is 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 Fahrenheit) hotter on average than it was before fossil fuel combustion took off in the 1800s, and the litany of impacts from that warming includes more frequent wildfires, more extreme rainfall and flooding, and longer, more intense heat waves.Because these impacts are already emerging, every fraction of a degree of global warming is predicted to intensify the consequences for people and ecosystems. As average temperatures climb, it becomes more likely that the world will reach thresholds &ndash; sometimes called tipping points &ndash; that cause new consequences, such as melting of large polar ice sheets or massive forest die-offs. As a result, scientists&nbsp;<a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2878/a-degree-of-concern-why-global-temperatures-matter/" target="_blank">expect</a> impacts to be far more severe and widespread beyond 2 C.In working on the new study, Diffenbaugh said he was surprised to find the AI predicted the world would still be very likely to reach the 2 C threshold even in a scenario where emissions rapidly decline to net zero by 2076. The AI predicted a one-in-two chance of reaching 2 C by 2054 in this scenario, with a roughly two-in-three chance of crossing the threshold between 2044 and 2065.It remains possible, however, to bend the odds away from more extreme climate change by quickly reducing the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases being added to the atmosphere. In the years since the Paris climate pact, many nations have pledged to reach net-zero emissions more quickly than is reflected in the low-emissions scenario used in the new study. In particular, Diffenbaugh points out that many countries have net-zero goals between 2050 and 2070, including China, the European Union, India, and the United States, as do many non-state actors,&nbsp;<a href="https://sustainability.stanford.edu/our-impact/living-lab" target="_blank">including Stanford University</a>.&ldquo;Those net-zero pledges are often framed around achieving the Paris Agreement 1.5 C goal,&rdquo; said Diffenbaugh. &ldquo;Our results suggest that those ambitious pledges might be needed to avoid 2 C.&rdquo;<h2>AI trained to learn from past warming</h2>Previous assessments have used global climate models to simulate future warming trajectories; statistical techniques to extrapolate recent warming rates; and carbon budgets to calculate how quickly emissions will need to decline to stay below the Paris Agreement targets.For the new estimates, Diffenbaugh and Barnes used a type of artificial intelligence known as a neural network, which they trained on the vast archive of outputs from widely used global climate model simulations.Once the neural network had learned patterns from these simulations, the researchers asked the AI to predict the number of years until a given temperature threshold will be reached when given maps of actual&nbsp;<a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/149321/2021-continued-earths-warming-trend" target="_blank">annual temperature anomalies</a> as input &ndash; that is, observations of how much warmer or cooler a place was in a given year compared to the average for that same place during a reference period, 1951-1980.To test for accuracy, the researchers challenged the model to predict the current level of global warming, 1.1 C, based on temperature anomaly data for each year from 1980 to 2021. The AI correctly predicted that the current level of warming would be reached in 2022, with a most likely range of 2017 to 2027. The model also correctly predicted the pace of decline in the number of years until 1.1 C that has occurred over the recent decades.&ldquo;This was really the &lsquo;acid test&rsquo; to see if the AI could predict the timing that we know has occurred,&rdquo; Diffenbaugh said. &ldquo;We were pretty skeptical that this method would work until we saw that result. The fact that the AI has such high accuracy increases my confidence in its predictions of future warming.&rdquo;<hr>This research was supported by Stanford University and the U.S. Department of Energy&rsquo;s Office of Biological and Environmental Research as part of the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison Project.Diffenbaugh is a professor of Earth system science, a senior fellow at the&nbsp;<a href="http://woods.stanford.edu/" target="_blank">Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment</a>, and the Olivier Nomellini Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education.

Already, the world is 1.1 degrees Celsius hotter on average than it was before fossil fuel combustion took off in the 1800s. More extreme rainfall and flooding are among the litany of impacts from that warming. (Image credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Stringer/Getty Images)

Artificial intelligence provides new evidence our planet will cross the global warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius within 10 to 15 years. Even with low emissions, we could see 2 C of warming. But a future with less warming remains within reach.

AI predicts global warming will exceed 1.5 degrees in 2030s

Wildfires have always been a part of human history, but there has been a significant increase in their severity and frequency over the past few decades. And this trend is only set to get worse, with UN researchers noting that wildfire events will become 50 percent more common by the end of the century.This is due, in part, to the effects of climate change on the environment, as longer drought periods and higher temperatures increase vegetation flammability. In a vicious circle, the carbon emissions from wildfires are also, in turn, accelerating climate change. For example, in 2021 alone, wildfires released 1.76 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, according to the EU&rsquo;s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.But wireless tech is now helping the authorities fight fiercer flames or even prevent them from sparking in the first place.<h2>Making the most of IoT technology</h2>One recent example of the devastating effects that wildfires can have was the Australian &ldquo;Black Summer&rdquo; of 2019-20. These blazes saw 186,200 square kilometers burned, 3,500 homes lost and the deaths of more than one billion animals. Once the fires were extinguished, an official inquiry on the country&rsquo;s response efforts found that technology had been under-utilized. Its report urged authorities to take advantage of the available technological and research capabilities.One specific point raised was the potential of &ldquo;remote sensing technology&rdquo;. Such solutions are focused on early detection of blazes, and can better track the flame front&rsquo;s progression and intensity. Such sensors can also provide insights into vegetation dryness and &ldquo;fuel load&rdquo; issues that can help with preventative efforts such as hazard reduction burns.Further, IoT sensors placed on trees in forests prone to wildfires can detect the gases emitted during the smoldering phase of a fire, providing authorities with an early warning. Sensors can also be used to detect other environmental indicators, such as temperature and humidity levels. And when these devices are integrated with long-range wireless connectivity and dedicated GNSS, they can aid fire crews&rsquo; response by pinpointing the precise location of the flame front.<h2>IoT and machine learning helps predict wildfires</h2>IoT edge devices with embedded machine learning (ML) capabilities bring significant value to the fight against wildfires, as they can analyze continuous sensor data, providing emergency management teams with early warnings when the risk of fire escalates above a predetermined threshold.Specifically, such devices will be able to provide information on the risk level of fires breaking out, the speed at which they are likely to spread, and any locations of particular concern. This can help crews organize emergency evacuations, send out targeted warning messages, and plan preventative measures to help reduce the chance and severity of any outbreaks.<h2>IoT in use today to prevent wildfire</h2>IoT wildfire mitigation is already being deployed. Following catastrophic blazes in 2021, Vodafone, a large telco, rolled out a network of sensors in a forest in Sardinia, Italy. The sensors were able to communicate with each other in a mesh configuration and with a gateway at the edge of the forest. From this gateway, data about the fires could be sent to the cloud for further analysis.Another promising IoT innovation is the plan to deploy &ldquo;sensor node pairs&rdquo; in Australian bushland. In this solution, tree-mounted sensors will measure temperature, humidity, plant stem water content and wind data, while ground sensors will collect soil moisture data. These variables will then be used to assess fire risk. The sensor nodes use Bluetooth LE to communicate with each other, first responders&rsquo; smartphones, and cloud gateways.Safety for firefighters can also be enhanced using the IoT, using wearable sensors. This could improve safety outcomes by improving firefighters&rsquo; real-time awareness of factors such as air quality, temperature, wind direction, and their colleagues&#39; whereabouts.<h2>Energy and connectivity challenges</h2>However, these recent deployments of IoT into deep forests have revealed several key engineering challenges. Due to the size and remote location of many forests, sensors will need to be placed in hard-to-reach areas for extended periods. This makes solutions that support extended battery life and energy harvesting critical.The large areas requiring coverage also means that reliable connectivity is a key challenge. Technologies such as NB-IoT <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Low-power-cellular-IoT?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cellular IoT</a> is ideal, as it offers many kilometers of range for small, battery-powered sensors - exactly what&rsquo;s required for most wildfire detection implementations.However, NB-IoT isn&rsquo;t always an option, due to lack of cellular infrastructure in remote regions. In these circumstances other IoT connectivity alternatives such as DECT NR+ private mesh networks, LoRaWAN or satellite IoT are other possible solutions.<h2>Prevention is better than cure</h2>The official inquiry into Australia&rsquo;s Black Summer fires also found that the cost of investments in preventative measures was significantly lower than that of the emergency response and rebuilding efforts. Analysis by Switzerland-based Distrelec Group agrees with this conclusion, finding that the cost of fully deploying sensors to cover the forest density of Spain to aid in wildfire prevention was just 0.0083 percent of the amount of money spent fighting forest fires. The group drew similar conclusions for several other European nations.Although wildfires will still present a major challenge as climate change increases its effect, IoT devices are promising improvements right across the wildfire management lifecycle, from prevention through to response and recovery.<hr>This article was first published on Nordic&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>. &nbsp;

Wildfires have always been a part of human history, but there has been a significant increase in their severity and frequency over the past few decades. And this trend is only set to get worse, with UN researchers noting that wildfire events will become 50 percent more common by the end of the century.

Battling blazes with the IoT

<section id="isPasted">Team Polar, a student team at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), took their first rover to perform research in the Norwegian snow in the first week of January. The team is dedicated to developing an independent rover that can perform Antarctic research. This is their first working prototype and the team is eager to set a benchmark for future developments. They will present their findings and the rover itself on the reveal event, January 20, 2023.</section><section tabindex="-1">The Earth is facing its biggest problem in centuries: climate change. To fight climate change, we need to understand better the factors behind climate change. However, understanding it requires gathering information about our planet in places where nature is still pristine and more or less unaffected by climate change, as well as places where the consequences of global warming and climate change can be observed first-hand. Circumstances like that are usually found in extremely cold, and remote environments like the Arctics, Antarctica, and the oldest glaciers. At the moment, research is often carried out inefficiently and in very expensive and unsustainable ways.<a href="https://teampolar.org/" target="_blank">Team Polar</a> wants to create an alternative way to do all kinds of environmental, extensive research in the coldest places of our planet by developing an unmanned rover. This rover will eventually operate and perform research all by itself - similar to how the Martian rovers operate on the surface of Mars - and collect invaluable data about the effects of climate change. The team started its mission in 2018 and now presents its first working prototype: the rover &lsquo;Ice Cube&rsquo;.<h2>Research in the snow</h2>Development of the rover took place at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, a country notoriously devoid of deep snow most winters these days. That&rsquo;s why the team took their rover to Trondheim in Norway, to see how their first rover &lsquo;Ice Cube&rsquo; performs in the snow. &ldquo;We can test a lot of things in our lab, but not how the rover drives in the snow, how the solar panels handle the snow and temperatures, and how cold it will get inside the rover and how quickly it becomes very cold,&rdquo; explains team manager Laurenz Edelmann.&ldquo;We have built our first rover with off-the-shelf components. That may or may not present some challenges for us. And, we may find that certain components will need to be custom-made and designed for future rover models. That&rsquo;s why this rover will be a benchmark for us and for future teams.&rdquo; The rover will be remote controlled for now, allowing the team to hand-pick the locations they want to study on this trip. This allowed the team to gather essential insights that can help the team to ensure that their next rover will be fit for a mission to Antarctica.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1674079732566-csm_740c39b4-f736-414a-9c37-377bf1b2a7b9_368fa77a48.jpg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Rover Ice Cube. Photo: Laurenz Edelmann, team POLAR&nbsp;<h2 id="isPasted">Inspiring other teams</h2>The team was in Norway to run their experiments from January 4th until January &nbsp;8th. There, they saw their rover drive through the snow like a natural. They also gained a insights in which components worked fine, and the handful of items that broke and needed replacing. &ldquo;Overall, we were super impressed with the way Ice Cube tackled the snow and handled itself,&rdquo; says Edelmann. &ldquo;We gathered valuable data, and great footage to present at our event.&rdquo; There was also time set aside on the return journey to the Netherlands to visit other universities. &ldquo;We love to maintain good relations with other student teams at technical universities in Europe. That&rsquo;s why we made sure to present our rover at the universities of Trondheim (NTNU), Kopenhagen (DTU), and Braunschweig (NFF),&rdquo; explains Edelmann.&ldquo;We hope to inspire and inform local student teams how to tackle an ambitious goal, such as building an Antarctic research rover, successfully. And, of course, to forge new alliances and collaborations with our colleagues at other institutions.In Eindhoven, student teams get access to a lot of facilities. We were happy to build our rover in the Innovation Space workshop, with its excellent facilities and experts to coach us. Our partners also helped make this possible with funds and materials. This trip wouldn&rsquo;t have been possible without sponsoring from the University Fund Eindhoven (UFe) and EuroTech Universities.&rdquo;<h2>Meet the team and their rover</h2>On Friday January 20th, the team presents their rover &lsquo;Ice Cube&rsquo; to the world after 2 years of design and development. This is a unique opportunity to see the rover up close, meet the team, and ask the researchers, scientists, adventurers, and explorers questions about their work on the rover. The reveal will take place at 4 pm in the Blauwe Zaal in the Auditorium building on the TU/e campus&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/our-university/calendar-and-events/20-01-2023-teampolarprototyperevealevent/" target="_blank">and tickets are already available</a>.&ldquo;We have a great event planned and are looking forward to showcasing the rover, sharing footage of our trip, and discussing opportunities for collaboration with those present at the launch event,&rdquo; says Nikolett Marton, team Polar&rsquo;s marketing manager.<hr>This article was first published here:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/news-and-events/news-overview/12-01-2023-antarctic-rover-performs-research-in-the-snow/" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tue.nl/en/news-and-events/news-overview/12-01-2023-antarctic-rover-performs-research-in-the-snow/</a></section>

Team POLAR's rover Ice Cube in the Norwegian snow. Photo: Laurenz Edelmann, team POLAR

On January 20, Team POLAR showcases its first vehicle for independent climate research in icy, inhospitable regions such as the North and South Poles.

Antarctic rover performs research in the snow

Extracting the greenhouse gas CO 2 from the atmosphere and converting it into stable carbon through combined processes &ndash; this is what a new plant network at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has been doing on a test scale since this month. The process, developed in the NECOC research project together with industrial partners, combines negative emissions with the production of a high-tech raw material. Now it is to be energetically optimized and scaled. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection is funding with 1.5 million euros.Germany is on the way to climate neutrality - and to do this it has to close carbon cycles in industry as quickly as possible. In order to reach the 1.5 degree target at the same time, according to the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), already emitted CO 2removed from the atmosphere and stored permanently. &quot;In order for industrial production to remain possible, we have to break new technological ground,&quot; says Dr. Benjamin Dietrich from the Institute for Thermal Process Engineering (TVT) of the KIT. &ldquo;This also applies to the provision of carbon in industry. This is required in the production of batteries, in the paint industry, in the agricultural sector or in the manufacture of building materials. So far, it has mostly come from fossil sources.&rdquo; In the research project NECOC (stands for: NEgative CarbOn dioxide to Carbon ), which Dietrich is coordinating, the partners KIT, INERATEC and Climeworks are developing a process with which CO 2from the atmosphere can be processed into carbon. &quot;If this then remains bound in the long term, we combine negative emissions with a component of the post-fossil raw material supply in the sense of a future carbon management strategy. This is a double contribution to a more sustainable future,&rdquo; says Dietrich. In the first phase of the project, the research team set up a test facility on a container scale, which has now gone into operation. In continuous operation, this first expansion stage removes almost two kilograms of CO 2 from the ambient air every day and uses it to produce 0.5 kilograms of solid carbon.<h2>In three steps from greenhouse gas to resource</h2>The NECOC process combines three process steps: In the first step, the CO 2 is separated from the ambient air with the aid of an adsorber ( Direct Air Capture ). In the second step, it is reacted in a microstructured reactor with renewably produced hydrogen from a connected electrolyser. The components carbon and oxygen form new bonds, from the CO 2now becomes methane and water. The water flows back into the electrolyser, the methane with its carbon component continues to flow into a reactor with liquid tin. In the third step of the process, the pyrolysis reaction takes place in rising bubbles and the methane molecules are split. This produces hydrogen, which is used again to separate CO 2 in the process. What remains is carbon, which floats on the tin as a microgranular powder and is continuously separated mechanically. By changing process parameters such as the temperature level, different carbon modifications such as graphite, carbon black or even graphene can be produced.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1670397165495-2022_107_Neue+Anlage+produziert+Kohlenstoff+aus+Luft_2_72dpi.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Overview of the climate-friendly NECOC process for producing carbon from CO2. (Graphic: mode: medien + kommunikation gmbh)&nbsp;<h2 id="isPasted">Optimize and scale for industrial use</h2>With the start of the test facility, the NECOC project has reached an important milestone and the end of the first funding phase.&nbsp;In a second project phase, the NECOC process is now to be scaled and optimized for an extended expansion stage.&nbsp;&quot;We want to make the process even more energy-efficient by improving the recovery of process heat,&quot; says project manager Dr.&nbsp;Leonid Stoppel from the Karlsruhe Liquid Metal Laboratory KALLA.&nbsp;&quot;We are also looking at the integration of high-temperature heat storage and the direct integration of&nbsp;solar heat&nbsp;.&nbsp;&quot; the carbon quality can be examined.<h2>About NECOC</h2>The NECOC research project is developing a climate-friendly process with negative emissions for the production of the high-tech raw material carbon from atmospheric CO&nbsp;2 as a component of a carbon management strategy.&nbsp;NECOC started building the components for the three underlying process steps at the end of 2019: direct air capture, methanation and pyrolysis.&nbsp;After successful testing in individual operation, the system network was realized in 2022 and put into operation at the beginning of December.&nbsp;The Karlsruhe Liquid Metal Laboratory (KALLA) as a facility of the Institute for Thermal Energy Technology and Safety (ITES) and the Institute for Thermal Process Engineering (TVT) are involved in the KIT.&nbsp;Project partners are INERATEC GmbH, a KIT spin-off, and Climeworks Deutschland GmbH.<h3>For more information: <a href="https://www.tvt.kit.edu/21_3547.php" target="_blank">https://www.tvt.kit.edu/21_3547.php</a></h3>

The new NECOC system network at KIT produces the high-tech raw material carbon from the climate-damaging CO2 in the ambient air. (Photo: Markus Breig)

The joint operation of the climate-friendly NECOC process for the production of carbon from the CO2 in the ambient air starts at KIT

New plant produces carbon from air

We all know how AI-based systems can be a real burden to your company&rsquo;s energy bill and to reaching global climate goals. How about exploring AI&rsquo;s capabilities to achieve the opposite? By deploying artificial intelligence to reduce your carbon footprint instead of enlarging it, you cannot only help the planet but also improve your company&rsquo;s profits.Come to our&nbsp;<a href="https://aiinnovationcenter.nl/event/roundtable-sustainability/" target="_blank">AI Round Table</a>&nbsp;(16 November) or our&nbsp;<a href="https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=2127507251" target="_blank">Hackathon</a>&nbsp;(18 November) hosted together with Microsoft to learn how to take care of this.AI-based systems are highly compute-intensive. They must process a great deal of data, expanding the need for servers and dependence on energy to cool data centers. No wonder the adoption of AI within an organization will increase the company&rsquo;s energy use. To put that in context:&nbsp;training AI models can produce the carbon dioxide equivalent of five times the lifetime emissions of an American car or 300 round-trip flights between San Francisco and New York.That&rsquo;s not a sustainable model. So it&rsquo;s time to break the negative spiral.When looking at your own industry, think about three areas where AI is likely to have a positive impact on environmental sustainability:<ul><li>Error reduction. When humans make errors conducting manual tasks, that work often has to be reviewed and redone. The effect of addressing these avoidable problems is more energy use. AI can be a factor in reducing human error in many tasks.</li><li>Greater efficiency. By combining several types of AI, including machine learning, NLP, and computer vision, a company can create more efficient processes, reducing energy use. Also, AI can remove unnecessary steps from the current process by contributing to the re-engineering of processes.</li><li>Raw materials. When AI is focused on monitoring raw materials use, it can create opportunities to use less. AI can also be used to create low-carbon materials for your products.</li></ul>In our Round Table and our Hackathon, we will explore these opportunities together with you.<h2 id="isPasted">&ldquo;BUT IS MY INDUSTRY READY FOR AI IMPLEMENTATIONS&hellip;?&rdquo;</h2>Big chance that it is. AI can be a net positive contributor to environmental sustainability in almost any industry. Some examples to inspire you:In agriculture, AI can transform production by better monitoring and managing environmental conditions and crop yields. AI can help reduce fertilizer and water, all while improving crop yields.In energy, AI can use deep predictive capabilities and intelligent grid systems to manage the demand and supply of renewable energy. By more accurately predicting weather patterns, AI can optimize efficiency, cutting costs and unnecessary carbon pollution generation.In transportation, AI can help reduce traffic congestion, improve supply chain logistics, and enable autonomous driving capabilities. AI can support businesses with demand forecasting, helping to reduce the amount of transport needed.In water resource management, AI can help reduce or eliminate waste while lowering costs and lessening environmental impact. AI-driven localized weather forecasting will help reduce water usage.In manufacturing, AI can help reduce waste and energy use in production facilities. AI can design more precise and efficient systems.In facilities management, AI can maximize the efficiency of heating and cooling. AI can help optimize energy use in buildings by tracking the number of people in a room or predicting the availability of renewable energy sources.In materials science, AI can help researchers find new materials for solar panels, for turning the heat back into electricity, and help find absorbent materials that take CO2 out of the atmosphere.AI uses a great deal of energy, and most companies have yet to learn how to measure their environmental impact. We need to stir up the debate around AI&rsquo;s environmental impact. Join us on November 16 or 18 to get started.Round Table, November 16:&nbsp;<a href="https://aiinnovationcenter.nl/event/roundtable-sustainability/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Register for the AI Roundtable on Sustainability in Manufacturing</a>Hackathon, November 18:&nbsp;<a href="https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=2127507251" target="_blank">Register for the Microsoft Sustainability Hackathon</a><hr>This article is part of the AI Innovation Series, organized by the AI Innovation Center. The series focuses on the application of AI in the manufacturing industry.<a href="https://aiinnovationcenter.nl/ai-manufacturing/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">&nbsp;Learn more here</a>.<h2>BEST PREPARATION FOR THE FUTURE</h2>For those still struggling with the role of AI within their manufacturing company and the ones that have already made the first steps, our AI in Manufacturing Innovation Series is the ideal starting point for your next steps.&nbsp;<a href="https://aiinnovationcenter.nl/ai-manufacturing" target="_blank">Read more about the activities here</a>.

We all know how AI-based systems can be a real burden to your company’s energy bill and to reaching global climate goals. How about exploring AI’s capabilities to achieve the opposite? By deploying artificial intelligence to reduce your carbon footprint instead of enlarging it

How AI can help your manufacturing company reduce its carbon footprint - and increase your profits - AI Innovation Center

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) regularly publishes a list of the world&rsquo;s 100 most destructive species. Chief among the culprits are the likes of the Nile Perch and the small Indian mongoose, both voracious and opportunistic predators between them responsible for the extinction of well over 200 species. Luckily the IUCN list doesn&rsquo;t include humans because when it comes to eliminating other species, we make the Nile Perch and small Indian mongoose look like amateurs.Human activity, from climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction, to poaching, territorial conflict, and trophy hunting, has seen the IUCN&rsquo;s list of endangered species balloon to more than 147,000 in recent years, with 41,000 species threatened with extinction. This rate of extinction is unprecedented in human history.<h2>The damage done</h2>The problem is colossal. Human population growth brings with it a desperate need for land&mdash;for agriculture, cities, roads, and mining&mdash;which along with the pollution and CO2 emissions we generate, is devastating for any other animal that gets in our way.After habitat destruction, the illegal hunting and harvesting of animals is the second biggest threat to species. Left unchecked, African elephants will be gone by 2040 according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). One is killed by poachers every 26 minutes, but there is still hope.The wireless technology that helps us monitor our everyday health and fitness, tracks the whereabouts and well-being of both people and assets, and has played a critical role in negotiating our path through the COVID-19 pandemic, is now widely being deployed to help conservation efforts.<h2>Saving the elephants</h2>Tracking wild animals isn&rsquo;t easy, not even if you are the size of an African elephant. But tracking African elephants was the specific goal of a recent initiative called the <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/News/2020/08/Hacksterio-wildlife-tracker-challenge-to-protect-endangered-elephants-in-Africa?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ElephantEdge challenge</a>, which aims to replace traditional and manual methods of elephant monitoring with a connected alternative. The ElephantEdge challenge is a joint enterprise of Avnet community, Hackster.io, and pro-conservation organization Smart Parks&mdash;combined with leading technology partners, including Nordic Semiconductor and Microsoft.The design competition asked developers to create ML models using Edge Impulse Studio that could be installed onto wirelessly connected collars integrating vision, audio, and motion sensors, as well as web-based tracking dashboards using&nbsp;Avnet&#39;s IoTConnect, an advanced unified IoT platform featuring sensors and gateways.The combined solution could help park rangers use the data to track, monitor, and receive on-demand alerts about the elephants. For example, camera vision models could monitor the risk of poaching and predators or elephant movements, while accelerometer data models could predict and classify common elephant behaviors. While this technology is directed at African elephants, it has potential and application wherever monitoring animal behavior could benefit conservation efforts.<h2>Smart tracking solutions</h2>Nordic has also been working closely with a South African company called iSiTech, which has launched a smart <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/News/2022/04/iSiTechs-iSiTAG-uses-nRF52840-SoC-and-nRF21540-RF-FEM?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">animal tracking and management system</a> designed to combat livestock theft and wildlife poaching and remotely monitor animal health and behavior. The system combines tags that can be easily attached to the ears of livestock or wildlife and are equipped with temperature and movement sensors as well as GPS capability.From a web-based platform, users can set up geofencing of feeding areas with go and no-go zones and review captured sensor data to provide alerts if the animal&#39;s behavior is indicative of any issues. For example, low movement could indicate illness, or if it is outside of the set boundary, the animal may be lost or have been stolen.In addition to the sensors, the tags integrate Nordic&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF52840?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nRF52840 Bluetooth LE SoC</a> and <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF21540" rel="noopener" target="_blank">nRF25140 RF Front End Module</a>, together enabling the solar-powered tags to report animal data to a cloud-connected gateway over a line-of-sight distance of up to 3 km, every two minutes. The ability to report the data every couple of minutes is vital because it allows animal owners or conservation authorities to respond rapidly in the event of an emergency.<h2>Long range cellular IoT</h2>For animal tracking over even longer distances, cellular IoT connectivity is being successfully deployed in a growing number of use cases. LTE-M is perfect for medium-throughput applications requiring low power, low latency and/or mobility, such as tracking animals over wide areas. The achievable range is up to 15 km depending on the application, and in the case of Nordic&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF9160?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nRF9160 low-power SiP</a>, tracking devices can perpetually operate on harvested solar energy alone, an obvious advantage in applications where changing or charging a battery on a tag attached to a wild animal is either impractical, impossible or downright dangerous.The application of wireless technology and smart animal tracking devices is an important step in helping keep both wild and commercial animals safe and secure, but more needs to be done. Particularly for the preservation of endangered species. The technology exists, and the imperative is clear. Now the human will to deploy it at scale must follow.<hr>This article was first published on Nordic&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>. &nbsp;

Human activity, from climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction, to poaching, territorial conflict, and trophy hunting, has seen the IUCN’s list of endangered species balloon to more than 147,000 in recent years, with 41,000 species threatened with extinction.

Endangered wildlife has wireless lifeline

<h1 id="isPasted">Understanding Conformal Coating Vs. Potting/ Encapsulation</h1>The manufacturing of PCBAs increasingly requires conformal coating and potting/encapsulation. The world&rsquo;s technological advancements enable PCB assemblies to find their way into an expanding number of products in a wide range of industries. Occasionally, these products need extra protection to shield them from external contamination while preserving their original design and functionality.Designers can achieve this result with conformal coatings or potting and encapsulation resins. Aside from providing chemical and thermal resistance to boards, both organic polymer substances also deliver electrical insulation. In spite of this, they differ significantly and shouldn&rsquo;t be confused with each other. Here is a quick overview of conformal coating vs. potting vs. encapsulation, as well as their best uses.<h2>Conformal Coating vs. Potting vs. Encapsulation &ndash; What&rsquo;s the Difference?</h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1666275007541-1666275007541.png" alt="Conformal Coating vs. Encapsulation vs. Potting - What’s the Difference?" class="fr-fic fr-dii">The conformal coating and potting or encapsulation of PCBAs provide different levels of protection.A thick resin is used to encapsulate electronic components. Resin provides protection from physical shock and chemical exposure. This step involves mixing the resin with a hardener before applying it to the board. When the crosslinked polymer dries, it obscures the component underneath.Potting is sometimes confused with encapsulation, but the two processes are actually different. During potting, a case or shell is created, and resin is poured over it to completely encase the component. The resin-filled pot becomes part of the final product. Often, potting protects sensitive components against moisture and water damage. Furthermore, it can act as a visual and physical barrier that prevents IP theft and tampering.A<a href="https://help.macrofab.com/knowledge/what-are-macrofabs-assembly-capabilities?utm_content=four-reasons-your-electronics-development-team" target="_blank">&nbsp;conformal coating</a> provides a nonconductive dielectric protective layer. While this thin, lightweight coating has little to no structural effect on the PCBA, it protects it from damage caused by fungus, moisture, salt spray, or corrosion. A conformal coating is most often applied with a brush or spray.<h3>The Best Way to Protect Your PCBA</h3>If you have a variety of options at your disposal, how do you decide which is the best one for your application? To begin, you should consider the environmental factors that will affect your assembly, such as<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1666275007497-1666275007497.png" alt="protection pcba" class="fr-fic fr-dii"><ul><li> <ul><li>Chemical exposure: Coatings and resin both provide excellent protection from chemical exposure.</li><li>Mechanical stress: Resin provides a thick layer of protection against physical damage in environments where components may be abraded or scratched.</li><li>Moisture from water, humidity, etc: Conformal coating is a cost-effective method of preventing water infiltration. Water resistance varies from coating to coating.</li><li>Physical shock: Resin spreads the impact over the entire material, reducing or eliminating damage to underlying parts.</li></ul></li></ul><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1666275007838-1666275007838.png" alt="temperature extremes" class="fr-fic fr-dii"><ul><li>Temperature extremes: Extreme temperatures require additional consideration, especially when selecting resins. A special type of epoxy compound designed for aggressive environments exists.</li></ul>Although encapsulation and potting provide protection from extreme environments, coatings offer more flexibility. With their thin application methods, conformal coatings can last for a long time and do not add extra weight or stress, as resin coatings do. Conformal coating often provides a secondary level of protection below the surface of an external housing. This partnership results in more effective risk management while maintaining board workability.<h3>How to Apply a Conformal Coating</h3>It is possible to apply conformal coatings in several different ways. This is determined by production yield and includes<ul><li>Dip Coating: In dip coating, the PCB or components get immersed in the coating solution. It allows for a full application, but issues may arise during drying.</li><li>Brush Coating: Wet coating gets applied piece by piece with a brush. When misapplied, brush coating can lead to unsatisfactory performance results.</li><li>Spray Coating: Spray coatings can be applied manually or by machines. In addition to its extreme accuracy, automatic spraying facilitates high-volume production due to its highly repetitive nature.</li></ul><h3>Final Considerations</h3><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1666275007706-1666275007706.png" alt="ozone depleting chemicals" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Consider your vendor&rsquo;s capabilities, your product needs, and any regulatory requirements that may apply to your project before deciding whether to coat or encapsulate. The Montreal Protocol restricts some chemicals once used in conformal coating formulations as ozone-depleting chemicals, so make sure your CM understands these limitations (especially if they are located in a country with fewer environmental restrictions.)Among the conformal coating types and methods offered by MacroFab are acrylic, silicone, and polyurethane. As per industry standards, we conduct quality control under UV light and add a UV tracer to our conformal coatings.<h4>Ready to Get Started?</h4>Build from anywhere, anytime, with MacroFab.<a href="https://factory.macrofab.com/signup/?utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_id=&utm_medium=&utm_source=&utm_term=" target="_blank">Create your Account Today</a>

Conformal coating and encapsulation provide different levels of protection. 

Conformal coating protects from damage caused by fungus, moisture, salt spray, or corrosion. 

hazardous environments

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