Comments for EWI Energy Center

Comment on The Rare Earth Situation: Why Are They So Important? by dave hite

dave hite — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:43:40 +0000

I saw on the news last night that China is drastically reducing it’s supplies of Rare Earth to the world..Molycorp is re-opening it’s mine here in Mountain Pass, Ca.
do you feel Molycorp would be a good investment at this time? Thank you..

Dave Hite

Comment on Life Cycle Analysis by julkos

julkos — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:34:01 +0000

To produce without harming the environment is an important task and will always be one. The environmental impact will grow within the next years, so it should be in the responsibility of all producing company to help using our natural ressources without wasting. Apart from Gabi Software and Sima Pro there are a couple of renowed softwares like umberto (www.umberto.de/en) – a software for lca and material flow analysis by ifu Hamburg – that are helpful optimizing companys ressources.

Comment on Life Cycle Analysis by julkos

julkos — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:24:24 +0000

There are a couple of renowed software tools for life cycle assessment apart from gabi software and sima pro. Ifu Hamburg offers a good software that you can use for your material flow analysis and to optimize your process flow. It’s called umberto: http://www.umberto.de/en and contains material flow analysis, lca and optimization of product systems.

Comment on Cool Tech: Ultrasonic Brazing by Shankar Srinivasan

Shankar Srinivasan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:30:57 +0000

You are correct in that active brazes do not require plating but they still require the use of vacuum furnaces that are expensive. So, you have the choice of a process that is green and expensive versus a green and a potentially inexpensive process, which leads to your question about economics. As you say, vacuum furnaces are in the few hundred thousand dollars. On the contrary, the cost of ultrasonic brazing process, depending on the system (material, temperature,etc), could vary. To elaborate on this, the capital cost of this process primarily stems from the use of ultrasonic power supplies and brazing tools, which are usually of the order of $25,000. To this, you add the labor cost (or the automation cost) for the number of parts you want to manufacture to get a rough comparison of the total cost of vacuum vs. ultrasonic brazing.Inert Atmospheres – Yes, we can do ultrasonic brazing in inert atmospheres, and have demonstrated it at higher temperatures ~750C. If you are comparing the cost and greenness (if there is such a term) of brazing in inert atmospheres using a furnace vs. ultrasonic brazing in inert atmospheres, it is again dependent on the system and the volume. Obviously, the process that is green and inexpensive would be the preferred one.

Comment on Cool Tech: Ultrasonic Brazing by Braze Guy

Braze Guy — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:23:57 +0000

The author does not talk about using active braze alloy systems which eliminate the need for any type of plating.What about brazing in inert atmospheres?How much do these systems cost? I can get a very fast vacuum furnace for less than $250,000 (made in USA) and do several parts at once. I would like to see the economics.