Technology

January 25, 2021

Biomass Feedstock Right There With The Urethane Car Tire

New biodegradable polyurethane foams are developed from wheat straw

wheat
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Every year around 734 million tons of wheat straw are produced worldwide, a large amount of waste, which is cheap and has had no well-defined use until now. Recently, the RNM-271 Chemical Engineering and FQM-383 NANOVAL Organic Chemistry research groups at the University of Córdoba have been able to give a new use to this agricultural excess material, by using it as the foundation in order to manufacture polyurethane foams.

Also known as foam rubber, this plastic material, often manufactured from petroleum by-products, is extremely versatile within the industry and has multiple uses in the construction and automobile sectors as a sealant as well as a thermal and acoustic insulator.

The new paper, published on the cover of Polymers, and on which Chile’s Advanced Polymers Research Center (CIPA) also participated, has found a new purpose for this wheat waste. After this waste is liquefied, polyols are obtained. These polyols are one of the key compounds that play a role in the chemical reaction that makes polyurethane foams.

To date, castor oil has been one of the main candidates in the race to obtain sustainable polyurethane foam that does not require petroleum. The issue, as explained by one of the main authors of the paper, Esther Rincón, is that this vegetable oil “does not offer complete hardness and dryness once exposed to air,” one of the keys to proper rubber foam formation.

For this reason, the new research proposed substituting 50% of this castor oil for wheat straw, with results that offer up very similar characteristics to those generated by traditional manufacturing processes that use non-renewable compounds: “We were able to obtain very desirable parameters in the manufacturing of foam, converting 96% of the wheat used with an almost maximum performance,” explains Esther Rincón. In addition, as pointed out by the researcher, they obtained higher levels of biodegradability than those reached by the products currently on the market, meaning that this material takes less time to decompose.

Use in plant nurseries

While these new polyurethane foams could have infinite applications and even be manufactured with other kinds of biomass, the research group, in the second stage of their study, will use them in plant nurseries to help with plant growth. “Instead of watering the plant, and with the aim of dealing with drought problems and preventing overwatering, we would inject the water into the foam so that the plant can consume it as needed,” explains the researcher.

https://koliasa.com/new-biodegradable-polyurethane-foams-are-developed-from-wheat-straw/

January 21, 2021

Driverless Trucks

Aurora And PACCAR Team Up In Autonomous Truck Push

by Tyler DurdenThursday, Jan 21, 2021 – 14:30

Submitted by Market Crumbs,

Just last month Uber unloaded its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to Aurora to accelerate the development of the Aurora Driver, which is hoping to become the autonomous driving platform powering everything from passenger vehicles to heavy-duty trucks.

Aurora is backed by names such as Amazon and Sequoia with Uber now reportedly holding a more than 25% stake in the company following last month’s deal. Aurora was co-founded by Chris Urmson, who headed Google’s self-driving division for nearly eight years and is one of the most widely regarded names in the self-driving vehicle space.

Aurora didn’t take long to announce its next move following the acquisition of ATG as the company signed a global strategic partnership with trucking giant PACCAR to bring a self-driving trucks powered by the Aurora Driver to market in the coming years.

The partnership will see the two companies develop, test and commercialize autonomous Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579 trucks running on the Aurora Driver are expected to be deployed in North America over the next few years.

“PACCAR looks forward to partnering with Aurora because of their industry-leading autonomous driving technology and impressive team,” PACCAR CEO Preston Feight said. “This strategic partnership complements PACCAR’s best-in-class commercial vehicle quality, technology and innovation.”

The partnership is a win for Aurora, which says it has already been using PACCAR trucks for many of its test vehicles. Aurora will provide self-driving technology such as hardware, software and operational services, while PACCAR will use its more than 100 years of experience in the trucking sector to contribute autonomous-enabled vehicles and aftermarket parts distribution, finance and other transportation solutions.

“Working together, we’ve been impressed with PACCAR’s product engineering, manufacturing capabilities, and commitment to enhancing its customers’ operational safety and efficiency,” Urmson said. “This partnership brings us one step closer to unlocking the autonomous freight market and delivering goods to those who need them.”

If successful, the partnership could be further applied to other models under the Peterbilt and Kenworth brands, while also expanding outside of the U.S. through PACCAR’s other brands such as Dutch truck manufacturer DAF Trucks.

Fresh off its deal to acquire Uber’s self-driving unit, Aurora now has the perfect partner in PACCAR to help accelerate the development and commercialization of autonomous trucks globally.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/aurora-and-paccar-team-autonomous-truck-push

January 21, 2021

Driverless Trucks

Aurora And PACCAR Team Up In Autonomous Truck Push

by Tyler DurdenThursday, Jan 21, 2021 – 14:30

Submitted by Market Crumbs,

Just last month Uber unloaded its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to Aurora to accelerate the development of the Aurora Driver, which is hoping to become the autonomous driving platform powering everything from passenger vehicles to heavy-duty trucks.

Aurora is backed by names such as Amazon and Sequoia with Uber now reportedly holding a more than 25% stake in the company following last month’s deal. Aurora was co-founded by Chris Urmson, who headed Google’s self-driving division for nearly eight years and is one of the most widely regarded names in the self-driving vehicle space.

Aurora didn’t take long to announce its next move following the acquisition of ATG as the company signed a global strategic partnership with trucking giant PACCAR to bring a self-driving trucks powered by the Aurora Driver to market in the coming years.

The partnership will see the two companies develop, test and commercialize autonomous Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579 trucks running on the Aurora Driver are expected to be deployed in North America over the next few years.

“PACCAR looks forward to partnering with Aurora because of their industry-leading autonomous driving technology and impressive team,” PACCAR CEO Preston Feight said. “This strategic partnership complements PACCAR’s best-in-class commercial vehicle quality, technology and innovation.”

The partnership is a win for Aurora, which says it has already been using PACCAR trucks for many of its test vehicles. Aurora will provide self-driving technology such as hardware, software and operational services, while PACCAR will use its more than 100 years of experience in the trucking sector to contribute autonomous-enabled vehicles and aftermarket parts distribution, finance and other transportation solutions.

“Working together, we’ve been impressed with PACCAR’s product engineering, manufacturing capabilities, and commitment to enhancing its customers’ operational safety and efficiency,” Urmson said. “This partnership brings us one step closer to unlocking the autonomous freight market and delivering goods to those who need them.”

If successful, the partnership could be further applied to other models under the Peterbilt and Kenworth brands, while also expanding outside of the U.S. through PACCAR’s other brands such as Dutch truck manufacturer DAF Trucks.

Fresh off its deal to acquire Uber’s self-driving unit, Aurora now has the perfect partner in PACCAR to help accelerate the development and commercialization of autonomous trucks globally.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/aurora-and-paccar-team-autonomous-truck-push

January 7, 2021

Glycolysis Analysis

Life Cycle Assessment of Polyurethane Foams from Polyols Obtained through Chemical Recycling

  • Alessandro Marson
  • Massimiliano Masiero
  • Michele Modesti
  • Antonio Scipioni
  • Alessandro Manzardo*

Cite this: ACS Omega 2021, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXXPublication Date:January 7, 2021https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c05844

Abstract

In this research, the results of the life cycle assessment of polyurethane (PUR) foams with different recycled polyol contents are presented. A methodological framework implementing laboratory activities directly into the life cycle assessment has been developed. Laboratory activities made the primary data related to the recycled polyol production available through the glycolysis of polyurethane scraps and the subsequent production and characterization of the foams. Five different formulations were analyzed with glycolyzed polyol content ranging from 0 to 100%. A comprehensive set of impact categories was considered. To ensure the robustness of the results, the influence of two different end-of-life allocation approaches was investigated, and the model was subjected to sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Formulations with recycled content of 50 and 75% scored better environmental impacts compared to others. The main contributions to the overall impact resulted to be related to the production of isocyanate and virgin polyol. Physical characteristics such as density and thermal conductivity emerged as the main variables to be considered to minimize the overall environmental impacts of PUR foams.

Read more here:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.0c05844

January 7, 2021

Glycolysis Analysis

Life Cycle Assessment of Polyurethane Foams from Polyols Obtained through Chemical Recycling

  • Alessandro Marson
  • Massimiliano Masiero
  • Michele Modesti
  • Antonio Scipioni
  • Alessandro Manzardo*

Cite this: ACS Omega 2021, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXXPublication Date:January 7, 2021https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c05844

Abstract

In this research, the results of the life cycle assessment of polyurethane (PUR) foams with different recycled polyol contents are presented. A methodological framework implementing laboratory activities directly into the life cycle assessment has been developed. Laboratory activities made the primary data related to the recycled polyol production available through the glycolysis of polyurethane scraps and the subsequent production and characterization of the foams. Five different formulations were analyzed with glycolyzed polyol content ranging from 0 to 100%. A comprehensive set of impact categories was considered. To ensure the robustness of the results, the influence of two different end-of-life allocation approaches was investigated, and the model was subjected to sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Formulations with recycled content of 50 and 75% scored better environmental impacts compared to others. The main contributions to the overall impact resulted to be related to the production of isocyanate and virgin polyol. Physical characteristics such as density and thermal conductivity emerged as the main variables to be considered to minimize the overall environmental impacts of PUR foams.

Read more here:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.0c05844