Technology

October 24, 2019

Lanxess Uses AI for Prepolymer Development

Lanxess launches AI-assisted formulation development for Urethane Systems

By Mary Page Bailey |

Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is broadening its use of artificial intelligence (AI) in product development. The specialty chemicals company has launched a project aimed at expanding its range of prepolymers. The goal is to offer customers tailor-made polyurethane systems with even shorter lead times, including for entirely new applications with different requirements. The Urethane Systems business unit is using the potential of AI and has brought materials AI company Citrine Informatics on board as a project partner.

In an initial project phase, Lanxess enlarged its database of prepolymer-based formulations. Lanxess data specialists and process experts used the Citrine Platform for artificial intelligence to add further data points to the company’s formulation database. This involved linking existing empirical measurement data with the knowledge of the process experts and a chemistry-aware algorithm to calculate additional measurement values. This meant that only a few real-life measurements were required to verify the figures determined with AI.

In a next step, data and process experts at Lanxess will check how reliably optimal formulations can be predicted with the aid of AI to meet customer-specific requirements for product characteristics. “If the next tests are successful, we will be able to fulfill customer requests even more quickly and effectively. Our existing knowledge of formulations shall be enhanced by AI-assisted formulation design – in other words, systems that are not yet part of our portfolio but for which artificial intelligence will enable us to know instantly whether we can manufacture them and how,” says Markus Eckert, head of the Urethane Systems business unit at Lanxess.

So far, chemists have largely had to rely on their specialist expertise and years of experience when researching new formulations with defined product characteristics such as hardness, tensile strength and viscosity. AI is expected to become an important tool to help them broaden their knowledge and significantly reduce the amount of tests required.

Lanxess already has some experience in using AI. In a pilot project with Citrine Informatics, the specialty chemicals company is using AI to optimize glass fibers as a way of further enhancing the properties of Lanxess high-performance plastics. It is anticipated that AI will cut development times for the necessary formulations by more than half. Customers will receive even better, tailor-made products within shorter time frames.

For Jörg Hellwig, Head of the Lanxess Digitalization Initiative, the partnership between Citrine and the Lanxess Urethane Systems business unit demonstrates the growing role of digitalization in product development. “Most employees who are already using artificial intelligence cannot imagine ever going back to the old methods of working. The use of digital technologies is increasingly becoming standard procedure at Lanxess,” says Hellwig.

Lanxess launches AI-assisted formulation development for Urethane Systems

October 24, 2019

Lanxess Uses AI for Prepolymer Development

Lanxess launches AI-assisted formulation development for Urethane Systems

By Mary Page Bailey |

Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is broadening its use of artificial intelligence (AI) in product development. The specialty chemicals company has launched a project aimed at expanding its range of prepolymers. The goal is to offer customers tailor-made polyurethane systems with even shorter lead times, including for entirely new applications with different requirements. The Urethane Systems business unit is using the potential of AI and has brought materials AI company Citrine Informatics on board as a project partner.

In an initial project phase, Lanxess enlarged its database of prepolymer-based formulations. Lanxess data specialists and process experts used the Citrine Platform for artificial intelligence to add further data points to the company’s formulation database. This involved linking existing empirical measurement data with the knowledge of the process experts and a chemistry-aware algorithm to calculate additional measurement values. This meant that only a few real-life measurements were required to verify the figures determined with AI.

In a next step, data and process experts at Lanxess will check how reliably optimal formulations can be predicted with the aid of AI to meet customer-specific requirements for product characteristics. “If the next tests are successful, we will be able to fulfill customer requests even more quickly and effectively. Our existing knowledge of formulations shall be enhanced by AI-assisted formulation design – in other words, systems that are not yet part of our portfolio but for which artificial intelligence will enable us to know instantly whether we can manufacture them and how,” says Markus Eckert, head of the Urethane Systems business unit at Lanxess.

So far, chemists have largely had to rely on their specialist expertise and years of experience when researching new formulations with defined product characteristics such as hardness, tensile strength and viscosity. AI is expected to become an important tool to help them broaden their knowledge and significantly reduce the amount of tests required.

Lanxess already has some experience in using AI. In a pilot project with Citrine Informatics, the specialty chemicals company is using AI to optimize glass fibers as a way of further enhancing the properties of Lanxess high-performance plastics. It is anticipated that AI will cut development times for the necessary formulations by more than half. Customers will receive even better, tailor-made products within shorter time frames.

For Jörg Hellwig, Head of the Lanxess Digitalization Initiative, the partnership between Citrine and the Lanxess Urethane Systems business unit demonstrates the growing role of digitalization in product development. “Most employees who are already using artificial intelligence cannot imagine ever going back to the old methods of working. The use of digital technologies is increasingly becoming standard procedure at Lanxess,” says Hellwig.

Lanxess launches AI-assisted formulation development for Urethane Systems

October 22, 2019

Steel Foam Fortified with Epoxy

This Steel Foam Could Make Airplane Wings Better

Because high-grade aluminum just won’t cut it.

By David Grossman

Composite metal foam

Afsaneh Rabiei
  • High-grade aluminum has been the standard material of choice for airplane wings for years.
  • A new study suggests that a newer material, a metal foam made out of steel and epoxy glue, could be even stronger and more effective.
  • The material is still just in testing, but from bug build to erosion, it appears to offer an upgrade on what aluminum can provide.

Airplane wings are made out of a specific type of aluminum, an alloy that offers a combination of lightness and strength comparable to steel that makes for easy flying. But scientists from North Carolina State University are investigating what might be an even better material: a combination of epoxy resin and what’s known as steel composite metal foam, or CMF.

“We call our hybrid material ‘infused CMF,’” says Afsaneh Rabiei, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State, in a press statement. “And while infused CMF is about the same weight as aluminum, it is tougher and has other characteristics that make it more appealing from a flight performance, safety and fuel efficiency standpoint.”

Metal foam resembles any other type of foam, with hollow gas-filled spherical pores taking up much of the volume. The only difference is its cellular structure is made out of metal.

The foam used here was a steel-steel CMF, meaning both its hollow pores and matrix were made of steel. Steel-steel CMF is a sturdy material, capable of withstanding .50 caliber rounds, temperatures as high as 800 degrees Celsius, and even explosive incendiary devices as close as 18 inches away.

“In short, we found that steel-CMF offers much more protection than all other existing armor materials while lowering the weight remarkably,” Rabiei said in 2018, after he conducted a study looking at explosives. “We can provide as much protection as existing steel armor at a fraction of the weight—or provide much more protection at the same weight.”

The NC State team makes the material by immersing the steel-steel CMF within a hydrophobic epoxy resin and then using vacuum forces to draw the resin into both the hollow spheres and smaller pores. Approximately 88 percent of the CMF’s pores end up filled with the epoxy resin, which acts as a hardening glue on the material.

The researchers tested their material against aerospace-grade aluminum in three categories: “contact angle, which determines how quickly water streams off of a material; insect adhesion, or how well bug parts stuck to the material; and particle wear, or how well the material stands up to erosion,” they say in their press statement.

Contact angle with water is crucial for planes as they fly through inclement weather. Water buildup on wings can weigh a plane down and lower a wing’s ability to perform overall. Testing showed the infused CMF had a contact angle 130 percent higher than its competition, a noticeable improvement.

Like water, insect residue is one of those inevitable parts of flying that can build up over time. It’s measured in two different ways: There’s the sheer height of the dead insect residue as it piles up on the wing, and how far the inspects have spread over the wing. The steel-steel CMF was able to outperform standard wings on both measures, with 60 percent less in maximum height, and by 30 percent in terms of surface area.

And then there’s the condition that eventually affects every material: erosion. The team blasted the CMF with grit to better understand out how it could handle erosion. While the grit blast did increase the material’s roughness, it had a contact angle 50 percent better than aluminum.

“Aluminum is currently the material of choice for making the leading edge of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft wings,” Rabiei says. “Our results suggest that infused CMF may be a valuable replacement, offering better performance at the same weight.

“By the same token, the results suggest that we could use different materials for the matrix or spheres to create a combination that performs as well as conventional aluminum at a fraction of the weight. Either way, you’re improving performance and fuel efficiency.”

https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a29535891/steel-foam-airplane-wings/

October 22, 2019

Steel Foam Fortified with Epoxy

This Steel Foam Could Make Airplane Wings Better

Because high-grade aluminum just won’t cut it.

By David Grossman

Composite metal foam

Afsaneh Rabiei
  • High-grade aluminum has been the standard material of choice for airplane wings for years.
  • A new study suggests that a newer material, a metal foam made out of steel and epoxy glue, could be even stronger and more effective.
  • The material is still just in testing, but from bug build to erosion, it appears to offer an upgrade on what aluminum can provide.

Airplane wings are made out of a specific type of aluminum, an alloy that offers a combination of lightness and strength comparable to steel that makes for easy flying. But scientists from North Carolina State University are investigating what might be an even better material: a combination of epoxy resin and what’s known as steel composite metal foam, or CMF.

“We call our hybrid material ‘infused CMF,’” says Afsaneh Rabiei, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State, in a press statement. “And while infused CMF is about the same weight as aluminum, it is tougher and has other characteristics that make it more appealing from a flight performance, safety and fuel efficiency standpoint.”

Metal foam resembles any other type of foam, with hollow gas-filled spherical pores taking up much of the volume. The only difference is its cellular structure is made out of metal.

The foam used here was a steel-steel CMF, meaning both its hollow pores and matrix were made of steel. Steel-steel CMF is a sturdy material, capable of withstanding .50 caliber rounds, temperatures as high as 800 degrees Celsius, and even explosive incendiary devices as close as 18 inches away.

“In short, we found that steel-CMF offers much more protection than all other existing armor materials while lowering the weight remarkably,” Rabiei said in 2018, after he conducted a study looking at explosives. “We can provide as much protection as existing steel armor at a fraction of the weight—or provide much more protection at the same weight.”

The NC State team makes the material by immersing the steel-steel CMF within a hydrophobic epoxy resin and then using vacuum forces to draw the resin into both the hollow spheres and smaller pores. Approximately 88 percent of the CMF’s pores end up filled with the epoxy resin, which acts as a hardening glue on the material.

The researchers tested their material against aerospace-grade aluminum in three categories: “contact angle, which determines how quickly water streams off of a material; insect adhesion, or how well bug parts stuck to the material; and particle wear, or how well the material stands up to erosion,” they say in their press statement.

Contact angle with water is crucial for planes as they fly through inclement weather. Water buildup on wings can weigh a plane down and lower a wing’s ability to perform overall. Testing showed the infused CMF had a contact angle 130 percent higher than its competition, a noticeable improvement.

Like water, insect residue is one of those inevitable parts of flying that can build up over time. It’s measured in two different ways: There’s the sheer height of the dead insect residue as it piles up on the wing, and how far the inspects have spread over the wing. The steel-steel CMF was able to outperform standard wings on both measures, with 60 percent less in maximum height, and by 30 percent in terms of surface area.

And then there’s the condition that eventually affects every material: erosion. The team blasted the CMF with grit to better understand out how it could handle erosion. While the grit blast did increase the material’s roughness, it had a contact angle 50 percent better than aluminum.

“Aluminum is currently the material of choice for making the leading edge of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft wings,” Rabiei says. “Our results suggest that infused CMF may be a valuable replacement, offering better performance at the same weight.

“By the same token, the results suggest that we could use different materials for the matrix or spheres to create a combination that performs as well as conventional aluminum at a fraction of the weight. Either way, you’re improving performance and fuel efficiency.”

https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a29535891/steel-foam-airplane-wings/

October 14, 2019

Dow Propane DeHydrogenation Expansion

US Dow to retrofit Louisiana cracker for on-purpose propylene

Author: Stefan Baumgarten

2019/08/20

HOUSTON  (ICIS)–Dow will retrofit proprietary fluidised catalytic dehydrogenation (FCDh) technology into one of its mixed-feed crackers in Plaquemine, Louisiana, to produce on-purpose propylene, the US-based chemicals major said on Tuesday.

The retrofit will enable production of more than 100,000 tonnes/year of additional on-purpose propylene at full run-rate, further back-integrating Dow’s derivative facilities to cost-advantaged propylene while also maintaining the unit’s current ethylene production capacity, the company said.

The project is expected to begin producing on-purpose propylene by the end of 2021.

Dow said the retrofit would enable it to meet growing demand for its businesses serving consumer, infrastructure and packaging end-markets, while also remaining within its stated near-term capital expenditure targets, it said.

In 2016, Dow expanded the ethylene capacity of this same cracker by more than 225,000 tonnes/year and added the ability to crack ethane, while maintaining the flexibility to crack propane, butane and naphtha.

Dow and other US cracker operators are consuming more ethane instead of heavier feed slates, resulting in a reduction of co-product production, including propylene.

This reduction in propylene has created a supply/demand gap in the US that requires additional on-purpose propylene sources to meet the needs of downstream derivatives, Dow said.

FCDh technology is seen as one of the most economical propane dehydrogenation (PDH) technologies available today.

It can be used to construct a stand-alone PDH facility or can be integrated with existing crackers to provide “plug and play” capabilities for a variety of plant configurations, Dow said.

“Deploying FCDh technology supports Dow’s continued focus on delivering low-risk, low-cost and high-return projects while reducing the energy intensity and carbon footprint associated with conventional technologies,” said Keith Cleason, vice president of Dow’s Olefins, Aromatics & Alternatives business.

https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2019/08/20/10406189/us-dow-to-retrofit-louisiana-cracker-for-on-purpose-propylene?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter