Project Tag: IEEE Engineering360

Originally published on 10 November 2016 on IEEE Engineering360.

High-performance thermoplastics (HPTPs) are specialized polymers used for demanding applications, largely due to their thermal resistance in comparison to engineering thermoplastics (ETPs) such as nylons and polycarbonates (PC). One tradeoff, however, is that their prices are often higher.

In general, economics play a major role in product design, says Anthony Vicari, Advanced Materials Lead Analyst at Lux Research.

“When designing a product, companies will choose the cheapest material that meets their needs; an expensive HPTP like Polyetherimide (PEI) or Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is not freely chosen if a cheaper ETP like PC can suffice.”

A thermoplastic is a plastic type made from polymer resins that becomes hard when cooled and a homogenized liquid when heated. However, when frozen, it becomes glass-like and easily fractures. A variety of thermoplastics exist, with each type varying in crystalline structure and density.

HPTPs are also typically defined as high-temperature thermoplastics with a melting point above 150 °C.

“A high melting point for a thermoplastic correlates with other important characteristics such as mechanical strength and chemical resistance/inertness,” says Vicari.

Commodity thermoplastics, ETPs, and HPTPs fall into a structure often depicted as a “thermoplastic performance pyramid” with HPTPs at the top. Vicari says that, in general, the higher the performance of the polymer, the higher its price and location on the pyramid. The pyramid itself is divided into four stages with each stage split into two categories: amorphous and semi-crystalline. The four stages of plastics from bottom to top are: commodity, engineering, high temperature, and extreme temperature.

Read more at
IEEE Engineering360, November 2016.

Originally published on 26 July 2016 on IEEE Engineering360.

Plastics are almost fully derived from petrochemicals produced through the use of fossil oil and natural gas. Naphtha, ethane, propane, and other gases are used as feedstocks for steam crackers that produce olefins (ethylene, propylene, and butadiene) and aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylenes). These make up the building blocks of most plastics.

“Commodity plastics are very easy to produce,” says Emanuel Ormonde, IHS Markit principal analyst. “The shale revolution and the very essence of cheap oil in North America has greatly increased the production of plastics.”

A plastic material, according to the Society of the Plastics Industry, is any material that consists wholly or on part of combinations of carbon with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and other organic or inorganic elements, and that is solid in its finished state. In common usage, the terms plastics, polymers and resins are roughly the same.

Waste occurs in the producing, converting and consuming plastics and like materials. As a result, recycling has found firm ground across Europe in particular, with several regulations in place in an effort to ensure a reasonable recycling rate for waste streams such as end-of-life packaging, automotive waste and electrical waste. The major classes of plastics that are recycled include: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), expandable polystyrene (EPS), and polypropylene (PP).

Plastics Industry Evolution

The plastics industry has evolved over the past decades, sparked by population growth and higher standards of living. The world’s annual consumption of plastic material has grown from around 5 million tons in the 1950s to nearly 100 million tons at present.

“The plastics industry does indeed try to push for ‘green initiatives’, but today’s cheap price of oil has made it where those companies want to be ever more profitable,” says Ormonde. Large companies that consume plastics, for example, Nestle and Procter & Gamble, try to use a percentage of recycled materials in their products.

Read more at
IEEE Engineering360, July 2016.

Originally published 12 May 2016 on IEEE Engineering360.

Air pollution and vehicles were first associated in the early 1950s by a California researcher who stated that traffic was to blame for the smoggy skies over Los Angeles. This was the start of the transformation coming to the automotive industry.

Over time, emissions from other mobile sources of air pollution, such as heavy-duty trucks, agricultural and construction equipment, locomotives, garden equipment and marine engines, were also being considered. Today, controlling emissions involves technological advances in engine design to higher quality or alternative fuels, and the production of greener cars with the collaboration of local governments and car manufacturers.

A recent report from the European Commission revealed that 12% of the overall EU emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), comes from the fuel consumed by passenger cars. To lower CO₂ emissions, car makers are introducing vehicles tailored to a range of specific uses, from short urban commutes to long-distance cargo hauling, with the possibility of being energized by alternative fuels, such as biofuels, electricity, hydrogen, natural gas and propane.

Production of global hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles is expected to reach more than 70,000 vehicles annually by 2027, as more automotive OEMs bring these vehicles to market, says a May 2016 report from IHS Automotive.

“The key market driver for the rise of low emission vehicles around the world is government regulation,” says Devin Lindsay, IHS principal analyst. “This, however, is in response to the need to reduce CO2 emissions in their respective regions.”

Read more at
IEEE Engineering360, May 2016.