Energy and carbon footprint reduction during textile-based product design and manufacturing

Due to concerns over non-renewable energy consumption and associated emissions, industry has sought methods and technologies to support energy efficiency practices and use of alternative energy during product manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. Efforts have been undertaken to more precisely calculate environmental metrics, such as energy consumption and carbon footprint, to support broader sustainable design activities. The work reported endeavours to integrate sustainability principles into the design of products, manufacturing processes, and relevant supply chain networks to assist decision makers. Two backpacks are evaluated to examine the influence of design choices on energy consumption and carbon footprint. The study system boundary includes raw material extraction, materials processing, manufacturing operations, and transportation for each component. The results show that manufacturing processes dominate transportation-related impacts. The work appears to be the first to apply a comprehensive process-based approach to estimate cradle-to-gate energy consumption and carbon footprint for textile-based product design variants

Evaluating the use of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles in a metalworking fluid from a toxicological perspective

Adding nanoparticles (NPs) to metalworking fluids (MWFs) has been shown to improve performance in metal cutting. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs), for example, have exhibited the ability to improve lubricant performance, decrease the heat created by machining operations, reduce friction and wear, and enhance thermal conductivity. ZnO and TiO₂ NPs are also relatively inexpensive compared to many other NPs. Precautionary concerns of human health risks and environmental impacts, however, are especially important when adding NPs to MWFs. The goal of this research is to investigate the potential environmental and human health effects of these nanoenabled products during early design and development. This research builds on a prior investigation of the stability and toxicity characteristics of NPs used in metalworking nanofluids (MWnF™). The previous study only investigated one type of NP at one level of concentration. This research expands on the previous investigations through the valuation of three different types of NPs that vary in morphology (size and shape) and was conducted over a wide range of concentrations in the base fluid. In the presented work, mixtures of a microemulsion (TRIM® MicroSol® 585XT), two different types of TiO₂ NPs (referred to as TiO₂A and TiO₂B) and one type of ZnO NP were used to evaluate MWnF™ stability and toxicity. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was used to assess stability over time and an embryonic zebrafish assay was used to assess toxicological impacts. The results reveal that, in general, the addition of these NPs increased toxicity relative to the NPfree formulation. The lowest rate of zebrafish malformations occurred at 5 g/L TiO₂A NP, which was even lower than for the base fluid. This result is particularly promising for future MWnF™ development, given that the mortality rate for 5 g/L TiO₂A was not significantly different than for the base fluid.Keywords: Environmental and health effects, Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles, Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles, Nanotoxicology, Nanofluid Stabilit

Energy and carbon footprint reduction during textile-based product design and manufacturing

Due to concerns over non-renewable energy consumption and associated emissions, industry has sought methods and technologies to support energy efficiency practices and use of alternative energy during product manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. Efforts have been undertaken to more precisely calculate environmental metrics, such as energy consumption and carbon footprint, to support broader sustainable design activities. The work reported endeavours to integrate sustainability principles into the design of products, manufacturing processes, and relevant supply chain networks to assist decision makers. Two backpacks are evaluated to examine the influence of design choices on energy consumption and carbon footprint. The study system boundary includes raw material extraction, materials processing, manufacturing operations, and transportation for each component. The results show that manufacturing processes dominate transportation-related impacts. The work appears to be the first to apply a comprehensive process-based approach to estimate cradle-to-gate energy consumption and carbon footprint for textile-based product design variants.This article is published as Seyedmahmoudi, S. H., Karl R. Haapala, Kyoung-Yun Kim, Gül E. Kremer. "Energy and carbon footprint reduction during textile-based product design and manufacturing." International Journal of Strategic Engineering Asset Management 3, no. 2 (2018): 109-133. DOI: 10.1504/IJSEAM.2018.092231. Posted with permission.</p

A review identifying the effectiveness of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) during conventional machining

Government legislation and public opinion are the main drivers behind the movement of manufacturing companies towards sustainable production. Fundamentally, companies want to avoid future financial penalties and the industry is therefore under pressure to adapt new techniques and practices in order to become environmentally friendly. The cost efficiency of metal cutting operations is highly dependent on accuracy, excellent surface finish and minimized tool wear and, to this end, has traditionally made abundant use of cutting fluid in machining operations. However, these cutting fluids have been a major contributor to environmental and health issues. In recent years, an enormous effort to eradicate these adverse effects has been made with one important focus being the implementation of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL). In the present work, the authors have reviewed the current state of the art in MQL with a particular focus on drilling, turning, milling and grinding machining operations. Overall, it is concluded that MQL has huge potential as a substitute for conventional flood cooling