New Method Uses Solar Energy To Augment Natural Gas Energy

Contrary to what the prevailing notion is, there are some of us in the manufacturing community that view the US shale gas boom as welcome, but temporary.  A quick look at history shows us that we've been here before.  In post-WWII America, we discovered that established rates of domestic oil production would result in exhaustion within the century, thus beginning a long and arduous foreign policy of investment in resources located in some of the most inconvenient and politically dangerous areas of the world.

And while new techniques in harvesting natural gas have enabled the US to be master of its own destiny for a time, it's important to keep in mind we're still dealing with a finite resource that, just like all other previous finite resources we've used, will eventually run short.  With that in perspective, even more innovations, techniques, and designs will be required if we want to continue on the road of true energy independence.

One such innovation that may have a huge impact in the immediate future is a new method developed by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest Labs.  Using a mirrored parabolic dish, the sun's solar rays are concentrated like a magnifying glass into a central point.  This concentrated solar power is then directed to a device made of a chemical reactor and heat exchangers, which use the solar energy to heat flowing natural gas, converting both into syngas; hydrogen and carbon monoxide.  The result is a whopping 20 percent less natural gas used to run the power plant.  Scientists at the lab also believe they can eventually create a model where the electricity produced by a hybrid syngas power plant would be just 6 cents per kilowatt/hr by 2020, a very competitive rate.

 The process still has a long way to go, but with all the hits the solar investment landscape has been taking these days, this is a promising development.  Solar energy standing on its own as a longstanding, stable energy alternative has been a hard sell; solar being used as an augmentation for existing energy models, on the other hand, could be a very intriguing aspect.

Donal Thoms-Cappello is a freelance writer for Rotor Clip Company.

SpaceX's "Grasshopper" Rocket Literally Hops Over Grass

Speaking of that fellow, Elon Musk, SpaceX has blown our collective minds yet again with one of the most impressively successful experiments I've seen in awhile.  The "Grasshopper" rocket prototype is true to its name, literally "hopping" straight up in the air - with its most recent launch coming in at a whopping distance of 1,066 feet!

While the distance is impressive, it's not nearly as impressive as the Grasshopper's landing.  SpaceX is being cryptic about its navigation sensors built into the prototype, but they're clearly working.  As this jaw-dropping footage shows, Grasshopper can sense when it's nearing ground level and modifies its rockets for a smooth vertical landing:

The implications of this innovation simply cannot be overstated.  SpaceX's goal for these rockets involves atmospheric re-entry, but my first thought upon watching this is how much easier it will be landing equipment, rovers, and eventual people on the surface of Mars.  Entire, terrible, Hollywood movies have been pitched and produced around the arduous issue of "how do we land on Mars".  SpaceX just made it very possible that issue will be the least harrowing problem in an exploration launch.

And none of this is even touching daily transportation vehicles here on Earth.  Does this mean the helicopter propeller's days are numbered?  Will thruster technology finally have its day in mass production?  Will my eyeballs ever go back into my head after seeing this?  The future, regardless, looks inevitably fun.

Donal Thoms-Cappello is a freelance writer for Rotor Clip Company.

Ford's New Manufacturing Tech Mirrors Digital Printing

I'm honestly shocked 3D Printing isn't the first thing mentioned in the news every evening as a top story (of course there's a lot of things I wish were mentioned more in the news, but I digress).  The gains made by the new technology- the consequences because of it- are so many, it's like a perpetual Christmas Day for the futures market.  Literally every aspect of industry as we know it will change within the next decade.

Maybe sooner, in light of the recent method Ford Motor Company has developed over the past year and a half.  Dubbed the Ford Freeform Fabrication Technology (F3T), the model borrows heavily from the 3D printing process to create a whole new process of cutting sheet metal into prototype parts.  Two stylus-type tools cut a clamped piece of sheet metal in a synchronized movement to create a 3D version of the dimensions provided by the CAD data fed to them (you can see a promo video showing off the process here:)

The F3T process is a consequence of a three-year, 7.04 million grant by the Department of Energy, developed specifically for advances in the manufacturing process. While this system cuts the delivery time of a prototype part from several weeks to several days, as well as eliminates the need for and energy expenditure of die engineering, it's not one nearly practical enough for use in bulk manufacturing.  This is mostly because having to customize the dimension of each contour machine and tool path takes way longer than the fraction of a second it takes for a stamping machine to turn a flat sheet into a 3D shape.  That significantly limits its value for now, but it's fast production of prototype parts makes it a technology we'll be seeing more of in the future.

A quick P.S.--Rotor Clip has been using 3D printing to make prototype tooling before producing the same parts from steel saving tool room and fabrication costs, and delivering prototype samples to customers faster than conventional methods.

Donal Thoms-Cappello is a freelance writer for Rotor Clip Company.

Forget The Moon, NASA Wants To Lasso Asteroids

The Obama Administration's 2014 budget includes $104 million set aside to jumpstart a curious NASA program.  At first glance, the press release claiming NASA plans to put together an effort to lasso an asteroid seems a little trite in its claim.  I, for one, can't get out of my head the image of a giant Yosemite Sam-cyborg hollering and yahoo-ing (silently, as we're in space) while corralling a hurtling asteroid.  And I suspect this is some cartoonish association NASA is trying to accomplish with the announcement, as if the hope is the bizarre phrasing of the goal somehow disarms the lack of a precedent for it.

But that is, indeed what the mission is: by 2021, NASA plans to have harnessed an asteroid for not only exploration, but also as a way of planting them in the moon's gravitational orbit, thereby giving future space missions (to Mars, finger crossed) a natural satellite base.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left to right, Firouz Naderi,
 Director for the Solar System Exploration, and John Brophy, Electric Propulsion Engineer,
are shown during Bolden's visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
Calif., Thursday, May 23, 2013.  (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

It's an incredibly extensive, yet resourceful, idea.  Working within the constraints of a criminally small budget, NASA figured out a way to create a station stop on the way to Mars that's cheap to maintain and also may contain resources and raw material in itself that would serve a myriad of purposes, from gold and rare metals to ice water.  Oh yeah, and if it proves successful, it will serve as a blueprint for capturing an asteroid that could threaten to extinguish all life on Earth.  What is that, three birds with one stone, right?

To me, though (or should I say to my employers, because this is a blog about manufacturing) the real interesting benefit to the mission has nothing to do with the end results of Mars or the Moon, but with how the technology will be used.  And that involves xenon-fueled ion thrusters.  Yep.  Ion rockets.  Why is this a big deal and what does it have to do with manufacturing?  Here's why:

It's no secret the future of space and any industry having to do with it will include private investment and capability.  NASA has all but given the Moon to private firms who want to land there, and they're more than likely going to need private funding for steps in the engineering process.  This includes the ion-powered thrusters that will be crucial to the feat of getting a spacecraft mobile enough to catch a floating rock.

Xenon is a colorless, odorless gas that, when charged with electrons, will produce ions that are then accelerated to produce thrust.  The force isn't enough to propel a rocket out of the Earth's gravity, but it's way more effective for short bursts- meaning steering in space becomes a whole lot easier.  Factor in its cost-efficiency (ion power not only produces more kinetic energy per electrical output in space than standard rockets, but they're solar-powered) and the technology is a perfect choice for future space travel of all kinds, government-sponsored, science-driven, and commercial, as well.

This specific innovation, in my opinion, could revolutionize 21st century space travel by permanently removing its dependence on gravitational orbit for transit.  Think about the possibilities of exploration that open up when shuttles can travel away from Earth for short periods of time.  Moreover, while it is true that ion energy works best in an environment like space, without other ionized particles, that doesn't leave out room to discover other applications for it here on the ground.  The concept of using ionized energy itself is barely a century old, who knows what else we can learn from it?

Donal Thoms-Cappello is a freelance writer for Rotor Clip Company.

General Motors Begins Student Internship Program In Detroit

GM North America President, Mark Reuss,  announces

student internship program

Detroit's dismal employment outlook received a sliver of hope recently, as GM North America announced its intention to begin a program that directly hires high school-level students from the industrial city for internship projects that range across  the service and manufacturing spectrum.

The program, titled the GM Student Corps, will begin with 110 students overall, divided into teams of ten.  They'll be given projects around the city involving community development and outreach, and will also learn career and budgeting skills designed to prepare them for a global economic environment.  GM North America President Mark Ruess pitched the concept to GM CEO Dan Akerman, who approved the concept as long as the students were paid for their work; continuing GM's tradition of paid internships:

“We said hey, what’s the opportunity in the city in the summer? And there’s not a lot, as we all know...This will be the first job that a lot of these students have ever had that pays money.” 

-Mark Ruess to Nathan Bomey Detroit Free Press, May 21, 2013

While the students vetted were provided through the United Way Network, mentors consist of sixty GM retirees, as well as student interns from the University of Detroit Mercy. GM will also provide the program with Chevrolet vehicles to transport students and mentors to project sites.

This is an idea that's long overdue.  Long, long, long overdue.  I could get political about it and rant that if we're going to be a society that distrusts government to the point of inhibiting its ability to invest in  the youth for employment opportunities, then these are the types of programs that should be taking its place all over the country.  But really, it goes beyond politics.  The best kind of education is hands-on; students who take on various leadership roles throughout their communities always have a better chance at furthering employment prospects, because they are more adaptable and pliable than if the entirety of their learning experiences took place in the highly self-emphasizing vacuum of the academic bubble.  GM is smartly making the best kind of investment-people- in their backyard.  Sure, there's no guarantee these prospected students choose to keep their allegiance to the automobile giant (and Ruess emphasized they're free to list GM on their resumes, regardless).  Nevertheless, if half of this group decides to stay in Detroit and apply what they learn from this program in other fields, it can only help the city's overall infrastructure, which will help GM as well.  A win-win situation for everyone involved.

And this is only one company.  If the model becomes successful, there's no better way for Detroit to repair itself economically than to incentivize its manufacturing community to invest in its student community.  Or as Ruess himself says, "Imagine if we had five companies full-force....That's what happens with some of the seed ideas when you plant them."

Donal Thoms-Cappello is a freelance writer for Rotor Clip Company.

GE Announces Partnership With Online Start-Up To Develop Patents

One of the more recent and inventive ways of getting around the old and insanely slow-moving bureaucracy that is the US Patent System has been Quirky.  An online startup created in 2009, Quirky is an ingenious form of crowdsourcing.  Anyone can submit an idea for a product, and their team creates an actual prototype.  In return, Quirky retains rights to the invention, as well as exclusivity with the inventor.

It's a model that's fledgling, but clearly one that major players have been paying attention to, specifically one of the oldest and most profitable major players, General Electric.

GE has announced that come May, it will be sending some of its "most promising" patents to Quirky for development, creating a partnership between an internet start-up and a manufacturing giant that, if it works, could certainly become the R&D-to-product model of the 21st century.

Although  these are going to be, literally, thousands of patents GE will be releasing to Quirky, this initial collaboration will mainly focus on three specific areas: optics, barrier coatings, and telematics.  GE hopes Quirky can develop its holographic storage technology for solutions in fingerprint scanning and medical optics.  With barrier coatings, GE is specifically focused on electronics, where its Ultra-High Barrier technology could one day lead to thinner laptop, tablet, and other electronic devices that are protected and cooled by thin-film encapsulation designs.  Finally, in the realm of telematics, further developments in existing technology could speed up tracking fleet software as well as improve vehicle navigation systems- the latter being very closely examined by automobile giants like Ford and Nissan for their recent pledge to incorporate automation into future vehicles.

Quirky’s Ben Kaufman (center) announces the partnership, with Mark Little (left) and Beth Comstock of GE.

This is not going to be the first time GE has partnered with Quirky, as they already have a track record of individual projects coming to fruition; one of the most successful was a "smart" milk container called the MilkMaid, which can detect when the milk it holds spoils.  GE also recently collaborated with Kaggle, an online service that provides data analytics to any research or project info a company wants scrutinized, in several medical and aviation projects.

This most recent announcement, however, signals a shift for GE, where individual "toe-dips" into opportunities with internet startups have now become full-fledged, long-term strategies.  Perhaps the best direct effect of all this?  Less patents sitting around collecting dust means less of a chance they're used only as bait in lawsuits and litigations against inventors trying to move them from idea to reality.  As founder and CEO of Quirky Ben Kaufman put it, "For years, patents have become widely misunderstood and misused. We are going to return patents to their original purpose to act as a blueprint for technological and societal progress while protecting inventors and becoming the source of inspiration for future creators.."

Donal Thoms-Cappello is a freelance writer for Rotor Clip Company.

US Gas Boom Lures Overseas Investment

Lost in the economic benefits shale gas drilling has been providing for the American economy

domestically are the issues it's caused for businesses overseas, especially Europe, where natural gas costs three-quarters more than here.  Consequently, the US natural gas landscape has very quickly become a magnet for foreign investment.   Many businesses are rather loudly musing about the possibility of expanding to the US, and a few have already moved to outright action:

BASF, the massive chemical corporation based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, has announced its intention to further expand investments in North America, citing cost advantages in keeping production near cheap, natural gas as a factor.  The company has already shifted $5.9 billion in investment to the US, as well as construction of a formic acid plant in Louisiana.  In addition, the Canadian Methanex announced back in January of plans to begin moving their Chilean facilities to Louisiana as well after coming to a partnership agreement with Chesapeke Energy Corporation to supply them with natural gas.  Austrian Voestalpine has also announced plans to build an iron-ore plant in Texas to take advantage of low prices as well.  It's estimated the plant will create 150 permanent jobs.

Construction has already begun on BASF's formic acid plant in Geismar, La.

These developments are not just limited to the energy markets.  Natural gas is involved in the production power of pretty much every major industry worldwide, from plastics to steel to, of course, oil.  And while current prices may not continue, the natural gas boom is projected to be on course in
its current trajectory for quite awhile; music to the ears of corporations looking for staying power.  Investment potential is also in the interests of Asian-based businesses that are at the mercy of even higher gas prices than their European counterparts; this could very well be a migration trend that goes on well into the decade.

Voestalpine's reduction plant in Texas will be a $715 million investment.

Conversely, it's important to keep in mind through all this that the gas boom is in a sweet spot where the gap between supply and demand is so vast, with resources so un-allocated, that it's only a matter of time before demand catches up.  More businesses, domestic and international, will mean more production, driving up prices.  In addition, the Obama Administration is also contemplating raising natural gas exports, which would lower rates overseas.  So far, however, none of this has been enough to discourage the companies that have already taken the plunge, clearly signaling widespread confidence across the global manufacturing landscape in the future of North American natural gas production.

Donal Thoms-Cappello is a freelance writer for Rotor Clip Company.