Establishing a New England market to buy renewable energy seemed a laudable goal when governors committed last year to bulk purchases of wind and solar power to knock down the price while reducing the region's reliance on fossil fuels.
Consumers could benefit from price stability, even from costlier wind and energy power. But putting together details about what types of renewable energy the six states will buy in the groundbreaking deal is snared in a patchwork of rules, state laws and disagreements over how even to define alternative energy.
"I don't think we know how to do it," was the blunt assessment of Christopher Recchia, commissioner of Vermont's Public Service Department.
For example, Vermont environmental officials believe biomass - energy from living or recently living materials - is a form of renewable energy. But Dan Esty, Connecticut's environmental commissioner, said biomass is "not cutting edge." And Connecticut legislation being considered would require biomass and landfill-gas plants to improve their environmental performance to be part of the state's portfolio of renewable power.
The price of wind and solar power has been falling, and a regional purchase could be expected to put more downward pressure on prices. To consumers, the immediate benefit from wind and solar power is price stability, which eludes oil and natural gas, tied to fluctuating global markets.
Wind and solar power are more expensive than gas, about 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour versus 4 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to Seth Kaplan, vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston. But wind and solar projects can win financing more easily than coal- and gas-fired plants, which are increasingly in disfavor because of environmental worries. And nuclear plants take years to win permits and to build.
By offering long-term contracts to wind and solar power suppliers, New England states would virtually guarantee financing for renewable power projects.
However, not all of the six New England states are joining the regional effort, the only such endeavor in the country. New Hampshire is not participating, and Maine and Vermont disagree with Connecticut over whether hydropower and biomass count as renewable energy.
Because of their size, Connecticut and Massachusetts can drive the regional project. Electricity demand in the two states is about 70 percent of demand in New England.
"Connecticut and Massachusetts have the ability to make a market here," Kaplan said. "This is a market that is waiting to be tapped."
In the region, 28 wind projects totaling 2,000 megawatts are waiting for approval, said Marcia Blomberg, spokeswoman for ISO-New England, the region's grid. That represents 40 percent of total megawatts in projects waiting for an OK and would nearly triple wind power output in the region.
Esty said he sees a "real break out here in regional cooperation." But Massachusetts is criticizing Connecticut as it tries to update 15-year-old rules related to the share of renewable energy as a proportion of overall sources of power.
Legislation in Connecticut would expand the types of hydropower and biogas that count as alternative power in the state's portfolio, create a new class that includes certain large-scale hydropower resources and make other changes in alternative power standards.
Massachusetts officials do not consider large hydropower projects eligible for its portfolio of renewable energy because it's a "mature technology," compared with newer alternative energy such as wind and power, said Steven Clarke, assistant secretary for energy in Massachusetts.
2013年3月31日 星期日
2013年3月28日 星期四
On Scituate wind turbine
A second study of the effects of the Scituate Wind turbine has been planned.
Tom Thompson, often acting as the spokesman for a group of residents living near to the turbine referred to as the Community Group, made the announcement to the Scituate Board of Health during its meeting on March 25.
This came shortly before Gordon Deane, president of Palmer Capital Corporation, the manager of Scituate Wind, LLC, gave an update to the board on the status of any Request for Proposals (RFP) received in connection with an acoustical study the board of health agreed to commission, and which Scituate Wind would finance.
According to Thompson, the Community Group decided to conduct its own study “given the inadequate scope of the study supported by the board of health.”
“We determined that it was best to commission a study that took the more appropriate scope consistently espoused by the Community Group,” he said.
The board of health agreed to have an acoustical study performed after residents complained that noise and flicker from the 400-foot turbine located off the Driftway was responsible for headaches, dizziness, nausea, and sleep deprivation, among other negative health affects, they have experienced since the turbine went online in the spring of 2012.
After several meetings of a steering committee, which was comprised of members of the community group, board of health and the wind turbine manager, it was clear the group would not come to a compromise.
The Community Group has long stated that in addition to the acoustical study, other factors – including shadow flicker – should also be studied.
“We will be looking for the acoustician to conduct a study that essentially reflects the approach presented in our Steering Committee scope of work from January 2013, including focus on low frequency sound, infrasound and aerodynamic amplitude modulation,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the Community Group wants to conduct their study at the same time as the Scituate Wind study to “ensure the consistency of conditions, i.e., wind speed, wind direction, etc.”
“We also want to ensure that we receive the operational data from the industrial wind turbine, otherwise known as SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) to confirm the operational integrity of the wind turbine during testing,” he said.
Deane said that two engineering firms send proposals to the board of health regarding the acoustical study - one from Tech Environmental of Waltham, and one from Noise Control Engineering of Billerica.
“Scituate Wind had questions about how Noise Control Engineering proposed to conduct the study, along with its proposed timeline,” he said.
Scituate Board of Health Chairperson Russell Clark said a special meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 29 to interview the firms interested in conducting the study.
Deane said questions were passed along to the board of health and will presumably be addressed during the interview process.
Additionally, he said there remains a need to better understand each company’s approach and understanding of the work they will perform. Something, he said, that will also be discussed during the interviews.
As for the Community Group proposing their own study, Deane said the group is “welcome to sample alongside the engineers selected by Scituate Wind for sampling, as long as they are not interfering.”
Clark said there would be no problem with the studies being done simultaneously as long as the two companies could work together, as the Community Group would like.
Tom Thompson, often acting as the spokesman for a group of residents living near to the turbine referred to as the Community Group, made the announcement to the Scituate Board of Health during its meeting on March 25.
This came shortly before Gordon Deane, president of Palmer Capital Corporation, the manager of Scituate Wind, LLC, gave an update to the board on the status of any Request for Proposals (RFP) received in connection with an acoustical study the board of health agreed to commission, and which Scituate Wind would finance.
According to Thompson, the Community Group decided to conduct its own study “given the inadequate scope of the study supported by the board of health.”
“We determined that it was best to commission a study that took the more appropriate scope consistently espoused by the Community Group,” he said.
The board of health agreed to have an acoustical study performed after residents complained that noise and flicker from the 400-foot turbine located off the Driftway was responsible for headaches, dizziness, nausea, and sleep deprivation, among other negative health affects, they have experienced since the turbine went online in the spring of 2012.
After several meetings of a steering committee, which was comprised of members of the community group, board of health and the wind turbine manager, it was clear the group would not come to a compromise.
The Community Group has long stated that in addition to the acoustical study, other factors – including shadow flicker – should also be studied.
“We will be looking for the acoustician to conduct a study that essentially reflects the approach presented in our Steering Committee scope of work from January 2013, including focus on low frequency sound, infrasound and aerodynamic amplitude modulation,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the Community Group wants to conduct their study at the same time as the Scituate Wind study to “ensure the consistency of conditions, i.e., wind speed, wind direction, etc.”
“We also want to ensure that we receive the operational data from the industrial wind turbine, otherwise known as SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) to confirm the operational integrity of the wind turbine during testing,” he said.
Deane said that two engineering firms send proposals to the board of health regarding the acoustical study - one from Tech Environmental of Waltham, and one from Noise Control Engineering of Billerica.
“Scituate Wind had questions about how Noise Control Engineering proposed to conduct the study, along with its proposed timeline,” he said.
Scituate Board of Health Chairperson Russell Clark said a special meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 29 to interview the firms interested in conducting the study.
Deane said questions were passed along to the board of health and will presumably be addressed during the interview process.
Additionally, he said there remains a need to better understand each company’s approach and understanding of the work they will perform. Something, he said, that will also be discussed during the interviews.
As for the Community Group proposing their own study, Deane said the group is “welcome to sample alongside the engineers selected by Scituate Wind for sampling, as long as they are not interfering.”
Clark said there would be no problem with the studies being done simultaneously as long as the two companies could work together, as the Community Group would like.
2013年3月27日 星期三
Wind power on the rise in the Great Lakes region
Nearly 70 percent of all new power plants built in the Great Lakes region use wind as an energy source, according to reports from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The reports, which summarize developments in the United States’ energy infrastructure, show the Great Lakes states contributed to a national trend of increased reliance on renewable energy. Nationwide, 49 percent of all new power plants in the country were using renewable sources in 2012.
Only two fossil fuel plants came online in the Great Lakes region since January 2012, a coal-fired plant in Washington County, Ill. and a gas-fired plant near Dresden, Ohio, according to reports. The same period saw the completion of 21 wind farms and 8 plants using other renewable sources such as solar energy and sustainable-harvested biomass fuel.
The wind farms, which contain a total of 1,532 new wind turbines, generate approximately 2,952 MW of energy. That’s 68 percent of the 4,372 megawatts produced by all new power plants built since January 2012.
“Wind power has grown markedly in the last decade or so,” said Matthew Wagner, wind development manager for DTE Energy, a power generation company based in Detroit. “There has been much more discussion lately about going green, particularly because the conversation around climate change has increased in frequency. Whether you agree with this theory or not, wind energy is the renewable technology that really provides the highest return in terms of energy production and cost-effectiveness.”
Other renewable technologies, like solar or geothermal energy, do not approach the economic benefits of wind power, Wagner said.
DTE completed a trio of wind parks in Michigan’s Thumb region in December, producing 110 megawatts using 69 turbines.
“Above all, wind is a clean, renewable and home-grown source of energy,” said Kelley Welf, spokesperson for Wind on the Wires, a Midwest-based wind energy advocacy group. Welf said that in addition to wind power’s environmental benefits, it stimulates local job growth.
“A typical 250 megawatt wind farm creates 1,079 jobs over the life of the project, including positions in manufacturing, construction, engineering and management,” Welf said. “With about 67 percent of the 8,000 component parts of a turbine now being manufactured in the U.S., the cost of producing the turbines has decreased dramatically.”
Despite these advantages, wind power continues to face difficulties when compared to traditional energy sources.
“It would be a challenge for a wind park to match the output of a traditional power plant,” Wagner said. “This is because typical wind turbines range in capacity from 1 to 3 megawatts, while traditional coal-fired plants have capacities on the order of hundreds of megawatts. Our largest plant is capable of generating more than 3,000 megawatts.”
For a wind farm to approach that level of energy production, it would need about 4,000 turbines, Wagner said.
“Could you build a wind farm that size? Probably. But you’d need lots and lots of land, so I’m not sure you could do it practically,” he said. Wind energy is also less reliable than traditional energy sources, because wind does not occur with the same speed or frequency at all times.
As states pass new and stricter emissions controls that make traditional power generation more expensive, wind power, which is not subject to those controls, has become more appealing, Wagner said. As the deadlines set by state renewable energy standards draw closer power companies expect to continue to increase their wind power production.
The reports, which summarize developments in the United States’ energy infrastructure, show the Great Lakes states contributed to a national trend of increased reliance on renewable energy. Nationwide, 49 percent of all new power plants in the country were using renewable sources in 2012.
Only two fossil fuel plants came online in the Great Lakes region since January 2012, a coal-fired plant in Washington County, Ill. and a gas-fired plant near Dresden, Ohio, according to reports. The same period saw the completion of 21 wind farms and 8 plants using other renewable sources such as solar energy and sustainable-harvested biomass fuel.
The wind farms, which contain a total of 1,532 new wind turbines, generate approximately 2,952 MW of energy. That’s 68 percent of the 4,372 megawatts produced by all new power plants built since January 2012.
“Wind power has grown markedly in the last decade or so,” said Matthew Wagner, wind development manager for DTE Energy, a power generation company based in Detroit. “There has been much more discussion lately about going green, particularly because the conversation around climate change has increased in frequency. Whether you agree with this theory or not, wind energy is the renewable technology that really provides the highest return in terms of energy production and cost-effectiveness.”
Other renewable technologies, like solar or geothermal energy, do not approach the economic benefits of wind power, Wagner said.
DTE completed a trio of wind parks in Michigan’s Thumb region in December, producing 110 megawatts using 69 turbines.
“Above all, wind is a clean, renewable and home-grown source of energy,” said Kelley Welf, spokesperson for Wind on the Wires, a Midwest-based wind energy advocacy group. Welf said that in addition to wind power’s environmental benefits, it stimulates local job growth.
“A typical 250 megawatt wind farm creates 1,079 jobs over the life of the project, including positions in manufacturing, construction, engineering and management,” Welf said. “With about 67 percent of the 8,000 component parts of a turbine now being manufactured in the U.S., the cost of producing the turbines has decreased dramatically.”
Despite these advantages, wind power continues to face difficulties when compared to traditional energy sources.
“It would be a challenge for a wind park to match the output of a traditional power plant,” Wagner said. “This is because typical wind turbines range in capacity from 1 to 3 megawatts, while traditional coal-fired plants have capacities on the order of hundreds of megawatts. Our largest plant is capable of generating more than 3,000 megawatts.”
For a wind farm to approach that level of energy production, it would need about 4,000 turbines, Wagner said.
“Could you build a wind farm that size? Probably. But you’d need lots and lots of land, so I’m not sure you could do it practically,” he said. Wind energy is also less reliable than traditional energy sources, because wind does not occur with the same speed or frequency at all times.
As states pass new and stricter emissions controls that make traditional power generation more expensive, wind power, which is not subject to those controls, has become more appealing, Wagner said. As the deadlines set by state renewable energy standards draw closer power companies expect to continue to increase their wind power production.
2013年3月26日 星期二
Fight over Scituate's wind turbine heats
The ongoing battle over Scituate's industrial wind turbine appears headed for the upcoming Town Meeting, as proponents and proponents step up their arguments over what is fact and what is fiction in the debate.
The argument over whether the turbine is causing health effects has been underway since early 2012, when the wind turbine was turned on and residents first started complaining of health problems.
Yet with Town Meeting likely to consider a petition to bring the turbine down, both sides have grown more adamant in their opinions.
"We know for a fact that those who haven't been paying attention, if they have accurate information provided to them on the noise and strobe emanating, and it's impact on health, [and] you have third party industry experts supporting us, it's the real story," said Tom Thompson, a spokesman for the affected residents. "And the more people that become aware, they realize this isn't an issue of people making stuff up."
Thompson and several other residents hosted a community meeting on March 23 to convince residents of their side of the story.
To help, residents brought an acoustical engineer – Rick James from E-Coustics – to discuss turbine problems. That presentation was followed up by the personal account of resident Mark McKeever, who lives closest to the turbine, and then followed by a presentation by Dr. Jeffrey Silver with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who specializes in sleep medicine.
Approximately 100 people attended a resident-sponsored community meeting, available on YouTube.
Over the next couple of weeks, Thompson said the group plans to keep reaching out to people to make them aware of the health problems residents are suffering. The group aims to get Town Meeting to pass a petition to get the turbine taken town.
Though residents initially said they were hosting the meeting to dispel misinformation being promoted by turbine proponents, turbine owner Gordon Dean said it is exactly that misinformation that is problematic.
"What's concerning to us is, I just finished watching the two hours of it on YouTube. It's a lot of inaccurate information about the project and about its operating and about the permitting," Dean said.
Dean said that though the community group is obviously welcome to hold meetings, that in the end, these gatherings will do more harm than good.
Most notably, people begin suffering from what Dean has called the "nocebo" effect, a type of placebo effect that people suffer from when someone suggests they should be negatively affected.
Dean said two recently released studies, including a lab study, indicate that this phenomenon is true.
"The misinformation campaign, trying to get people riled up and trying to make people give complaints for health effects, to a large extent it's causing the health impacts themselves," Dean said.
Regardless of what people say, the science behind the turbine is still ongoing. Board of Health members will interview two engineering firms – Tech Environmental and Noise Control Engineering – with the hopes of starting a study within the next two months.
As for the Town Meeting vote, Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi has said that it would not be binding, though what that means proponents are waiting to see.
"It's of a concern that they are trying to do this…I don't know what, if any, effect that has," Dean said.
The argument over whether the turbine is causing health effects has been underway since early 2012, when the wind turbine was turned on and residents first started complaining of health problems.
Yet with Town Meeting likely to consider a petition to bring the turbine down, both sides have grown more adamant in their opinions.
"We know for a fact that those who haven't been paying attention, if they have accurate information provided to them on the noise and strobe emanating, and it's impact on health, [and] you have third party industry experts supporting us, it's the real story," said Tom Thompson, a spokesman for the affected residents. "And the more people that become aware, they realize this isn't an issue of people making stuff up."
Thompson and several other residents hosted a community meeting on March 23 to convince residents of their side of the story.
To help, residents brought an acoustical engineer – Rick James from E-Coustics – to discuss turbine problems. That presentation was followed up by the personal account of resident Mark McKeever, who lives closest to the turbine, and then followed by a presentation by Dr. Jeffrey Silver with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who specializes in sleep medicine.
Approximately 100 people attended a resident-sponsored community meeting, available on YouTube.
Over the next couple of weeks, Thompson said the group plans to keep reaching out to people to make them aware of the health problems residents are suffering. The group aims to get Town Meeting to pass a petition to get the turbine taken town.
Though residents initially said they were hosting the meeting to dispel misinformation being promoted by turbine proponents, turbine owner Gordon Dean said it is exactly that misinformation that is problematic.
"What's concerning to us is, I just finished watching the two hours of it on YouTube. It's a lot of inaccurate information about the project and about its operating and about the permitting," Dean said.
Dean said that though the community group is obviously welcome to hold meetings, that in the end, these gatherings will do more harm than good.
Most notably, people begin suffering from what Dean has called the "nocebo" effect, a type of placebo effect that people suffer from when someone suggests they should be negatively affected.
Dean said two recently released studies, including a lab study, indicate that this phenomenon is true.
"The misinformation campaign, trying to get people riled up and trying to make people give complaints for health effects, to a large extent it's causing the health impacts themselves," Dean said.
Regardless of what people say, the science behind the turbine is still ongoing. Board of Health members will interview two engineering firms – Tech Environmental and Noise Control Engineering – with the hopes of starting a study within the next two months.
As for the Town Meeting vote, Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi has said that it would not be binding, though what that means proponents are waiting to see.
"It's of a concern that they are trying to do this…I don't know what, if any, effect that has," Dean said.
2013年3月25日 星期一
Loveland engineering students go 3-D
Mountain View High School junior Brennan King likes being able to design and "print out" his ideas in three dimensions.
What he uses isn't an ordinary printer but the Lulzbot 3-D printer donated to his school's engineering program by Jeff Moe, owner of Aleph Objects in Loveland.
"It's really cool to draw something up ... you can print it out and it's right there," Brennan said.
The Lulzbot printer, retailing for $1,725, builds three-dimensional objects in layers using any of a variety of plastics, wood or other materials. The printer makes each layer according to drawings created in computer-aided design, or CAD, software.
Brennan's father, Jerry King, approached Moe in late January asking him to donate a printer to replace a 6-year-old 3-D printer in ill repair and costly to fix.
The school's printer was proprietary, while the Lulzbot 3-D printer is open hardware, with the drawings, schematics and bill of materials all available online, Moe said. The 3-D printers have been available for more than a decade but became more affordable in the past two to three years, he said.
"Our system is completely open," Moe said. "One of the strongest points for students is they can learn anything about the unit itself."
Moe donated the printer and a roll of plastic to the engineering program, which also has access to a laser engraver, structure testing devices and other tools.
Brennan, 17, designed a plastic enclosure for the printer and used it to create the mounting brackets to hold the enclosure together. He took on the project during his independent study class, taking three weeks to finish it.
"It's just another tool we have available," Brennan said. "It gives us another layer of complexity that adds to what we can build."
Tom Frayer, pre-engineering teacher, uses the printer in the four classes offered through the Project Lead the Way program, including introduction to engineering and design, principles of engineering, aerospace engineering, and engineering design and development.
"You can build anything you want. It's cutting-edge technology," Frayer said. "We have a cutting-edge program here at Mountain View."
The printer can be used to make parts, to create prototypes and to do hands-on testing, designing and building.
"You can think of something and you have the ability to print it out rather than sculpt it by hand," said Tyler King, Brennan's brother and a ninth-grader at the school.
The printer works by feeding plastic or another material for the desired part through a nozzle, where it is melted at 230 degrees Celsius, Moe said.
The nozzle moves in an X and Y plane, side to side and front to back, to lay down plastic, and then it moves up approximately 0.02 millimeters in the Z plane to start the next layer, Moe said.
"It winds up building up parts from the bottom up until the print is done," Moe said.
Engineers, inventors and others use the printer to test their ideas and for low-volume production, Moe said.
"It's cool to watch how it builds the material up," said Brandon Sheffler, a 10th grader at the school. "It's fun to play with. You can build anything."
What he uses isn't an ordinary printer but the Lulzbot 3-D printer donated to his school's engineering program by Jeff Moe, owner of Aleph Objects in Loveland.
"It's really cool to draw something up ... you can print it out and it's right there," Brennan said.
The Lulzbot printer, retailing for $1,725, builds three-dimensional objects in layers using any of a variety of plastics, wood or other materials. The printer makes each layer according to drawings created in computer-aided design, or CAD, software.
Brennan's father, Jerry King, approached Moe in late January asking him to donate a printer to replace a 6-year-old 3-D printer in ill repair and costly to fix.
The school's printer was proprietary, while the Lulzbot 3-D printer is open hardware, with the drawings, schematics and bill of materials all available online, Moe said. The 3-D printers have been available for more than a decade but became more affordable in the past two to three years, he said.
"Our system is completely open," Moe said. "One of the strongest points for students is they can learn anything about the unit itself."
Moe donated the printer and a roll of plastic to the engineering program, which also has access to a laser engraver, structure testing devices and other tools.
Brennan, 17, designed a plastic enclosure for the printer and used it to create the mounting brackets to hold the enclosure together. He took on the project during his independent study class, taking three weeks to finish it.
"It's just another tool we have available," Brennan said. "It gives us another layer of complexity that adds to what we can build."
Tom Frayer, pre-engineering teacher, uses the printer in the four classes offered through the Project Lead the Way program, including introduction to engineering and design, principles of engineering, aerospace engineering, and engineering design and development.
"You can build anything you want. It's cutting-edge technology," Frayer said. "We have a cutting-edge program here at Mountain View."
The printer can be used to make parts, to create prototypes and to do hands-on testing, designing and building.
"You can think of something and you have the ability to print it out rather than sculpt it by hand," said Tyler King, Brennan's brother and a ninth-grader at the school.
The printer works by feeding plastic or another material for the desired part through a nozzle, where it is melted at 230 degrees Celsius, Moe said.
The nozzle moves in an X and Y plane, side to side and front to back, to lay down plastic, and then it moves up approximately 0.02 millimeters in the Z plane to start the next layer, Moe said.
"It winds up building up parts from the bottom up until the print is done," Moe said.
Engineers, inventors and others use the printer to test their ideas and for low-volume production, Moe said.
"It's cool to watch how it builds the material up," said Brandon Sheffler, a 10th grader at the school. "It's fun to play with. You can build anything."
2013年3月24日 星期日
What is a good price for nuclear power?
There are two questions about such cost comparisons: what rival technology is the most sensible benchmark for nuclear power; and how quickly will the costs of less mature, rival technologies like offshore wind and CCS fall?
Regarding benchmarking, nuclear is baseload, dispatchable (but less flexible than gas and coal), low carbon and with low marginal costs.
The best comparisons may be hydropower (now fully exploited in Britain) and tidal power (untested and probably hugely expensive), both of which tick all those boxes.
Biomass and fossil fuels with CCS are zero carbon (although there is a question mark over biomass), dispatchable, baseload options but they have high marginal (fuel) costs.
Zero carbon and zero marginal cost wind and solar power are neither baseload nor dispatchable and require grid expansion or expensive battery technology to reduce their intermittency.
Given all of the above, the best benchmarks may be CCS and tidal power, both of which are untested, and large-scale offshore wind. Regarding potential cost reductions, offshore wind is a good example.
In its 2011 “Renewable energy roadmap” DECC targeted a reduction in offshore wind power costs by 2020 to 100 pounds per megawatt hour, still more expensive than a 90 pounds nuclear tariff.
Alternatively, the cost of a 90 pounds nuclear power purchase agreement can be compared with support rates for renewables, through an existing tradable certificate scheme.
The value of renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) is set by an administrative buy-out price plus the amount of redistributed penalty payments for non-compliance, which adds roughly an extra 5-10 percent, making for a total ROC value presently of about 42 pounds. Renewable power generators get a certain number of ROCs per MWh plus the wholesale power price.
For example, onshore wind gets 0.9 ROCs per megawatt hour, which works out at around 38 pounds, plus a year-ahead wholesale power price of about 56 pounds per MWh, adding up to 94 pounds.
Various technologies receive the following, in 2012 pounds per MWh: co-firing biomass with coal (77 pounds); onshore wind (94 pounds); hydropower (98 pounds); dedicated biomass burning (119 pounds); and offshore wind, large-scale solar and geothermal power all on 140 pounds.
So a nuclear tariff of 90 pounds so far appears competitive both according to a levelized cost and subsidy comparison with alternative technologies.
But there are enough other considerations to allow both supporters and detractors to claim the economic argument.
Given the scale of capital costs it has to recoup, EDF may insist on a power purchase contract of more than 30 years.
That is longer than the present ROC scheme contracts (20 years) or its replacement scheme from 2014 (15 years).
But nuclear power plants will last longer than wind farms and solar panels: EDF anticipates a lifespan of 60 years for its proposed giant 3.3 gigawatt Hinkley Point C power plant. And then there are the big, less tangible items: the benefit to the UK economy, and the waste disposal problem.
The discounted, estimated clean-up cost at the country’s main nuclear waste site is 37 billion pounds and rising, according to the National Audit Office.
That does not appear to include the cost of long-term storage in a geological disposal facility whose site and therefore costs are still unknown.
Meanwhile, EDF is eager to trumpet a 2 billion pounds investment in the regional economy over the lifetime of its proposed project, and 25,000 new jobs over the construction period.
That might be the clincher for the British government. For the rest, and in answer to the question in the headline above — 90 pounds per MWh is competitive, but the uncertainty over waste disposal is a big concern.
Regarding benchmarking, nuclear is baseload, dispatchable (but less flexible than gas and coal), low carbon and with low marginal costs.
The best comparisons may be hydropower (now fully exploited in Britain) and tidal power (untested and probably hugely expensive), both of which tick all those boxes.
Biomass and fossil fuels with CCS are zero carbon (although there is a question mark over biomass), dispatchable, baseload options but they have high marginal (fuel) costs.
Zero carbon and zero marginal cost wind and solar power are neither baseload nor dispatchable and require grid expansion or expensive battery technology to reduce their intermittency.
Given all of the above, the best benchmarks may be CCS and tidal power, both of which are untested, and large-scale offshore wind. Regarding potential cost reductions, offshore wind is a good example.
In its 2011 “Renewable energy roadmap” DECC targeted a reduction in offshore wind power costs by 2020 to 100 pounds per megawatt hour, still more expensive than a 90 pounds nuclear tariff.
Alternatively, the cost of a 90 pounds nuclear power purchase agreement can be compared with support rates for renewables, through an existing tradable certificate scheme.
The value of renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) is set by an administrative buy-out price plus the amount of redistributed penalty payments for non-compliance, which adds roughly an extra 5-10 percent, making for a total ROC value presently of about 42 pounds. Renewable power generators get a certain number of ROCs per MWh plus the wholesale power price.
For example, onshore wind gets 0.9 ROCs per megawatt hour, which works out at around 38 pounds, plus a year-ahead wholesale power price of about 56 pounds per MWh, adding up to 94 pounds.
Various technologies receive the following, in 2012 pounds per MWh: co-firing biomass with coal (77 pounds); onshore wind (94 pounds); hydropower (98 pounds); dedicated biomass burning (119 pounds); and offshore wind, large-scale solar and geothermal power all on 140 pounds.
So a nuclear tariff of 90 pounds so far appears competitive both according to a levelized cost and subsidy comparison with alternative technologies.
But there are enough other considerations to allow both supporters and detractors to claim the economic argument.
Given the scale of capital costs it has to recoup, EDF may insist on a power purchase contract of more than 30 years.
That is longer than the present ROC scheme contracts (20 years) or its replacement scheme from 2014 (15 years).
But nuclear power plants will last longer than wind farms and solar panels: EDF anticipates a lifespan of 60 years for its proposed giant 3.3 gigawatt Hinkley Point C power plant. And then there are the big, less tangible items: the benefit to the UK economy, and the waste disposal problem.
The discounted, estimated clean-up cost at the country’s main nuclear waste site is 37 billion pounds and rising, according to the National Audit Office.
That does not appear to include the cost of long-term storage in a geological disposal facility whose site and therefore costs are still unknown.
Meanwhile, EDF is eager to trumpet a 2 billion pounds investment in the regional economy over the lifetime of its proposed project, and 25,000 new jobs over the construction period.
That might be the clincher for the British government. For the rest, and in answer to the question in the headline above — 90 pounds per MWh is competitive, but the uncertainty over waste disposal is a big concern.
2013年3月21日 星期四
Decision day for ‘monster’ wind farm
Years of campaigning and bitter disputes will come to a head on Tuesday, when a planning appeal in Bridgend finally decides on the Newton Down wind farm.
The plan, submitted by Wiltshire-based Renewable Energy Partnership (REP), would see two 125m turbines – 50ft higher than Wales’ tallest building – erected on Newton Down near Porthcawl.
The idea drew unprecedented opposition, with detractors calling the proposed turbines “monsters”. More people sent in letters of objection to Bridgend County Borough Council than for any other planning bid.
The 640 letters were bolstered by a 1,174-name petition and snubs from Porthcawl, Laleston and Merthyr Mawr town and community councils, before BCBC planners said building the structures on the elevated World War II airfield would be like “dropping the Empire State Building into a quiet area”.
REP said it was “surprised” by the council’s opposition and that the “quality” plan was the result of “painstakingly developed” public consultation and environmental studies.
It argues Newton Down is of the very few possible locations for a small wind farm in the Bridgend borough and insist the planned structures will not be overbearing on nearby properties and will meet noise regulations.
Ken Watts, Newton councillor and Newton Action Group founder member, said the stakes could not be higher.
“It seems everything that has gone before has come down to one day and one planning inspector,” he said.
The Action Group held a last-minute strategy meeting last week. Coun Watts will be one of two members to speak at next week’s appeal.
“I think we have a strong case,” he said. “They describe the farm as small because it has two turbines, but anything that can be seen from Devon cannot be called small.
“For the financial benefit of a few for the short term, these monstrous turbines would destroy for a generation the visual amenity offered by the most beautiful and fantastic stretch of undeveloped coastline in both England and Wales.”
REP director Richard Hadwin told the Gazette: “Newton Down is a quality scheme painstakingly developed through public consultations and environmental studies over many years.
“It is in one of the very few, if not only, locations possible for a small wind farm in the Bridgend borough and hence an important opportunity to deliver the sustainable electricity that we urgently need.
“A free visitor facility has been developed which provides new far-reaching views for walkers, an education facility and the opportunity to get up close to a wind turbine for enthusiasts.”
But Regional AM Byron Davies, who will lodge written objections at the appeal, said the 400ft turbines will be a blot on the landscape visible for miles around and a scourge on people living in their shadow.
“Residents at Stormy Down fear the noise nuisance from the blades, which will be of considerable length,” he said.
“There is also the overpowering effect of such monstrous structures on the residential and visual amenity of these properties.”
He added that the site would be visible from the Glamorgan Heritage Coast and could impinge on Porthcawl’s tourism industry.
“It is 300ft above sea level and, if you add in 400ft turbines, they will be visible from a vast area as well as affecting the seaside resort of Porthcawl.”
The Newton Down proposals have divided opinion since 2008, when BCBC’s planning committee members refused REP’s bid to erect a 70m-high anemometer on the site to measure wind speed – a decision that was later overturned.
The plan, submitted by Wiltshire-based Renewable Energy Partnership (REP), would see two 125m turbines – 50ft higher than Wales’ tallest building – erected on Newton Down near Porthcawl.
The idea drew unprecedented opposition, with detractors calling the proposed turbines “monsters”. More people sent in letters of objection to Bridgend County Borough Council than for any other planning bid.
The 640 letters were bolstered by a 1,174-name petition and snubs from Porthcawl, Laleston and Merthyr Mawr town and community councils, before BCBC planners said building the structures on the elevated World War II airfield would be like “dropping the Empire State Building into a quiet area”.
REP said it was “surprised” by the council’s opposition and that the “quality” plan was the result of “painstakingly developed” public consultation and environmental studies.
It argues Newton Down is of the very few possible locations for a small wind farm in the Bridgend borough and insist the planned structures will not be overbearing on nearby properties and will meet noise regulations.
Ken Watts, Newton councillor and Newton Action Group founder member, said the stakes could not be higher.
“It seems everything that has gone before has come down to one day and one planning inspector,” he said.
The Action Group held a last-minute strategy meeting last week. Coun Watts will be one of two members to speak at next week’s appeal.
“I think we have a strong case,” he said. “They describe the farm as small because it has two turbines, but anything that can be seen from Devon cannot be called small.
“For the financial benefit of a few for the short term, these monstrous turbines would destroy for a generation the visual amenity offered by the most beautiful and fantastic stretch of undeveloped coastline in both England and Wales.”
REP director Richard Hadwin told the Gazette: “Newton Down is a quality scheme painstakingly developed through public consultations and environmental studies over many years.
“It is in one of the very few, if not only, locations possible for a small wind farm in the Bridgend borough and hence an important opportunity to deliver the sustainable electricity that we urgently need.
“A free visitor facility has been developed which provides new far-reaching views for walkers, an education facility and the opportunity to get up close to a wind turbine for enthusiasts.”
But Regional AM Byron Davies, who will lodge written objections at the appeal, said the 400ft turbines will be a blot on the landscape visible for miles around and a scourge on people living in their shadow.
“Residents at Stormy Down fear the noise nuisance from the blades, which will be of considerable length,” he said.
“There is also the overpowering effect of such monstrous structures on the residential and visual amenity of these properties.”
He added that the site would be visible from the Glamorgan Heritage Coast and could impinge on Porthcawl’s tourism industry.
“It is 300ft above sea level and, if you add in 400ft turbines, they will be visible from a vast area as well as affecting the seaside resort of Porthcawl.”
The Newton Down proposals have divided opinion since 2008, when BCBC’s planning committee members refused REP’s bid to erect a 70m-high anemometer on the site to measure wind speed – a decision that was later overturned.
2013年3月20日 星期三
CNC Tube Bending Machines from Schwarze
Speed, volume and size of container ships are constantly increasing to facilitate international transport of growing quantities of goods. At the same time, shipyards are facing increasingly intense global competition. In Europe, the USA, Asia and even Australia, there is competition for customers from civilian and military shipping. In view of these developments, the focus is on the production processes in the shipyards: the motto is “greater speed, greater flexibility, greater efficiency”.
The example of tube bending machines, with which different tubes and pipes have to be processed not only in vast quantities, is an interesting one. Nowadays, the demand for space for the pipes on and below deck is also increasingly becoming a competitive factor. The solution lies in the use of smaller bending radii – a particular technical challenge, which special-purpose machine builder Schwarze-Robitec has solved. Innovations such as the CNC 320 HD machine, the bending specialists help to massively improve productivity in shipbuilding and in the construction of offshore facilities.
Behind the superlatives in shipbuilding lies a production challenge that is almost as great. This becomes particularly apparent in tube machining, as the supply lines on a cruise ship, aircraft carrier, submarine or yacht always form a highly complex network. Very different tube materials are used here for the broadest range of applications and media – from copper through steel and stainless steel to CuNiFe and titanium. Not only do these have to be bent in large quantities to fit precisely; the bending radii of the tubes is also particularly important, as there is generally little space available in the interior of the ship and a great deal of space can be saved with extremely tightly bent pipelines.
“We are intimately acquainted with the different challenges in shipbuilding,” Schwarze-Robitec Managing Director Bert Zorn confirms. “In recent years, we have developed systems for many shipyards all over the world, ensuring direct competitive advantages.” The focus here is generally on CNC cold bending machines, which are designed and constructed in various sizes (from CNC 60 HD to CNC 420 HD) – depending on the requirements of the customer. Schwarze-Robitec constructs these systems in single and multiple-groove design. Multiple-groove machines have multiple bending tools with which pipes of different nominal diameters can be bent on one machine with no conversion work. “There is therefore naturally a huge increase in productivity, as setup times are minimized,” Zorn explains.
Moreover, users benefit from the continuous development of the bending technology by Schwarze-Robitec. In the case of the CNC 320 HD, for example, this allows extremely small bending radii (1.5 x tube diameter) – even for large tubes with very thin walls and diameters up to 323.9 millimeters. Similarly tight radii for such large pipes can otherwise be achieved only with much slower and more laborious warm bending processes or welding bends. The advantage for the user: the small bending radii massively optimise the tube paths in confined spatial conditions.
Nonetheless, this machinery construction technology is of interest not only for shipbuilding. The bending specialists can also see market opportunities in the worldwide growth of mineral oil and natural gas production from the sea. “The construction of offshore plants holds similar challenges. Large quantities of tube and pipe are installed in the smallest spaces. Our CNC cold bending machines are designed both for this and for all other applications in tube/pipe construction,” Zorn concludes.
The example of tube bending machines, with which different tubes and pipes have to be processed not only in vast quantities, is an interesting one. Nowadays, the demand for space for the pipes on and below deck is also increasingly becoming a competitive factor. The solution lies in the use of smaller bending radii – a particular technical challenge, which special-purpose machine builder Schwarze-Robitec has solved. Innovations such as the CNC 320 HD machine, the bending specialists help to massively improve productivity in shipbuilding and in the construction of offshore facilities.
Behind the superlatives in shipbuilding lies a production challenge that is almost as great. This becomes particularly apparent in tube machining, as the supply lines on a cruise ship, aircraft carrier, submarine or yacht always form a highly complex network. Very different tube materials are used here for the broadest range of applications and media – from copper through steel and stainless steel to CuNiFe and titanium. Not only do these have to be bent in large quantities to fit precisely; the bending radii of the tubes is also particularly important, as there is generally little space available in the interior of the ship and a great deal of space can be saved with extremely tightly bent pipelines.
“We are intimately acquainted with the different challenges in shipbuilding,” Schwarze-Robitec Managing Director Bert Zorn confirms. “In recent years, we have developed systems for many shipyards all over the world, ensuring direct competitive advantages.” The focus here is generally on CNC cold bending machines, which are designed and constructed in various sizes (from CNC 60 HD to CNC 420 HD) – depending on the requirements of the customer. Schwarze-Robitec constructs these systems in single and multiple-groove design. Multiple-groove machines have multiple bending tools with which pipes of different nominal diameters can be bent on one machine with no conversion work. “There is therefore naturally a huge increase in productivity, as setup times are minimized,” Zorn explains.
Moreover, users benefit from the continuous development of the bending technology by Schwarze-Robitec. In the case of the CNC 320 HD, for example, this allows extremely small bending radii (1.5 x tube diameter) – even for large tubes with very thin walls and diameters up to 323.9 millimeters. Similarly tight radii for such large pipes can otherwise be achieved only with much slower and more laborious warm bending processes or welding bends. The advantage for the user: the small bending radii massively optimise the tube paths in confined spatial conditions.
Nonetheless, this machinery construction technology is of interest not only for shipbuilding. The bending specialists can also see market opportunities in the worldwide growth of mineral oil and natural gas production from the sea. “The construction of offshore plants holds similar challenges. Large quantities of tube and pipe are installed in the smallest spaces. Our CNC cold bending machines are designed both for this and for all other applications in tube/pipe construction,” Zorn concludes.
2013年3月19日 星期二
Wind farms don’t make you sick
A paper by Australian researchers that concludes wind turbines don’t make people sick — anti-wind-turbine activists do — is making a lot of noise in the anti-wind-farm community in Ontario.
The province has 1,500 megawatts (MW) of wind generation capacity connected to its power grid, the majority of it built under the Liberal’s Green Energy Act. Opposition to wind farms has been fierce, especially from those who believe the noise and/or vibrations from turbines is making them sick.
Professor Simon Chapman, an associate dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, mapped out the history of health-related complaints about wind turbines in Australia and found they don’t follow logically from the development of wind farms, but instead follow the growth of anti-wind turbine activism. The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed.
He found the majority of complaints — 68 per cent — came from just five of the country’s 49 wind farms, which are also at the centre of activism. There were no complaints from all of Western Australia and many other very large wind farms.
Chapman collected health-related complaints about the country’s wind farms made to Australia’s government, directly to wind companies and in Australian media finding that 120 people complained between 1993 and 2012. That is the equivalent of one in every 272 residents living within five kilometres from a wind farm.
“I find it implausible that if wind turbines in themselves were harmful, there would be whole farms using the same equipment, mega-wattage, everything, where people weren’t saying they were affected,” he said.
Wind farms have been in operation in the country since 1993, but health complaints didn’t start in earnest until 2009, when anti-wind activists began widely publicizing health-related concerns and a controversial American doctor dubbed the phrase “Wind Turbine Syndrome”, said Chapman.
He concluded wind turbines do not cause the symptoms — including insomnia, heart murmurs and other irregularities, headaches, vertigo, dizziness and nausea — at all.
“I don’t doubt that when people say, ‘I’m suffering,’ that they’re suffering,” he said. “But the problems that people speak of are very common in all communities. The question becomes not whether they have those problems, but what’s causing those problems.”
He argues people have mis-attributed their common health problems to wind farms because of activists’ campaigns. Some may have even become more ill because they believe that wind farms make them sick — a phenomenon called the “nocebo effect“, he said.
“For people who are not trained in epidemiology or social psychology and who are generally probably ill-disposed to wind turbines — they don’t like the look of them and think they are a ‘green conspiracy’ and it reminds them of the city where they don’t live — they’re a very receptive group to such suggestions.”
In Australia, some activists, whom Chapman calls “professional victims”, will tour rural areas where wind farms are being built and tell people all about their suffering from Wind Turbine Syndrome.
In some cases he highlighted, complaints of Wind Turbine Syndrome began before the wind farms were fully operational or operational at all. In one case, less than two days after a single turbine became operational at 25 per cent strength, a woman told an Australian national newspaper she’d been sick for three days.
Researchers in New Zealand exposed volunteers to 10 minutes of infrasound — the type of inaudible decibel believed to cause health problems — and 10 minutes of fake infrasound. Some volunteers were previously exposed to information from anti-wind groups, intended to invoke a high-expectation of negative symptoms.
Those volunteers reported symptoms that aligned with that information when they heard both the infrasound and the fake infrasound, while the other volunteers reported no symptoms. The researchers said their findings suggest psychological expectations could explain the link between wind turbine exposure and health complaints.
The province has 1,500 megawatts (MW) of wind generation capacity connected to its power grid, the majority of it built under the Liberal’s Green Energy Act. Opposition to wind farms has been fierce, especially from those who believe the noise and/or vibrations from turbines is making them sick.
Professor Simon Chapman, an associate dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, mapped out the history of health-related complaints about wind turbines in Australia and found they don’t follow logically from the development of wind farms, but instead follow the growth of anti-wind turbine activism. The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed.
He found the majority of complaints — 68 per cent — came from just five of the country’s 49 wind farms, which are also at the centre of activism. There were no complaints from all of Western Australia and many other very large wind farms.
Chapman collected health-related complaints about the country’s wind farms made to Australia’s government, directly to wind companies and in Australian media finding that 120 people complained between 1993 and 2012. That is the equivalent of one in every 272 residents living within five kilometres from a wind farm.
“I find it implausible that if wind turbines in themselves were harmful, there would be whole farms using the same equipment, mega-wattage, everything, where people weren’t saying they were affected,” he said.
Wind farms have been in operation in the country since 1993, but health complaints didn’t start in earnest until 2009, when anti-wind activists began widely publicizing health-related concerns and a controversial American doctor dubbed the phrase “Wind Turbine Syndrome”, said Chapman.
He concluded wind turbines do not cause the symptoms — including insomnia, heart murmurs and other irregularities, headaches, vertigo, dizziness and nausea — at all.
“I don’t doubt that when people say, ‘I’m suffering,’ that they’re suffering,” he said. “But the problems that people speak of are very common in all communities. The question becomes not whether they have those problems, but what’s causing those problems.”
He argues people have mis-attributed their common health problems to wind farms because of activists’ campaigns. Some may have even become more ill because they believe that wind farms make them sick — a phenomenon called the “nocebo effect“, he said.
“For people who are not trained in epidemiology or social psychology and who are generally probably ill-disposed to wind turbines — they don’t like the look of them and think they are a ‘green conspiracy’ and it reminds them of the city where they don’t live — they’re a very receptive group to such suggestions.”
In Australia, some activists, whom Chapman calls “professional victims”, will tour rural areas where wind farms are being built and tell people all about their suffering from Wind Turbine Syndrome.
In some cases he highlighted, complaints of Wind Turbine Syndrome began before the wind farms were fully operational or operational at all. In one case, less than two days after a single turbine became operational at 25 per cent strength, a woman told an Australian national newspaper she’d been sick for three days.
Researchers in New Zealand exposed volunteers to 10 minutes of infrasound — the type of inaudible decibel believed to cause health problems — and 10 minutes of fake infrasound. Some volunteers were previously exposed to information from anti-wind groups, intended to invoke a high-expectation of negative symptoms.
Those volunteers reported symptoms that aligned with that information when they heard both the infrasound and the fake infrasound, while the other volunteers reported no symptoms. The researchers said their findings suggest psychological expectations could explain the link between wind turbine exposure and health complaints.
2013年3月18日 星期一
You Just Have To Have It!
The Kenwood Cooking Chef looks sort of like a cross between a stand mixer and a movie robot. It can chop, slice, shred, mix, and even cook your food—a gadget surprisingly close to one of those household helpers the Jetsons schooled us all to expect in the future. At the International Housewares Show in Chicago last week, the little fella had an exhibit space to itself, prime real estate in the center of the kitchen electrics pavilion where a chef imported from New York whipped up flawless risotto almost hands-free. “This is perfect,” said the attendee next to me, a local cooking instructor. “Just perfect.” And so it was. The only thing standing between us and equally perfect, effortless risotto was the $2,000 we’d need to bring the Kenwood Cooking Chef home.
Is America really ready to drop that kind of cash on a cooking appliance? The Thursday before the show, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that they’d revised their estimates of fourth-quarter GDP growth upward ... to a sluglike annual pace of 0.1 percent. The Friday after the show, America woke to the news that unemployment was now only 7.7 percent, which amounts to a four-year low, but is still 5 million more people than reported being out of work in January 2008. In the area of Chicago’s South Side where the housewares expo is held, the rate is closer to a recession-level 11 percent. Not exactly, you’d think, Ken-the-brushed-stainless-Chef’s shining moment. Shouldn’t we be tightening our belts, getting back to basics?
Even in flusher times, Americans seemed largely uninterested in these massively expensive “kitchen machines,” which have been popular in Europe for years; Thermomix, Kenwood’s main competitor, pulled out of the U.S. market in 2004, and Kenwood only started selling the Cooking Chef through Williams-Sonoma last October. The kind of from-scratch cooking that these machines are meant to enable has been in decline over here. During the decades when this country’s economic growth was the envy of the world, Americans’ spending on home cooking plummeted even while restaurant spending went up. Kitchen machines, says Jack Schwefel, the CEO of Sur La Table, “offered a convenience the American consumer wasn’t looking for.”
The irony, however, is that with the recession, Kenwood’s moment may have come. We might be holding onto the old car for a few more years and booking a staycation instead of a week at the shore. Between 2007 and 2012, personal-consumption expenditures rose a scant 3.5 percent. (For comparison, during a comparable five-year period around the 2001 recession, the same numbers rose more than 15 percent.) But we are still spending a lot of money on flashy kitchen equipment.
Pricey “kitchen machines” like the Cooking Chef are still new to the market, of course, but dozens of other upmarket, automatic-everything, newer-than-next- week gadgets I saw scattered throughout the show are making their way into more and more American kitchens. Stand mixers, coffee makers, juicers, blenders, and, increasingly, machines that do more than one thing. According to Debra Mednick of market research firm NPD, sales of kitchen electrics were up 10 percent last year, following a 9 percent increase the year before. Mednick’s ability to gather data stops at the cash register, so she can’t say whether we’re cooking from scratch. But the growth in our gadget purchases seems to indicate that if we aren’t cooking from scratch more than we recently did, we’re certainly preparing to.
Is America really ready to drop that kind of cash on a cooking appliance? The Thursday before the show, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that they’d revised their estimates of fourth-quarter GDP growth upward ... to a sluglike annual pace of 0.1 percent. The Friday after the show, America woke to the news that unemployment was now only 7.7 percent, which amounts to a four-year low, but is still 5 million more people than reported being out of work in January 2008. In the area of Chicago’s South Side where the housewares expo is held, the rate is closer to a recession-level 11 percent. Not exactly, you’d think, Ken-the-brushed-stainless-Chef’s shining moment. Shouldn’t we be tightening our belts, getting back to basics?
Even in flusher times, Americans seemed largely uninterested in these massively expensive “kitchen machines,” which have been popular in Europe for years; Thermomix, Kenwood’s main competitor, pulled out of the U.S. market in 2004, and Kenwood only started selling the Cooking Chef through Williams-Sonoma last October. The kind of from-scratch cooking that these machines are meant to enable has been in decline over here. During the decades when this country’s economic growth was the envy of the world, Americans’ spending on home cooking plummeted even while restaurant spending went up. Kitchen machines, says Jack Schwefel, the CEO of Sur La Table, “offered a convenience the American consumer wasn’t looking for.”
The irony, however, is that with the recession, Kenwood’s moment may have come. We might be holding onto the old car for a few more years and booking a staycation instead of a week at the shore. Between 2007 and 2012, personal-consumption expenditures rose a scant 3.5 percent. (For comparison, during a comparable five-year period around the 2001 recession, the same numbers rose more than 15 percent.) But we are still spending a lot of money on flashy kitchen equipment.
Pricey “kitchen machines” like the Cooking Chef are still new to the market, of course, but dozens of other upmarket, automatic-everything, newer-than-next- week gadgets I saw scattered throughout the show are making their way into more and more American kitchens. Stand mixers, coffee makers, juicers, blenders, and, increasingly, machines that do more than one thing. According to Debra Mednick of market research firm NPD, sales of kitchen electrics were up 10 percent last year, following a 9 percent increase the year before. Mednick’s ability to gather data stops at the cash register, so she can’t say whether we’re cooking from scratch. But the growth in our gadget purchases seems to indicate that if we aren’t cooking from scratch more than we recently did, we’re certainly preparing to.
2013年3月17日 星期日
The technology of offshore wind
The offshore wind industry is relatively young — the first offshore turbine went up in the waters off Denmark in 1991, whereas we've been building terrestrial turbines for thousands of years. Coincidentally, the first electricity producing turbine was built in 1887 by Scottish academic James Blyth at his vacation home in Marykirk, Scotland. But what the industry lacks in lead time, they have been more than making up for it with passion and hustle — the largest turbine in development, an 8-megawatt (MW) monster with a rotor diameter of 538 feet, is being built exclusively by Vestas for offshore placement and is expected to be available next year.
Offshore turbines in Scottish waters have to withstand all of the punishing weather conditions that land-based turbines face with the added stresses of the strong North Sea currents and salt water. It's not an easy environment to operate in. The challenges don't stop there — once the electricity has been generated, it then has to be transmitted back to the mainland over miles of underwater sea floor.
Nearly every turbine in the water today is fixed solidly to the ocean floor, by various designs. Some sit atop poles driven deep into the seabed while others are anchored by wide heavy bases that grip against the currents. If wind farmers want to push out into the really deep waters, they will have to perfect the floating turbine. Floating turbines still need to be anchored to the sea floor, but they are tied in with stabilizing wires, a much cheaper solution that will allow for operations in waters thousands of feet deep. It seems a simple enough proposition to build a floating turbine until you factor in the height and spread of modern turbines — the stresses created by enormous sweeping turbine blades hundreds of feet in the air will require a lot of creative engineering and masterful industrial design to reliably handle.
Today there are hundreds of oil rigs situated off Scotland's shores, each providing a long string of jobs to the oil workers and supply chain staff that keep them running. Oil and gas money ripple out across Scotland's economy, directly providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people and indirectly to millions more. But each of those jobs is dependent on one thing: there being more oil and gas to pump out of the ground.
In the face of production numbers that show peaking around 2001, Scottish business and political leaders know they need to do something if they wanted to stave off a decline in economic vitality that matches the decline in North Sea oil and gas reserves. Their solution is a pragmatic one — transfer the knowledge and expertise they have built up working in the oil and gas industry for the past four decades into a new industry producing clean, renewable energy. They want to turn Scottish oil rig workers into wind farm workers. They want Scottish welders building turbines and tidal power harvesters. They want to change from being leaders in offshore oil and gas to being leaders in offshore energy.
The road to worldwide leadership in offshore wind power is not without it's potential potholes and roadblocks. Not everyone in Scotland is excited about the idea of dotting their waters with industrial wind turbines. Perhaps the most public and vocal opponent of wind power is American reality television star Donald Trump. Trump, whose mother was born in Scotland, battled environmentalists and conservationists for years to build a sprawling golf course just north of Aberdeen.
He has put his plans on hold to build an additional 1,500 houses and a hotel on his property due to a proposed wind farm offshore from his golf course. Trump, who built part of his course on ecologically sensitive sand dunes, claims that the wind turbines will lead to the destruction of the coastline and local economy and vows not to move ahead with construction until the proposed $327 million 11-turbine development is killed.
Offshore turbines in Scottish waters have to withstand all of the punishing weather conditions that land-based turbines face with the added stresses of the strong North Sea currents and salt water. It's not an easy environment to operate in. The challenges don't stop there — once the electricity has been generated, it then has to be transmitted back to the mainland over miles of underwater sea floor.
Nearly every turbine in the water today is fixed solidly to the ocean floor, by various designs. Some sit atop poles driven deep into the seabed while others are anchored by wide heavy bases that grip against the currents. If wind farmers want to push out into the really deep waters, they will have to perfect the floating turbine. Floating turbines still need to be anchored to the sea floor, but they are tied in with stabilizing wires, a much cheaper solution that will allow for operations in waters thousands of feet deep. It seems a simple enough proposition to build a floating turbine until you factor in the height and spread of modern turbines — the stresses created by enormous sweeping turbine blades hundreds of feet in the air will require a lot of creative engineering and masterful industrial design to reliably handle.
Today there are hundreds of oil rigs situated off Scotland's shores, each providing a long string of jobs to the oil workers and supply chain staff that keep them running. Oil and gas money ripple out across Scotland's economy, directly providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people and indirectly to millions more. But each of those jobs is dependent on one thing: there being more oil and gas to pump out of the ground.
In the face of production numbers that show peaking around 2001, Scottish business and political leaders know they need to do something if they wanted to stave off a decline in economic vitality that matches the decline in North Sea oil and gas reserves. Their solution is a pragmatic one — transfer the knowledge and expertise they have built up working in the oil and gas industry for the past four decades into a new industry producing clean, renewable energy. They want to turn Scottish oil rig workers into wind farm workers. They want Scottish welders building turbines and tidal power harvesters. They want to change from being leaders in offshore oil and gas to being leaders in offshore energy.
The road to worldwide leadership in offshore wind power is not without it's potential potholes and roadblocks. Not everyone in Scotland is excited about the idea of dotting their waters with industrial wind turbines. Perhaps the most public and vocal opponent of wind power is American reality television star Donald Trump. Trump, whose mother was born in Scotland, battled environmentalists and conservationists for years to build a sprawling golf course just north of Aberdeen.
He has put his plans on hold to build an additional 1,500 houses and a hotel on his property due to a proposed wind farm offshore from his golf course. Trump, who built part of his course on ecologically sensitive sand dunes, claims that the wind turbines will lead to the destruction of the coastline and local economy and vows not to move ahead with construction until the proposed $327 million 11-turbine development is killed.
2013年3月14日 星期四
Ghrepower makes the difference by creating jobs
The company helped Ghrepower develop a new technology that allowed wind turbines to function properly even when the temperature drops below 0 C. "When the weather gets cold, the propeller blades of the wind turbine sometimes freeze, but the new technology generates heat internally to prevent this."
Meanwhile, another consultancy firm has done research on the market for small and medium-size wind turbines across Europe for Ghrepower, at Deng's request.
Deng says that such research could easily cost 1,000 pounds to do, but it was given to Deng's team for free as a part of the scheme package.
The scheme also put Deng's team together with many local banks, which provide guidance on how to prepare the right documents to get funding for wind turbine construction.
Installing a medium-size wind turbine would generally cost about half a million pounds for the whole project, and it is hard for Ghrepower's customers to provide this investment by themselves. Therefore Deng's team has been helping their customers in getting bank funding.
"In the past, it has been particularly hard for customers to apply for bank funding for our wind turbines because we only have two years of history in Wales, but the life of a wind turbine is 20 years, so our track record is not enough," Deng says. "In our industry, we say that such wind turbines are not 'bankable'."
One solution his team recently devised is to contribute a part of the capital investment for its customers, in exchange for the subsidy that the British government gives to users of renewable energy.
But the scheme allowed him to meet many banks that specialize in financing small-scale projects, which could be a perfect solution to the funding challenge. "It was very helpful to hear from them the criteria that they judge projects by," he says.
Ghrepower sold its first wind turbine in the UK five years ago through a local distributor. The Scottish government opened a bid to construct a wind turbine next to a recreational facility and Ghrepower won the contract.
Two years ago, Deng set up a subsidiary for Ghrepower in Swansea. While the wind turbines' manufacturing is still done in China, the Swansea subsidiary is in charge of sales, repair and installation.
"We expanded overseas because the wind turbine market in China is restricted by China's immature smart grid system, which is the infrastructure essential for delivering energy generated from wind farms to people's homes," Deng says.
"In comparison, the smart grid market of the UK is very advanced. Another advantage of the UK market is the financial support the government gives to producers of renewable energy, which drives up demand," he says.
Under a feed-in tariff scheme introduced in 2011, homeowners and businesses are paid a cost-based subsidy by the government for the renewable electricity they produce, which includes solar, wind, tidal and others.
For wind energy, the UK government is paying 17.50 pence for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated if the total amount of power generation is between 100-500 kW.
However, to help its customers take advantage of this scheme, Ghrepower had to undergo the Microgeneration Certification Scheme assessment. Deng says that Ghrepower has already invested one and a half years and a lot of assessment fees to gain this certificate. He believes Ghrepower will receive its certificate within the next three months.
"We are fully confident about our growth in the British market. But at the same time, growing in the British market is an opportunity to accumulate lots of knowledge in this industry to be used at home as China's wind turbine sector matures in the future," Deng says.
Meanwhile, another consultancy firm has done research on the market for small and medium-size wind turbines across Europe for Ghrepower, at Deng's request.
Deng says that such research could easily cost 1,000 pounds to do, but it was given to Deng's team for free as a part of the scheme package.
The scheme also put Deng's team together with many local banks, which provide guidance on how to prepare the right documents to get funding for wind turbine construction.
Installing a medium-size wind turbine would generally cost about half a million pounds for the whole project, and it is hard for Ghrepower's customers to provide this investment by themselves. Therefore Deng's team has been helping their customers in getting bank funding.
"In the past, it has been particularly hard for customers to apply for bank funding for our wind turbines because we only have two years of history in Wales, but the life of a wind turbine is 20 years, so our track record is not enough," Deng says. "In our industry, we say that such wind turbines are not 'bankable'."
One solution his team recently devised is to contribute a part of the capital investment for its customers, in exchange for the subsidy that the British government gives to users of renewable energy.
But the scheme allowed him to meet many banks that specialize in financing small-scale projects, which could be a perfect solution to the funding challenge. "It was very helpful to hear from them the criteria that they judge projects by," he says.
Ghrepower sold its first wind turbine in the UK five years ago through a local distributor. The Scottish government opened a bid to construct a wind turbine next to a recreational facility and Ghrepower won the contract.
Two years ago, Deng set up a subsidiary for Ghrepower in Swansea. While the wind turbines' manufacturing is still done in China, the Swansea subsidiary is in charge of sales, repair and installation.
"We expanded overseas because the wind turbine market in China is restricted by China's immature smart grid system, which is the infrastructure essential for delivering energy generated from wind farms to people's homes," Deng says.
"In comparison, the smart grid market of the UK is very advanced. Another advantage of the UK market is the financial support the government gives to producers of renewable energy, which drives up demand," he says.
Under a feed-in tariff scheme introduced in 2011, homeowners and businesses are paid a cost-based subsidy by the government for the renewable electricity they produce, which includes solar, wind, tidal and others.
For wind energy, the UK government is paying 17.50 pence for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated if the total amount of power generation is between 100-500 kW.
However, to help its customers take advantage of this scheme, Ghrepower had to undergo the Microgeneration Certification Scheme assessment. Deng says that Ghrepower has already invested one and a half years and a lot of assessment fees to gain this certificate. He believes Ghrepower will receive its certificate within the next three months.
"We are fully confident about our growth in the British market. But at the same time, growing in the British market is an opportunity to accumulate lots of knowledge in this industry to be used at home as China's wind turbine sector matures in the future," Deng says.
2013年3月13日 星期三
IDS International Dental Show in Cologne
The world's leading dental laser manufacturer and distributor, announced today that the Company held its annual distributor meeting on March 12, 2013, the first day of the exhibition at the 35th IDS International Dental Show in Cologne,Germany, recognized as the world's largest dental show. A total of 51distributor companies of all sizes from BIOLASE's network were present with their representatives from Europe, the Middle East,North Africa and Asia-Pacific.
After a presentation by Professor, Doctor Norbert Gutknecht of the AALZ, Aachen Dental Laser Center, and WALED, World Academy for Laser Education & Research in Dentistry, introducing our common plan for globalizing dental laser education through his two organizations and BIOLASE's laser technologies, a series of awards for sales and market penetration performance achieved in 2012 were presented to the top producing distributors by Federico Pignatelli, Chairman and CEO of BIOLASE and Pedro Morales, our Director of EMEA.
Recognized as the Top International Distributor for 2012 was Uni dent from Moscow, Russia, Second place went to Haopu Medical form Shanghai, China. Third place went to TBMS of Taipei, Taiwan, while Fourth place went to NMT of Munich, Germany and Fifth place to the Team of Henry Schein-UK, (HSIC) based in London, England.
Federico Pignatelli, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented,"I was very pleased to recognize the achievements of our now large inter national distributor networks for their efforts and achieve ments in 2012 and to share with them our goals and objectives for 2013. I was proud to see that we now have distribution in more than 70countries, by far more than at any other time in BIOLASE's history.
All of them are as committed as me in our common goal of making Water Lase laser technology the standard of care worldwide. I look forward to even more distributors joining our already large net work in the current year and to more awards for 2013 and beyond. The International Dental Show (IDS) runs from March 12-16, and will have over 1.900 exhibitors from 55 countries and total attendance will exceed 100,000 participants."
About BIOLASE, Inc. BIOLASE, Inc. is a biomedical company that develops, manufactures and markets dental lasers and also distributes and markets dental imaging equipment; products that are focused on technologies that advance the practice of dentistry and medicine. The Company's laser products incorporate approximately 314 patented and patent-pending technologies designed to provide biologically clinically superior performance with less pain and faster recovery times.
Its imaging products provide cutting-edge technology at competitive prices to deliver the best results for dentists and patients. BIOLASE's principal products are dental laser systems that perform a broad range of dental procedures, including cosmetic and complex surgical applications, and a full line of dental imaging equipment. BIOLASE has sold more than 22,000 lasers worldwide. Otherproducts under development address ophthalmology and other medicaland consumer markets.
After a presentation by Professor, Doctor Norbert Gutknecht of the AALZ, Aachen Dental Laser Center, and WALED, World Academy for Laser Education & Research in Dentistry, introducing our common plan for globalizing dental laser education through his two organizations and BIOLASE's laser technologies, a series of awards for sales and market penetration performance achieved in 2012 were presented to the top producing distributors by Federico Pignatelli, Chairman and CEO of BIOLASE and Pedro Morales, our Director of EMEA.
Recognized as the Top International Distributor for 2012 was Uni dent from Moscow, Russia, Second place went to Haopu Medical form Shanghai, China. Third place went to TBMS of Taipei, Taiwan, while Fourth place went to NMT of Munich, Germany and Fifth place to the Team of Henry Schein-UK, (HSIC) based in London, England.
Federico Pignatelli, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented,"I was very pleased to recognize the achievements of our now large inter national distributor networks for their efforts and achieve ments in 2012 and to share with them our goals and objectives for 2013. I was proud to see that we now have distribution in more than 70countries, by far more than at any other time in BIOLASE's history.
All of them are as committed as me in our common goal of making Water Lase laser technology the standard of care worldwide. I look forward to even more distributors joining our already large net work in the current year and to more awards for 2013 and beyond. The International Dental Show (IDS) runs from March 12-16, and will have over 1.900 exhibitors from 55 countries and total attendance will exceed 100,000 participants."
About BIOLASE, Inc. BIOLASE, Inc. is a biomedical company that develops, manufactures and markets dental lasers and also distributes and markets dental imaging equipment; products that are focused on technologies that advance the practice of dentistry and medicine. The Company's laser products incorporate approximately 314 patented and patent-pending technologies designed to provide biologically clinically superior performance with less pain and faster recovery times.
Its imaging products provide cutting-edge technology at competitive prices to deliver the best results for dentists and patients. BIOLASE's principal products are dental laser systems that perform a broad range of dental procedures, including cosmetic and complex surgical applications, and a full line of dental imaging equipment. BIOLASE has sold more than 22,000 lasers worldwide. Otherproducts under development address ophthalmology and other medicaland consumer markets.
2013年3月12日 星期二
No decision yet on Whalerock wind suit
There’s no decision yet on the fate of the proposed Whalerock wind turbine plant in Charlestown after a complicated hearing on a trio of legal proceedings involving the project Monday morning in Washington County Superior Court. The project is stalled over the question of the Planning Commission’s role in the process.
Larry LeBlanc, local developer and owner of Whalerock Renewable Energy LLC, is seeking a special use permit that would allow him to build two 262-foot-high wind turbines on an 81-acre site north of Route 1 between King’s Factory Road and East Quail Run.
Rodgers asked lawyers in the case for transcripts of the Nov. 13, 2012, Zoning Board of Review hearing in which the board voted to affirm that Whalerock’s application to the town for the special use permit was complete. That vote was taken after Associate Justice Judith Savage remanded the case back to the zoning board, in response to lawsuits from the Town Council and a group of 30 abutters opposed to the project following its 2011 vote to affirm the application’s status. The November vote was delayed one month after the abutters argued to the zoning board that they were not officially notified of the October meeting.
In Whalerock v. Charlestown Planning Commission, LeBlanc is seeking a judgment that would allow him to proceed directly to a zoning board hearing on the special use permit without having to first go before the Planning Commission, which is allowed under town ordinance to give an advisory opinion on the case. Nicholas Gorham, Whalerock lawyer, claimed Monday that a memo issued by Town Planner Ashley Hahn at an October 2010 hearing on the application represents the planning panel’s advisory opinion.
The hearing also encompassed two other suits, by the council and the neighbors, challenging the zoning board’s November decision.
While agreeing that the Planning Commission can act only in an advisory capacity, Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero challenged the zoning board’s decision, which he said was based not on any board discussion, but on a three-page finding of facts distributed in October by Robert Craven, the zoning board’s lawyer.
According to the minutes of the Nov. 13 meeting, when zoning board Chairman Michael Rzewuski asked members for comment, the only response came from William Meyer, who asked if he correctly understood the vote to mean it would be an affirmation of its original determination that the application was complete. The board took two votes: 4-1 (with Rzewuski dissenting) to affirm the completed application, then 5-0 to accept Craven’s document as the basis for its decision.
Another issue Rodgers may address in her written decision will be if the town ordinance in effect in 2010 governs the case.
Gorham, disputing the fairness of the current Planning Commission in its advisory role, argued that the ordinance prior to the November 2010 election, when wind turbines were allowed under ordinance and the council was acting as a partner in the project, should govern the case.
The Planning Commission has never formally voted to issue an advisory, as a board, on the case. Her administrative advisory was approved, with several conditions added by board members during discussion, and sent to the council. The council then held a hearing in October, which stretched over two nights, but continued it without a finding. After a new council was elected that November, with a majority opposed to the project, it voted to freeze the proposal, then impose a moratorium on development of wind turbine plants until a new ordinance could be drafted.
“We were in a crucible in politics. The (council) hearing went completely haywire, and it decided, incorrectly, to wait until after the election,” Gorham said.
Ruggiero argued that Whalerock’s case is based upon an ordinance that no longer exists, and that even under the old one, the Planning Commission had an advisory role because it read, “The council may solicit opinion from other legal bodies.”
“It’s a distinction without a difference,” Gorham replied. “We had two hearings in front of the (commission). We gave it a fair try. We got a written decision from one of them.”
Larry LeBlanc, local developer and owner of Whalerock Renewable Energy LLC, is seeking a special use permit that would allow him to build two 262-foot-high wind turbines on an 81-acre site north of Route 1 between King’s Factory Road and East Quail Run.
Rodgers asked lawyers in the case for transcripts of the Nov. 13, 2012, Zoning Board of Review hearing in which the board voted to affirm that Whalerock’s application to the town for the special use permit was complete. That vote was taken after Associate Justice Judith Savage remanded the case back to the zoning board, in response to lawsuits from the Town Council and a group of 30 abutters opposed to the project following its 2011 vote to affirm the application’s status. The November vote was delayed one month after the abutters argued to the zoning board that they were not officially notified of the October meeting.
In Whalerock v. Charlestown Planning Commission, LeBlanc is seeking a judgment that would allow him to proceed directly to a zoning board hearing on the special use permit without having to first go before the Planning Commission, which is allowed under town ordinance to give an advisory opinion on the case. Nicholas Gorham, Whalerock lawyer, claimed Monday that a memo issued by Town Planner Ashley Hahn at an October 2010 hearing on the application represents the planning panel’s advisory opinion.
The hearing also encompassed two other suits, by the council and the neighbors, challenging the zoning board’s November decision.
While agreeing that the Planning Commission can act only in an advisory capacity, Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero challenged the zoning board’s decision, which he said was based not on any board discussion, but on a three-page finding of facts distributed in October by Robert Craven, the zoning board’s lawyer.
According to the minutes of the Nov. 13 meeting, when zoning board Chairman Michael Rzewuski asked members for comment, the only response came from William Meyer, who asked if he correctly understood the vote to mean it would be an affirmation of its original determination that the application was complete. The board took two votes: 4-1 (with Rzewuski dissenting) to affirm the completed application, then 5-0 to accept Craven’s document as the basis for its decision.
Another issue Rodgers may address in her written decision will be if the town ordinance in effect in 2010 governs the case.
Gorham, disputing the fairness of the current Planning Commission in its advisory role, argued that the ordinance prior to the November 2010 election, when wind turbines were allowed under ordinance and the council was acting as a partner in the project, should govern the case.
The Planning Commission has never formally voted to issue an advisory, as a board, on the case. Her administrative advisory was approved, with several conditions added by board members during discussion, and sent to the council. The council then held a hearing in October, which stretched over two nights, but continued it without a finding. After a new council was elected that November, with a majority opposed to the project, it voted to freeze the proposal, then impose a moratorium on development of wind turbine plants until a new ordinance could be drafted.
“We were in a crucible in politics. The (council) hearing went completely haywire, and it decided, incorrectly, to wait until after the election,” Gorham said.
Ruggiero argued that Whalerock’s case is based upon an ordinance that no longer exists, and that even under the old one, the Planning Commission had an advisory role because it read, “The council may solicit opinion from other legal bodies.”
“It’s a distinction without a difference,” Gorham replied. “We had two hearings in front of the (commission). We gave it a fair try. We got a written decision from one of them.”
2013年3月11日 星期一
Flexibility is key for new packaging line
The bottles are conveyed to Model FOFNT60 automatic inline overflow filler that is equipped with up to 14 fill nozzles. The actual number of nozzles used during production ranges from 14 nozzles for the 2-oz bottles to six nozzles for gallons. This is an intermittent machine, so the bottles are stopped during the fill cycle.
Bottles are admitted into the filler in groupings that coincide with the number of nozzles in use. Thus, when running gallons, six bottles would be admitted at a time. The conveyor running through the machine runs continuously, so a gate holds bottles back at the entrance to the filler and then retracts to admit the correct number. Another gate holds the bottles in place beneath the fill nozzles as they are filled.
With this overflow filler, product is pumped continuously to the fill nozzles. When it reaches the fill level in the bottle, the overflow recirculates back to the product supply tank. This recirculation feature makes overflow fillers a good choice for foamy products, because the closed system permits re-circulation of foam into the product supply tank, although the system is suitable for a range of products including sauces, syrups, light gels and shampoos, foamy cleansers and chemicals, water and other non-carbonated water-thin beverages.
The bottles then enter the IFS Computorque NT automatic inline capping machine that applies and torques caps onto containers as they pass through the machine. The unit features Inline's patented cap tightening system, which uses parallel belts traveling in opposite directions that tighten the caps onto the bottles. Pistons pulse the belts at adjustable frequencies and amplitudes to achieve the required cap torque. The capper control panel visually displays operating parameters and messages for concise operator feedback and maintains the settings in memory for easy recall.
Caps for the bottles are loaded into a floor level cap bin and delivered up to the overhead centrifugal sorter by an elevator/feeder. A spinning disk in the sorter moves the caps to its outer periphery where an air jet blows caps that are oriented with their open side up back to the center of the disk for resorting. Properly oriented caps are sent down a track and into a powered belt for final orientation.
The caps travel under a hook. Caps that are properly oriented with the open side down are unaffected and transfer to an inclined cap chute and are carried to the capping machine pick-off. Caps that are oriented with their open side up are caught by the hook and flipped back into the sorter.
Bottles leaving the capper, pass through an Enercon Industries Corp. Super Seal 100 induction sealing system that heats and applies a foil/laminate tamper-evident seal to the tops of the plastic bottles. An air-cooling system eliminates the need for a water recirculator, saving floor space and money.
The bottles then enter a bottom-code transfer device from IFS that uses parallel belts to grip the sides of the containers and transport them over a gap in the conveyor so that a bottom code can be applied. This is accomplished by a Model 3120 carbon dioxide laser marking system from Videojet Technologies Inc.
This unit can apply complex multi-line alphanumeric information, foreign-language character sets, graphics and machine-readable codes to a range of materials. Information-such as expiry and manufacturing dates, document numbers, system codes, ID matrix and bar codes, sequential numbers, batch codes and numbers, and even information about contents and weight-is processed quickly and easily by the laser coding system.
Bottles are admitted into the filler in groupings that coincide with the number of nozzles in use. Thus, when running gallons, six bottles would be admitted at a time. The conveyor running through the machine runs continuously, so a gate holds bottles back at the entrance to the filler and then retracts to admit the correct number. Another gate holds the bottles in place beneath the fill nozzles as they are filled.
With this overflow filler, product is pumped continuously to the fill nozzles. When it reaches the fill level in the bottle, the overflow recirculates back to the product supply tank. This recirculation feature makes overflow fillers a good choice for foamy products, because the closed system permits re-circulation of foam into the product supply tank, although the system is suitable for a range of products including sauces, syrups, light gels and shampoos, foamy cleansers and chemicals, water and other non-carbonated water-thin beverages.
The bottles then enter the IFS Computorque NT automatic inline capping machine that applies and torques caps onto containers as they pass through the machine. The unit features Inline's patented cap tightening system, which uses parallel belts traveling in opposite directions that tighten the caps onto the bottles. Pistons pulse the belts at adjustable frequencies and amplitudes to achieve the required cap torque. The capper control panel visually displays operating parameters and messages for concise operator feedback and maintains the settings in memory for easy recall.
Caps for the bottles are loaded into a floor level cap bin and delivered up to the overhead centrifugal sorter by an elevator/feeder. A spinning disk in the sorter moves the caps to its outer periphery where an air jet blows caps that are oriented with their open side up back to the center of the disk for resorting. Properly oriented caps are sent down a track and into a powered belt for final orientation.
The caps travel under a hook. Caps that are properly oriented with the open side down are unaffected and transfer to an inclined cap chute and are carried to the capping machine pick-off. Caps that are oriented with their open side up are caught by the hook and flipped back into the sorter.
Bottles leaving the capper, pass through an Enercon Industries Corp. Super Seal 100 induction sealing system that heats and applies a foil/laminate tamper-evident seal to the tops of the plastic bottles. An air-cooling system eliminates the need for a water recirculator, saving floor space and money.
The bottles then enter a bottom-code transfer device from IFS that uses parallel belts to grip the sides of the containers and transport them over a gap in the conveyor so that a bottom code can be applied. This is accomplished by a Model 3120 carbon dioxide laser marking system from Videojet Technologies Inc.
This unit can apply complex multi-line alphanumeric information, foreign-language character sets, graphics and machine-readable codes to a range of materials. Information-such as expiry and manufacturing dates, document numbers, system codes, ID matrix and bar codes, sequential numbers, batch codes and numbers, and even information about contents and weight-is processed quickly and easily by the laser coding system.
2013年3月10日 星期日
Dakota Precision Ag Center looks to the future
The Dakota Precision Ag Center at Lake Region State College in Devils Lake is focused on bringing new technologies to farms. But to do that, it must also educate and train the future operators and handlers of that technology.
“That’s the hallmark of what we do,” says Paul Gunderson, the center’s director.
This fall, the ag center will introduce a new class, Precision Ag Technician Training. Gunderson says the course has piqued interest from students across the Northern High Plains and into Wisconsin and Iowa.
“There’s a tremendous amount of interest,” he says. “We hope it’s going to be a successful, good program.”
The center also offers a specialized training course for workers impacted by foreign trade. Gunderson cites the relocation of Bobcat production facilities to South Korea, and Fargo’s wind turbine facility closure.
Programs also assist returning war veterans, expanding their post-deployment career opportunities into the ag industry.
“Our role is to train them, bring them to the point where they would be able to repair [precision ag equipment and technology], those kinds of things,” Gunderson says.
Courses also include backstop training for employees of implement dealerships and co-ops who might not have the background necessary to excel in their fields. The program will offer a range of activities, beginning this spring with computer training.
It is one of only two remaining community school facilities developed under Gov. John Hoeven’s Centers of Excellence program, Gunderson says. Because of an increase in federal and state funding, the center has brought new faculty members on board to help with research and training.
“We’ve been very successful there,” Gunderson says, adding that the center has about $3.1 million available now and has more money pending on both the state and federal levels. The center also has private sector partners that assist both financially and in in-kind contributions.
Gunderson says the goal is to connect ag research, focusing on new technologies and improvements, including product testing for private companies.
The center has answer farms, contracted with farmers, throughout North Dakota where products and practices are tested across growing seasons to assess functionality and whether they would make a difference to a farm’s bottom line.
“We’ll go where we need to in order to secure the right kind of setting,” Gunderson says of the answer farms.
Gunderson and his researchers and students are developing a new slurry manure injection tool and will conduct tests this summer, he says. The new initiative will combine site-specific data and controllers to the injection toolbar so manure is injected precisely into soil zones that have the most potential for production, according to the center. This minimizes manure applications where soil is unfit for normal production or in sensitive areas such as buffers, watersheds, ditches, or drainage areas.
“That’s the hallmark of what we do,” says Paul Gunderson, the center’s director.
This fall, the ag center will introduce a new class, Precision Ag Technician Training. Gunderson says the course has piqued interest from students across the Northern High Plains and into Wisconsin and Iowa.
“There’s a tremendous amount of interest,” he says. “We hope it’s going to be a successful, good program.”
The center also offers a specialized training course for workers impacted by foreign trade. Gunderson cites the relocation of Bobcat production facilities to South Korea, and Fargo’s wind turbine facility closure.
Programs also assist returning war veterans, expanding their post-deployment career opportunities into the ag industry.
“Our role is to train them, bring them to the point where they would be able to repair [precision ag equipment and technology], those kinds of things,” Gunderson says.
Courses also include backstop training for employees of implement dealerships and co-ops who might not have the background necessary to excel in their fields. The program will offer a range of activities, beginning this spring with computer training.
It is one of only two remaining community school facilities developed under Gov. John Hoeven’s Centers of Excellence program, Gunderson says. Because of an increase in federal and state funding, the center has brought new faculty members on board to help with research and training.
“We’ve been very successful there,” Gunderson says, adding that the center has about $3.1 million available now and has more money pending on both the state and federal levels. The center also has private sector partners that assist both financially and in in-kind contributions.
Gunderson says the goal is to connect ag research, focusing on new technologies and improvements, including product testing for private companies.
The center has answer farms, contracted with farmers, throughout North Dakota where products and practices are tested across growing seasons to assess functionality and whether they would make a difference to a farm’s bottom line.
“We’ll go where we need to in order to secure the right kind of setting,” Gunderson says of the answer farms.
Gunderson and his researchers and students are developing a new slurry manure injection tool and will conduct tests this summer, he says. The new initiative will combine site-specific data and controllers to the injection toolbar so manure is injected precisely into soil zones that have the most potential for production, according to the center. This minimizes manure applications where soil is unfit for normal production or in sensitive areas such as buffers, watersheds, ditches, or drainage areas.
2013年3月7日 星期四
Turning a blue lake green
Although humans have been harnessing the wind for centuries, the United States still doesn't have a single offshore wind farm. But if the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo.) has anything to do about it, that's about to change.
The company's Project Icebreaker would bring between five and nine wind turbines to Lake Erie, which would be situated about seven miles northwest of downtown. Each three-megawatt turbine would rise approximately 450 feet from the water to the zenith of the blades -- about twice the height of the Valley View bridge.
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded LEEDCo a $4 million grant last year to proceed with the development of Project Icebreaker. The company has a year to submit a plan and compete with six other projects for as much as $47 million to proceed with realization. If Project Icebreaker is chosen, Clevelanders could be admiring the massive pinwheels as early as 2016.
"It's a tough project all the way around, mostly because it's never been done in the U. S., but our prospects are excellent," says LEEDCo President Lorry Wagner. "We've got a tremendous team. Four of our partners have built offshore wind projects in Europe. We've got some great local talent. We've got the project management firm [PMC] that's building the Med Mart and the Flats East Bank. We're feeling very good about it."
Despite the mammoth size, the turbine cluster would merely be a prototype designed to introduce offshore wind energy to the region, says Wagner. A viable wind farm would include between 50 and 100 turbines positioned 10 to 15 miles offshore and tickle the clouds when the massive blades reach their highest point of nearly 500 feet.
But will Clevelanders be intimidated? Wagner doesn't think so.
"If you look what's happened around the world, wind turbines have become destinations," he says. "Each turbine will have its own little eco-system that grows at the base," says Wagner, adding that they attract fish, and in turn, fisherman. "Many countries have created places for boaters to tie up by the turbines. Then you start to think about the sailboats; now they have another pylon to sail around."
While the proposed wind turbines in Lake Erie are awfully big, some smaller projects are helping local businesses stay green and trim their utility bills.
Mitchell's Ice Cream soon will relocate from Rocky River to Ohio City, where they currently are renovating a century-old building into new headquarters, production area and retail space. Among the energy saving features is a 15,000-watt rooftop solar array that will power ultra high-efficiency LED and fluorescent lighting. In winter, exhaust from the industrial freezers will help heat the building. New skylights and windows will utilize the most renewable energy source of all—the sun.
"Our carbon footprint will be satisfyingly low," says owner Mike Mitchell.
Add insulation, a heat-deflecting white roof, high-tech windows and a storm water collection system that will supply gray water to the low-flow toilets and suddenly, the old Rialto Theater is starting to look decidedly modern.
"We're getting an education about what it means to build a sustainable building, about what it means to encourage sustainability in the community, and what it means to be a catalyst for the people," says Mitchell. "We've been working on this building for 17 months. It's been a great ride."
The company's Project Icebreaker would bring between five and nine wind turbines to Lake Erie, which would be situated about seven miles northwest of downtown. Each three-megawatt turbine would rise approximately 450 feet from the water to the zenith of the blades -- about twice the height of the Valley View bridge.
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded LEEDCo a $4 million grant last year to proceed with the development of Project Icebreaker. The company has a year to submit a plan and compete with six other projects for as much as $47 million to proceed with realization. If Project Icebreaker is chosen, Clevelanders could be admiring the massive pinwheels as early as 2016.
"It's a tough project all the way around, mostly because it's never been done in the U. S., but our prospects are excellent," says LEEDCo President Lorry Wagner. "We've got a tremendous team. Four of our partners have built offshore wind projects in Europe. We've got some great local talent. We've got the project management firm [PMC] that's building the Med Mart and the Flats East Bank. We're feeling very good about it."
Despite the mammoth size, the turbine cluster would merely be a prototype designed to introduce offshore wind energy to the region, says Wagner. A viable wind farm would include between 50 and 100 turbines positioned 10 to 15 miles offshore and tickle the clouds when the massive blades reach their highest point of nearly 500 feet.
But will Clevelanders be intimidated? Wagner doesn't think so.
"If you look what's happened around the world, wind turbines have become destinations," he says. "Each turbine will have its own little eco-system that grows at the base," says Wagner, adding that they attract fish, and in turn, fisherman. "Many countries have created places for boaters to tie up by the turbines. Then you start to think about the sailboats; now they have another pylon to sail around."
While the proposed wind turbines in Lake Erie are awfully big, some smaller projects are helping local businesses stay green and trim their utility bills.
Mitchell's Ice Cream soon will relocate from Rocky River to Ohio City, where they currently are renovating a century-old building into new headquarters, production area and retail space. Among the energy saving features is a 15,000-watt rooftop solar array that will power ultra high-efficiency LED and fluorescent lighting. In winter, exhaust from the industrial freezers will help heat the building. New skylights and windows will utilize the most renewable energy source of all—the sun.
"Our carbon footprint will be satisfyingly low," says owner Mike Mitchell.
Add insulation, a heat-deflecting white roof, high-tech windows and a storm water collection system that will supply gray water to the low-flow toilets and suddenly, the old Rialto Theater is starting to look decidedly modern.
"We're getting an education about what it means to build a sustainable building, about what it means to encourage sustainability in the community, and what it means to be a catalyst for the people," says Mitchell. "We've been working on this building for 17 months. It's been a great ride."
2013年3月6日 星期三
FAE USA Annual Sales Meeting
The first of two days of meetings started at Lake Lanier Islands resort in north Georgia with product training and marketing strategies and continued on day two with additional training and a demo.
With the addition of several new territory managers, the FAE USA staff focused training on the entire FAE and PrimeTech equipment and attachment lines. Several new FAE product offerings for 2013, which were introduced at the meeting, had many looking forward to getting back to their territories to spread the good news.
“The new low flow DML/HY125 and DML/SSL125 are going to be the hottest selling attachments on the market,” said Dave Evans, territory manager in the Carolina’s. “If you think about the low flow industry for heavy brush clearing, there’s only brush cutters and flail mowers. There’s maybe only one other low flow drum style rotary mulcher on the market. The way FAE has designed their new low flow mulcher, I truly believe this is going to be one of the year’s hot sellers.”
Ken Pryzgoda, territory manager of Colo., N.M., and Wyo., was equally impressed with the new FAE USA DML/HY & DML/SSL mulchers.
“With the high speed rotor system having a smaller diameter and turning faster with the new design tooth, these attachments will really open a new market of the low flow machine owners … it’s a very fast cutting machine,” he said.
FAE USA CEO Giorgio Carera was in attendance and noted that everyone seemed very positive that the market is coming back. He said that this optimism coupled with the new products being launched would make for a good year.
“We have new products ... including our new low flow mulching attachments we are introducing at this meeting,” he said. “We explored this market for quite some time and found there was a good potential with contractors that own low flow machines who want to do multiple jobs and be able to add the ability to grind and mulch material and underbrush. What we saw were a lot of low flow skid steers owned by contractors looking for other options to fully utilize their machines and expand into other types of work. With the majority of the skid steer loaders on the market being low flow machines, this was a natural progression for our lineup of mulchers. These new attachments also carry over into utilization in the farming industry.”
Carera added, “FAE prides itself on using the best engineering and technology available as well as the best materials, such as Hardox steel. The majority of the attachment body that contains the main wear parts are protected by Hardox. Because of this, we are the only manufacturer in this segment of the industry that is able to carry the Hardox logo on our attachments.”
Americans consume on average nearly fifty percent more salt than is recommended by the nutritionists and government guidelines. But several outside researchers cautioned that although there are already good health arguments for lowering salt intake, the connection between salt and autoiummune disease needs more research to prove whether it holds true in the human body -- and is an important trigger.
Daniel Cua, a senior principal scientist at Merck Research Laboratories in Palo Alto, Calif., called the studies “remarkable,” but added that the diseases are complex and salt is likely to be just one of many risk factors.
“People have different genetic predispositions to various diseases, including autoimmune disease,” Cua said. “If you genetically have a very high susceptibility to autoimmune disease, it may be by reducing salt, you’re taking away that one” risk.
With the addition of several new territory managers, the FAE USA staff focused training on the entire FAE and PrimeTech equipment and attachment lines. Several new FAE product offerings for 2013, which were introduced at the meeting, had many looking forward to getting back to their territories to spread the good news.
“The new low flow DML/HY125 and DML/SSL125 are going to be the hottest selling attachments on the market,” said Dave Evans, territory manager in the Carolina’s. “If you think about the low flow industry for heavy brush clearing, there’s only brush cutters and flail mowers. There’s maybe only one other low flow drum style rotary mulcher on the market. The way FAE has designed their new low flow mulcher, I truly believe this is going to be one of the year’s hot sellers.”
Ken Pryzgoda, territory manager of Colo., N.M., and Wyo., was equally impressed with the new FAE USA DML/HY & DML/SSL mulchers.
“With the high speed rotor system having a smaller diameter and turning faster with the new design tooth, these attachments will really open a new market of the low flow machine owners … it’s a very fast cutting machine,” he said.
FAE USA CEO Giorgio Carera was in attendance and noted that everyone seemed very positive that the market is coming back. He said that this optimism coupled with the new products being launched would make for a good year.
“We have new products ... including our new low flow mulching attachments we are introducing at this meeting,” he said. “We explored this market for quite some time and found there was a good potential with contractors that own low flow machines who want to do multiple jobs and be able to add the ability to grind and mulch material and underbrush. What we saw were a lot of low flow skid steers owned by contractors looking for other options to fully utilize their machines and expand into other types of work. With the majority of the skid steer loaders on the market being low flow machines, this was a natural progression for our lineup of mulchers. These new attachments also carry over into utilization in the farming industry.”
Carera added, “FAE prides itself on using the best engineering and technology available as well as the best materials, such as Hardox steel. The majority of the attachment body that contains the main wear parts are protected by Hardox. Because of this, we are the only manufacturer in this segment of the industry that is able to carry the Hardox logo on our attachments.”
Americans consume on average nearly fifty percent more salt than is recommended by the nutritionists and government guidelines. But several outside researchers cautioned that although there are already good health arguments for lowering salt intake, the connection between salt and autoiummune disease needs more research to prove whether it holds true in the human body -- and is an important trigger.
Daniel Cua, a senior principal scientist at Merck Research Laboratories in Palo Alto, Calif., called the studies “remarkable,” but added that the diseases are complex and salt is likely to be just one of many risk factors.
“People have different genetic predispositions to various diseases, including autoimmune disease,” Cua said. “If you genetically have a very high susceptibility to autoimmune disease, it may be by reducing salt, you’re taking away that one” risk.
2013年3月5日 星期二
U.S. Exports Will Expand Wind Farm in Honduras
Two hundred Pennsylvanian workers will assemble twelve high-tech wind turbines for export, because the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) approved a $28.6 million direct loan to a Honduran power company. The transaction helps to expand a project first supported by the Bank in 2010, when its long-term financing of 51 U.S.-built turbine generators established the Cerro de Hula Wind Farm in Santa Ana, Honduras.
"Building on the success of this impressive project, Ex-Im Bank is demonstrating the importance of its role to fill gaps in financing for creditworthy borrowers," explained Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank. "With this project, we've achieved an impressive win all around: for exporters, for U.S. workers, and for energy consumers in Honduras, because the wind-driven generators cost less to operate than their equivalent in fossil-fueled equipment."
Gamesa Wind US, LLC, a technology firm based in Trevose, Pennsylvania, will manufacture and export six each of its high-efficiency model G87 and G-97, 2.0 MW turbines to generate electric power in rural Honduras. Gamesa operates two facilities in the U.S., a blades factory in Ebensburg, near Johnstown, and a nacelle plant outside Philadelphia. In 2011, Gamesa was named Ex-Im Bank's "Renewable Energy Exporter of the Year." Other U.S. exporters involved in the project will also benefit. They include engineering contractors, financial and legal advisors, and represent jobs in the states of Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas.
The Cerro de Hula Wind Farm now produces about six percent of the electrical power in Honduras. With the additions from this transaction, the wind farm will have 63 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 126MW providing power to the national electric utility.
"The Americas are still far from realizing the full potential of a clean energy economy," said Gamesa North American chairman David Flitterman. "But at Gamesa, we're proud to manufacture American-made wind turbines that get shipped from our U.S. plants to countries far and wide. While the U.S. wind industry slowly is recovering after late renewal of the U.S. Production Tax Credit in January, thanks to Ex-Im Bank these export projects are creating new business opportunities in emerging markets, and are supporting good-paying jobs throughout the entire supply chain."
The exporter is a technology firm with manufacturing operations in Pennsylvania, and is a subsidiary of Gamesa Technology Corporation, a sustainable-energy concern headquartered in northern Spain. It ranks as the fourth-largest manufacturer of wind turbines and is in the top ten globally for wind farm development. Gamesa builds photovoltaic power stations and wind farms on land and off-shore. Although the parent company is Spanish, Ex-Im Bank provides financing only for goods and services associated with production by U.S. workers.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps to create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
"Building on the success of this impressive project, Ex-Im Bank is demonstrating the importance of its role to fill gaps in financing for creditworthy borrowers," explained Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank. "With this project, we've achieved an impressive win all around: for exporters, for U.S. workers, and for energy consumers in Honduras, because the wind-driven generators cost less to operate than their equivalent in fossil-fueled equipment."
Gamesa Wind US, LLC, a technology firm based in Trevose, Pennsylvania, will manufacture and export six each of its high-efficiency model G87 and G-97, 2.0 MW turbines to generate electric power in rural Honduras. Gamesa operates two facilities in the U.S., a blades factory in Ebensburg, near Johnstown, and a nacelle plant outside Philadelphia. In 2011, Gamesa was named Ex-Im Bank's "Renewable Energy Exporter of the Year." Other U.S. exporters involved in the project will also benefit. They include engineering contractors, financial and legal advisors, and represent jobs in the states of Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas.
The Cerro de Hula Wind Farm now produces about six percent of the electrical power in Honduras. With the additions from this transaction, the wind farm will have 63 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 126MW providing power to the national electric utility.
"The Americas are still far from realizing the full potential of a clean energy economy," said Gamesa North American chairman David Flitterman. "But at Gamesa, we're proud to manufacture American-made wind turbines that get shipped from our U.S. plants to countries far and wide. While the U.S. wind industry slowly is recovering after late renewal of the U.S. Production Tax Credit in January, thanks to Ex-Im Bank these export projects are creating new business opportunities in emerging markets, and are supporting good-paying jobs throughout the entire supply chain."
The exporter is a technology firm with manufacturing operations in Pennsylvania, and is a subsidiary of Gamesa Technology Corporation, a sustainable-energy concern headquartered in northern Spain. It ranks as the fourth-largest manufacturer of wind turbines and is in the top ten globally for wind farm development. Gamesa builds photovoltaic power stations and wind farms on land and off-shore. Although the parent company is Spanish, Ex-Im Bank provides financing only for goods and services associated with production by U.S. workers.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps to create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
2013年3月4日 星期一
IWM meets the washing challenges for Wholebake
With two new machines, one fully bespoke and the other heavily customised, Industrial Washing Machines (IWM) has successfully and cost-effectively met the challenging requirements of Wholebake, one of the UK’s fastest growing manufacturers of healthy snack food bars, for washing the baking racks and machine components used in its production processes.
With growing demand for its products creating the need to increase the throughput and reliability of the washing equipment at its Corwen plant, Wholebake took the decision to purchase a new rack washer and a new cabinet washer. The company’s requirements, however, were not straightforward, as only a very restricted space was available to accommodate the rack washer, and the cabinet washer was required to remove sticky clinging food residues from heavy machine parts.
After carefully analysing these requirements, IWM proposed that the most appropriate solutions would be a completely bespoke rack washer, designed to makes best possible use of the limited space available, and a customised version of one of the company’s standard cabinet washers, which would be adapted to allow it to reliably handle the heavy parts.
This proposal was attractive to Wholebake, as not only did it accurately meet its specific needs, it also offered machines based on IWM’s proven high-efficiency washing technologies and hygienic stainless-steel construction. In addition, despite the machines being bespoke and customised, IWM was able to offer the same deliveries as standard machines, and the price premium over standard equipment was modest.
The rack washer supplied by IWM is a single-door floor-mounted unit with reduced height compared to standard products. To save space, it also uses a fold-up ramp for loading and unloading the racks. Designed to handle baking racks up to 30 inches by 18 inches, by 74 inches high, the machine has a typical throughput of between 20 and 25 racks per hour, depending on the degree of soiling.
Based on the same technology as IWM’s widely used R20 machines, the rack washer is electrically heated and the wash chamber incorporates the company’s latest motorised TravelJet system with oscillating high power water jets, which ensures thorough cleaning of the racks, including the undersides and wheels. To maximise energy efficiency and to reduce the consumption of water and detergent, the washwater is recirculated via a high-efficiency filter system.
For its machine component washing application, IWM supplied Wholebake with an adapted version of its popular EDi13 cabinet washer that, like the standard models, features stainless steel construction with all internal corners rounded for easy cleaning, and a perfectly counterbalanced door to facilitate loading and unloading.
The revolving wash and rinse arm system used in the cabinet washer ensures efficient cleaning even of the clinging residues found in the Wholebake application, and the machine was specially reinforced to take the weight of the unusually heavy machine parts.
Both machines were delivered to site, installed and commissioned by IWM, and both are now in regular use, where they are fully living up to expectations and playing an important role in helping Wholebake to satisfy the ever-increasing consumer appetite for its wholesome and delicious products.
With growing demand for its products creating the need to increase the throughput and reliability of the washing equipment at its Corwen plant, Wholebake took the decision to purchase a new rack washer and a new cabinet washer. The company’s requirements, however, were not straightforward, as only a very restricted space was available to accommodate the rack washer, and the cabinet washer was required to remove sticky clinging food residues from heavy machine parts.
After carefully analysing these requirements, IWM proposed that the most appropriate solutions would be a completely bespoke rack washer, designed to makes best possible use of the limited space available, and a customised version of one of the company’s standard cabinet washers, which would be adapted to allow it to reliably handle the heavy parts.
This proposal was attractive to Wholebake, as not only did it accurately meet its specific needs, it also offered machines based on IWM’s proven high-efficiency washing technologies and hygienic stainless-steel construction. In addition, despite the machines being bespoke and customised, IWM was able to offer the same deliveries as standard machines, and the price premium over standard equipment was modest.
The rack washer supplied by IWM is a single-door floor-mounted unit with reduced height compared to standard products. To save space, it also uses a fold-up ramp for loading and unloading the racks. Designed to handle baking racks up to 30 inches by 18 inches, by 74 inches high, the machine has a typical throughput of between 20 and 25 racks per hour, depending on the degree of soiling.
Based on the same technology as IWM’s widely used R20 machines, the rack washer is electrically heated and the wash chamber incorporates the company’s latest motorised TravelJet system with oscillating high power water jets, which ensures thorough cleaning of the racks, including the undersides and wheels. To maximise energy efficiency and to reduce the consumption of water and detergent, the washwater is recirculated via a high-efficiency filter system.
For its machine component washing application, IWM supplied Wholebake with an adapted version of its popular EDi13 cabinet washer that, like the standard models, features stainless steel construction with all internal corners rounded for easy cleaning, and a perfectly counterbalanced door to facilitate loading and unloading.
The revolving wash and rinse arm system used in the cabinet washer ensures efficient cleaning even of the clinging residues found in the Wholebake application, and the machine was specially reinforced to take the weight of the unusually heavy machine parts.
Both machines were delivered to site, installed and commissioned by IWM, and both are now in regular use, where they are fully living up to expectations and playing an important role in helping Wholebake to satisfy the ever-increasing consumer appetite for its wholesome and delicious products.
2013年3月3日 星期日
US economy hamstrung by Washington's brinksmanship
Three budget crises ago, in early 2011, Republicans and President Barack Obama faced off over raising the debt ceiling — and Alison Brown saw the writing on the wall.
Washington had entered the cycle of partisan brinksmanship over the budget that has sown confusion among federal agencies and delayed contracts to small companies like Brown's Navsys Corp., which designs satellite navigation systems in this military town. So Brown slashed her 40-strong workforce in half. And as she feared back then, her revenues have since plunged by half.
The latest crisis hit on Friday with across-the-board automatic spending cuts. They total about $85 billion, but the economic damage created by two years of showdowns is far greater. And there's no end in sight: Temporary resolutions funding the government expire on March 27. May brings another debt ceiling standoff.
"We're planning for the worst," Brown said in her office with a view of the Rampart Range, a portrait of President George W. Bush on the shelf behind her. "We're not going to be taking risks and making investments, and that's bad for the country as a whole."
Thousands of businesses are in similar straits, from defense contractors like Navsys to wind turbine manufacturers to wheat farmers. It is one reason the U.S. economic recovery has been so persistently anemic. But it is happening quietly, drowned out by dueling press conferences inside the Beltway and general disgust at the perpetual drama over federal spending.
In a paper this year, three economists estimated that 2.3 million private sector jobs have been lost since 2008 because of uncertainty over government policy. That uncertainty has spiked dramatically since the start of the budget showdowns in 2011.
While debates always have generated some uncertainty, "now every single decision is subject to this excruciating process," said Scott R. Baker, one of the paper's authors and an economics professor at Stanford University.
"We seem to be stuck in this series where we're staggering from politically-made crisis to politically-made crisis, and even if we solve it we do so in a way that lowers confidence in our ability to deal with the next one," Baker said.
With deficits setting records in recent years, Obama insists on a mix of tax increases and spending cuts. Republicans insist on cuts-only. Voters ensured two more years of uncertainty by re-electing Obama and a Republican-controlled House in November.
The impact is felt in Colorado, an economic microcosm for the country with 7.6 percent unemployment, only 0.2 percent below the national average. Its economy includes a robust aerospace industry and several military bases, and it contributes more in federal taxes than it takes in.
Denver's suburbs were partly insulated from the economic downturn by a strong renewable energy industry. But wind energy tapered off when a federal tax credit, due to expire at year's end, became a hostage of the presidential election. Republican Mitt Romney called it a wasteful subsidy. Obama and some Republicans called it crucial to a growing industry.
The credit was extended in January, a few days after it expired, for one year. But that was too late for Vestas, a Denmark-based wind turbine manufacturer that employed 1,700 people in Colorado at the start of 2012. On Feb. 21, it announced it was cutting 10 percent of its remaining 1,100 manufacturing workers because of the late extension.
Washington had entered the cycle of partisan brinksmanship over the budget that has sown confusion among federal agencies and delayed contracts to small companies like Brown's Navsys Corp., which designs satellite navigation systems in this military town. So Brown slashed her 40-strong workforce in half. And as she feared back then, her revenues have since plunged by half.
The latest crisis hit on Friday with across-the-board automatic spending cuts. They total about $85 billion, but the economic damage created by two years of showdowns is far greater. And there's no end in sight: Temporary resolutions funding the government expire on March 27. May brings another debt ceiling standoff.
"We're planning for the worst," Brown said in her office with a view of the Rampart Range, a portrait of President George W. Bush on the shelf behind her. "We're not going to be taking risks and making investments, and that's bad for the country as a whole."
Thousands of businesses are in similar straits, from defense contractors like Navsys to wind turbine manufacturers to wheat farmers. It is one reason the U.S. economic recovery has been so persistently anemic. But it is happening quietly, drowned out by dueling press conferences inside the Beltway and general disgust at the perpetual drama over federal spending.
In a paper this year, three economists estimated that 2.3 million private sector jobs have been lost since 2008 because of uncertainty over government policy. That uncertainty has spiked dramatically since the start of the budget showdowns in 2011.
While debates always have generated some uncertainty, "now every single decision is subject to this excruciating process," said Scott R. Baker, one of the paper's authors and an economics professor at Stanford University.
"We seem to be stuck in this series where we're staggering from politically-made crisis to politically-made crisis, and even if we solve it we do so in a way that lowers confidence in our ability to deal with the next one," Baker said.
With deficits setting records in recent years, Obama insists on a mix of tax increases and spending cuts. Republicans insist on cuts-only. Voters ensured two more years of uncertainty by re-electing Obama and a Republican-controlled House in November.
The impact is felt in Colorado, an economic microcosm for the country with 7.6 percent unemployment, only 0.2 percent below the national average. Its economy includes a robust aerospace industry and several military bases, and it contributes more in federal taxes than it takes in.
Denver's suburbs were partly insulated from the economic downturn by a strong renewable energy industry. But wind energy tapered off when a federal tax credit, due to expire at year's end, became a hostage of the presidential election. Republican Mitt Romney called it a wasteful subsidy. Obama and some Republicans called it crucial to a growing industry.
The credit was extended in January, a few days after it expired, for one year. But that was too late for Vestas, a Denmark-based wind turbine manufacturer that employed 1,700 people in Colorado at the start of 2012. On Feb. 21, it announced it was cutting 10 percent of its remaining 1,100 manufacturing workers because of the late extension.
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