Industrial Nanotech, EU-Official Building Code Approvals

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. Energy Saving Coating Receives Official Building Code Approvals For the European Union.

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. (Pink Sheets:INTK), a contender in the emerging global leadership nanotechnology mouvement, announced today that the Company's patented Nansulate energy saving protective coatings are now approved under the stringent EU building codes. The approval certification for building construction standards in the European Union was obtained by the Company's distributor for Italy and Spain, Aktarus Group, based in Milan, Italy.

Industrial Nanotech Inc., it is claimed, is quickly emerging as a global nanoscience solutions and research leader. The Company develops and commercializes new and innovative applications for nanotechnology. Additional information about the Company and its products can be found at their websites ([Industrian Nanotech[Link] and Nansulate [link]).

Stop press: Adapted from (PRWEB)April 12, 2008, Naples, FL

The Metallurgy of CO2 absorption with resulting Hydrogen gas production _Wedge a War

The first post on this theme was entitled "Wedge-A-War: Any Old Iron?, Corrosion & Natures Processes, the latter "Nature's Processes" being the title of a book of poems by John Updike. It draws attention to the role of corrosion of iron in a wet (humid-H20) carbon dioxide (CO2) environment resulting in the production of iron carbonate and hydrogen gas as the products of the reaction. This is repeated in the chemical form below together with a little poem written for the occasion. Full references were given in the previous entry "Wedge-a-War. Any Old Iron?"

Fe(s)+ H2O(l) +CO2(g)=> FeCO3(s) +H2(g)
iron +water+carbon dioxide => iron carbonate + H2
(where s=solid, l=liquid, g=gas.)

Let the Heavenly Steel Chorus hear -
Metallurgists, Steelmakers, Geologists, dear
Chemical Engineers and Ecologist's plea.
From humble steelmaking, sometime war-mongering,
To white knight planet saviour - eco-engineering,
For "Now's the time and now's the hour" for CO2 sinking,
For scientific method and controlled tinkering.
The above corrosive reaction begs the question:
Any old iron?

ref: to initial back-ground from "Corrosion Mechanisms & Control in Hydrocatbon Exploration and Production Operations", by Dr. Dan Kirkwood in the now, out of print; "Journal of the Metallurgical Club -Strathclyde University" 1992-93, p43-58.

In fact it is well known that several other metals behave in a similar fashion in these matters. A fairly recent reference to such metals and reactions has been echoed by Kurzweil [Link] reported initially and at more length in CNet news [Link].

Both tech watchers, Kurzweil and CNet report two approaches:

I. Involves Aluminium catalysed,dis-inhibited by Gallium,The method is outlined, costs estimates given, patents filed and a company, "AlGalCo", created to exploit the inventions and innovations.

"Purdue University professor Jerry Woodall has discovered a way to make hydrogen out of a reaction of water and an alloy of aluminium and gallium. Woodall estimates that the technique could produce fuel that would compete with gas at $3 a gallon (assuming current prices for aluminium, which are above $1 a pound). Woodall considers that the higher actual fuel cost could be off-set by the higher efficiencies of hydrogen engines.

The Purdue Research Foundation holds title to the primary patent, which has been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is pending. An Indiana start-up company, AlGalCo, is licensing the patent and will try to commercialize the idea."

II. Involves Magnesium. The company Ecotality associated with the Jet Propulsion Lab (USA) managed by CalTech [Link] to exploit the the so called Hydratus principle[Link]. More on the uses of magnesium may be found at Magnesium.com's[Link]

III. Involves extracting hydrogen from a reaction between sodium, water and silicon. The company exploiting this avenue is New York's Signa Chemistry [Link]

IV. Last but not least is the EU and Israel's Weizmann Institute, Zn powder produced H2, Solzinc process[Link] Unlike the previous examples whereby hydrogen is obtained from corrosion like processes the Solzinc project is a classical reduction of zinc oxide by carbonaceous material at elevated temperatures (>1000°C)readily depicted by the Richardson-Ellingham Diagramme. High temperatures are obtained by using mirror concentrated solar power installation at the Weizmann Institute in Israel.



If this is not sufficient, the biologists too, seem keen to "Wedge some Wars" from their angle, if only to keep the metallurgists on their toes. CNet news reports again
"Stanford University professor James Swartz, who by contrast,has found a micro-organism that takes sunlight and splits water molecules. Swartz's work has generated a start-up called Fundamental Applied Biology."

I would not like to end on a note highlighting our biologist colleagues no matter how highly distinguished.

Let me point out that there is a very interesting list of metals and their carbonates all of which by definition are capable of absorbing CO2, and most likely producing Hydrogen subject to determining the correct thermodynamic, kinetic conditions. Choices will subject to the economic, "social and environmental" climate in which they are required to operate.

The efficiency of the hydrogen energy vector for combustion has been dealt with in depth in a very well reference section of the free Encyclopaedia "Wikipedia" [Link].

Metallurgy, Materials Science,Applied Science

Wedge-A-War: Any Old Iron?, Corrosion & Natures Processes

Fe(s)+ H2O(l) +CO2(g)=> FeCO3(s) +H2(g)
iron +water+carbon dioxide => iron carbonate + H2
(where s=solid, l=liquid, g=gas.)

Let the Heavenly Steel Chorus hear -
Metallurgists, Steelmakers, Geologists, dear
Chemical Engineers and Ecologist's plea.
From humble steelmaking, sometime war-mongering,
To white knight planet saviour - eco-engineering,
For "Now's the time and now's the hour" for CO2 sinking,
For scientific method and controlled tinkering.
The above corrosive reaction begs the question:
Any old iron?

[Link to poems & more ]

References to CO2 Corrosion and Hydrogen Production:
1. Corrosion Mechanisms and Control in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production Operations, D. Kirkwood, Journal of the Metallurgical Club N° 27 1992-1993,The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
2. NIMS-National Institute for Materials Science,Japan.[Link]

Full report on environmentally benign engineering [Link] (3.5Mo format Pdf .

3. Why not use iron? .[Link]format pdf

WEDGE-A-WAR: Corrosion- Nothing lost nothing gained?

Corrosion:
"Nothing lost nothing gained?
A degrading, dissipative world
or a slice of cake to take?”

Once again, the topic of corrosion has been brought to my attention.

Of course most people are familiar with the macroscopic sort in the form of common rust.

Some of us, who were privileged, to live near the seaside, coupled with an important industrial and research employer the nearby chemicals & research plant, -ICI's Nobel Division no less, have early experience of corrosion in other materials than steel.

However it was upon reading news in the field of nanotechnology size comparison between atoms and common objects-Link ) and more specifically nano-corrosion that I finally retained an indicator for the magnitude of the cost involved

"The effect of corrosion has an impact on about 3% of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). From a positive point of view, however, chemical attack of metal surfaces may result in surface nano-structures with very interesting technological applications such as catalysts and sensors. Therefore, a better understanding of corrosion processes is required to both prevent it and make the most of it." quoted from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) based in Grenoble, France.

Previously I had learned that such was the loss of durability that whole industries have grown around this field. One must do a thing or two to generate a 3% world GDP. In fact I probably knew this for a long time, but since variety is the spice of life, I may be pardoned for some forgetfulness. )More on Economic Impact of Corrosion


It is common today either in the specialised technical or business or in the main general, economic and financial press to enquire whether this fight is being won or lost?

This is not just a philosophical question. It has a particular significance when the question in the technological, innovative sense:

"Can this industry; from research to market, constitute-or contribute to, a Wedge (in the Socolow sense?) This is a timely question since now infamous, CO2 is known to contribute to rust, corrosion in iron and steel.

(So too does the elder infamous, brother sulphur dioxide [SO2 forming sulphuric acid of notorious for its acid rain, referred to earlier in the poem "Open sky coal mine")

Now, one may wish to ask the "Who, how, why, when and where?" that classical unbeatable holistic search series.

The last question is particularly pertinent. Where?

Murphy’s law (entropy-exergy analysis) will tell you that places of most concern will be those which are difficult to get at and therefore costly.

We are not in outer space though!

If this was a marginal issue one could sort of live with, it is mostly not lethal. But when it concerns the worlds most used metal in terms of tonnage; carbon steel and some of the important things “wrapped in it” carbon steel corrosion, cannot be brushed aside.

Yes, I do mean common ordinary rust, hidden in some structure, which we know will rust sooner or later!

We can do some smart modelling to allow us to buy time. We can calculate and even measure thickness change, which allows us to estimate if there is safe structural strength left.

How on earth can it be detected, reliably, precisely, preferably without taking the "set-up" to pieces? We want it to be a NDT, a non-destructive test, as non-intrusive as possible.

For want of a catch phrase we could call it the "Wee-wiki peek Spy-Shy method"

I am not talking about some mineral on Mars.

No, just that common physico-chemical compound called rust: Ferrous, or Iron Hydroxide, Fe2O3.xH2O, where x is variable. [If x=3 Fe2O3. 3H2O is equivalent to 2Fe (OH)3.]

Yes, even common rust can be a real bugbear to detect when it is in some difficult to access-costly to repair place!

From Macro - to nano to macro &....? Link

Nothing lost nothing gained?"
A degrading, dissipative world
or a slice of cake to take?”

Serious, but not vulgar, even amusing, for innovative; comments, questions or suggestion very welcome, but "don't be evil" (In French or English.)