COOLING TOWERS - Blow-Down Water Introduction - Care must be taken to account for the very high mineral content of the blow-down. In general, the undiluted blow-down water will quickly cause a build-up of scale (mineral deposits) on most pipes, spray heads, valves and plumbing fixtures. If the cooling system is efficiently using water, the blow-down water will have a TDS level too high to be suitable for irrigating plants. While we fully support innovative ways to reuse the water, we suggest users investigate possible damage to equipment, fixtures, and/or plants before implementation. Never use water with TDS levels above 500 ppm in hardware, unless you verify its applicability with the manufacturer of the equipment, appliance, fixture or fitting.

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Cooling Towers

Blow-Down Water Introduction

The water that is drained from cooling equipment to remove mineral build-up is called “blow-down” water or “bleed” water.  

The cooling equipment that requires blow-down is most often: cooling towers, evaporative condensers, evaporative coolers, evaporative cooled air-conditioners, and central boilers (both steam and hot water).   

These cooling systems rely on water evaporation to garner the cooling effect (latent heat of evaporation). 

As the water evaporates, the mineral content (calcium carbonate, magnesium, sodium, salts, etc) of the remaining water increases in concentration of minerals.  

If left undiluted, these minerals will cause scaling on equipment surfaces; possibly damaging the system. 

The blow-down water is usually dumped into the wastewater drain, yet in some cases, this water can be reused for irrigation and other selected uses.

Water Quality

Blow-down water has a much higher mineral content than potable water supplied by the local water utility; often 2 to 5 times more minerals.  

The concentration of mineral is measured as Total Dissolved Solids (TDS).  

Most potable water in the US is has a TDS level of 100 to 350 parts per million (ppm), though some potable water can be as high as 500ppm.  

Depending on the supply water and the cooling system operation; the blow-down water TDS can range from 500 to 1300 ppm.

Besides minerals, the water might also contain algea, bacteria, or pathogens. 

There are often chemical additives put in the water to impede scaling, reduce ph levels, and kill biological contaminates. 

The possible presence of pathogens suggest the water should never come in contact humans or sprayed above ground. 

A review of the on-site water treatment regimen might reveal other possible hazards.

Uses for the Water

There is somewhat of a paradox in using blow-down water for irrigation. 

If the cooling system is efficiently using water, the blow-down water will have a TDS level too high to be suitable for irrigating plants. 

In general, most plants cannot survive where the irrigation water exceeds 1,000 ppm of TDS; though this somewhat depends on the type of minerals in the water. 

(The irrigation industry generally recommends turf be irrigated with water containing less than 500 ppm of TDS.)   

A poorly maintained cooling tower will dump blow-down water at less than 400 ppm of TDS; very suitable for many plants and turf grasses. 

A well maintained cooling system, using water very efficiently, will drain blow-down water with TDS levels too high for irrigating most all landscape plants.  

The water can, and should be used when sufficiently diluted with other water sources having lower TDS levels, such as condensate, potable water, reclaimed water, harvested rainwater, etc. 

We advise the cooling system be operated at peak water efficiency standards; never reducing the cycles of concentration just to allow the undiluted blow-down water be used for irrigation. 

Irrigating with blow-down water is also affected by local climates and soil conditions.  The continual use of high TDS water will cause a build-up of these minerals and salts in the soil. 

If these minerals are not periodically flushed from the soil, they will greatly impair root growth of plants, and can kill the plants over time. 

It should be noted that plants prefering acidic soils (pine trees, azaleas, berries, hydrangeas, etc) should never be irrigated with blow-down water, as it often has a high salt content. 

In climates of heavy seasonal rains, these minerals are usually rinsed out of the soil, especially in sandy loams. 

In more arid climates, the landscapers have found it necessary to occasionally flush the soil by irrigating with softer water (potable or reclaimed).  

The blow-down water should only be applied subsurface, unless the water is additionally treated to remove any threat of pathogens.

There may be other uses for the water, beside irrigation.  

Care must be taken to account for the very high mineral content of the blow-down. 

In general, the undiluted blow-down water will quickly cause a build-up of scale (mineral deposits) on most pipes, spray heads, valves and plumbing fixtures.  

While we fully support innovative ways to reuse the water, we suggest users investigate possible damage to equipment, fixtures, and/or plants before implementation. 

Never use water with TDS levels above 500 ppm in hardware, unless you verify its applicability with the manufacturer of the equipment, appliance, fixture or fitting.

http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/blow_down_water_introduction.aspx

NANOTECHNOLOGY - Nanotechnology is more of a 'catch-all' description of activities at the level of atoms and molecules that have applications in the real world. It is related to features of nanometer scale: thin films, fine particles, chemical synthesis, advanced microlithography, and so forth. Fullerenes and nanotubes are both compounds that are composed of carbon atoms. A nanotube can be described as a graphite sheet rolled up. The nanotube has a length of only 4.3 nanometer. (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair).

The nanotube shown above has a length of only 4.3 nanometer. (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair)

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Nanotechnology

WHAT IS NANOTECHNOLOGY?

The web defines nanotechnology as any technology related to features of nanometer scale: thin films, fine particles, chemical synthesis, advanced microlithography, and so forth.

Nanotechnology is therefore more of a 'catch-all' description of activities at the level of atoms and molecules that have applications in the real world.

Although nanotechnology stocks are in a frenzy, and the media talks of nanotechnology as being the "new technology", research in the field has actually been ongoing for many years.

In the last 15 years over a dozen Nobel prizes have been awarded in nanotechnology, including the development of the scanning probe microscope (SPM), and the discovery of fullerenes.

It was perhaps the discovery and potential applications of the fullerene molecule (also called a buckyball) and a related structure, the buckytube (or nanotube), that has sparked the current interest in the field.

WHAT ARE FULLERENES AND NANOTUBES?

These are both compounds that are composed of carbon atoms. An example of a fullerene molecule (shown below) is composed of 60 carbon atoms.

What is a Nanotube?

>Another interesting structure is the nanotube (which can be described as a graphite sheet rolled up)

The nanotube shown above has a length of only 4.3 nanometer. (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair)

What are the applications for nanotubes and fullerenes?

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have caught the imagination of scientists for everything from superconductors to transistors and diodes, material strengtheners, ion storage for batteries and more.

One of the most promising applications is a thin panel called a field emitter display (FED). Both Motorola and DuPont are presently investigating this application.

>More recently LSI Logic has joined up with Nantero a Massachesetts-based startup company.

LSI is providing manufacturing research and development for a that is creating a new kind of computer memory using carbon nanotubes.

LSI sees a product possibly as early as 2006.For each bit of memory, multiple nanotubes are suspended above a metal electrode and charged.

Depending on the charge, the flexible nanotube can bend upward, away from the electrode, or downward, into contact with the electrode.

The resulting signals form the building blocks of a digital device.

"The best thing is, these switches are working," Norm Armour from LSI said. "We built some test devices, and we fired them up the other day, and they worked."

The nanotube-based memory can act like "flash" memory, a reprogrammable type of memory that can retain data even when power is switched off.

Fullerenes (C60) are being investigated for their potential use as a drug-delivery system for cancer, AIDS and other diseases.

A long term objective of nanotechnology is to build nano-sized machines which can be inserted into the human body in order to detect and repair diseased cells is a real possibility.

Current research however, is only at the primitive levels designing simple components e.g., a carbon nanotube based gears (below) For more details see 11th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology).

Below image shows Carbon nanotube based gears. For further information,-- see the papers"Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Carbon Nanotube Based Gears" by Jie Han and Al Globus, MRJ, Inc., Richard Jaffe, NASA, and Glenn Deardorff, Sterling Software, NASA Ames Research Center.

According to CMP Científica, a European nanotechnology information company, over 600 companies are currently active in nanotechnology, from small venture capital backed start-ups to some of the world's largest corporations such as IBM and Samsung.

Governments and corporations worldwide have invested over $4 billion into nanotechnology during the past year.

In addition many universities around the world have a nanotechnology department which being a truly multidisciplinary field draws on scientists from physics, chemistry, biology material science, electronics and medicine.

https://www.worldofmolecules.com/nanotechnology/

OLYMPIC MEDALS - Olympic medals used to be solid gold, but now they are made from something else. The last Olympic gold medal that was actually made from gold was awarded in 1912. The specific composition and design of Olympic medals is determined by the host city's organizing committee. However, certain standards must be maintained: Gold and silver medals are 92.5% silver. Gold medals must be plated with at least 6 grams of gold. All Olympic medals must be at least 3 mm thick and at least 60 mm in diameter.

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Olympic Medals

What Are Olympic Medals Made Of?

Chemical Composition of Olympic Medals

by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

What do you think Olympic medals are made of? Are the Olympic gold medals really gold?

They used to be solid gold, but now Olympic gold medals are made from something else.

Here's a look at the metal composition of Olympic medals and how the medals have changed over time.

Once Upon a Time, They Were Solid Gold

The last Olympic gold medal that was actually made from gold was awarded in 1912.

So, if Olympic gold medals aren't gold, then what are they?

The specific composition and design of Olympic medals is determined by the host city's organizing committee. However, certain standards must be maintained:

·       Gold and silver medals are 92.5% silver.

·       Gold medals must be plated with at least 6 grams of gold.

·       All Olympic medals must be at least 3 mm thick and at least 60 mm in diameter.

Bronze medals are bronze, an alloy of copper and usually tin.

It's worth noting that gold, silver, and bronze medals have not always been awarded.

At the 1896 Olympic Games, the winners were awarded silver medals, while the runners-up got bronze medals.

The winners at the 1900 Olympics received trophies or cups instead of medals.

The custom of awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals started at the 1904 Olympics.

After the 1912 Olympics, the gold medals have been gilded silver rather than real gold.

Medals That Are Gold

Although the Olympic gold medal is more silver than gold, there are gold medals that are really gold, such as the Congressional Gold Medal and Nobel Prize Medal.

Before 1980 the Nobel Prize medal was made from 23-carat gold. Newer Nobel Prize medals are 18-carat green gold plated with 24-carat gold.

2016 Rio Summer Olympics Medal Composition

The 2016 Summer Olympics featured eco-friendly metals. The gold metal used in the gold medals was free of mercury contamination.

Mercury and gold are notoriously difficult elements to separate from each other.

The sterling silver used for the silver medals was partly recycled (about 30% by mass).

Part of the copper used to make the bronze for the bronze medals was also recycled.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

·   Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville - Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

·   Science educator with experience teaching chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.

·   ThoughtCo and About Education chemistry expert since 2001.

·   Widely-published graphic artist, responsible for printable periodic tables and other illustrations used in science.

Experience

Anne Helmenstine, Ph.D. has covered chemistry for ThoughtCo and About Education since 2001, and other sciences since 2013. She taught chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels. She has worked as a research scientist and also abstracting and indexing diverse scientific literature for the Department of Energy.

In addition to her work as a science writer, Dr. Helmenstine currently serves as a scientific consultant, specializing in problems requiring an interdisciplinary approach. Previously, she worked as a research scientist and college professor. 

Education

Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in physics and mathematics with a minor in chemistry from Hastings College. In her doctoral work, Dr. Helmenstine developed ultra-sensitive chemical detection and medical diagnostic tests.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

​ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-olympic-medals-made-of-608456

BREAKTHROUGHS IN BUSINESS AND LIFE - If you find yourself stuck in a rut, it may be the proverbial comfort zone. High performers sometimes hit this wall of frustration. They are focused on doing more, better or different things they already do well. What do you do once the breakthrough has been accomplished? It does not mean you do not enjoy the fruits of your labor. Instead of doing more of the same, it’s the time to ask what you stand for and make a declaration for the future that will shape an entirely new set of actions. Allocate time to sit back and think about what’s next for you.

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Creating Breakthroughs in Business and Life

By Ted Santos  

I often talk about creating breakthroughs.

While it is fulfilling to accomplish a breakthrough, what do you do once the breakthrough is realized?

Too often the thought is to do it more, better or different of the same thing. This could be a strategy that has a high probability of getting you stuck in a rut.

For example, in the early 1900s, Henry Ford declared most households would own a car. At that time, automobiles took 9 months to build by hand and the cost was around $1,500.

In a country where the average annual income was about half that, cars were still for the wealthy.

However, Ford’s assembly line made it possible to build a car in 9 days. In 1906, he charged $806 for an automobile.

By 1924, his Model T cost $247 and at that time, most households owned a vehicle. To top it off, Ford had 60% of the market share.

And what did Henry Ford want? He wanted to further reduce the cost of buying a car.

At the same time, GM went beyond Ford and provided consumers with different colors and models. By the 1950s, GM had 60% of the market.

Although we still celebrate Henry Ford’s breakthrough, at some point, he became stuck in a rut of trying to make cheaper cars.

His declaration of ensuring most households owned a car was accomplished in the 1920s. And that was the time to explore new possibilities and declare a new future.

That leaves one question

What do you do once the breakthrough has been accomplished? Unfortunately, too often this is the dilemma of high performers.

It does not mean you do not enjoy the fruits of your labor. The successful accomplishment of fulfilling a bold future opens the door for you to declare a new future.

Instead of doing more of the same, it’s the time to ask what you stand for and make a declaration for the future that will shape an entirely new set of actions.

The declaration is a way of showing something as missing.

Ford’s declaration about all households was bold and there were no structures to fulfill it until the invention of the assembly line.

Once the declaration was fulfilled, there was no longer anything missing.

Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

If you find yourself stuck in a rut, it may be the proverbial comfort zone.

High performers sometimes hit this wall of frustration. They are focused on doing more, better or different things they already do well.

To get out of the rut, allocate time to sit back and think about what’s next for you in your life or career.

Ask questions like who do I want to be in the future? What’s missing to get me there?

What structures do I need to put in place to bridge the gaps between where I am and where I want to be? It also helps to brainstorm with someone.

It will help you vet thoughts and more clearly articulate what you would like to accomplish.

Mr. Ted Santos is skilled at reinventing companies and individuals. Over the past 25 years, he has reinvented himself several times. From sales trainer, executive manager, entrepreneur, executive coach to currently Chairman of an organization that provides high-value services to CEOs of midsize to large corporations, Mr. Santos is experienced with change. As Chairman of the Board of Veteran CEOs, Mr. Santos is responsible for developing strategic direction. He also recruits former CEOs of Fortune 1000s to lead roundtable discussions to provide guidance and mentorship to sitting CEOs of mid-cap companies. In addition, he offers direction to scale BoV's value proposition beyond NYC and into major cities throughout the US. BoV has expanded its offering to middle market CEOs by creating innovative platforms designed to educate and develop CEOs in a confidential environment with peers. Mr. Santos is a native of New Jersey and attended Howard University as a marketing major.

https://thinkwealthmagazine.com/creating-breakthroughs-business-life/

 

COMPOSITES AND CARBON FIBER IN THE DREAMLINER - The early design and production problems of using composites in airplanes have now been overcome. The Dreamliner is at the peak of airplane fuel efficiency, minimized environmental impact and safety. With reduced component counts, lower levels of maintenance checking and greater airtime, the support costs are significantly reduced for airline operators. From fan blades to fuselage, wings to washrooms, the Dreamliner's efficiency would be impossible without advanced composites.

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Composites And Carbon Fiber In The Dreamliner

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

How Composites And Carbon Fiber Are Used

by Todd Johnson

What is the average density of the materials used in a modern airliner?

Whatever it is, the reduction in average density has been huge since the Wright Brothers flew the first practical airplane.

The drive to reduce weight in airplanes is aggressive and continuous and accelerated by rapidly climbing fuel prices.

This drive lowers specific fuel costs, improves the range/payload equation and helps the environment.

Composites play a major part in modern airplanes and the Boeing Dreamliner is no exception in maintaining the decreasing weight trend.

Composites and Weight Reduction

The Douglas DC3 (dating back to 1936) had a take-off weight of about 25,200 pounds with a passenger complement of about 25.

With a maximum payload range of 350 miles, that's about 3 pounds per passenger mile.

The Boeing Dreamliner has a take-off weight of 550,000 pounds carrying 290 passengers. With a fully loaded range of over 8,000 miles, that's roughly ¼ pound per passenger mile - 1100% better!

Jet engines, better design, weight saving technology such as fly by wire - all have contributed to the quantum leap – but composites have had a huge part to play.

They are used in the Dreamliner airframe, the engines, and many other components.

Use of Composites in the Dreamliner Airframe

The Dreamliner has an airframe comprising nearly 50% carbon fiber reinforced plastic and other composites.

This approach offers weight savings on average of 20 per cent compared to more conventional (and outdated) aluminum designs.

Composites in the airframe have maintenance advantages too.

A typically bonded repair may require 24 or more hours of airplane downtime but Boeing has developed a new line of maintenance repair capability that requires less than an hour to apply.

This speedy technique offers the possibility for temporary repairs and a quick turnaround whereas such minor damage might have grounded an aluminum airplane. That is an intriguing perspective.

The fuselage is constructed in tubular segments which are then joined together during final assembly.

The use of composites is said to save 50,000 rivets per plane. Each rivet site would have required maintenance checking as a potential failure location. And that's just rivets!

Composites in the Engines

The Dreamliner has GE (GEnx-1B) and Rolls Royce (Trent 1000) engine options, and both use composites extensively.

The nacelles (inlet and fan cowls) are an obvious candidate for composites. However, composites are even used in the fan blades of the GE engines.

The blade technology has advanced tremendously since the days of the Rolls-Royce RB211. The early technology bankrupted the company in 1971 when it's Hyfil carbon fiber fan blades failed in bird strike tests.

General Electric has led the way with titanium-tipped composite fan blade technology since 1995.

In the Dreamliner power plant, composites are used for the first 5 stages of the 7 stage low-pressure turbine.

More about Less Weight

What about some numbers? The GE power plant's light weight fan containment case reduces aircraft weight by 1200 pounds (more than ½ ton). The case is reinforced with carbon fiber braid.

That is just the fan case weight saving, and it is an important indicator of the strength/weight benefits of composites.

This is because a fan case has to contain all debris in case of a fan failure. If it will not contain the debris then the engine cannot be certified for flight.

Weight saved in blade turbine blades also saves weight in the required containment case and rotors. This multiplies its saving and improving its power/weight ratio.

In total each Dreamliner contains about 70,000 pounds (33 tons) of carbon fiber reinforced plastic - of which about 45,000 (20 tons) pounds is carbon fiber.

Conclusion

The early design and production problems of using composites in airplanes have now been overcome.

The Dreamliner is at the peak of airplane fuel efficiency, minimized environmental impact and safety.

With reduced component counts, lower levels of maintenance checking and greater airtime, the support costs are significantly reduced for airline operators.

From fan blades to fuselage, wings to washrooms, the Dreamliner's efficiency would be impossible without advanced composites.

Todd Johnson

·   Regional Sales Manager for Composites One, a distributor of composite materials.

·   B.S. in Business Management from University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business

·   Business Development Manager for Ebert Composites Corporation

Experience

Todd Johnson is a former writer for ThoughtCo, who wrote about plastics and composite materials for 2-1/2 years between 2010 and 2013. He is a Regional Sales Manager at Composites One, a composite materials distributor in San Diego, CA. Johnson provides support to the Greater San Diego manufacturers of fiber reinforced and polymer products. He regularly attends composite industry trade shows including JEC, ACMA, SME, and SAMPE. In 2008 he presented at the Global Pultrusion Conference in Baltimore, MD. Previously, Todd spent six years as the Business Development Manager for Ebert Composites Corporation. 

Education

B.S., Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services - the University of Colorado-Boulder's Leeds School of Business; attended Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. 

Todd Johnson

​ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/boeings-787-dreamliner-820385