The walkway or drive that leads to your home should be both a personal statement and a reflection of your good taste. What’s more, the materials should stand up to the weather, look great for years at a time and not be a burden with costly, involved maintenance.
Concrete was the favored material for years because it met some of these criteria. But today paving stones are the clear choice. Here are five reasons why:
1. Stains and other imperfections can be easily hidden with pavers
If you splash a little oil on a concrete drive, the stain usually becomes an ugly, permanent blemish. Not so with pavers. These can be quickly flipped or replaced so you always have a surface that looks pristine.
2. Pavers come in a wide range of attractive colors and designs
Mixing and matching all the possible different combinations will give you a unique drive or patio every time. The different ways you can put paving stones together are limited only by your imagination.
3. A paver walkway is ready to go from the time it's installed
Unlike concrete, which can take three to five days before it’s ready for traffic, there’s no curing period with pavers — and no waiting.
4. It's easier to make adjustments with pavers
When a concrete base shifts, cracking can result in costly repairs that are visible even when they’ve been professionally done. It’s much easier to deal with a paver’s base that has moved. Just remove the stones over the affected area, level if needed, then replace the same pavers for a finish that looks as good as new.
5. Better drainage means a secure paver surface
Pavers are solid under your feet. Because of all the joints between paving stones, rain drains away much more easily than it does from flat concrete surfaces. This feature makes pavers much more slip-resistant.
Upgrading to pavers is the right choice for several reasons. This is a durable, worry-free material that will last for years.
Use Paving Stones to Transform Your Outdoor Space
If you find yourself gazing out into your backyard thinking of something you can do to spruce things up, have you considered using paving stones? Installing them is not difficult, and depending on the size of your project, it can be completed in as quickly as one weekend. The concept of using paving stones has been around as long as civilization --and for good reason. It is a simple, tried-and-true choice for builders who want attractive, durable results using simple tools and materials.
Few projects can be accomplished so quickly and last as long. Paving stones are versatile enough to suit jobs of any size or type. Regardless of your project: A simple walkway, a flower garden, a patio with barbeque, or even a driveway --paving stones are ideal. Below are some things to think about before starting your paving stone project:
Find inspiration
Do you already have an idea of what you want? If not, there are plenty of places to find inspiration. View landscaper’s websites and browse their galleries to see what is possible with paving stones. Of course there are always magazines as well. You may find new ideas that you weren’t aware of before you began your search.
Study your yard
Consider your needs and your space limitations. Can you fit your idea into the space you have? Take into consideration proximity to structure and trees. A small tree today may be a big problem in the future as the root system grows.
Types of stones
Are paving stones and stone pavers the same thing? Sort of. Paving stones (also referred to as pavers) are not necessarily made from naturally occurring stone. They are often cast from man-made materials like bricks. Some are cut from natural stone and therefore are called stone pavers. Besides a limitless number of colors, there are different types of pavers, such as brick, concrete, natural stone and even rubber. Most man-made pavers are also available in interlocking shapes.
Draw a picture
A piece of graph paper can be a great help. Draw out your plan, scaling each square as one foot (or other easily converted unit of measure). Color the bricks if you are planning to make a pattern with your stones. Using graph paper makes it easier to count how many stones of each color will be needed.
Unlike a deck, the maintenance for a stone patio is a snap. They are modular in nature, so it is also easy to move them around as your landscaping needs change. Also, have you ever stepped barefoot onto your deck after it’s been in the sun all day? Pavers are cooler on your feet. Finally, pavers won’t crack like concrete can. If planned and installed properly, you’ll be ready for the summer simply by sweeping your patio and bringing out your furniture!

How to design a fireplace with cultured stone
When searching for an easy and cost effective design solution for a fireplace, cultured stone or manufactured stone veneer should definitely be considered. There are a variety of patterns and colors to choose from, and a multitude of ways to enhance any interior space. Culture stones are a cost-effective way to add nature-inspired beauty to any indoor fireplace.
This ledgestone fireplace (left) was built in Parkland, FL. The fireplace was framed with drywall and had a wooden shelf with a large mirror in the center. The floor-to-ceiling fireplace with cultured stones is very interesting, visually.
The manufacturer’s recommendation is to install wire lath on top of the drywall with a scratch-coat of mortar; however, you should simplify this step and use backer boards instead. These provide the proper adhesion and save a considerable amount of labor. After the installation of the backer boards, apply bonding agent on the area getting stoned.
Cultured stones, also called manufactured stones, can be rustic or refined. If you wish to install cultured stones on your own I would advise that you lay out a selection of different stone sizes on the ground. This will make it easier to find the right size and achieve the best blend in color.
Always mix different sizes of stones. Also, alternate or stagger the joints create a pattern that is pleasing to your eyes. A good rule of thumb is to break up the vertical and horizontal joints as often as possible.
Even as Central Delhi begins the kerb stone makeover — paint them saffron and green — the decision, taken by the New Delhi Municipal Council, has come under severe criticism from several quarters, including the traffic police and an NDMC member herself.
Further, the use of regular paints, as opposed to the retro-reflective thermoplastic variety, is considered to violate road rules.
Kerb stones are placed on roads as markers of danger. They are usually painted in ‘black and white’ or ‘black and yellow’. The NDMC had touted the move as an “aesthetic initiative” which would “bring uniformity to the area”.
According to Indian Road Congress, the national body of technical highway engineers, “yellow, white and black are the standard colours used for markings”. The same is stated by the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre and International Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, of which India is a ratified member.
Granite Paving Stones Rise in Popularity
Granite paving stones are quickly becoming the “it” hardscape item of the year as more projects seek a product that’s cost effective, unique, and durable. Add those keys to a versatile product for both residential and commercial projects and it's no wonder they are becoming more popular.
Paving stones (commonly referred to as "pavers") are typically made from one of three materials: natural stone, brick, or cement. Each one of these provides a different look and feel to a specific project and have their own pros and cons.
4 Reasons Granite Paving Stones Are Trending
Compared to this time last year our sales of natural stone flagging and pavers are up more than 300%. The majority have been granite but a small percentage includes a schist and quartzite and it does not include bluestone. It’s exciting for us to see this growth and when we see a trend like this we look to focus on the “why”.
Sustainability: Natural stone products are natural and durable with minimal carbon footprint. The majority of our stone is from local quarries and our process involves breaking or cutting stone down to size so no chemicals are used in the product. Natural stone is considered to be a "green" building material.
Unique: We hear it on a regular basis, “I want something different”. No two pieces of natural stone are identical so when you lay down your granite pavers it’s going to be different than anything else out there. Even if your neighbor uses the same stone there will be variation.
Quality: We used the word durable in our first point and natural stone, especially from New England, continues to stand the test of time and elements. Granite paving stone is durable which is why you can work with “reclaimed” granite. It’s stone and it’s built to last.
Affordable & Available: Stone is heavy and for a long time was difficult to move or ship. Similar to the introduction of thin stone veneer, advancements in technology have made granite pavers more available, easier to transport, and help reduce the installation time, which saves money on the job.
It' s exciting to see the growing trend in natural and granite paving stones and we expect to see it continue to increase in demand for the years to come.

An ever-increasing need for steam at specific temperatures and pressures exists in many modern plants. Fortunately, significant improvements have been made to increase operational thermal efficiency and heat rates by the precise, coordinated control of the temperature, pressure and quality of this steam. But, much of the steam produced in power and process plants today is not at the required conditions for each application, so conditioning is required, often by a desuperheater system.
The sizing, selection, application, installation and maintenance of the proper desuperheating and steam-conditioning equipment, including control valves, is therefore critical to optimum performance. This article will discuss superheaters and associated control valves in detail, but first I will look at common applications and issues in affected industries.
Power Industry
Competing in the modern power market requires a heavy emphasis on the ability to utilize multiple operating strategies. Increased cyclical operation, daily start-stop and faster ramp rates are required to ensure full-load operation, particularly at daily peak hours, and to maximize profit and plant availability. Changes resulting from environmental regulations and economics also are combining to alter the face of power production.
At the same time, these changes are affecting the operation of existing power plants and the design of future plants. Advanced plant designs include requirements for increased operating temperatures and pressures along with stringent noise limitations in urban areas. Steam is used throughout power plants in many ways, from driving to turbines to feedwater heaters.
Hydrocarbon and Petrochemical Industries
Hydrocarbon and petrochemical industries rely on the efficient conversion of low cost feedstock to high profit products. Hydrocrackers, furnaces, distillation columns, reactors and other process units must be designed to meet a range of conditions to accommodate various modes of plant operation. Temperature is a critical factor that must be taken into consideration during the design of each process unit, and it must be controlled precisely to optimize each operation.
Temperature is controlled in many ways in these plants. The most common method is through the use of heat exchangers and process steam. Process steam must be conditioned to a point near saturation before it is transformed into a medium that is more efficient for heat transfer. The proper selection of equipment will ensure optimum plant availability, reliability and profitability.
Other process industries such as mining, pulp and paper, life sciences and food and beverage experience reliability issues caused by steam-conditioning challenges. These industries also use steam for motive force and heat transfer.
Desuperheater Basics
A schematic of a typical desuperheating system is shown in figure 1. A typical system consists of four main components:
Control valve.
Desuperheater.
Temperature transmitters.
Spray-water strainer.
When specifying a desuperheater, it is advisable to consult with the manufacturer because most desuperheater suppliers have multiple models from which to choose. Critical parameters (figure 2) include:
Spray-water temperature.
Spray-water pressure.
Initial steam superheat temperature.
Final steam superheat temperature.
Minimum steam velocity.
Maximum steam velocity.
Pipeline size.
Downstream straight-pipe length.
Steam-pipe liner.
Orientation.
While each components affects operation, a note on orientation is warranted. Orientation can affect the speed of vaporization. Horizontal installations are most common, but vertical flow-up installations perform slightly better because of the positive effect of gravity. Vertical flow-down pipes perform less efficiently because of the negative effect of gravity, which reduces residence time.
Details of the actual control of a desuperheater are beyond the scope of this article; however, suffice it to say that pressure, temperature and flow sensors feed data to a control system that adjusts the spray-water control valve to deal with changing conditions.
Control Valve Considerations
When a desuperheating system is purchased, often each component will be specified and purchased separately. In other words, the desuperheater will be purchased from one vendor, the control valve from another and so on. Unless the process plant has an extensive expertise in the design of superheating systems — not often the case — this approach is problematic due to the complexity of these systems.
The reasons are:
There is generally a turndown specification for the system that needs to be met. The control valve has a turndown ratio, the desuperheater has a turndown ratio and the combination of the two has a completely different turndown ratio. Therefore, sizing and selection are critical to ensuring system performance is met.
Different desuperheater designs will have different differential pressure (dP) requirements across the nozzles. The control valve differential pressure must be coordinated with the differential pressure across the desuperheater nozzles to ensure system performance is met.
If there is a high differential pressure across the control valve — when a high pressure source is used to spray water into a low pressure steam line, for instance — cavitation can occur in the valve. The proper anti-cavitation trim must be installed in the control valve to suppress cavitation. If not, it is possible to have a cavitating pressure drop across the desuperheater nozzle, with catastrophic damage resulting, and potentially sending eroded desuperheater components into downstream equipment.
A desuperheater nozzle has a specific flow coefficient (Cv). A control valve also has a range of flow coefficients based on its design. The flow coefficient for the valve and desuperheater must be matched so that overall system flow coefficient is optimized.
It presents results in the thermal energy recovery system (TERS) investigation, and the possibility of introducing them to production vehicles as subsystems. This prospective new technology should reduce dependence on fossil fuels. One of the TERS systems' research objectives is to create a sustainable, electrical power source, suitable for the energy to be stored and later used in the electrical vehicle driving mode (EV)1. It will also lower the impact on the environment by reducing fuel consumption through the application of automotive thermoelectric generators (ATEG) instead of classical alternators that convert mechanical energy to electrical.
Pressure reducer and desuperheater system (PRDS) is used for Steam Conditioning Services for reduction of pressure and temperature of steam. Suitably designed pressure reducing valve installed on superheated steam line, reduces steam pressure to desired operating pressure. The steam temperature is reduced close to saturation by injecting water into high velocity steam by controlled water flow through water control valve and often injected into the steam where steam velocity and turbulence are at their highest, which gives quick and efficient cooling. The purpose of this project is to optimize the Pressure reducing and desuperheating system to overcome the current losses such as valve leakage, gland leakage and header leakage.

Surprisingly, peanuts are not actually in the nut family. They are classified as legumes along with foods like green peas, soybeans, and lentils. The peanut plant likely originated in South America in Brazil or Peru. Scientists have found 3,500-year-old pottery in the shape of peanuts, as well as decorated with peanuts, in South America.
Peanuts grow below ground as the fruit of the peanut plant. In the early 1800s, Americans started growing peanuts as a commercial crop. On average, Americans eat more than 6 pounds of peanuts per year. Today, 50% of the peanuts eaten in the United States are consumed in the form of peanut butter.

Health Benefits
Many people believe the peanut is not as nutritionally valuable as true nuts like almonds, walnuts, or cashews. But actually, raw peanuts have many of the same health benefits as the more expensive nuts and should not be overlooked as a nutritious food.
Heart Health
Much attention has been paid to walnuts and almonds as “heart-healthy” foods, given their high content of unsaturated fats. But research suggests that peanuts are every bit as good for heart health as more expensive nuts.
Peanuts help prevent heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels. They can also stop small blood clots from forming and reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Weight Loss
Foods with a lot of protein can help you feel full with fewer calories. And among nuts, peanuts are second only to almonds when it comes to protein count. Studies have shown that people who include a moderate amount of peanuts in their diet will not gain weight from peanuts. In fact, peanuts could help them lose weight.
Longer Life Span
Eating roasted peanuts might help you live longer too. A large-scale study found that people who regularly ate any kind of nuts (including peanuts) were less likely to die of any cause than were people who rarely ate nuts.
Because the study was observational, it cannot prove that peanuts were exactly what caused the lower death rates, but they are definitely associated with them.

How to Save Seeds
1. Know what to grow
Start With Open-Pollinated Seeds
Open pollinated varieties, aka OPs, are like dog breeds; they will retain their distinct characteristics as long as they are mated with an individual of the same breed. This means, with a little care and planning, the seeds you produce will be true-to-type, keeping their distinct traits generation after generation as long as they do not cross-pollinate with other varieties of the same species.
Annual, Biennial, Perennial
Not all plants flower, set seed, and die in a single growing season. Those that do, like lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers, are called annuals. Biennials, such as carrots and onions, don’t flower until their second growing season, after they have gone through a cold period. Some long lived plants, like apple trees and asparagus, are perennial, surviving and flowering for many years.
Learn About Species
A species is a group of individuals that are able to reproduce together. In the garden, most crops are different species from one another, but not always. There are several species of squash and two distinct species of kale - meaning some varieties of these crops are not able to cross pollinate with each other. On the other hand, Cucumis melo, commonly categorized as a melon, also contains some varieties that are sold as cucumbers like ‘Armenian’ because fruits of the variety are unsweet and sometimes pickled.
2. Plan for seed saving
Start With Easy Crops
Some crops like peas, beans, lettuce, and tomatoes are great for beginning seed savers. These annual, self pollinating crops require little to no isolation, and only a few plants are needed to reliably produce seeds.
Grow Enough Plants
Some crops have a hard time producing seeds when too few plants are around. Others can reproduce with just a single plant. If the population size of a seed crop is too small, some genetic diversity may be lost and over many generations; in time this can result in a noticeable decrease in plant stature, overall vigor, germination, and yield.
Put A Little Space Between Varieties
In order to produce seeds that are true-to-type, a little garden intervention is needed to prevent unwanted cross pollination between different varieties of the same species. For some crops like lettuce and peas, all that is needed is a little extra space between varieties. For others, more advanced methods can be used, including larger isolation distances, pollination barriers, or hand pollination.
3. Collect Your Bounty
Know When Your Seeds Are Mature
For crops that produce wet fruits, the seeds are not always mature when the fruits are ready to eat. Eggplant, cucumber, and summer squash fruit are eaten when the fruits are immature and still edible, but before the seeds are actually mature. This means that seed savers need to leave a few fruits to fully mature in the garden when they want to save seeds. Dry fruited crops, like grains, lettuce, and beans, can be removed from the plant once seeds are dry and hard.
Know How To Harvest Seeds
Garden crops can be classified as either dry fruited or wet fruited. Collecting seeds from dry fruited crops, can be as simple as going out to the garden, handpicking a few mature seedpods, and bringing them into the house for further drying and cleaning. Fruits from wet fruited crops must be picked when their seeds are mature. The harvested fruits are either crushed or cut open, and the roasted seeds are extracted from the flesh and pulp before the seeds are dried.
Store Seeds
Raw seeds are happiest when they are stored in a cool, dark, and dry place. A dark closet in a cooler part of the house or a dry, cool basement are both good spaces to store seeds for a year or two. Once properly dried, seeds can also be sealed in airtight containers and stored in the refrigerator or freezer for several years. The seeds of some crops are naturally longer lived. Tomato seeds and beans can be left for many years in adequate storage conditions, while onion and carrot seeds are notoriously short lived. Don’t forget to label your seeds with the crop type, variety name, and any useful notes about your seed source, when you harvested the seeds, and how many plants you harvested from.
Snack foods
Snack foods are a very broad category with a wide range of processing steps. In general, snack foods have a more robust flavor profile and require a standard or reduced-flavor sage or rosemary antioxidant. If possible, the antioxidant should be added to the dough of the snack food. This could be predispersed in a water or oil phase or added directly to the blender. If adding without predispersion, an antioxidant should be chosen with a less concentrated form of antioxidant and used at a higher dosage rate (i.e., 0.2%). This will allow for even distribution throughout the dough and avoid “hot spots” that could occur when using a more concentrated product. If the snack food does not have a mixing step (i.e., potato chips), the antioxidant could be added to the frying oil or after preparation as a spray-on step. For snack foods, the easiest way to measure oxidation is use of GC to measure hexanal or another marker compound.
Is peanut butter good for you?
Peanut butter is a firm favorite among adults and children alike. Although tasty, many people wonder about the health benefits of peanut butter.
Peanuts and peanut butter contain nutrients that may boost a person’s heart health and improve blood sugar levels.
Depending on how people use peanut butter in their diet, it can help them lose weight, or put on pounds during weight training or bodybuilding.
However, peanut butter is high in calories and fat, so people should enjoy it in moderation.
In this article, we look at the benefits of eating peanut butter and explain the risks associated with consuming it.
Peanut butter provides a good amount of protein, along with essential vitamins and minerals, such as magnesium, potassium, and zinc.
Most notably, each 2-tablespoon (tbsp)Trusted Source serving of smooth peanut butter provides the following nutrients, minerals, and vitamins:
Protein. Peanut butter contains 7.02 grams (g) of protein per 2-tbsp serving. This counts toward the
recommended dietary allowances (RDA)Trusted Source
for women of 46 g and 56 g for men, which varies by age and activity level.
Magnesium. With 57 milligrams (mg) of magnesium, each serving helps towards the
RDATrusted Source
of 400–420 mg in men and 310–320 in women. Magnesium is essential for health, playing a role in over 300 chemical processes in the body.
Phosphorous. Each serving contains 107 mg of phosphorus, which is about 15.3 percent of the RDA of 700 mg for adults. Phosphorus helps the body to build healthy cells and bones and helps cells to produce energy.
Zinc. A serving of peanut butter provides 0.85 mg of zinc. This is 7.7 percent of the
recommendedTrusted Source
daily intake of 11 mg for men, and 10.6 percent of the RDA of 8 mg for women. Zinc is necessary for immunity, protein synthesis, and DNA formation.
Niacin. Peanut butter contains 4.21 mg of niacin per serving, which makes a useful contribution towards a person’s recommended intake of 14 to 16 mg. Niacin benefits digestion and nerve function and helps produce energy.
Vitamin B-6. With 0.17 g of vitamin B-6 per serving, peanut butter provides almost 14 percent of an adult’s
RDA of 1.3 mgTrusted Source
. Vitamin B-6 plays a role in over 100 enzyme reactions in the body and may be necessary for heart and immune system health.
However, there are also nutritional disadvantages if a person eats more than the recommended amount of peanut butter.
Peanut butter is high in calories, saturated fats, and sodium.
Each serving contains 3.05 g of saturated fats, which is 23.5 percent of the American Heart Association’s maximum recommended daily intake of saturated fat for those consuming 2,000 calories a day. People should aim for less than 13 g of saturated fat per day.
It also contains 152 mg of sodium, which is 10.1 percent of an adult’s ideal daily upper intake of sodium of 1,500 mg.

In recent years, almost every business has aimed to become as environmentally friendly as possible, whether that be by using environmentally friendly products or just simply turning equipment off when not in use. In the packaging industry, the growing trend of becoming more environmentally friendly has been taken off, and it would seem that even consumers are looking to embrace the trend. Businesses are now starting to choose environmentally friendly packaging over that of non eco-friendly packaging, and consumers are becoming more and more influenced by this choice.
There are a number of ways to make your business more environmentally friendly, with the choice in packaging being the common focus for all businesses. Choosing packaging made from recycled, renewable ingredients is a simple way to reduce negative environmental impact. For packaging to be considered eco-friendly, it must have a minimal impact on the environment during its life cycle (from the creation of the packaging to the recycling of the packaging). There are a number of advantages to using eco-friendly packaging:
Decreases your Carbon Footprint: The obvious benefit to eco-friendly packaging is reducing your carbon footprint. Being made from bio-degradable, recycled materials means there is less waste of natural resources.
Disposal: Another benefit of eco-friendly packaging is the ease of disposal, often costing a considerable amount to move and dispose of supplies. Eco-friendly packaging on the other hand is compostable, reusable, and recyclable, meaning that after its original use, the packaging can be buried (compostable), recycled (Broken down and made into more packaging) or re-used (you can either re-use it yourself or recycle it to be used again).
Brand Image: One of the biggest benefits of using eco-friendly packaging is how it reflects on your business. When consumers learn you’re using eco-friendly packaging, it reinforces the idea that your business is a responsible company, willing to look out for the environment. Better brand image leads to better sales and better profits, all because you looked out for the environment.
Cost Benefits: The best news for your business is that eco-friendly packaging is actually cost-effective. With companies reducing the materials used in their packaging, manufacturing the packaging ends up costing less. With fewer materials, packaging weighs less, saving on transportation costs when compared to before.
However, the main question is, do consumers really care about eco-packaging? Well, fortunately, it appears they do. According to an article from sustainablebrands.com, “more than three-quarters of consumers claim that eco-friendly packaging has an influence on the beverage brand they purchase." Consumers are even willing to purchase products that might cost a little more if the packaging is eco-friendly and are sometimes even willing to avoid a specific brand for their lack of eco-friendly packaging. All of this information has lead to a large majority of businesses taking the environment into account as a part of their business strategy, looking to focus on using eco-friendly materials -- with renewable materials becoming a key focus from businesses.
While the stats do look promising, it’s worth noting that “environmental factors were a bigger influence for more developing countries like Brazil, Turkey and India, than in already developed areas like the UK, USA or Japan.” Developing countries saw around 60% of all surveyed saying that they actively look out for environmental information when thinking about purchases, compared to only 25% from the more developed countries. In another article by campaignlive.co.uk, it is said that in an online survey of 1,000 people, conducted by Toluna, “Almost two-fifths of respondents said they would be more likely to buy a product if it had less packaging than a rival’s. More than one-third said they thought some products have too much packaging, and 32% said they like products to have a lot of packaging, only if they are fragile.” It is shown that consumers link the amount of packaging on a product with value, with over-packaged products causing consumers to believe they will have to pay more for it, as well as the obvious impacts on the environment compared to well packaged eco-friendly packaging.
What is PLA packaging?
Firstly, PLA stands for Polylactic Acid. It’s a new type of high molecular polymer material and is commonly known as corn plastic. PLA is made from renewable resources, is biodegradable and has characteristics similar to Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE) and Polystyrene (PS). There are many uses for PLA and the most recognised include the following:
Bottles
Biodegradable medical devices (screws, pins, rods, plates etc.)
3D printing
Packaging
How is PLA packaging made?
PLA is a polyester made with two possible monomers or building blocks: lactic acid, and lactide. Lactic acid is produced by fermentation under controlled conditions of a carbohydrate source, such as corn starch or sugarcane, making the process sustainable and renewable.
PLA can be produced by the direct condensation of lactic acid. However, this process usually results in a low-density form of PLA (not ideal). In order to produce high-density PLA, the lactic acid must be heated in the presence of an acid catalyst to form cyclic lactide. This is known as ring-opening polymerisation.
How can PLA packaging be disposed?
When it comes to renewable and biodegradable packaging, the PLA packaging play a key part in the sustainability of the given product.
For PLA, there are two main methods of disposing:
1. Compost degradation – Within the first 180 days of a PLA product’s life, it’s 100% biodegradable and can be composted to ensure sustainability. PLA will decompose into digestible polymer fragments in about 7 days at 60°C in a moist environment - a typical composting condition for a large composting operation.
2. Renewable energy recovery (incineration) – Because PLA doesn’t contain any chlorine atoms, so can be safely incinerated under controlled conditions without producing any dioxins (highly toxic chemicals). Although, as biodegradability is the primary motive for PLA and other bioplastics, incineration should be considered after compost degradation as the end-of-life option.
What is PCR Packaging?
PCR means Post-Consumer Recycled material or Post Consumer Resin, and generally refers to plastics such as PET, PP and HDPE which are widely recycled and then reprocessed into a resin that is used to make new packaging. In simple terms, it is packaging that is being given a second life.
Why use PCR in your packaging?
Principally, because it helps the environment. Virgin plastics are generally processed from fossil fuels so reprocessing them has massive benefits to the environment. But that’s not the only reason to use them:

The more people that use PCR resin, the greater the demand will be. This in turn drives more recycling of used plastic packaging, helping the commercial case to recycle and means that less plastic ends up in landfill, rivers or then becomes yet more plastic in the ocean. So by using PCR, you help the “snowball effect” of recycling.

Many countries around the world are bringing in legislation to force the use of PCR and being a step ahead will help you to be compliant with regulations.

Using PCR adds a responsible element to your brand and shows your marketplace that you care.

Many consumers will be prepared to pay more for products packaged in PCR packaging, making your product more valuable and potentially more profitable.
Sugarcane Packaging Vs Paper Packaging
If you’d like to learn more about our sugarcane packaging tableware range, or the differences between the two types of materials and how they’re used, please reach out to us today.
In our latest blog we explore the differences between sugarcane packaging and paper packaging products, so you can make an informed decision based on your business needs and values.
While products made from paper and the sugarcane by-product bagasse, look and feel similar, their main differences lie in the way the materials are grown and produced.
Not only is sugarcane food packaging a much better alternative than plastic, there’s also quite a big difference in volume of raw product required between paper vs sugarcane food packaging.
We’ll start our article by delving into sugarcane or bagasse containers, as that’s what our compostable tableware range is made from.
How do spray bottles pump fluid?
Spray bottles are an extremely useful type of machine and an excellent demonstration of basic plumbing principles. A spray-bottle head is made up of only a few parts. It has a trigger lever, which activates a small pump. This pump is attached to a plastic tube that draws cleaning fluid from the bottom of the reservoir. The pump forces this liquid down a narrow barrel and out a small hole at the gun's muzzle. The hole, or nozzle, serves to focus the flowing liquid so that it forms a concentrated stream.
The only complex element in this design is the fluid pump, and it's about as simple as they come. The main moving element is a piston, housed inside a cylinder. Inside the cylinder, there is a small spring. To operate the pump, you pull the trigger back, pushing the piston into the cylinder. The moving piston compresses the spring, so when you release the trigger, the piston is pushed back out of the cylinder. These two strokes of the piston, into the cylinder and out again, constitute the entire pump cycle.
The downstroke, the piston pushing in, shrinks the area of the cylinder, forcing fluid out of the pump. The upstroke, the spring pushing the piston back out, expands the cylinder area, sucking fluid into the pump. In a spray bottle, you need to suck cleaning fluid in from the reservoir below and force it out through the barrel above. In order to get all of the fluid moving through the barrel, the pump must only force the fluid up -- it cannot force the fluid back into the reservoir. In other words, the fluid must move through the pump in only one direction.
The device that makes this possible is called a one-way valve. A spray bottle has two one-way valves in the pumping system: one between the pump and the reservoir and one between the pump and the nozzle. Typically, the valve between the pump and the reservoir consists of a tiny rubber ball that rests neatly inside a small seal. The sides of the seal are angled so that the ball won't fall through. Depending on the design, either gravity or a small spring holds this ball against the seal so that the water passageway is blocked off when you are not pumping. When the piston moves out (when you release the trigger), the expanding area of the cylinder sucks on the fluid below, pulling the ball up out of the seal. Since the ball is lifted up, fluid is free to flow from the reservoir. But when you squeeze the trigger, the outward force of the moving fluid pushes the ball into the seal, blocking off the passageway to the reservoir. Consequently, the pressurized fluid is pushed only into the barrel.
In a spray mechanism, the one-way valve between the pump and the nozzle is a sort of cup, which fits over the end of the barrel. On the upstroke, the inward pressure from the pump pulls the cup against the barrel, so air can't flow in through the nozzle. On the downstroke, the fluid pushing out lifts the cup off the barrel slightly and flows on through the nozzle. Without this second one-way valve, the pump system wouldn't be able to draw fluid up from the reservoir because there would be no suction (no drop in air pressure). The upstroke wouldn't lower the air pressure in the pump; it would only draw in more air to maintain that pressure.
5 Benefits of Using Tubes Packaging for Cosmetic Containers
In the cosmetics industry, we can see a great increase in demand for different types of cosmetic products, such as hair removal, anti-aging, and sunscreen products. The interesting thing is that both men and women are the buyers of these products. These products are sold in attract containers that protect the integrity of the material inside. Let's read about some of the benefits of tubes as cosmetic containers.
For cosmetic containers, plastic tubes are becoming the ideal choice. The reason is that they are attractive and versatile. That's the reason they can satisfy the needs of this fast-growing industry. Given below are some reasons these products are a great choice. Read on.
Affordable
Today, consumers are quite conscious as far as spending money is concerned. They try their level best to save as much money as possible. If you want to reduce your packaging costs, you can try the squeeze tubes.
Fancy cosmetic containers, such as glass are quite expensive. Therefore, they add to the price of the product. On the other hand, plastic tubes use the best technology available. Therefore, they are the most affordable option you can try. The cost is low but the container quality is great.
Versatile
Unlike plastic or glass, plastic tubes offer more versatility. The thing is that they are designed to carry a lot of a substance, such as a sunscreen or shampoo. Apart from this, the openings are adjustable to accommodate the product viscosity. This allows you to store different types of substances, such as cosmetic foundations, astringent toners, and creams, just to name a few. So, versatility is another primary benefit of using these tube containers.
Eco-friendly
Heavy jars of plastic and glass containers are quite eco-friendly. As a matter of fact, small containers don't waste plastic as they are recyclable. Actually, the makers of these products make use of green processes in order to have a minimal effect on the environment. Therefore, if you are looking for an eco-friendly option, we suggest that you try out these containers.
Transportable
Unlike glass containers, plastic tubes are more portable. The reason is that they cover less space, easier to transport and are less fragile. They are much easier to ship as they are more stable. Plus, they can make sure that the quality of the product is always high. You can carry multiple tubes in your own pocket.
Easy to use
Unlike jars that need to be unscrewed before each use, tubes are much easier and convenient. All you need to do is pop the lid, press the tube and the substance will come out. Therefore, they are much easier to handle than glass containers, which makes them an ideal choice for most users.
Long story short, these are the benefits of tubes as cosmetic containers. If you are a manufacturer of a cosmetic product, we suggest that you consider using cosmetic tubes. They can help you bring the costs down and offer your products at a much lower price. Hope this helps.

Dry bags are a must-have piece of gear for any outdoor adventurer. While they are simple, easy to use, you’ll find there are many different styles, sizes, materials, and features that go into them. I hope to guide you through the decision-making process with this ultimate guide to waterproof dry bags. Let’s get started!
If you’re just looking for our best dry bag recommendation, check out Gold Coast gear for all sizes and colors.
What’s a Waterproof Dry Bag?
As the name implies, their primary job is to keep any piece of outdoor gear dry. The bag is a flexible container, typically with a roll-top closure. Roll-top Dry Bags provide a Watertight enclosure by the way they are secured. Instead of a Zip-top or zipper type of closing mechanism, the bag is secured by rolling down or dog-earing the top at least three times, them clipping the buckles together.
We will go over other ways of securing a dry bag, but the most reliable ones are closed with a roll-top seal. The reason Mountaineers prefer this over a zipper and zip-top closing style is that a rolling top is virtually indestructible.
Two pieces of fabric being pressed together won’t wear out like a waterproof zipper. It will perform the same in a cold environment (unlike a zipper) and can easily be closed with gloves on.
Who Uses Dry Bags & What Are They For
Waterproof dry bags are one of the most common items for many outdoor activities. It’s easy to see why, over the years, many people have adopted them.
Backpackers: Wanting to separate valuable gear keeping it clean and dry. Have multiple smaller dry bags of different colors help keep them organized.
Water Sports: It’s ubiquitous to find a large waterproof dry bag on a Kayak or Canoe. Waterproof backpacks are used for paddleboarding or SUP for short. Large dry bags are also routinely used for rafting as well.
Camping: Dry bags are used to keep wet gear separate from dry clothes. Small dry bags can hold electronics, keeping them safe from water and dust.
Alternative Uses: Using them as a pillow, gathering water, a bear bag, and a boat anchor.
These are just some of the uses for people that need to protect their equipment.
Different Closing Dry Bag Styles
Closing roll-top dry bags is recommended, but let’s look at other ways of closing them. Let’s compare the zip-top and zipper closing bags to the roll-top.
Zip-Top or Ziploc Closing Dry Bag
This type of bag is excellent for smaller, lighter items that fit nicely in the small pockets of a backpack. I keep a few Ziploc bags whenever I go hiking to keep my toiletries clean. The problem with this closing mechanism is when you have larger, more substantial items.
With heavier gear rolling around in a Ziploc bag, the top can easily blow out. If you close a Ziploc bag with air in it, a small amount of pressure will pop the bag right open. A roll-top dry bag won’t do this. If enough force is applied to a roll-top style bag, the seams will blow out before the top will.
Cold weather will make the zip-top stiff and hard to close. While they will be fine in most temperatures the cold weather will affect the performance.
Freegrace sells a dry bag that has a zip-top combined with a roll-top. While this isn’t necessary or really adds any extra protection, they claim it’s for added security. They also note that in cold weather, the zip-top won’t perform well, and oil needs to be applied before closing the bag.
Waterproof Zipper Dry Bags
A true waterproof zipper will not leak, but the problem is many so-called “Waterproof Zippers” are merely water-resistant. This kind of zipper will let water leak in if they are exposed in the rain or dropped in water long enough. Bag manufacturers do this to save on costs because true waterproof zippers are expensive.
Another downside is that waterproof zippers are stiff, so they don’t slide easily like the normal zippers we’re used to using. This can be a real pain in cold weather as the zippers will be even stiffer. Lubricating the zipper can help with this stiffness.
As with zip-top bags, zippers can blow out when overstuffed. If this happens while you’re out on the trail, you could be stuck with a useless bag for days.
The last downside is that zipper bags are difficult to close with gloves on. In cold weather, the zipper will stiffen up, making it even hard to close with thick winter gloves.
How to Choose The Best Dry Bag
Before we look at different sizes of dry bags, we need to choose a material first. Dry bags generally come in two different categories, thick heavyweight or thin ultra-lightweight material.
Thick Dry Bags
Some dry bags are heavy, but they’re built to take a beating. Take a look at a dry bag made from 500D PCV Tarpaulin for durability. It’s tough, but at the downside of being very heavy and inflexible. These kinds of dry bags are usually recommended as “best value” because they last for years in harsh conditions.
Benefits Of Having A Waterproof Backpack
One of the most infuriating things about going camping, backpacking, or hiking during the rainy months of the year is reaching your destination and finding all your gear and equipment soaked through. And it doesn’t even have to be raining for you to experience this. Sometimes, crossing a river or a creek or walking under a waterfall is more than enough for this to happen. That is why many knowledgeable and experienced camper or backpacker knows how important it is to have a reliable waterproof backpacking or hiking backpack.
A waterproof backpacking backpack or camping backpack comes with many benefits that you wouldn’t get from a typical everyday backpack. However, some of the latest waterproof backpacks imbued with the best waterproofing technology can be quite expensive which is why some people are on the fence when it comes to purchasing one. If you are looking for a reason or two as to why you should invest in one, we have outlined the best ones below for you. But before we dive into our top reasons why you need a waterproof backpack, let’s go over a brief description of what it actually is and how it is different from another popular type of outdoor backpack, the water-resistant backpack.
The Best Waterproof Duffel Bags: Duffel Dry Bags for Travel & Outdoors
If you've ever been concerned about your belongings getting wet while traveling or spending time outdoors---a waterproof duffel bag is your secret weapon. These durable and fully waterproof bags are ideal for situations when you just need the ultimate protection.
A versatile travel backpack is great for everyday travel, but when you need to keep your gear safe from even the most extreme conditions, dry bag type duffels are a much better option.
When traveling, especially in foreign climates, you just don't know what conditions you'll find yourself in---and who knows what happens to your bag in transit. I've learned to be better prepared and safe, than sorry.
I've taken 10+ hour overnight bus journeys only to arrive at my destination finding that my luggage was moved from the secure and dry under bus storage to the top roof rack! Thankfully on this trip I decided chose decided to take my The North Face Base Camp Duffel, which keep all my belongings dry---even through a wet and rainy night.
Your average travel backpack and luggage are great for the casual traveler, but if you are one who seeks adventure and outdoors, they often just don't cut it.
Most travel bags will do a decent job keeping your gear dry when exposed to light rain, but a fully waterproof bag will ensure your stuff stays dry---no matter what.
Cooler Bag Technology
The original ice chest was made out of galvanized metal. Later versions were made from hard plastic. They were double-walled with a layer of dense Styrofoam in between which helped to keep the contents cool. Today's ice chests are still made this same basic way.
Styrofoam was a suitable insulator, but it had to be relatively thick to maintain internal temperatures for an extended period of time. And, of course, Styrofoam is easily dented and broken, so it had to be encapsulated in a hard shell to prevent breakage. As such, ice chests have to be rigid.
By contrast, cooler bags are not rigid. Instead, they are usually made from heavy but flexible fabrics, like polyester, on the outside. The inside is lined with heavy duty foil. In between the outer and inner layers are layers of materials like flexible foam, which are thin but dense and have the ability to maintain internal temperatures for several hours. This technology allows for a bag that is flexible and thin and, therefore, easy and convenient to transport. Also, unlike their rigid predecessors, cooler bag can be manufactured in a wider variety of sizes and shapes.
How to get abandoned, lost and discarded ‘ghost’ fishing gear out of the ocean
Fishing gear and plastic marine debris is a growing global issue. Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear — often called ghost gear — can contribute up to 76 per cent of all marine debris found during beach cleanups.
Estimates of the weight of abandoned fish gear vary widely by region and by type of gear used. One study retrieved 14 tonnes from the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In one fishing region in Nova Scotia, an estimated 22 tonnes of fishing gear remains at sea. Overall, an estimated 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear is lost globally in the oceans every year.
This derelict fishing gear continues to catch fish, including commercially valuable and threatened species, and other marine fauna. For example, ghost gear, especially nets, are responsible for entangling seals and sea turtles. One abandoned fishing net in Puget Sound in the United States is expected to catch two invertebrates per day, one fish every three days and one seabird every five days.
It also costs fishers. Ghost gear reduces catch rates and cuts into profits, it is expensive to replace and it can be dangerous — getting tangled in propellers and snarling anchors.
What Makes a Good Fishing Cooler?
Fishing cooler bag generally spend a lot of time in the sun and around the water, so it’s important that these coolers are both rust resistant and UV protected. Other benefits of a true fishing cooler will be the added insulation as well as odor and stain resistant materials. A good fishing cooler will also need to come equipped with a good seal to protect ice retention. There are many great fishing coolers to choose from, but have you ever thought about an insulated fish bag? These insulated bags can be a great alternative depending on how you plan to use your fishing cooler.
What is a Fishing Bucket?
Fishing bucket is frequently used by professional fisherman for the simple fact that they have been proven that the original weight of a fish can be maintained by placing it in an insulated bag with ice. Good insulated fish bags are lightweight, weighing much less than even small coolers. UV resistant, they are designed to hold ice all day; keeping your newly caught fish fresh for hours. These insulated fish bags should be leak proof and should be constructed in a way which makes them easy to clean. So, which is the best choice for your next fishing trip? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both.

PET preform mould for plastics materials (PET) have been made in some manner for centuries. Some of these PET preform moulds were fine works of art, as, for example, the moulds used by craftsmen in glass. The coming of the modern plastics moulding materials brought about great advancement in this old art, and transformed it into a science. Mass production PET preform moulding machinery has been developed, and new PET preform mould steels and alloys have been introduced to withstand severe service. Accuracy is a requirement in modern manufacturing, and PET preform moulded plastics are produced by steadily mounting standards of precision, which have necessitated new machine tool applications and methods.
A PET preform mould may be defined as a form for shaping a plastic material ”PET” into a finished product-here is PET preform. PET preform moulds are made of plain carbon steel or of alloy steels, and are hardened to provide compressive strength and hard surfaces to take and maintain a high polish under severe wearing conditions. PET preform moulding materials require heat and usually pressure to achieve the plasticity necessary for them to flow into the shape of the mould cavity. Pressure is required to force the material into the cavity and to hold it to shape until it is set, and to give the casting or finished product the required strength. A PET preform mould must be polished to give the casting a good finish，and to allow it to be ejected easily.
A mould for the general run of PET parts is divided into two halves which meet at the parting line. These halves are mounted on backing plates which are drilled to allow passage of steam or cooling water, and which carry the guide pins which aligning the halves of the PET preform mould. The mould halves and backing plates assembled constitute the PET preform mould proper.
The fundamentals of mould design are discussed and applied to representative type PET preform moulds. The important compression PET preform mould types are classified for study; transfer and jet moulding are described; injection PET preform moulds are presented both as units and broken down into elements of design and construction. Methods of moulding screw threads are discussed; methods of PET preform mould sinking and applications of mould base standards are shown. mould building methods and equipment, moulded parts finishing, product design considerations and estimating methods are included as background information. A summary of practical points in PET preform mould design and construction, shrinkage charts and a nomenclature section provide a basic fund of data required by the serious learner.
Since many factors enter into the design of plastics PET preform moulds, and into the design of products to be pet bottle mould, it is well for product designers, tool designers, and tool makers to have a common understanding of plastics PET preform moulds and PET preform moulding in order to cooperate to the fullest extent in making possible PET preform moulded products of high standards of quality and economy.
Requirements for PET preform mould Designing
To design plastics preform bottle mould, a plastics engineer should have an intimate knowledge of a proper design procedure which is based upon a knowledge of the characteristics of materials; of the technique of PET preform mould building; of the economics of each production schedule; of the tooling cost both to purchaser and to the PET preform mould manufacturers; of PET preform moulding equipment operation; of the special mould steels and alloys; and of the moulding and finishing facilities of his own plant.
The design of plastics PET preform moulds includes, besides the design of the mould proper, the provision for mounting the mould in a press; the provision of means to eject the finished PET bottle mould casting; and a provision for temperature control. There are also finishing tools to be designed, such as drilling jigs, buffing attachments, holding fixtures, cooling fixtures, gages, and other devices for obtaining accurate and economical production.
Two General Types of Plastic moulding in General Use
There are two general types of moulding in general use compression and injection. A compression Mould is one which is open when the material is introduced, and which forms the material by heat and by the pressure of closing. An injection Mould is one which is closed before the material is introduced from an external heating, or plasticizing cylinder. Compression Moulds are usually operated in hydraulic presses; while injection Moulding presses have been developed for either mechanical or hydraulic operation.
The Mould designer does not always have complete information on the product his Mould must produce. Usually a sketch or drawing is supplied, and sometimes a model. The model is useful since a Moulding or finishing feature may appear in three dimensions which would escape notice on a drawing. A model, while desirable, is not absolutely necessary, and most Moulds are built without their use. As the die or the die casting designer, the Mould designer can very frequently find details which may be altered slightly to allow more convenient and economical Moulding. The Mould designer can render a real service by making such suggestions for approval before completing his design.
Single Stage Blow Molding Machine
While PET bottle development was proceeding in the US, a large manufacturer of injection molding machines in Japan, was leading a project to develop a machine to make biaxially oriented PP (polypropylene) containers. They recognized that the prototype machine could be used to produce the new PET bottles and, in December 1975, the One-stage ASB-150 injection stretch blow moulding machine for making the new biaxial oriented PET bottles was unveiled. All one-stage injection stretch blow moulding machines derived from this original Stretch Blow design are referred to as classic one-stage machines, as the concept has long since been extended into other PET developments. The classic one-stage machines design is extremely versatile in that the same basic machine design can be used to make a wide variety of bottles and jars in all shapes and sizes.
Two Stage Blow Molding Machine
In the early developments, performs were made by continuously extruding a PET tube. To make these prefroms, a perform manufacturing machine that took a continuously extruded PET tube, heated and closed one end, and then heated the other and formed a thread finish by blow moulding. This process had a faster output rate, at 12000 preforms per hour, than the early injection moulding routes of 8 and 16 cavity moulds. Being extruded, the performs could be multilayered with barrier materials. The system was overtaken by injection moulded performs as the cavitation increased to 32 and beyond. The quality of the injection moulded (IM) neck, adding for example vent slots, made the IM finish preferable. Moreover, IM technology is available from more than one company, giving customers greater technical and commercial choice. Two-stage technology machines with six blow moulds operating at around 4000 bottles per hour. Subsequent mould and cooling development increased the output to 6000 bottles per hour.
Two stage PET processing includes:
Making performs by Injection Molding
Blowing bottles by Stretch Blow Molding
Because it is more flexible than one step processing, it is widely accepted in Plastic packaging market. You may choose to make preforms only or blow bottles only if you want to do one of them specially.
Integrated Two Stage Blow Molding Machine
In Integrated Two Stage approach the performs were made by more conventional injection moulding routes (with the number of cavities optimized to match the required output) and then, while still hot, were carried to a separate blowing machine with the optimized number of blow moulds to suit the required output. This was the first ‘integrated ‘approach to PET bottle making. Equipment developers took the ‘single-stage’ approach. Here the equipment had the same number of injection cavities as PET blowing mould. This was a more compact approach and proved ideal for small batch output with excellent glossy surfaces.

Blow molding is a type of plastic forming process for creating hollow plastic products made from thermoplastic materials. The process involves heating and inflating a plastic tube known as a parison or preform. The parison is placed between two dies that contain the desired shape of the product. Air is then supplied to expand the tube causing the walls to become thinner and conform to the shape of the mold. Once the blowing process is complete, the product is then cooled, ejected, trimmed, and prepared for the secondary processes.Bottling and packaging are the main applications of blow molding which comprise about 49% of the global blow molding market share. This is followed by building and construction, consumer products, and transportation industries.

The global market share of blow molding was estimated at around $78 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow annually by 2.8% from 2020 to 2027. Typical raw materials used are polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polypropylene (PP).Plastic blow molding originated from the ancient process of glass blowing. Both glass and plastic in their molten state can be formed easily by introducing small amounts of air inside the molten material. The first injection molding process for glass, known as free-blowing, was created around the 1st century BC. Glass mold-blowing was later developed as an alternative process that came about around the 1st century AD.The first blow molding material used other than glass was natural rubber. The process was patented by Samuel Armstrong in the 1850s. The next major advancement came around the 1930s with the development of the first blow molding machine by Plax Corporation. The process uses cellulose acetate as the raw material. Come 1939, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was introduced by Imperial Chemical Industries from England. LDPE is more suitable for blow molding which then paved the way for further process development. By the 1950s, the commercialization of blow molding was completed, and the industry grew exponentially.

This chapter discusses the general blow molding process. Blow molding is a fairly straightforward process that includes melting, homogenizing, extruding, molding (blowing), cooling, and ejection. Different manufacturing plants can employ additional processes such as additional cooling or heating cycles and additives and colorants compounding. These additional processes depend on the design and intended application of the final product.
Plastic Resin Feeding or Charging: The first step in the blow molding process is plastic feeding. This is done by conveying the plastic pellets into the extruder hopper. Vacuum pumps draw pellets from big bags or bulk containers and transfer them into the raw material silos or hoppers. A rotary feeder at the bottom of the silo controls the rate of feeding into the plastifier or extruder. Compressed air is then used to convey the stored pellets to the extruder hopper. In other systems, plastic pellets from big bags or bins can be vacuum conveyed directly to the extruder hopper without the need for a separate conveying air system.
Plasticizing or Melting: As the plastic resin enters and goes through the extrusion machine, it is melted by continuous kneading and heating. Electric heating elements or heating bands are wrapped around the extruder barrel to provide heat for melting the polymer. The extruder screw has different sections that serve a specific purpose. These are feeding, compressing, and metering. The extruder screw is designed to provide sufficient shearing and compression to homogenize and extrude the plastic.
Parison Extrusion or Preform Injection: This process is the preparation of the parison or preform to be inflated. This is done by extruding the plastic through free extrusion or injection into a preform mold. The different processes in producing the preform are discussed in detail.
Sealing or Clamping: Sealing or clamping involves a split die that captures the preform. The ends of the parison (extrusion blow molding) are sealed except for one hole, typically the container opening, where the compressed air will be injected.
Inflation or Blow Molding: This step is where the plastic takes its form. Compressed air is introduced inside the preform. This inflates the preform until it is molded according to the profile of the die.
Cooling and Ejecting: The next step is the cooling process. Typically, as the plastic touches the die, it cools at a predefined rate which stabilizes the dimensions of the product. After cooling, the mold opens and ejects the product.
Trimming: Flashing is generally evident in extrusion blow molding. Most blow molding machines have auto deflashing features as the dies clamp the preform. But in some instances, flash is present at the top and bottom parts of the product, especially at the opening where compressed air is injected. This excess material is trimmed by a rotating knife. To minimize wastage, some systems collect the excess materials, grind them, and feed them back to the extrusion machine.
Leak Test: This is the typical quality control method used in manufacturing bottles or packaging materials. In this step, either vacuum or compression is generated inside the container. The machine will then check if air enters or escapes the container by monitoring the pressure. If a leak is sensed from the container, it is rejected and fed back into the system.

Stainless steel is a versatile material comprised of a steel alloy and a small percentage of chromium — the addition of chromium adds to the material’s corrosion resistance, a trait that earned stainless steel its name. Because stainless steel is also low-maintenance, oxidation resistant, and doesn’t affect other metals it comes in contact with, it is frequently used in a large array of applications, especially in piping and tubing manufacturing. Based on the end use of the pipe, stainless pipe is broken down into several categories.
Since the development of stainless steel over hundred years ago, it has become world’s most used and popular material. Since stainless steel has the notable corrosion resistance that helps in increasing features with chromium content. The resistance can be shown in reducing acids as well as against pitting attacks such as in chloride solutions. It requires low maintenance, and is familiar to luster thus making it an ideal and best material for SS pipes.
This versatile material is indispensible in wide industries. This may contain number of application especially for SS pipes that benefit user with positive properties.
Iron-containing alloys made from more than two chemical elements are known as stainless steel. It is widely been used in comprehensive range of applications. Stainless steel alloy is basically steel alloy with iron, nickel, and chromium percentage contents in abundance.
The stainless steel has been in presence for centuries, since it is vulnerable toward corrosion and works better in tough condition. The stainless steel gets recognized late in year 1800’s with a combination of iron-chromium with offered rust resistance. Since, then it is mold into stainless steel pipes so that it gets used for number of industrial applications.
In 1912, a researcher of brown-firth laboratory founded a martensitic SS alloy finally. The new material got labeled as Staybrite. The stainless steel alloy comprises of iron alloy with minimum amount of chromium up to 10.5%. You can see tremendous variety of alloys in the market, the only thing they differ is in chemical composition. The alloying elements are titanium, nickel, carbon, copper, nitrogen that can boost formability, strength, and other SS properties.
The stainless steel pipe is available in different product type such as welded pipes and seamless pipes. The composition may vary and this makes it possible to use it in respective industries. Generic industrial company use stainless steel pipe for regular use.
Different Types of Steel Tubing and Stainless Steel Piping
Pipes and tubes are sometimes difficult to classify, and tend to be distinguished based on function. In addition to these classifications, stainless steel is also distinguished by type and grade.
304 Stainless Steel Pipe
For tubing and piping applications, type 304 stainless steel is a common selection because it is highly chemical- and corrosion-resistant. However, type 304 stainless steel is not compatible with applications where temperatures fall between 800 and 1640 degrees Fahrenheit (F) because it is prone to carbide precipitation, a result of the material’s .08 percent carbon content limit. Stainless steel type 304L circumvents this problem because it has a lower carbon content limit, and therefore can be subjected to welding and higher temperature applications. Other types of stainless steel often possess additives (such as nickel or molybdenum) which strengthen traits that are desirable in particular applications.
Stainless Steel Tubing for General Corrosion-Resistance
Stainless tube general category of steel is appropriate for applications that require corrosion resistance above other traits. Ferritic or martensitic types of steel (those made with the most chromium) are manufactured to be either heat-treated or annealed. Austenitic Stainless steels (those with high chromium and nickel contents) offer even more resistance, and can be used under the same general conditions as ferritic and martensitic types.
Stainless Steel Pressure Pipe
This type of stainless steel pipe is made from either solid chromium or a chromium and nickel combination. Types of stainless steel pressure pipe include seamless and welded pipe, electric fusion welded pipe for high-pressure applications, large diameter welded pipe for corrosive or high-temperature applications, and seamless and welded ferritic and austenitic stainless steel pipe.
Stainless Steel Sanitary Tubing
For applications where stainless steel tubing or piping must come into contact with food and other sensitive products, sanitation is a high priority. Stainless steel sanitary tubing is used in such applications because it has high corrosion-resistance, doesn’t tarnish, and is easy to keep clean. For specific applications, different tolerances can be achieved. The grade typically used for these applications is ASTMA270.
Stainless Steel Mechanical Tubing
In applications such as cylinders, bearings, and other hollow formed parts, stainless steel mechanical tubing is typically used. Tubing can manipulated to have a variety of cross-sectional shapes, such as square and rectangular, in addition to the more traditional, round tubing cross-section. Typically, ASTMA 511 and A554 grades are employed for mechanical tubing applications.
Stainless Steel Aircraft Tubing
In highly-specific aircraft applications, chromium and nickel type stainless steel is used because of their heat and corrosion-resistance. Found in applications that require high-strength, stainless steel aircraft tubing can be work-hardened or welded, although work-hardened pieces shouldn’t be used with some kinds of corrosive substances. Low-carbon types of stainless steel are a common choice for welded parts.
For applications that require seamless and welded tubing in larger sizes (1.6 to 125 mm in outside diameter), aircraft structural tubing is used—this type of stainless steel is manufactured according to Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS) or Military Specifications (MIL Specs).
Aircraft Hydraulic-Line Tubing
Another type of aircraft tubing, aircraft hydraulic-line tubing is used in aerospace applications as fuel-injection lines and hydraulic systems, and tends to be small. It is often manufactured from types 304 or 304 L stainless steel because of the steel’s high-strength, corrosion-resistance, and ductility.

AP pipe, or Acid Pickling, uses acidic solutions such as nitric acid and fluorine acid to
Remove the oxide layer of the steel pipe. Cheap and fast, but easy to cause grain boundary corrosion and rough inner and outer surfaces
The roughness is easy to have suspended impurities attached. AP literally means pickling surface, and in the category of clean products, it means pickling surface + oil-free cleaning
MP Tube-Mechanically Polished Pipe
MP tube : Mechanical polishing is often used for the oxide layer on the surface of steel pipes,
The brightness and effect of holes and scratches depend on the type of processing method. In addition, after mechanical polishing
Although it is more beautiful, it will reduce the corrosion resistance, so when used in a corrosive environment, it needs to be passivated.
reason. And there are often polishing material residues on the surface of the steel pipe
BA tube-Bright Annealed Pipe Bright Annealed Pipe BA is the bright annealing Bright Annealing steel pipe in the process of drawing will definitely need grease lubrication and the grain will also be deformed due to processing. In order to avoid this grease remaining in the steel pipe, in addition to cleaning the steel pipe, you can also use high temperature annealing at high temperature to eliminate deformation, using argon as the furnace atmosphere, and further clean the steel pipe by combining argon with the carbon and oxygen on the surface of the steel pipe. The surface has a bright surface effect, so this method of using pure argon annealing to heat and quickly cool to brighten the bright surface is called bright annealing. Although the use of this method to brighten the surface can ensure that the steel pipe is fully clean and free of any external pollution. However, if the brightness of this surface is compared with other polishing methods mechanical, chemical, and electrolytic, it will feel like a matte surface. Of course, the effect is also related to the argon content and the number of heating times.
EP tube ElectroPolished Pipe (EP 0 (Electro Polishing) Electropolishing is the use of anodizing method to appropriately adjust the voltage, current, acid composition, and polishing time through the principle of electrochemistry. Not only can the surface become bright, Smooth and clean effect 0 can also improve the surface corrosion resistance, so it is the best surface brightening method, of course, its cost and technology also increase. However, because electrolytic polishing will highlight the original state of the steel pipe surface, if the steel pipe surface has serious scratches and holes.

Did you know that approximately 95% of all products in North America are shipped in corrugated cardboard containers?
In fact, corrugated boxes are such an essential part of our supply chain, that packaging manufacturers were able to continue operations through the COVID shutdowns as essential business entities.
Corrugated cardboard is very durable by design and consists of multiple layers: an outside liner, an inside liner, and a fluted layer between the two. The three layers are glued together to create corrugated cardboard.
Also referred to as corrugated fiberboard, the material offers significant advantages over other options when it comes to shipping.
The Advantages of Corrugated Cartons for Shipping
Plain and simple, corrugated cardboard boxes provide the right level of protection for goods in transit.
Shipping cartons can go through a lot from the warehouse to their final destination. Corrugated packages are designed to survive bad weather, bumpy roads, sudden temperature changes, or rough handling–all while keeping products safely intact.
While no corrugated package is completely indestructible, the materials and makeup of these containers are more likely to protect your products in transit.
Your customers are more likely to be happy when products arrive in top condition. If customers receive a damaged or broken item, they will be unhappy. And we all know that unhappy customers are less likely to make a repeat purchase.
Even though corrugated cardboard packaging is very sturdy, it is also lightweight. This can help keep shipping costs down.
Corrugated boxes can be fashioned into a variety of shapes, allowing your company more control over the kind of unboxing experience your consumers will have when your products arrive. This is especially important for e-commerce businesses that ship consumer goods.
And finally, corrugated cardboard boxes are constructed of renewably-sourced materials. Since they are made mostly from trees, a renewable resource, this kind of packaging is very easy to recycle. When recycled properly, corrugated cardboard packaging is processed into paper products and even new boxes.
What’s also great about corrugated cardboard is its multi-use properties. Thanks to the material’s durability, many corrugated packages can be reused multiple times before they even hit the recycle bin.
The sustainability of corrugated cardboard is also what makes this material very affordable.
How Cosmetics Boxes Help Your Brand
Every woman wants to look attractive and beautiful. For this purpose, a variety of cosmetic products are used. Cosmetics, itself is a symbol of beauty. Therefore its packaging should be such that which complements the product. Every day, a number of cosmetic brands are introduced in the market offering a wide range of cosmetic products at more competitive prices. It becomes extremely difficult for the customers to choose among a number of alternates. Packaging plays an important role in this regard. The brands which succeed in creating perfectly designed cosmetics boxes for their product range wins the race. As the packaging box is the first thing with which customers get interacted. So the custom printed boxes should be attractive enough to grasp the attention of the customers at first sight. Moreover, your display packaging plays an imperative role in promoting your brand and making it recognizable for the customers. Below are some of the ways how cosmetics boxes help your brand:
Protect The Products
Using cosmetics boxes for your product range is the best way to protect your products from any damage. When a product is shipped, the chance of damage increases due to various reasons like mishandling, carelessness, stacking or the vehicle may get accident etc. Using perfume boxes for your products reduces the risk of potential hazards. They keep the delicate items safe during transportation, storage, shipment or when placed on retail shelves. Cosmetic are the things which every woman prefer to try before purchase. Cosmetics boxes at TheCustomboxes provide the products from accidental damage, fall or mishandling by the users. They are designed from highly durable cardboard material. It acts as moisture resistant and saves the content from humidity, sunlight or changes in temperature. This increases the useful life of the product. Only if a company ensures safe delivery of its products to the customers, he is able to compete in the market.
Speed Up Decision Making Process
Designing the cosmetic display packaging in an attractive manner is a great way to speed up the decision making process. Heavily promoting the product on media is not only the way to boost up the sales. Rather packaging is a thing which creates a great difference. Well designed custom printed boxes create a positive impact on the minds of the customers thus stimulating their purchase behavior. As it’s a matter of just a few seconds, so customers do not have time to evaluate the pros and cons of a product when they shop. Therefore, cosmetic packaging should be such that it puts a valuable first impression on the customers and speeds up the decision making process.
Attracts The Customers
Shoppers are influenced by the cosmetics boxes which look attractive and different from others. Customers always prefer something innovative. A packaging which creates a great shelf impact has the ability to attract a heap of customers. Color plays an important role in this aspect. Different colors create a different psychological impact on the minds of the customers. Therefore, before finalizing a color for your brand, make an analysis that who are your target customers and which influence them the most. Customers never give a second chance to the cosmetic packaging which looks unattractive. So it’s one time chance to win the race. Many of the brands have changed their cosmetic packaging to attractive gift boxes to fascinate the customers. It’s a useful tactic which proves highly significant.
What is the Future of Food Box
On Monday, March 22, the USDA held a 12-hour listening session to hear feedback from the public about the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The program was created almost a year ago at the peak of the pandemic lockdown. It was designed to quickly move surplus commodities from farmers to consumers in need and hopefully support some idled workers and distribution systems in the process. The goals were broad, and the rules were loose.
There were many criticisms that the rules were too loose and the cost was too high, and about four months in, the USDA put more structure into place around the program. At that point, the program seemed to shift the balance more toward providing food for people in need rather than supporting farmers or the supply chain. The USDA was providing direct payments to farmers and the media had stopped reporting on crops being plowed under and milk being dumped. Yet, there was plenty of footage of cars lined up for miles to receive the food box. That shift to helping consumers, and the earlier criticisms, led the USDA to focus more on cost per box in the later rounds of the program.
The Truth About Paper Bags
These days, when you hear the question, “Paper or plastic?” the answer is an almost instinctive “Paper!” We all know that plastic is terrible for the environment, and that plastic bags, in particular, are clogging up our oceans, choking our wildlife and generally wreaking havoc on the world.
Because of this, and because the paper bag industry has positioned itself as the solution for decades now, we rarely stop to ask a critical question: Is paper actually that much better?
The truth is, no, it’s not. Paper does a lot of damage to the Earth as well, and every time we unthinkingly grab a few bags at the checkout stand, we contribute to that damage. It’s time to learn the truth about paper bag, so we can start making better choices today.
Because the answer to “Paper or plastic?” should actually be “Neither … I brought my own.”
Not That Much Better Than Plastic
Paper bags just seem friendlier to the environment, right? They don’t have that slick petroleum look like plastic bags do; they’re a cheerful kraft color; they fold up neatly to stack in your cupboard for next time (assuming they didn’t get destroyed this time).
But research, such as this report, makes clear that plastic really doesn’t have much on plastic. To wit:
It doesn’t break down any faster than plastic in landfills. That’s because, while paper breaks down much faster under ideal conditions, landfills are not ideal conditions. The lack of light, air and oxygen means pretty much nothing decomposes, so paper and plastic are destined to spend equal amounts of time there.
Gift paper bags are bigger than plastic, which means they take up more space in landfills. They’re recycled at a higher rate, which mitigates that fact, but that still means they still have a greater per-bag impact on landfills.
It takes four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag, as compared to plastic, and the raw materials have to come from trees, a natural resource that is otherwise carbon-fixing. Making paper bags not only adds waste to the world, it kills one of our greatest tools for fighting pollution.
Paper bags generate 70 more air pollutants than plastic.
They generate 50 times more water pollutants than plastic.
It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a plastic bag than it does a paper bag.
Shopping paper bags are very thick, so shipping them costs more fuel per bag.
This report is admittedly biased toward plastic (and reusable bags), but if this is starting to sound like a vote for plastic bags, think again. Plastic leaches chemicals into our oceans and waterways, breaks into small pieces and accumulates in the stomachs of baby birds, strangles fish and collects into great seafaring clumps that become islands and continent-sized garbage patches. The point isn’t that plastic is good; it’s that our unwavering assumption that paper’s okay is wrong.
Here are a few more reasons not to trust that paper bag’s cheerful, eco-friendly-looking fa?ade.

If you are considering upgrading your lights to LED, the parking lot lights should always be the first one to take into consideration, because of the large service area of parking lot and the high energy consumption of traditional metal halide parking lot light.
It’s not easy to research dozens of websites to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and answer all of your questions about what is the right LED shoe box light Fixture for your needs. For this reason, we prepared some tips about shoebox light, Parking Lot and Area Lighting in this article.
Here are several things you need to know before converting your facility:
1. Type of facility: Is the site retail, warehouse or other commercial use?
2. Type of fixture or lamp: Wall Packs, Shoeboxes, Flood Lamp
3. Wattage of existing lamps: This gives your LED manufacture insight to the LED equivalent needed.
4. Line voltage: LED products are voltage specific, and the LED installer will need to know this detail.
5. Needs from the changes: To increase/decrease the lighting output, address a specific problem or area, meet a specific specification or code
6. The best color of light: The sun is 5778k, and in the LED industry, 5000k is considered to be the closest to natural sunlight. Outdoor lighting is often oriented to a 5000k color.
7. Quality of LED products: Quality means you trust you will not have any warranty issues, service means if you do have any issues, the integrity of service will be tasked to work its magic.
What is high bay lighting, and what applications benefit from it?
Whenever a large indoor space needs to be illuminated, high bay lighting is usually appropriate. Consider spaces like manufacturing facilities, gymnasiums, warehouses, large department stores, factories, and more; these facilities are typically vast and cover a lot of vertical as well as horizontal space. This requires powerful lighting to provide the appropriate foot-candle levels to adequately illuminate. High bay lighting fixtures typically hang from the ceiling via hooks, chains, or pendants, or they may be fixed to the ceiling directly (similar to troffer lights). The image above features high bay lighting in action.
Various industries and facilities require high bay lighting. Some of the most common are:
Warehouses
Industrial facilities (read more about Industrial LED lighting here)
Manufacturing facilities
School and university gymnasiums
Municipal facilities like community centers or recreation centers
Commercial applications like department stores

Why choose LED high bay lights instead of metal halide, fluorescent, or other conventional high bay lights?
Historically, various lighting technologies were (and still are) used in warehouse and industrial settings when high bay lights were required. Some of the most common include metal halide (MH), high pressure sodium (HPS), and fluorescent. While each of these bulbs have their merits, industrial LED lighting outperforms its conventional counterparts in important ways. Let’s take a look at some of the various considerations when deciding whether an LED retrofit is appropriate for your warehouse or industrial space.
Industrial LED lighting vs metal halide high bay light: If you’ve ever been to a ballgame, you've likely seen metal halide illuminating the field. MH lamps are common in sporting and warehouse/industrial uses (as well as any setting where large, high spaces need to be illuminated). Benefits of MH lights include decent color rendering and comparatively adequate foot-candle levels (as opposed to other types of conventional bulbs). Some of their major drawbacks are a long time to warm up (sometimes 15-30 minutes) and a high cost to maintain, and their failure characteristics include flickering on and off. This is in addition to the fact that much of the energy they produce is wasted as heat. Read more about LED versus Metal Halide Lights.
Linear LED high bay light vs high pressure sodium (HPS) lights: HPS lights are often used in warehouse, industrial, business, and recreational facilities where high bay lighting is appropriate. Their benefits include cheap selling price, high energy efficiency (low operating costs), and a relatively long lifespan. HPS lighting technology retains these advantages over most conventional bulbs, but they lose on all three counts to LED high bay lighting. The downsides of HPS bulbs include the worst color rendering on the market and a warm up period. Read more about LED versus High Pressure and Low Pressure Sodium Lights.
Industrial LED lighting vs fluorescent lighting: Though somewhat less common, fluorescent lighting is sometimes utilized in warehouse or industrial applications (primarily T12, T8, and T5 lights). The benefits of fluorescent lights include cheaper initial costs and relatively high efficiency (especially when compared to other conventional bulbs). Downsides include the presence of toxic mercury (which requires certain waste disposal procedures), decreased lifetime if switched on and off, and requiring a ballast to stabilize the light. Read more about LED versus Fluorescent Lighting.
It’s no secret that LED lighting technology has surpassed the capabilities of conventional lighting in important ways. In addition to the considerations discussed above, there are three general benefits of LED lighting that apply to all lighting applications.
Decreased maintenance requirements. As discussed above, LED lights have a lifespan that is four to forty times longer than many conventional bulbs. This means fewer replacements for bulbs that wear out. LED lighting technology also generates light differently than typical fuel and filament lighting by using a diode (learn more in this blog). This means that there are fewer moving pieces to break, and consequently, fewer repairs or replacements. Maintenance is an especially important consideration when it comes to industrial lighting or warehouse lighting. By definition, high bay lights have higher mounting heights, which means that changing a bulb requires some specialized equipment or creativity. Scaffolding, catwalks, and hydraulic lifts are generally used to swap or replace bulbs, and each of these can result in additional maintenance or equipment costs. Again, the lifespan of industrial LED lighting means that fixtures need to be changed much less often, which means savings for your bottom line.
Improved lighting quality. Industrial LED lighting and high bay lights will typically score better in a head-to-head comparisons against most other bulbs when it comes to color rendering index (CRI), correlated color temperature (CCT), and foot candles. CRI is a measurement of a light’s ability to reveal the actual color of objects as compared to an ideal light source (natural light). In non-technical terms, CCT generally describes the “glow” given off by a bulb - is it warm (reddish), or cold (bluish white)? Foot candles compare the amount of light coming from a source and the amount of light hitting the desired surface; they’re basically a measure of efficiency. On all three fronts, LED lights perform very well. (Read more about CRI, CCT, and foot candles here.)
Increased energy efficiency. Not only do LED lights generate light differently, they also distribute light differently than conventional lighting solutions, which results in less energy required to provide the same output. How does that work? First, many conventional lights waste a lot of the energy they produce by emitting it as heat (this is especially the case with metal halide lighting). Second, most conventional lights are omnidirectional, which means that they output light in 360 degrees. So, a lot of light is wasted pointing at a ceiling, or being diluted because it has to be redirected through the use of fixtures. Industrial LED lighting for applications that require high bay lights eliminates these two problems of wasted energy (through heat loss and omnidirectional emission).
Indoor Plant Lighting
Indoor plant lighting gives plants most of the energy they need to grow, thrive, even to stay alive.
The proper type of indoor plant light is more than just a matter of giving a plant the brightness it needs. There are three lighting factors that control growth of a plant:
Amount of light: number of hours of daylight on your plants
Intensity of light: levels of light from full sun to full shade
Spectrum: warm and cool colors
Gas Station Lights
Every location has its own unique lighting needs. When it comes to gas station lights, there are a few fixtures that are exceptionally well suited to this location. Let's take a look at a few of the most common solutions for gas station lighting.
LED
When looking at fixture options, you should first determine the right lamping solution to narrow down the choices. LED is the best choice for this unique location. LED offers a higher lumen output for a brighter fixture while operating on a lower wattage which saves on energy for utility costs. LED is also a no heat solution which means the life of the fixture will be protected from heat damage. Another benefit of LED is that the lamps last a long time to save on replacement costs and maintenance spent on maintaining fixtures. Best of all, LED is available in the most commonly used gas station lighting solutions.
Canopy Lights
When looking at gas station lighting, the most obvious area is the canopy. This is where the majority of the business happens since customers pump gas under the canopy. It is also important to make sure this area is well-lit, so customers can see it clearly from the road at night. A well-lit canopy also gives a feeling of safety and security when pumping gas at night that most customers expect. In fact, most customer will pass up a poorly lit gas canopy in favor of a brighter one, so this area directly impacts your business. This is where canopy lights come in and save the day! Canopy lights are made specifically for this type of environment, so they offer such features as vandal proof options, wet rated listings, durable polycarbonate lenses, and bright, powerful illumination where you need it most. Canopy lights come in choices of thin profile to save on space and low profile for lower canopies in terms of height.
Parking Lot Lights
While the canopy lights are the main draw on the exterior, you will still need additional parking lot lighting. Parking lot lighting is necessary for any surrounding parking spaces not covered by the canopy. They can also be used to add visibility to roads leading to the parking lot or behind the building for added safety and security. When choosing parking lot lights, you can go with either cobra head or floodlights. Floodlights are ideal if you have a larger lot whereas cobra head is ideal for smaller lots.
Interior Lights
While the outside lighting is important, the inside is just as crucial to a successful lighting plan. For interior gas station lighting, there are several great options to consider. A few of the most common are recessed troffer-style and surface mounted fixtures. Both options offer an easy to install and maintain solution to meet the needs of this location. In this type of location, you want to avoid suspended or chain fixtures since they can create more shadows and detract from the clean, bright atmosphere your customers appreciate.

What are ceramics?
Industrial ceramic, Ceramics are broadly defined as inorganic, nonmetallic materials that exhibit such useful properties as high strength and hardness, high melting temperatures, chemical inertness, and low thermal and electrical conductivity but that also display brittleness and sensitivity to flaws. As practical materials, they have a history almost as old as the human race. Traditional ceramic products, made from common, naturally occurring minerals such as clay and sand, have long been the object of the potter, the brickmaker, and the glazier. Modern advanced ceramics, on the other hand, are often produced under exacting conditions in the laboratory and call into play the skills of the chemist, the physicist, and the engineer. Containing a variety of ingredients and manipulated by a variety of processing techniques, ceramics are made into a wide range of industrial products, from common floor tile to nuclear fuel pellets. Yet all these disparate products owe their utility to a set of properties that are universally recognized as ceramic-like, and these properties in turn owe their existence to chemical bonds and atomic structures that are peculiar to the material. The composition, structure, and properties of industrial ceramic, their processing into both traditional and advanced materials, and the products made from those materials are the subject of many articles on particular traditional or advanced ceramic products, such as whitewares, abrasives, conductive ceramics, and bioceramics. For a more comprehensive understanding of the subject, however, the reader is advised to begin with the central article, on the composition, structure, and properties of ceramic materials.
A ceramic is an inorganic non-metallic solid made up of either metal or non-metal compounds that have been shaped and then hardened by heating to high temperatures. In general, they are hard, corrosion-resistant and brittle.
'Ceramic' comes from the Greek word meaning ‘pottery’. The clay-based domestic wares, art objects and building products are familiar to us all, but pottery is just one part of the ceramic world.
Nowadays the term ‘ceramic’ has a more expansive meaning and includes materials like glass, advanced ceramics and some cement systems as well.
Traditional ceramics – pottery
Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies. Fragments of clay pottery found recently in Hunan Province in China have been carbon dated to 17,500–18,300 years old.
The major types of pottery are described as earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.
Earthenware is used extensively for pottery tableware and decorative objects. It is one of the oldest materials used in pottery.
The clay is fired at relatively low temperatures (1,000–1,150°C), producing a slightly porous, coarse product. To overcome its porosity, the fired object is covered with finely ground glass powder suspended in water (glaze) and is then fired a second time. Faience, Delft and majolica are examples of earthenware.
Stoneware clay is fired at a high temperature (about 1,200°C) until made glass-like (vitrified). Because stoneware is non-porous, glaze is applied only for decoration. It is a sturdy, chip-resistant and durable material suitable for use in the kitchen for cooking, baking, storing liquids and as serving dishes.
Porcelain is a very hard, translucent white ceramic. The earliest forms of porcelain originated in China around 1600BC, and by 600AD, Chinese porcelain was a prized commodity with Arabian traders. Because porcelain was associated with China and often used to make plates, cups, vases and other works of fine art, it often goes by the name of ‘fine china'.
To make porcelain, small amounts of glass, granite and feldspar minerals are ground up with fine white kaolin clay. Water is then added to the resulting fine white powder so that it can be kneaded and worked into shape. This is fired in a kiln to between 1,200–1,450°C. Decorative glazes are then applied followed by further firing.
Bone china – which is easier to make, harder to chip and stronger than porcelain – is made by adding ash from cattle bones to clay, feldspar minerals and fine silica sand.
Industrial ceramic is typically crystalline or partly crystalline in structure. They are made of inorganic, non-metallic matter. Early ceramics consisted mainly of clay and clay-mixtures, as used to make pottery. The natural mineral deposits of readily available clay and sand, combined to reach the right consistency when mixed with various liquids, are ideal for creating moldable material useful for traditional ceramics. This traditional ceramics mixture is used by potters and bricklayers around the world, in part because it is so readily available, easy to mix, and inexpensive.
Current developments have enabled ceramics to be used in technological applications far more complex than their traditional ceramics predecessors. Using precise ingredients, measurements, and procedures, modern advanced ceramic machining often calls upon the skills of physicists, chemists, and multiple engineers. They are used to create products as simple as a floor tile, or as complicated and intricate as a nuclear fuel pellet.
Modern advanced ceramics relies on high-quality ingredients, not just sand and clay, to create ceramics that exhibit properties needed to withstand extreme hazardous environmental conditions. At the same time, these same ceramics must be made with exacting precision to allow for flaws to be evidently visible.
Most traditional ceramics are known for their hardness, brittleness, and strength. In the past, traditional ceramics have been used as electric insulators since porcelain is resistant to the flow of electricity. Modern industrial ceramic can be made to be as tough and as conductive as the hardest metals. These ceramics are created with such precision, that their very cellular structure is controlled, manipulated, and created. Such highly conductive ceramics are often used in superconductors and many types of superior mechanical devices. This makes these heat conductive ceramics a highly sought after commodity.
There are three general categories of ceramics: oxides, non-oxides, and composites. This article breaks down those categories and looks at the different types of ceramics.
Types of Oxide Ceramics
The introduction of oxide fibers in a ceramic mixture can help the final component withstand oxidation, and provide added strength and reinforcement. Although they are available in a range of compositions and can be formed through different processes, all oxide fibers are formed first, usually through a chemical process, and then heated to finalize the ceramic. Several common methods include polymer pyrolysis, a chemical deposition process that occurs at high heat, and sol-gel, wherein chemical solution deposition takes place through spinning fibers from a liquid.
Ceramic oxide fibers often include combinations of zirconium dioxide, aluminum trioxide, and titanium dioxide. Silica, phosphorous, and Boria are typically required in large quantities, as they are glass-forming oxides.
Alumina Ceramics
Alumina ceramics tend to offer high chemical resistance, increased strength, and high temperature resistance. They can be made using a process similar to sol-gel, and then fired over high-heat. The end product has a rough surface but a strong polycrystalline structure. The surface can be smoothed using a silica coating, which further enhances the strength of the component. Alumina-zirconia ceramic fiber offers better retention of mechanical properties when exposed to extreme heat, and is typically more useful in composites that must withstand continual exposure to higher temperatures. Alumina-silica ceramic fiber features similar properties as alumina-zirconia.
Beryllium Oxide Ceramics
Beryllium oxide ceramics have good thermal conductivity, high insulation, low dielectric constant, low medium loss, and good process adaptability. These ceramics are sometimes used as a component in glass. Glass containing beryllium oxide, which can pass through x-rays, is used to make X-ray tubes that can be used for structural analysis and medically to treat skin diseases. Beryllium oxide ceramics are also used for high-power microwave packaging and high-frequency transistor packaging because of their stability and insulation properties.
Zirconia Ceramics
Zirconia ceramics have a low thermal conductivity with excellent thermal insulation, and very high resistance to crack propagation. As such, they’re often used for protective coatings and as tools for wire forming. They are used in dentistry applications such as dental prostheses, and for other medical devices. Zirconia ceramics are less brittle than other ceramics, so they’re commonly used for ceramic knives.
Types of Non-Oxide Ceramics
Because oxide ceramics are not always well-suited to use in extreme environments or as a replacement in applications required to bear significant loads, ceramic non-oxides respond to this need. Silicon nitride and silicon carbide, two commonly used ceramic non-oxide fibers, offer high heat resistance. They do not degrade until temperatures pass 2400 degrees Celsius.
Additionally, non-oxide ceramics offer incredibly high corrosion resistance, hardness, and oxidation resistance. Fiber manufacturing techniques involve spinning and heat treating the final fiber to cure it, as is done in pyrolysis and sintering.
Silicon Nitride Ceramics
Silicon nitride ceramics have a very low density, a high fracture toughness, good flexural strength, and excellent thermal shock resistance. Silicon nitride can be machined in several states: green, biscuit, or fully dense. Silicon nitride ceramics are used for rotating bearing balls and rollers, cutting tools, moving engine parts, turbine blades, and weld positioners.
Silicon Carbide Ceramics
Silicon carbide ceramics are much lighter and harder than other ceramics and are resistant to acids and lyes. Pressureless sintering techniques make it possible to manufacture dense compacts of silicon carbide, making it a widespread structural material. These ceramics are lightweight because silicon carbide consists primarily of lightweight elements. They also have low thermal expansion and high conductivity and are exceptionally chemically stable. They are used for fixed and moving turbine components, suction box covers, seals, bearings, ball valve parts, and heat exchangers.
Types of Composite Ceramics
A composite material is composed of two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties. These materials combine to produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components. The components remain distinct within the finished structure, differentiating composites from mixtures and solid solutions. Composite ceramics have ceramic fibers embedded in a ceramic matrix. The matrix and the fibers can be made up of any ceramic material.
Fiber-Reinforced Ceramics
Fiber-reinforced ceramics, or ceramic matrix-fiber composites, have increased toughness and strength. The ceramic fibers can have a polycrystalline structure, as in conventional ceramics. They can also be amorphous or have inhomogeneous chemical composition. The high process temperatures required for making the composite ceramics prevent the use of organic, metallic, or glass fibers. Only fibers stable at temperatures above 1000 °C can be used, such as fibers of alumina, mullite, SiC, zirconia, or carbon. Fiber-reinforced ceramics don’t have the major disadvantages of conventional ceramics, namely brittleness and low fracture toughness, and limited thermal shock resistance. Consequently, their applications are in fields requiring reliability at high-temperatures and resistance to corrosion and wear. These applications include heat shield systems for space vehicles, components for high-temperature gas turbines, components for burners, flame holders, and hot gas ducts, brake system components, which experience extreme thermal shock, and components for slide bearings under heavy loads requiring high corrosion and wear resistance.
Summary
This article presented an understanding of the different kinds of ceramics and ceramic machining. For more information on related products, consult our other guides or visit the Thomas Supplier Discovery Platform to locate potential sources of supply or view details on specific products.