Britain leads the world in efforts to extract carbon from the air as countries seek technology to slow climate change, experts have said.

Machines that suck carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air and power stations that capture emissions from burning trees could become the biggest growth industry for the UK. Scientists have said that Britain is a global frontrunner in CO₂ removal technologies and is well placed because removed CO₂ could be stored in old North Sea oilfields.

The energy company Drax hopes to build a “bioenergy with carbon capture and storage” (Beccs) plant near Selby, burning trees, grass and other biomass to generate electricity, then capturing the CO₂ and piping it under the North Sea.

“There’s potentially a big growth industry story for the UK, because the world is probably going to need lots of CO₂ removals. The UK is thinking on the front foot about it,” said Steve Smith at Oxford University, whose international team publishes a study in January 2023 that finds humanity is removing about two billion tonnes of CO₂ a year from the atmosphere. However, he said that 99.9 per cent of that was from tree-planting and managing soils, with new technologies accounting for only 0.1 per cent. He said Britain also had the skilled workers, regulatory environment and infrastructure to do “really well” at deploying CO₂ removal technologies.

The UN’s climate science panel said last year that the world would need to increase the use of such technologies to meet climate change goals. The latest study found that meeting even the Paris agreement’s goal of holding global temperature rises below 2C would require today’s CO₂ removal technologies to increase 1,300-fold by 2050. Jan Minx, at the Mercator Research Institute in Berlin, one of the study’s authors, said: “We need to aggressively develop and scale up CO₂ removal.”

Separately, an investigation into one of the leading carbon offset standards found that 94 per cent of its offsets were unlikely to have delivered carbon reductions.

The analysis into Verra by The Guardian, the German weekly Die Zeit and the non-profit SourceMaterial concluded that many credits approved by the organisation and bought by companies including Disney, Gucci and Shell were in effect worthless. Verra disputed the conclusions and the methodology underpinning them.

Current approaches on how to capture carbon include: 

Direct air capture and storage

Machines that use fans to suck in air and chemicals to capture and store CO₂ have become the poster child of removal technologies. Greta Thunberg has visited facilities built by the Swiss company Climeworks, which opened Orca in Iceland, the world’s biggest direct air capture plant, in 2021.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (Beccs)

Beccs is the latest technology for removing CO₂, thanks to a plant in Illinois where plants capture CO₂ as they grow, so capturing and storing the CO₂ released when burning them.

Biochar

Burn wood or other biomass at a high temperature without oxygen and you create biochar, a carbon-rich, charcoal-like material that can then be buried. Proponents argue it can also increase crop yields.

The 3D Consultancy is currently working with our British client to help develop and prove the effectiveness of Carbon Capture processes.

ABOUT US

The 3D Consultancy are an engineering led design and manufacturing consultancy providing technical solutions utilising CAD digital processes, advanced 3D printing/additive manufacturing, and 3D scanning.

If you have a technical challenge with very tight deadlines that require exacting specifications and an agile working approach to achieve results, then give us a call on 0203 092 4429 or send us an email enquiries@3d-consultancy.com or visit our website for more information.

Manufacturing method and materials

While the initial aim for any product developer is realising a concept quickly to enable testing and demonstrations with project stakeholders, a compromise must be made for investing sufficient time to ensure that the proposed design solutions are easily manufacturable – something commonly referred to as Design for Manufacture (DFM). DFM has a heavy influence on the details in any design, however it can also impact external aesthetics, including: surface finish, whether it’s possible to manufacture the desired external forms and curves, or the number and location of visible “shut lines” on the exterior of a product. It’s interesting to think how these two phenomena in the evolution of product aesthetics, with modern manufacturing technologies and expertise enabling significant improvements in both

The major milestone in DFM is choosing which manufacturing methods to use. Considerations for enclosure component manufacturing methods (and also materials) will include:

• Size, loads and stresses
• Methods of internal component mounting (external panels and frame vs monocoque, for example)
• Adaptability or ease of modification (if a prototype)
• Speed of design or manufacture
• Material availability
• Dirt and dust traps – ease of cleaning
• Conductivity
• Corrosive properties and fluid compatibility
• Available finishes (e.g., paint)
• Cost

In cases where parts are highly stressed, it can be important to assess mechanical performance of components during the prototype stage by using (or closely replicating) the production manufacturing processes. An example of this is cast parts – under high stress, the mechanical performance of a cast part vs a CNC-machined equivalent can be the difference between a part failing or not. While investing in casting tools is expensive, lost-wax sand casting can be used to cost effectively create a cast component that will perform similar to a mass-produced part. In the case of plastic components, rapid prototyping is an excellent choice for manufacturing products that will be injection moulded or vacuum formed in production.

Assembly

Design for Assembly (DFA) is a process often reduced to the aim of minimising the number of parts to ease assemble and reduce overall cost, but this is not always true (and just the tip of the iceberg). DFA involves the careful planning and selection of assembly methods to minimise both labour time and part cost. It includes not only the initial build but any subsequent maintenance and rebuild requirements.

Alternative fastenings including snap-fit fittings or adhesive bonding should be considered – this up-front investment in innovation can make a significant difference to the product cost and business overheads. All fastenings are load bearing and therefore to choose the right fasteners we consider: load, aesthetics, corrosion resistance (e.g., galvanic corrosion in salt water environments), as well as the use of special fastener types (e.g., torx or bespoke fasteners) which can be used to denote maintenance-only access points.

It is often pertinent to use the skills and perspectives of assembly technicians during DFA to identify potential issues and help determine efficient solutions. At 3DC, we often do this via a Virtual Build review which involves running through the assembly process using 3D CAD models with our in-house and customer build teams. This serves to review access during assembly but is also a quality control exercise where clashes between components are checked.

The final component of DFA must also include a review of part tolerances to ensure that under all manufacturing error margins the parts can still be assembled. Here, skilled designers will apply Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (a standardised system for defining engineering tolerances) in order to ensure that, not only will the parts fit, but that tight manufacturing tolerances that incur higher costs are avoided wherever possible.

The 3D Consultancy is an engineering led design and manufacturing consultancy providing technical solutions utilising advanced 3D scanning, 3D printing/additive manufacturing and CAD digital processes using the latest materials and processes, with industry leading expertise in composite materials technologies.

If you have a technical challenge with very tight deadlines that require exacting specifications and an agile working approach to achieve results, then please contact us.

Environmental protection

Environmental protection is a key consideration of enclosure design. For the individual parts, corrosivity and resistance to abrasion or potential misuse affects the material choice. For the system, seals must be designed to prevent ingress into any areas not protected from corrosion or parts containing electronics as well as ingress or egress of, for example, gases, noises, odours and even electromagnetic radiation. Environmental design should also consider the importance of eliminating dirt and dust traps and ease of cleaning, and how the product could be damaged by the consumption of a foreign object.

Safety and user protection

For enclosure safety we generally consider limiting access to certain areas, for example, to prevent a user from touching high temperature or high voltage components. We should also consider manual handling weight and the need to incorporate lifting handles to encourage proper lifting technique.

Routing of services

Routing of harnesses, cables and pipes is functionality associated with the enclosure design and a well-thought-out routing of electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic services makes all the difference when it comes to assembly, durability and maintenance. Examples of the most effective routing solutions are found in nature’s organic structures. Having system schematics is critical here.

Electronics

Considerations in electronics enclosures include heat dissipation, electrical isolation, creepage (in high voltage systems) and electromagnetic noise and interference – where sensitive equipment and high-voltage AC power supplies are combined – is often of great importance in testing or laboratory equipment.

Detailed mechanical design

The enclosure’s mechanical design could feature any number of considerations depending on the product features and functions. At the very least and as with any engineering design, consideration of forces and stresses on materials is essential. Other common mechanical design considerations are:

• Mechanical isolation to reduce loading on components
• Thermal management and ventilation
• Electrical grounding and isolation
• Noise: limiting propagation of internal noise from the product, cooling fans, etc.

Enclosure breakdown for maintenance, transportability and packaging

How the product will be packaged during shipment to the purchasing customer should be considered at this stage. This will often have an impact on the placement of external components and the overall breakdown of the assembly as this requirement overlaps with any considerations for disassembly during service or maintenance.

About us 

The 3D Consultancy is an engineering led design and manufacturing consultancy providing technical solutions utilising advanced 3D scanning, 3D printing/additive manufacturing and CAD digital processes using the latest materials and processes, with industry leading expertise in composite materials technologies.

If you have a technical challenge with very tight deadlines that require exacting specifications and an agile working approach to achieve results, then please contact us.

Product requirements
Like all engineering designs, the enclosure is built upon the product requirements to ensure all functional elements are within the scope, but avoiding adding complexity and cost where it isn’t needed.

Packaging and technology integration
The overall size and weight of the enclosure will largely be determined by its internal components, so this is the best place to start determining the layout. Requirements should dictate a maximum footprint, height or other dimension which helps drive the design direction.

The next step is to prepare a complete Bill of Materials and modelling of these internal components is the second key objective. The models can be simplified package models or detailed models – the customer may want to use renders of the 3D model for marketing, in which case detailed models are essential for generating life-like images.

Ergonomics
The layout of all components, position of external connections and user interaction points governs the user experience. For working areas on laboratory equipment, for example, bench testing with cardboard mock-ups can be a valuable exercise and the best way to establish whether an area with user interaction has sufficient clearance for movable parts, removing connections or tooling.

Other important considerations for layout and ergonomics include:

• Manual lifting weight;
• Working height might need to be considered for placement of lifting handles, screens or regular points of interaction; and
• Position and style of lids, hatches, covers and closures, e.g., use of magnets, catches, latches and finger holes. Different types of user/technician access can be determined via special fasteners (e.g. torques fasteners).

This is a good time to review the requirements to see if any additional features not previously considered can be included, for example, storage of power cables, accessories, tools or spares.

Aesthetics
Style over function; often a challenge in engineering but an extremely important trade-off. Considerations include the following:

• Styling cues can come from the company’s branding, logo and from what currently exists in the target industry (i.e., competitor products);
• Colour – a powerful tool in communicating the purpose of a product to the user and is often taken from the company logo or their branding palette; and
• Buttons, displays and status indicators in clearly accessible locations matching overall branding/styling in terms of colour and font.

The external touch and feel (tangible aesthetics) of an enclosure can be just as important as it’s visual appearance. It’s not just an afterthought – the enclosure’s stiffness is essential for a firm, quality feel as well as avoiding sharp edges and using texture: e.g., matt vs gloss paint or the use of alternative materials such as rubber or textiles.

In future instalments we will discuss manufacturing methods and materials, followed by detailed design considerations

About us 
The 3D Consultancy is an engineering led design and manufacturing consultancy providing technical solutions utilising advanced 3D printing/additive manufacturing, 3D scanning and CAD digital processes using the latest materials and processes, with industry leading expertise in composite materials technologies.

If you have a technical challenge with very tight deadlines that require exacting specifications and an agile working approach to achieve results, then please contact us.

With the force applied on a racing car during braking, the brake systems generate a huge amount of heat, with the brake discs reaching temperatures of 1,000°C or more. 

Brake components have a temperature window which they can operate within, and their performance drastically degrades when they exceed their maximum operating temperatures. Despite carbon discs, pads and calipers that can handle high temperatures, high temperatures over a prolonged period can create issues for the braking system. 

The brake systems need a cooling system for more efficient use and better car reliability, hence the use of brake duct systems. They work by channelling air from a high-pressure source, then passing it through the brake ducts and out through the disc, pads and calipers to cool them down. This dramatically lowers the temperature that the brakes are operating at. 

The brake disc has hundreds of holes drilled to maximise the surface area and therefore the cooling potential. These holes help reduce the temperature significantly. 

More holes and bigger holes would certainly help cooling the disc further as a greater quantity of air would pass through. That said, these extra holes would affect the aerodynamics and the reliability of the car. This means that a balance must be found to provide the right level of cooling without affecting the aerodynamic performance of the car. 

This is a trade-off that Aerodynamicists and Designers have to balance when developing a Brake cooling system. 

Our materials 

All the Brake Ducts can be manufactured using the High Temperature CEM100 prepreg and the Low Temperature EVOPREG EPC200/300 prepreg. 

The High temperature carbon parts can be manufactured from CEM100 resin system, cured at a long 90°C for the longevity of the moulds and then post-cured to 240°C stand alone. 

In order to protect these parts from higher temperatures, we can coat these components with Intertherm 50, a single component high temperature coating based on a moisture curing silicone binder. 

Because of the design and packaging restrictions, it is inevitable that certain parts of the brake cooling system are very close to the brake disc itself (you can see this in the first image). These parts are consequently exposed to very high temperatures. In addition to Intertherm 50, we are able to apply a ceramic thermal spray coating to protect these parts, or specific areas of the parts that are most exposed to the heat. 

All the low temperature carbon parts can be manufactured from EVOPREG EPC200/300 resin system, cured at 80°C for longevity of the tooling blocks to allow production of up to 6 sets. We can also post-cured these parts to 125°C stand-alone just to make sure the full technical specifications of the materials are reached. 

Alternative Material for Brake ducts applications 

The operating temperatures and mechanical loads of the Brake ducts inlets present an excellent opportunity to use our Carbon SLS reinforced material (the two pictures above show the inlet made of both Carbon composites and Carbon SLS). This material is 

a carbon-fibre reinforced material based on polyamide. It is processed on highly advanced laser-sintering equipment from 3D Systems. 

We have successfully utilised this technology and solution in high-end motorsport endurance environment. 

Additional Composites prepregs systems 

We have used EVOPREG EPC WITH FLAX on various products for motorsports with good success in non-structural parts. 

We also use PFA flame retardant resin systems for Battery Box’s for automotive applications, its another good resin system for flame retardancy requirements. 

We have a wealth of knowledge on resin systems that are either out there or in research with our material manufactures, if we can help you then please contact us. 

About us 

The 3D Consultancy is an engineering led design and manufacturing consultancy providing technical solutions utilising advanced 3D printing/additive manufacturing, 3D scanning and CAD digital processes using the latest materials and processes, with industry leading expertise in composite materials technologies. 

If you have a technical challenge with very tight deadlines that require exacting specifications and an agile working approach to achieve results, then please contact us. 

Ernest is joining us from EMES3D a business he co-founded in 2018 and that offers consultancy services on engineering and additive manufacturing.  Ernest has several years of experience working across a range of sectors including automotive, engineering, logistics, pharma and consumer goods.

Prior to EMES3D Ernest held positions as a Project Engineer, an Additive Manufacturing Applications Development Engineer and as an R&D Design Engineer.

Ernest holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Ernest will be based in Barcelona where he lives with his family.

Telephone:       07437 157 717

Email:               ErnestBG@3D-consultancy.com

LI:                     Ernest Bou Grau | LinkedIn

Here we share with you the range of projects and challenges we faced during 2020.

At the end of March 2020, we launched our new website re branding to the 3D Consultancy.  Then COVID-19 lockdown hit and like many other businesses our sales dived.  The future looked bleak.  As we moved into May and June customer activity returned and as we continued to invest in our marketing activity, our sales also started to return.

Some of the projects we were working on in 2020:

We were working with a multi award winning cosmetic clinician on the development of a pain free, non-invasive and more affordable application of PRP (platelet rich plasma) for healthcare with initial specialisation on cell rejuvenation.

The deteriorating quality of the air we all breathe is a hot topic amongst environmentalists.  We have been working with a client to develop a fan system that can remove the smallest particulates from the air.  These particulates do significant damage to our lungs and brain and particularly those of young children.  In addition to removing particulates the system can also kill air borne viruses (like COVID 19).

High performance engineering and motorsport is where we started our careers.  During 2020 amongst other automotive projects we supported the design and manufacture of components for a new multi million pound hypercar to be launched in 2021.

We find working with start-up businesses really rewarding.  Working alongside entrepreneurs helping them not only with the development of their product ideas but also helping them to create new businesses.  In 2020 this has included working alongside technology spin-outs from UK Universities.

Our colleagues work with clients who are world champions.  We keep abreast of the latest developments, materials and processes helping our clients to embrace and exploit new technologies, materials and systems.

Additive manufacturing is a core expertise within our team and we have supplied our market beating Carbon SLS products to many clients and this has been a robust part of our 2020 business.

Sadly, not all of our clients have had a successful 2020.  As 2020 has progressed our clients in the events and hospitality industry have suffered, however we look forward to supporting them again later in 2021.

So, we end 2020 in a much stronger position than in 2019, with a stronger business, an expanded team of industry leading experts and with great optimism for the year ahead.

Thank you to all our customers, suppliers, colleagues and supporters during 2020 and we wish you all a safe and successful 2021.  Do get in touch if you want us to help you in 2021.