Sunday, November 30, 2014

New ultra-thin material can cool buildings by radiating heat into space


Engineers at Stanford University in California have invented a new super-thin multilayered material that acts like a mirror to cool buildings by radiating heat into space. The new material also reflects sunlight away from structures, which also reduces heat.
In an effort to create a new cooling system for buildings, they have developed a coating that reflects heat off rooftops, right back into space. Cool, right? (Pun sort of intended.)
"A new ultrathin multilayered material can cool buildings without air conditioning by radiating warmth from inside the buildings into space while also reflecting sunlight to reduce incoming heat."
"Of course, sunshine also warms buildings. The new material, in addition to dealing with infrared light, is also a stunningly efficient mirror that reflects virtually all of the incoming sunlight that strikes it."

Hit the source link for the full article, including a full explanation of how the material works, and how it may be applied in the near future. I'm holding out for when they can make clothes out of this stuff.

========== Below details was quoted on www.sciencedaily.com ==========


Source:  Stanford School of Engineering

Summary: Engineers have invented a material designed to help cool buildings. The material reflects incoming sunlight, and it sends heat from inside the structure directly into space as infrared radiation.

Stanford engineers have invented a material designed to help cool buildings.

Stanford engineers have invented a revolutionary coating material that can help cool buildings, even on sunny days, by radiating heat away from the buildings and sending it directly into space.



A new ultrathin multilayered material can cool buildings without air conditioning by radiating warmth from inside the buildings into space while also reflecting sunlight to reduce incoming heat.

A team led by electrical engineering Professor Shanhui Fan and research associate Aaswath Raman reported this energy-saving breakthrough in the journal Nature.
The heart of the invention is an ultrathin, multilayered material that deals with light, both invisible and visible, in a new way.


The heart of the invention is an ultrathin, multilayered material that deals with light, both invisible and visible, in a new way.

Invisible light in the form of infrared radiation is one of the ways that all objects and living things throw off heat. When we stand in front of a closed oven without touching it, the heat we feel is infrared light. This invisible, heat-bearing light is what the Stanford invention shunts away from buildings and sends into space.


Of course, sunshine also warms buildings. The new material, in addition to dealing with infrared light, is also a stunningly efficient mirror that reflects virtually all of the incoming sunlight that strikes it.

The result is what the Stanford team calls photonic radiative cooling -- a one-two punch that offloads infrared heat from within a building while also reflecting the sunlight that would otherwise warm it up. The result is cooler buildings that require less air conditioning.

"This is very novel and an extraordinarily simple idea," said Eli Yablonovitch, a professor of engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a pioneer of photonics who directs the Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science. "As a result of professor Fan's work, we can now [use radiative cooling], not only at night but counter-intuitively in the daytime as well."

The researchers say they designed the material to be cost-effective for large-scale deployment on building rooftops. Though it's still a young technology, they believe it could one day reduce demand for electricity. As much as 15 percent of the energy used in buildings in the United States is spent powering air conditioning systems.

In practice the researchers think the coating might be sprayed on a more solid material to make it suitable for withstanding the elements.

"This team has shown how to passively cool structures by simply radiating heat into the cold darkness of space," said Nobel Prize-winning physicist Burton Richter, professor emeritus at Stanford and former director of the research facility now called the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

A warming world needs cooling technologies that don't require power, according to Raman, lead author of the Nature paper. "Across the developing world, photonic radiative cooling makes off-grid cooling a possibility in rural regions, in addition to meeting skyrocketing demand for air conditioning in urban areas," he said.


Using a window into space

The real breakthrough is how the Stanford material radiates heat away from buildings.

As science students know, heat can be transferred in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction transfers heat by touch. That's why you don't touch a hot oven pan without wearing a mitt. Convection transfers heat by movement of fluids or air. It's the warm rush of air when the oven is opened. Radiation transfers heat in the form of infrared light that emanates outward from objects, sight unseen.

The first part of the coating's one-two punch radiates heat-bearing infrared light directly into space. The ultrathin coating was carefully constructed to send this infrared light away from buildings at the precise frequency that allows it to pass through the atmosphere without warming the air, a key feature given the dangers of global warming.

"Think about it like having a window into space," Fan said.



Aiming the mirror

But transmitting heat into space is not enough on its own.

This multilayered coating also acts as a highly efficient mirror, preventing 97 percent of sunlight from striking the building and heating it up.

"We've created something that's a radiator that also happens to be an excellent mirror," Raman said.

Together, the radiation and reflection make the photonic radiative cooler nearly 9 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the surrounding air during the day.

The multilayered material is just 1.8 microns thick, thinner than the thinnest aluminum foil.

It is made of seven layers of silicon dioxide and hafnium oxide on top of a thin layer of silver. These layers are not a uniform thickness, but are instead engineered to create a new material. Its internal structure is tuned to radiate infrared rays at a frequency that lets them pass into space without warming the air near the building.

"This photonic approach gives us the ability to finely tune both solar reflection and infrared thermal radiation," said Linxiao Zhu, doctoral candidate in applied physics and a co-author of the paper.

"I am personally very excited about their results," said Marin Soljacic, a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "This is a great example of the power of nanophotonics."


From prototype to building panel

Making photonic radiative cooling practical requires solving at least two technical problems.

The first is how to conduct the heat inside the building to this exterior coating. Once it gets there, the coating can direct the heat into space, but engineers must first figure out how to efficiently deliver the building heat to the coating.

The second problem is production. Right now the Stanford team's prototype is the size of a personal pizza. Cooling buildings will require large panels. The researchers say large-area fabrication facilities can make their panels at the scales needed.


The cosmic fridge

More broadly, the team sees this project as a first step toward using the cold of space as a resource. In the same way that sunlight provides a renewable source of solar energy, the cold universe supplies a nearly unlimited expanse to dump heat.

"Every object that produces heat has to dump that heat into a heat sink," Fan said. "What we've done is to create a way that should allow us to use the coldness of the universe as a heat sink during the day."

In addition to Fan, Raman and Zhu, this paper has two additional co-authors: Marc Abou Anoma, a master's student in mechanical engineering who has graduated; and Eden Rephaeli, a doctoral student in applied physics who has graduated.

This research was supported by the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy.


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Friday, November 28, 2014

What`s the Differents of Porcelain Tile and Ceramic Tile?


Porcelain tiles and ceramic tile are essentially the same, with one slight difference. Both are part of the larger category of tiles we can call ceramic. It is more a case of reverse-naming, whereby manufacturers take tiles that have certain qualities and then assign the ceramic or porcelain titles to them.

Add into this a healthy dose of marketing-speak and sales pitch. Tile people often tout porcelain's storied history, evoking its Italian etymology--porcellana, which means cowrie shell. Fine porcelain-ware is white, translucent, strong, and it has a fine, dense body. They mention how fine china is made of porcelain.
But none of that applies to porcelain tile. This is different ball game. It's a game of branding and certifying, and has nothing to do with fine china.
(And certainly porcelain tile and ceramic tile can be considered close cousins when discussing other, wildly different types of tile such as quarry tile, glass tile, or natural stone.)
Let's dig a little deeper before you make that huge investment (and irreversible installation) of tile in your kitchen, bathroom, or entryway.
Difference:  Water Absorption Rate
Porcelain tile has a water absorption rate of 0.5% as defined by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) C373. Fired tile is weighed. Then it is boiled for 5 hours and then let to sit in water for 24 hours afterward. Then it is weighed again. If the tile weighs less than half of one-percent more as a result of water absorbing into its surface, it is considered porcelain.

Porcelain tile is often extruded; has less impurities than ceramic; is often rectified; and often contains more kaolin than ceramic. It's formed of quartz, clay, and feldspar that is fired at temperatures ranging from 1200-1400 degrees C.
But since that also defines many ceramics, again the difference is that porcelain has that 0.5% or less water absorption rate.
Interior or Exterior: No Ceramic Outside
Laying porcelain or ceramic tile outside is typically not recommended. Ceramic is usually not durable enough for exterior use because it absorbs too much water. If you live in areas which freeze, your tile would likely crack on the first freezing night. Stone is a better option.
Even though conventional wisdom has been to keep porcelains/ceramics away from the outside, I'm seeing more that are for exterior use. We would still recommend buying porcelain that is expressly designated for exterior use.
Density: Porcelain Denser Than Ceramic
Porcelain clays are denser and thus less porous than ceramic clays. This makes porcelain tile harder and more impervious to moisture than ceramic tile.

Durability: Porcelain Wins
Not only is porcelain tile more dense than ceramic tile, but due to its through-body composition it is considered more durable and better suited for heavy usage than ceramic tile. Chip the ceramic tile and you find a different color underneath the top glaze. Chip the porcelain and the color keeps on going--the chip is nearly invisible.
While both porcelain and ceramic are fired, porcelain is fired at higher temperatures for a longer time than ceramic. Also, porcelain has higher feldspar content, which makes it more durable.
Ease of Cutting: Ceramic a Softer Cut Than Porcelain
The aforementioned density has a good side and a bad side. While ceramic is less dense than porcelain, it's also a far easier material for DIY homeowners to cut--by hand, by wet tile saw, or snap tile cutter.  Porcelain is more brittle and may require the experienced hand of a tile-setter to cut properly.

Which One Is Cheaper?
All other factors equal, ceramic tile is cheaper than porcelain tile.
The Oversea Sales General Manager of Foshan Hudson Economics and Trade Co., Ltd said that ceramic tends to be about 65% of the cost of porcelain.
PEI Rating: Porcelain Higher Than Ceramic
PEI ratings for porcelain tile tend to be around 5 (heavy residential and commercial traffic). PEI ratings for ceramic tile can range anywhere from PEI 0 (no foot traffic) up to PEI 5, but with most ratings in the lower end of the scale.
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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Hudson`s Microlite Flooring Tiles 800 x 800 mm for Parlour / Walls / Bedrooms

 
Hudson`s Microlite Flooring Tiles 800 x 800 mm for Parlour / Walls / Bedrooms
 
Editor: Alvin Chan                     Tags:  Flooring Tiles
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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