edotek.co.uk

HRO Consultancy

Barrie Mellor — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:45:45 +0000

Edotek has many years experience with HRO. Please watch out for a new page which will be launched on the website in the near future

FAQ; Are there any chemicals which can be used to strip enamel from copper wire?

Barrie Mellor — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:53:57 +0000

Answer; we think that the only chemicals which work are rather dangerous. We have started to use self-fluxing wire which does not require the enamel to be removed; you simply apply a hot iron and the coating disappears. You can … Continue reading →

FAQ; Car Batteries

Barrie Mellor — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:52:29 +0000

My first response to any question about car batteries (12V lead acid) is that the answer to just about anything you want to know them can be found on one single website http://www.batteryfaq.org/.

The possible exception to that rule is the issue of the use of battery pulsators (sometimes referred to as “conditioners”) to restore old sulphated (sulfated) batteries, about which the author of that site is cautious –as are we! However, as we do make use of car batteries occasionally as power sources in various projects, we did become interested in pulsators and bought one from a small company in Scotland http://www.courtiestown.co.uk/batteries/batterydesulfators/batterydesulfators.htm

Without doubt, the use of this device had a very beneficial use on older batteries whose performance had been degraded because of sulphation. This was a slow process, taking a couple of weeks, but for anyone considering using lead acid batteries for solar power storage, the use of a pulsators may be worthwhile.

FAQ; High Performance Greases/Lubricants

Barrie Mellor — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:47:19 +0000

When working with aggressive chemicals, the use of greases is often highly restricted (or prohibited) and we are often asked what we use. In working with liquid oxidisers (nitrogen tetroxide, nitric acid and hydrogen fluoride), we have generally found that the greases based on ‘FOMBLIN’™ fluids have served us very well, and in particular, we have made extensive use of Rocol’s™ RT15 grade (www.rocol.com.). Fomblin is a fluorocarbon fluid originally produced by the Ausimont company (subsequently taken over by Solvay) and, acting as consultants for the European Space Agency, we did extensive testing of some of their fluids and were very impressed with them. The greases based on the Fomblin fluids are made (in very simple terms) by mixing them with extremely fine particles of PTFE, so as well as being chemically inert, they are “not bad” lubricants. Of course, these materials are relatively expensive, but the consequences of using an inadequate material tend to be far more costly!

Having brought RT15 in to the lab for chemical applications, it has subsequently proved “very popular” for many other uses, not least of which are some of the more demanding requirements for automotive applications!

USAF’s X37B Spy Sat – a “mini-Shuttle”

Barrie Mellor — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:08:21 +0000

One most interesting aerospace project that has managed to keep a relatively low profile is the American X37B reconnaissance spacecraft, as reported by the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16423881 and described on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-37B.

First going in to service (apparently) in April 2010, this vehicle is rather like a miniature un-manned version of the Space Shuttle, but it can stay in orbit for several months before returning to earth, landing on a runway just like the Shuttle.

While there is speculation about what surveillance technologies it can carry, and just what its principal roles are, I think it will probably be some decades before that becomes public information.

An interesting technical point is that R&D project which lead to the X37B used a propulsion system using that whacky old favourite hydrogen peroxide together with kerosene fuel. No surprise, however, that the operational vehicle has not used hydrogen peroxide, but is apparently using hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. As the great sage John D. Clark said so long ago about peroxide, “always a bridesmaid, never a bride”!

Farewell to the Space Shuttle

Barrie Mellor — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:42:48 +0000

The last Shuttle flight of Atlantis was a bitter-sweet event; sad that it was truly the end of a Golden era of manned spaceflight, but happy too in so far as the design limitations of the launch system meant that the risks had been greater than was comfortable. The loss of the two crews and orbiters might well have been avoidable, being due more to “management failures” than technical deficiencies.

The three remaining orbiters will now become iconic reminders, together with the Saturn V vehicles of the first great age of spaceflight – quite when the momentum will ever be recovered remains to be seen.

Heros of Engineering

Barrie Mellor — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:15:13 +0000

I really miss that great character Fred Dibnah. Britain was the birthplace of the (first) industrial revolution but it seems to me that we have all but discarded our engineering prowess. Fred played a great part in the effort to ensure that we value the remains of that legacy.

Of all the many pictures that exist of Fred, this seems to capture his personality quite succinctly! Edotek doesn’t often use a big hammer to solve problems…but we do have one….