k8彩乐园app官网下载玻璃科学家追求的方法 for washing wine bottles for reuse
k8彩乐园app官网下载的玻璃科学家, 与纽约州和Vitricity合作, a consulting company focused on promoting sustainability in the glass industry, 正在研究清洗和再利用酒瓶的方法吗. The project could remove tens of thousands of wine bottles from the waste stream each year while helping Finger Lakes Region wine producers realize significant savings.
洗瓶研究项目, 这项研究由k8彩乐园app官网下载玻璃创新中心进行, is supported by grant monies from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), 在Vitricity的协助下, a company which conducts market research and serves as a consultant to businesses and organizations pursuing glass recycling/reuse initiatives.
DEC已授予k8彩乐园app官网下载4美元.2 million from its Environmental Protection Fund to perform research aimed at promoting glass recycling and reuse. 洗瓶项目是由这些拨款资助的.
“The citizens of New York State really care about sustainability in manufacturing. The DEC recognizes this and has taken a leadership role in projects that promote a circular economy, in which we take waste products and use them for something else,科林·威尔金森说, professor of glass science in Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering, 谁是玻璃创新中心的主任. “困难在于找到办法做到这一点. 我们的工作是思考玻璃”以及如何再利用它.
丽贝卡·韦尔奇, PhD student in materials science and engineering at Pennsylvania State University who has served as visiting scholar and adjunct at Alfred University since last spring, 是Vitricity的研究员. Her work on the bottle washing project includes surveying wine producers in the region to gauge their interest in the project, and to provide education on its benefits in terms of sustainability.
五指湖地区有130多家酿酒厂, 主要是在库卡, 塞内加, 和卡尤加湖. 韦尔奇说，根据对该地区葡萄酒生产商的调查, 一般酒厂使用大约10个,每年仅在他们的品酒室里就有1000瓶, 有些人甚至经历了多达50次,每年000. For the most part those bottles are not reused and likely end up in landfills. Developing an effective method of washing and reusing bottles could have a significant impact on sustainability efforts in the region’s wine industry. 随着酒瓶成本的增加, 很大程度上是由于供应链问题, 这是鼓励酿酒厂重复使用他们的瓶子.
“Our research shows that in some countries that have bottle washing, 瓶子可以使用多达30次. 加拿大已经制定了一些计划，重点关注啤酒行业. We’d like to do what they’ve done and apply it to wineries in the Finger Lakes Region. 这将是一个巨大的好处, 不仅仅是对葡萄园经济有利, 而是为了我们整体的可持续发展努力,韦尔奇评论道.
“有一些担忧，”她指出. “我们怎么知道瓶子足够干净，可以重复使用? What is the impact of water and the cleaning detergents: does it corrode the glass? 葡萄酒是如何影响玻璃杯的完整性的? 当瓶子被洗的时候，多久玻璃就会碎?”
k8彩乐园app官网下载的玻璃科学家 aim to answer those questions. 炎亚纶波特, 是玻璃创新中心的博士后研究员, is helping lead efforts to find effective ways to clean wine bottles.
这个过程伴随着一些挑战. Potter explained that glass is minutely porous—its pores are measured in nanometers, 等于十亿分之一米. 在这种情况下，液体储存在瓶子里, wine—can degrade glass and settle under the surface of the inside of the bottle. That residue is evident in its odor and potentially could impact the taste of the wine. He compared the effect wine has on a bottle to that which pickles have on a jar.
“You can wash a pickle jar several times and the smell of the pickles will remain,波特说。. 酒瓶也是如此.”
Potter’s research is looking into a method of washing the bottle in which a very thin layer—as small as a micron, 或者百万分之一米的玻璃表面被移除, 带走任何残留的水分，留下新的, 更原始的内部表面的瓶子.
“The biggest challenge is knowing how much water is in the glass surface. 这很难衡量,波特说。, noting that researchers use infrared microscopy to determine how much water is in the surface of the bottle’s interior, 它深入地表有多深是显而易见的.
Welch said once a suitable method for washing the bottles is achieved, focus will be placed on developing facilities for collecting and washing the bottles and determining how they will be transported to and from the wineries.
“We need to make washing and reusing bottles cheaper or the same as buying new,韦尔奇说, noting that the state may considering providing subsidies to wineries as an incentive to reuse bottles. “我觉得我们可以在没有补贴的情况下满足目前的成本. 在政府的支持下，“重复使用瓶子”会更便宜.
Alfred University and Vitricity will hold a banquet event on May 8 at Barrellhouse 6 Distillery near Hammondsport, NY—of which Alfred University alumna Kara Mackey ’88 is co-founder and managing director—to provide information to winery/vineyard owners and local businesses on the status of the project and how it could benefit their businesses and improve sustainability. Project organizers hope after the event they will have a better idea how many wineries are on board with the idea.
“We want to help this program succeed by spreading awareness and educating the vineyards about the program,韦尔奇说. “Most (wine producers) who answered our survey said they were concerned about the environment and want to make the Finger Lakes Region more sustainable. 可持续性是他们许多商业模式的核心.”