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EUROPEAN FORUM INTO NANOSAFETY


Scientists fromacross Europe met in February inMalaga, Spain, to discuss the safety of nanomaterials. Called “Newtools and


approaches for nanomaterial safety assessment”, the event was jointly organised by five major European projects: NANOSOLUTIONS, SUN, NanoMILE, GUIDEnano, and eNanoMapper. Engineered nanomaterials


 Every aspect of the Bloodhound relies on accurate data acquisition


BREAKTHROUGH AIR SUSPENSION FOR ELECTRIC SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES


WABCO is to supply amajor German passenger car makerwith its breakthrough electric twin compressor air suspension technology. WABCO is expected to equip all of the customer’s premium electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in global series production starting in late 2018. Innovative air suspensions


fromWABCO are offered as a standard feature on both the BMW5 Series Touring and 5 Series Gran Turismomodels. Rear axle air suspension automatically adjusts the vehicle to optimumride height independent of the vehicle’s load. It further enhances driving comfort and improves vehicle safety. WABCO’s air supply systemon


electric vehicles lowers the body at high speeds, reducing aerodynamic drag and, therefore, improves energy


consumption. It also enables intelligent lowering of the vehiclewhen parked to optimise inductive electric charging, eliminating the need for cable connections. Built-in twin compressors


result in an innovative high- performance air supply system. This increases the rate of airflow by 40 per cent and – by augmentingmaximumair pressure – up to 15 per cent alongside superior acoustic


performance. These compressors also start electronically, rather than electro-mechanically,which reduces the starting electric current by 50 per cent. The technology operates in virtual silence. “Automakers are


continuing to emphasise electrification, andwe see a trend toward a rising number of electric vehiclemodels around


theworld,which call for increasingly efficient air


compression at high pressures while retaining energy,” said Philipp Helmich,WABCO vice- president, original equipment sales and key account management. “The twin compressor systemhas an optional boost function,which more than triples the air reservoir’s energy capacity. This means the size of the reservoir can be significantly decreased, which in turn helps to reduce vehicleweight.”


(ENM) – defined as having at least one dimension smaller than 100nm– have attracted a great deal of interest recently, due to theirmany technologically interesting properties. The unique properties of ENMand their applications have given birth to immense technological and economic expectations for industries using ENM. However, there are concerns theymay be harmful to humans. Currently, creating commercial products using ENMrequires rigorous testing and there aremany barriers to overcome. Current safety legislation is


complex. Each ENMhas to be treated as a separate chemical and be individually tested to assess its safety characteristics. Thismeans developing new materials using different nanoparticles is both time- consuming and expensive. So there is a real need forways to reduce such testing. Over the past four years, the


NANOSOLUTIONS project has beenworking to identify and elaborate the characteristics of ENMs that determine their biological hazard potential. It is developing a safety classification for ENMbased on their interactionswith living organisms. Thiswill be critical formaintaining Europe’s position in the nanotechnology field, first bymaking testing procedures shorter andmore cost effective, and second by increasing public confidence in products that use ENM.


February 2017 /// Environmental Engineering /// 5


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