Thermodynamic rarity of electrical and electronic waste: Assessment and policy implications for critical materials

The strategic relevance of extracting raw materials from waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the EU is increasing due to value chain risks caused by geopolitical instability, accessibility of specific minerals, and decreasing reserves due to growing extraction rates. This article examines the quantities of so-called critical...

A nanomaterial release model for waste shredding using a Bayesian belief network

The shredding of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and other products, incorporated with nanomaterials, can lead to a substantial release of nanomaterials. Considering the uncertainty, complexity, and scarcity of experimental data on release, we present the development of a Bayesian belief network (BBN) model. This baseline...

Characterization of intermetallic compounds in Cu-Al ball bonds: Thermo-mechanical properties, interface delamination and corrosion

In high power automotive electronics copper wire bonding is regarded as the most promising alternative for gold wire bonding in 1st level interconnects. In the Cu-Al ball bond interface the growth of intermetallic compounds can deteriorate the electrical and mechanical properties of the interconnection. A summary of the thermo-mechanical...

The OE-A OPV demonstrator anno domini 2011

Polymer solar cells were prepared in large numbers using roll-to-roll methods and were subsequently integrated into the Organic Electronics Association (OE-A) demonstrator in the year 2011 and presented as a small credit card sized lamp with a flat outline. The lamp comprised the polymer solar cell together with printed circuitry, discrete...

Protection of RF Electronics using Tuneable Frequency Selective Surfaces

In this paper the concept of limiting Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) is presented. The design of a reconfigurable FSS equipped with PIN diodes, aimed at the protection of a radar receiver from high power impinging electromagnetic waves is outlined and verified against the measurement results of a hardware demonstrator.

Drivers' reactions to sudden braking by lead car under varying workload conditions; towards a driver support system

At urban intersections drivers handle multiple tasks simultaneously, making urban driving a complex task. An advanced driver assistance system may support drivers in this specific driving task, but the design details of such a system need to be determined before they can be fully deployed. A driving simulator experiment was conducted to...

Towards nondestructive testing of pre-crash systems in a HIL setup

Recently, the developments in the field of ADA systems shifted from comfort oriented systems to safety oriented systems. Consequently, the complexity of testing those systems increased. This leads to a demand for reproducible, efficient and safe testing methods for ADA systems in general, and pre-crash systems in particular. A method for pre...

Study of an automated procedure for a Dutch sentence test for the measurement of the speech reception threshold in noise

A procedure was developed for the automated measurement of the speech reception threshold in stationary noise (SRTn), which can be administered by the subjects themselves using a computer. The procedure was based on the SRTn test for Dutch developed by Plomp and Mimpen [(1979). “Improving the reliability of testing the speech reception threshold...

Variability in endotoxin exposure levels and consequences for exposure assessment

Objectives: Workers in many industries are exposed to endotoxins, which may cause adverse health effects. In exposure assessment, information about exposure variability is essential. However, variability in exposure has rarely been investigated for biological agents and more specifically for endotoxin. Therefore, variance components and...

Control design for a mobile robot including tire behavior

In order to support the development process of Advanced Driver Assistance systems for road vehicles, TNO is operating a hardware-in-the-loop test setup. In this facility, called VeHIL, vehicles in the direct neighborhood of the test vehicle are simulated using wheeled mobile robots. Due to the required type of maneuvers, these robots have...

Traffic modelling validation of advanced driver assistance systems

This paper presents a microscopic traffic model for the validation of advanced driver assistance systems. This model describes single-lane traffic and is calibrated with data from a field operational test. To illustrate the use of the model, a Monte Carlo simulation of single-lane traffic scenarios is executed with application to cooperative...

Optical sensor array platform based on polymer electronic devices

Monitoring of personal wellbeing and optimizing human performance are areas where sensors have only begun to be used. One of the reasons for this is the specific demands that these application areas put on the underlying technology and system properties. In many cases these sensors will be integrated in clothing, be worn on the skin, or may even...

Plastic transistors in active-matrix displays

The handling of grey levels by these large displays paves the way for electronic paper.

Implementation of thermal processes for feedstock recycling of bromine and antimony, with energy recovery, from plastics Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): Phase 1: literature survey/status update, evaluation, and ranking of combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis based technologies

The bromine industry wants to process plastic Waste from Electrical andElectronic Equipment (WEEE), containing brominated flame retardants (BFRs), to recycle bromine, antimony, and other valuable metals, with energy recovery for sustainable production and closing the bromine loop at the End-of-Life. The motivation to perform the underlying study...

Characterisation of PV modules of new generations: results of tests and simulations

PV modules of nine different types were tested during indoor and outdoormeasurements. The electronic and thermal properties of the modules were determined and in simulations the energy yield of these modules under typical Dutch meteorological circumstances was calculated. 2 refs.