According to news from Washington, the "3D printing rocket" launched by a US company in Florida on March 22, 2023 failed to enter the scheduled orbit. According to foreign media, about 85% of this rocket is 3D printed, which is the first case in the world so far. Therefore, its launch situation has attracted some attention, and there have been many hot searches in the past two days, but the company is optimistic that at least this launch shows that 3D printing rockets are technically feasible.
Of course, there are different opinions on this, but according to the aerospace company, the consumables of 3D printing rockets are far smaller than traditional rockets, and the manufacturing time is shortened by nearly 10 times, which is also conducive to cost control. small advantage. What I have to admit is that since the advent of 3D printing technology, the global printing industry and manufacturing industry have set off a huge wave, and even received a lot of recognition in reducing "carbon footprint".
The supporting point of view is that 3D printing can make outstanding contributions in reducing consumables, reducing energy consumption, utilizing renewable resources, reducing the production of industrial "three wastes", and replacing high energy-consuming raw materials.
For example, 3D printing + green building:
Previously, Nanjing Jiangbei New District Civic Center Tourist Service Center, as the first 3D printed fully assembled green smart building in the country, won the "ceiling" Luban Award, the engineering quality honor award of China's construction industry. The garbage sorting and recycling station of Luyang Cultural and Creative Park in Hefei, Anhui Province is made of recycled municipal construction waste and 3D printed.
Not long ago, the U.S. Department of Energy provided Oregon State University and Sandia National Laboratories with a $540,000 (approximately RMB 3.7 million) project funding to study the capture of carbon dioxide for 3D printing building materials Technology. That is, the future development direction of green buildings or "green on top of green" also aims to further reduce the "carbon footprint" of 3D printing.
For example, 3D printing + seawater desalination:
The two projects, which sound like opposites, have a different spark because of the new seawater evaporator. At present, the energy consumption of seawater desalination devices is high, and the efficiency and durability of seawater desalination are the shortcomings to be overcome, especially under high salinity conditions, this problem becomes more and more prominent. According to a joint research project between my country and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3D printing technology can be used to construct a new evaporation system, and 3D evaporators can help achieve high-efficiency solar energy utilization and high-speed water evaporation under high salinity.
For example, 3D printing + filter membrane:
The wide application of membrane technology in the field of water treatment does not need to repeat the application value of difficult wastewater treatment, but the performance of membrane products has always been restricted by the development of technology, especially the precision filtration. Investors in Silicon Valley took a fancy to this point, so a 3D printing ceramic membrane company took advantage of the trend and explored new solutions by taking advantage of 3D printing technology. Lithium extraction in geothermal water has higher requirements for filtration and separation. The field demonstrates technical advantages and reduces energy consumption and carbon footprint compared to traditional ceramic manufacturing processes, while being more conducive to reducing costs.
Although there is no conclusion on whether 3D printing is "environmentally friendly" or not, it is an indisputable fact that it has a wide range of applications, a large space for development, and many "articles" that can be made. Perhaps the biggest difference lies in how to use this technology. If it is used in the direction of environmental protection, there is still a big market in this way.
