Author: Louise B. Delia

3 Systems to Test Regularly at Your Company

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

Test

As a business owner, you know that you can’t just purchase equipment and then assume that it will work forever. Instead, you need to perform regular tests for quality, especially with these types of equipment.

1. Pipes

Pipes carry water around your building, and they also may transport chemicals and steam, depending on your line of work. These must be regularly inspected for leaks, which quickly cause devastating damage. Additionally, you should have them undergo a proof pressure test at least once a year. If you’re looking for a proof pressure test definition, it’s a process in which a professional uses water and gases to ensure that a part is still sound.

2. Fire Alarms

You cannot afford for your fire alarm to be out of business. The best fire alarms call the fire department as soon as they detect smoke. This is particularly important if you do not have someone at your office around the clock. Test the alarm every three months, and replace its batteries every six months. If someone accidentally bumps into an alarm and breaks it, have it replaced immediately.

3. Water Purification Systems

Every building that your company owns should have running water, both for drinking and hygiene purposes. However, you need to make sure that the water you receive from your local treatment plant is clean and free of lead and other heavy metals. Once a year, have an inspector test your water to ensure that it is safe to drink. If necessary, install filtration systems on the top of each faucet and provide jugs of drinking water for your employees.

To make sure your company continues to operate at its most productive level, you must take care of your equipment. This means installing it properly and then testing all your systems regularly. That way, you can catch minor problems before they become major expenses.…

An Introduction to Combustible Dust and the Industries that Produce it

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

Workplace hazards come in so many forms that it is difficult to keep track of them all in a manufacturing facility, but we need to be able to do that all the same. Fortunately, not every health and environmental hazard is common to every industry, so a thorough knowledge of the specific sector that one is working in should be sufficient in keeping everyone connected to the facility safe. Our focus today is going to be on combustible dust, because it deserves more attention than it gets most of the time.

Combustible Dust

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A Basic Introduction to Combustible Dust

Theoretically and practically, any fine or coarse dust which can catch fire upon ignition can be considered as an example of combustible dust. It should be noted that combustible dust can often be explosive in nature, although that is not a mandatory criterion for the particles to be classified as such. Not to be confused with gaseous ignition hazards such as methane, all combustible dust is solid in nature.

Examples of Combustible Dust

As per the official definition explained above, combustible dust particles can be generated from nearly all organic and certain inorganic industrial products. Examples of core materials that produce the ignitable dust particles include, but are most certainly not limited to:

  • Wood
  • Coal
  • Rubber
  • Fabric
  • Eggs
  • Starch
  • Dust and pesticides from agricultural produce (grains, sugar, etc.)
  • Sulphur
  • Certain variants of plastic

Industries that Produce Hazardous Combustible Dust

The list would be too long if we were to include every industry that produces at least some degree of ignitable, solid dust as a byproduct. Instead of stretching the list unnecessarily, we will focus on industries that produce dangerously combustible dust particles the most. Consider the following examples as a guiding reference above all else:

Agriculture – Farms, farming fields, animal farms, granaries, food processing plants, agricultural produce packaging facilities, the pesticide industry, etc. all create ignitable dust

Pharmaceuticals and Chemical Plants – From the regular OTC meds and controlled prescription drugs, to industrial-grade cleaners and household disinfectants; most pharmaceutical products create massive amounts of combustible dust as byproducts during manufacturing. In fact, these companies also produce the highest amount of explosive dust.

Metal Processing – Magnesium, zinc, carbon, iron and most other metals are incendiary, so it is only natural for the dust from these processing units to also be highly combustible as a result.

Preventing Fires and Explosions in Industrial Facilities and Farms

It is difficult, but not impossible to control both the spread and on-spot ignition of combustible and explosive dust particles from manufacturing/processing units. There are several measures of course, but the most important equipment is a combustible dust vacuum. These industrial vacuum cleaners are specially designed to safely collect all types of combustible dust particles before they can spread or ignite. The combustible dust vacuum is now considered to be a mandatory device across multiple industries that produce the aforementioned particles in the highest quantity.

It is hoped that more companies in these segments will acknowledge the explosive dangers that combustible dust poses to the surrounding environment and the production units themselves. With the proper precautions in place, it is possible to avoid tragic and financially disastrous accidents from either happening in the first place, or at least bringing down their impact and frequency to a great extent.…

The Scientific Side of Permanent Markers

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

The Scientific Side

For a lot of professionals who use permanent markers or “Sharpie,” one of the biggest questions is how this thing works. Why are these permanent markers staying permanently? The science behind this technological marvel, usually overlooked, involves three main ingredients: resin, carrier, and colorant. With the right combinations, these ingredients make “Sharpie” or permanent marker work.

Definition

While its definition sounds pretty obvious, it is not. Usually, these markers need to meet two qualifications to be considered as a permanent marker: it needs to use pigments or dyes, and it needs to adhere to all surfaces, as well as water-resistant.

According to experts, writing using this device can be expected to last at least three to four months, and several years at most. Although people might use this every day, there is a big chance that people are hard-pressed to explain how it works. This device contains common ingredients that make up regular markers.

These components dictate how the device interact to deliver a clean and reliable line. Always remember that its lasting effect is usually a misnomer as most devices labeled as everlasting are not light-fast unless it is marked explicitly by manufacturers as archival markers.

How inks are made? Check out this site for more info.

What do these things consist of?

These pens are hallowed plastic tubes that are airtight, with a single opening at its tip. These tubes encase a long stick of sponge-like and porous material, which sticks slightly out of its opening (also called the tip). The absorbent material inside is saturated with permanent ink as it drains or evaporates from the exposed tip. Its siphoning effect will draw the fluid from the inside, out of its tip. The ink is composed of three ingredients: resin, solvent, and colorant.

Colorant

Colorants are pigments or dyes that give these fluids its unique color. Whether pink, yellow, neon, red, blue, black, or any other hue, colorants is what we see when we look at lines made by the device. The main difference between pigments and dyes is that pigments are usually water-insoluble or a non-polar solvent, while dyes are water-soluble.

The pigment is a non-polar solvent unless it is ground to very fine dust. Because of the powder’s property, they are usually the favored colorant choice for these devices, given their resistance to humidity dissolution and other environmental agents.

Solvent

This is the key to making an excellent broad, felt-tip pens; without the solvent to transport and dissolve colorant, as well as the ink resin through the small sponge, these pens will not work. Although water is a polar solvent, these solvents need to be non-polar to break down resins and colorants, which are usually non-polar.

Traditionally, manufacturers use xylene, but because of health hazards, they switched to lesser toxic component like isopropanol and ethanol, since children are starting to use these items for school-related activities. Once the liquid ink us applied to the surface, solvents automatically evaporate, leaving only the resin and colorant.

Resin

These are glue-like polymer. Inks made of resin make sure that the colorant sticks to the surface once the it evaporates. If the ink is only made of solvent and colorant, the colorant will turn to powder and fall on the surface as soon as the solvent component evaporated or dried. While ink made of this component is naturally very sticky, the solvent will keep it fluid and free inside the sealed plastic tube.

Differences

The difference between non-permanent and permanent market rest on its resin component; broad, felt-tip pen has resins that non-polar. It does not dissolve in water. That is why, if the ink with a non-polar component gets on a surface, it will stay there permanently. But if you use chemicals like acetone, a non-polar solvent, instead of water, it will dissolve the resin and remove the mark.

On the other hand, non-permanent ones use ink made with resin that is water-soluble or readily dissolves in water. Not only that, but permanent markers may also use specific dyes and pigments that are not water-soluble or do not dissolve easily in water.

Removal

While removing these ink sounds like very contradicting, there are ways to remove it. Non-solvent chemicals like acetone, as well as alcohol, will remove it from both porous and non-porous materials. A lot of household items like hair spray or deodorant contain alcohol and can be used to remove these inks.

…

Impact of Modern Tech on the Elevator Industry

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

If one was to point out the impact and influence of technology across the various segments of business and life itself, it would prove to be a nearly impossible task. This is on account of how intricately and infinitely technology is associated with everything that we see around us.

tech

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Therefore, it would practically be a shame if the rapid growth of technology did not have an impact on elevator tech as well. After all, the advancement of technology has always been based on improving the present technology, and elevators have seen a lot of those improvements in the last few years for sure.

Smarter Elevators

Although we are not yet checking our emails on an elevator yet, they have become smarter than most of us even realize. That lack of realization is of course a result of the fact that most offices and apartment buildings have not yet shifted to smart elevators. Nevertheless, the technology is there and it’s improving further. As of now, smart elevators can:

  • Speed up or slow down on their own, depending on the time of the day
  • They can also speed up or slow down to prioritize safety, by detecting the load
  • There are also security features built-in to prevent unauthorized access to elevator, such as facial recognition and fingerprint-based biometric authentication
  • Automatic smoke detection and fire extinguisher dispersion
  • Automatic emergency brakes and suggestions for exit strategies

New buildings, especially high-rise office buildings, are coming equipped with the latest, smart elevators nowadays. There are usually preprogramming features available in most new elevators, even if they are not self-assessing.

Safer Elevators

It’s convenient and time-saving to have a Wi-Fi enabled elevator, and it’s important to further augment security against unauthorized use of elevators, but none of that is as important as making the cabled cab safer. Thanks to massive improvements that have been made to elevator applications recently, safety has taken a front seat above everything else. For example, KEB drives have been designed in a way, so that they can effectively control motor functions and braking controls without any safety gaps, even while dealing with high-traffic elevators that run up and down skyscrapers, all day and night.

Productive Elevators

An extension of the smart escalator features would be the productivity which they bring with those features. Wi-Fi connections help office employees and executives stay in sync with work while waiting to get to their floor. The wait is often quite a few minutes in high-rise buildings, especially when your office is located on the higher floors.

In fact, Wi-Fi connections are not just about productivity – may also become a necessary failsafe feature in emergency situations. A good example is maintaining communication with outsiders and emergency workers via the internet if people get stuck within an elevator. Phone towers do not work well on lifts, but built-in Wi-Fi solves that issue by enabling digital calls.

As we can see, from general safety to business productivity, the modern elevators have simply evolved in every possible aspect, as compared to their predecessors. In fact, they are even improving in more ways as we discuss this, and that is necessary, given how dangerous elevators can become in times of emergency.…

Straightforward Manufacturing Tips That Help Your Business Grow

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

Manufacturing

Owning a business in the manufacturing industry can definitely come with a fair share of obstacles. In order for you to constantly rise to the challenges presented to you, it is important to think about the future of your business. The direction that your company takes will dictate whether or not you find the success you deserve. There are plenty of simple and straightforward ways you can improve upon your current manufacturing processes. Consider these suggestions and create a strategy that works for the future of your business.

Experiment With Your Products

The products that your business manufactures are the centerpiece of your entire company. If you didn’t have these products, you wouldn’t be in business. Still, there is always room for improvement when it comes to what your company manufactures. Whether you experiment with the design of your product or look for ways to expand an existing line with alternative options, there is a lot to be said for trying out new things. Though there are expenses involved with expanding your capabilities, you also stand to gain a considerable amount in the long run.

Consider Services to Make Your Life Easy

Since there are a ton of demands that come with working in the field of manufacturing, it can be useful to think about how you can receive a bit of help every now and again. There are plenty of amazing services available for you to consider for your manufacturing facility. A service like contract machining, for example, can make your life a lot easier by providing you with solutions to extend the bottom line of your facility. No matter what products you manufacture, you can definitely find services by third parties aimed at improving your experience.

Explore New Markets

Depending on the size of your manufacturing business, you might only deal with local clients. While this is fine for smaller organizations, you definitely want to extend your reach at some point down the line. Once you’ve moved to different parts of the state, start looking at other states you can move into. International markets are also key to your long-term success, as taking your products overseas can offer a ton of exciting opportunities for your future. Don’t limit yourself to local customers only and see what some growth can do.

Improving your manufacturing business is all about time and dedication. Give yourself a chance to consider the various options in front of you and discover the right fit for the future of your company.…

Solid Tips That Anyone can Use about Solar Energy

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

Solar Energy

Congratulations on your choice to start using solar energy! This simple, yet advanced, way to power a business or home is both cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly. This article is filled with tips you can use to select the best solar panels available.

Do Your research solar energy

Do your research before you buy or install anything. It is important that you know what you’re allowed to have in place, what is the best choice for efficiency and what sort of a budget you’re working with. Once you have those answers in hand, you’ll be able to go forward with your project.

Solar energy through the use of solar panels can last up to 30 years. It is a long-lived use of energy and requires very little maintenance on your part. Since there are no movable parts, solar-energy panels don’t break or need repair. This can provide years of electricity bill savings.

If you find that you cannot afford solar panels at the moment, you should stay up to date with new products and technologies. Scientists are regularly coming up with new technologies and materials that can be used to build more efficient and affordable panels, which means solar energy should become a more efficient solution in the future.

Humans have taken advantage of the sun’s heat for thousands of years. A lot of energy can be saved by drying your clothes outdoors in sunny weather. This cuts down a lot on the energy used to dry your clothing in an electric or gas clothes dryer, and linens dried outside smell great.

Learn about grants and rebates available to you

This can help reduce the financial blow from your purchase. Research state and federal laws, rebates and grants, given to renewable energy users. They work to lower the cost substantially. You could deduct some expenses via your taxes.

If you cannot afford to purchase a solar energy system for your entire house, consider using it in just one or two spaces. Solar energy is a great option for heating swimming pools for instance, or bringing additional warmth to a cooler bedroom. You can always start small and purchase more later, as your budget allows.

Investing in solar-powered chargers

If you often travel with your electronic, you should consider investing in solar-powered chargers. These chargers include a small solar panels that can generate enough power to charge your cell phone or another electronic device such as a laptop. There are even cases including a small solar charger designed for tablets.

One of the greatest benefits of solar energy is the fact that it will never run out. Short of the sun burning out, it will always be there to provide us power. Using solar energy is unlike any other energy source because it is a consistent power source and will be there until the end of days.

Go ahead and check into solar energy now that you understand all the benefits it offers. It helps save you money as well as significantly lowering the amount of pollution that impacts the environment. Those are great reasons to consider switching to a solar energy system.…

4 Ways To Help Teach Kids To Appreciate the Environment

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

Environment

We live in a capitalistic society. The beauty of that is that people have the ability and right to make something of themselves, striking out to find financial success. The freedom, though, doesn’t have to discard caring for others. Rather, it can embrace life and improvement. Children can be taught to also value and work for the good of the community as a whole, including planet Earth. To help kids understand the beauty of clean land, take time to do the following four things.

1. Discuss Simple Ways To Reduce Energy

Talk your loved ones. From an early age, let them understand that our utility advances are wonderful, but they are also something to be respected and not abused. Model how to appropriately use water and light. Don’t leave things running and be aware of excess. You could also have lesson about the sun’s power. Watch videos. Perform experiments. Research solar investment New Jersey and consider living the life of using fewer resources.

2. Improve Your Recycling Habits

Simply have places around the house where it’s easy to collect your recyclables. Plastic and paper, for example, are particularly easy to reuse. Watch little ones often. Give gentle reminders that several items shouldn’t be placed in the trash. Try to make it a game to have more in the recycling bin than in the trash can.

3. Schedule Cleanup Walks Around the Neighborhood

Unfortunately, not everyone thinks about their surroundings, throwing things on the ground instead of the bins. Once a month, take a stroll around your community. With a bag in hand, pick up garbage. Encourage appreciation for the land and kindness towards others.

4. Teach Them How To Garden

How do plants grow? What animals allow them to thrive (and vice versa)? A little flower or vegetable garden provides for many talking points. Set up a cedar box, and tend to the vegetation. it’s an opportunity to understand how everything connects.

While your devoting emphasis to independent thought and financial success, also concentrate on the beauty of nature. There’s room for both.…

Simple Tricks to Achieving The Best Home Based Business

Posted on by Louise B. Delia

Home Based Business

The thought of having your home based business become your career can be a very frightening prospect. Especially if you have no prior experience being self-employed. There is a lot to take in and a lot to experience in order to ensure that you are on the right path. This article can provide some information you need to be the best you can be with your home business.

Save money when running a home based business

To save money when running a home based business be sure to hire a certified accountant. It may seem like an extra expense at first, but the expense from a small error can be far more expensive if you were to be audited. Tax laws change every year and having an accountant will relieve stress and allow you to focus on your business.

Ask yourself what service or products

Having trouble coming up with an idea for your business? Ask yourself what service or products you would want in your life. Finding a specific need that is not yet being met is key to a successful business. If it would improve your life, it would probably improve the lives of many other people.

It is vital that you keep accurate records for your home based business. Should you be unfortunate enough to face an audit, these strong financial records will allow you to easily prove expenses and deductions you have taken. Keeping good records also helps you keep track of how well your business is doing from one month to another.

You can claim as a deduction the cost of meals for clients, but it is best if you can show that the clients you are entertaining are really paying customers of your business. Auditors understand that meals at restaurants can be a good way to attract clients, but they are more likely to feel the write-off is justified if the clients you take out also bring you substantial revenue. Keep all receipts.

Support network

Make sure you have a support network before starting your home based business. This includes family members who need to be aware of the time commitment involved, as well as an external networks you can reach out to for advice or support. Working from home has numerous benefits, but remaining a part of a group outside your home is invaluable.

Establish a daily routine when running your home business to keep on track and motivated. One of the benefits of a home business is the flexibility it gives you in scheduling. However, creating a daily routine with time allocated to running your business increases the likelihood your business will be successful.

To summarize, you are mostly petrified by the notion of making a career out of your home business. However, now you are able to take the advice in this article and use it in your own business plan successfully.…