The efficiency and eco-efficiency of manufacturing

In this paper, we review the efficiency of both manufacturing processes and systems over recent decades and compare nano-materials technologies in this context. To a first approximation, nano-materials processes appear to be about as efficient as semi-conductor processes. That is, their second law e...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gutowski, Timothy G. (Contributor)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Inderscience, 2011-02-04T13:31:40Z.
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Online Access:Get fulltext
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100 1 0 |a Gutowski, Timothy G.  |e author 
100 1 0 |a Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering  |e contributor 
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100 1 0 |a Gutowski, Timothy G.  |e contributor 
245 0 0 |a The efficiency and eco-efficiency of manufacturing 
260 |b Inderscience,   |c 2011-02-04T13:31:40Z. 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60894 
520 |a In this paper, we review the efficiency of both manufacturing processes and systems over recent decades and compare nano-materials technologies in this context. To a first approximation, nano-materials processes appear to be about as efficient as semi-conductor processes. That is, their second law efficiencies are of the order 10(superscript −5), while conventional processes are of order 10(superscript −2). However, many of these processes are early in their development and some opportunities do exist for improvement. At the same time, many aspects of these processes (the need for high purity materials, low yields, and operating conditions far from equilibrium) may make these materials vulnerable to high energy prices. 
546 |a en_US 
655 7 |a Article 
773 |t International Journal of Nanomanufacturing