Ford factory processes paint fumes to generate power
The paint fumes contain volatile organic compounds which act as greenhouse gases and pollutants. Typically, these gases would be incinerated, which while better than leaving the VOCÂ’s alone, still produces excessive amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
Ford has developed a much cleaner process to dispose of the gases.
FordÂ’s system converts the gases into fuel then fed through a molten carbonate fuel cell to produce about 300 kWh of electricity-about what it takes to power 100 homes. The process reduces carbon emissions by 88 percent and eliminates nitrogen oxides entirely.
“The Oakville stationary fuel-cell system is the first of its kind worldwide to harvest emissions from an automotive facility,” said Matthew Daraskavich, the paint-systems engineer at the factory. “Fumes-to-fuel has the potential to significantly reduce manufacturing’s emissions in an environmentally sustainable process. It is very exciting in terms of its potential future applications to manufacturing.”
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Fire in manhole leaves thousands of Hydro-Québec customers without power
MONTREAL - Hydro-Québec says a power outage affecting Montreal is connected to an underground explosion and a fire in a manhole in Rosemont—La Petite–Patrie.
The fire started in underground pipes belonging to Hydro-Québec on Bélanger Street between Boyer and Saint-André streets, according to Montreal firefighters, who arrived on the scene at 12:18 p.m.
The electricity had to be cut so that firefighters could get into the manhole where the equipment was located.
At the peak of the shutdown, nearly 41,000 customers were without power. As of 7:00 p.m., 10,981 clients still had no power.
Hydro-Québec spokesperson Louis-Olivier Batty said the utility is being strategic about how it restores power.
Because of the cold, it anticipates that…
