Carbon capture efficiency.

Cool Planet Technologies, a specialist provider of membrane-based carbon capture solutions, recently organised a live demonstration of its modular carbon capture technology at a pilot plant in Grimsby (GB). Attendees were able to view real-time CO₂ levels before and after capture, with continuous data provided by Vaisala MGP241 inline measurement probes.

Background.
The Climate Crisis is forcing countries and businesses around the world to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ultimately, this will rely on decarbonisation and a move away from fossil fuels. However, there are a number of industries for which GHG reductions will be hard to achieve. These include process emissions in the cement, lime, steel, and chemical sectors, as well as combustion emissions in processes such as waste-to-energy.

Given the urgency of the climate crisis, the proximity of Net Zero targets, and the dilemma faced by the ‘hard-to-abate’ industries, there is an enormous global demand for effective carbon capture technologies that can be economically operated at scale.

CPT Rig

Cool Planet Technologies (CPT) was founded in 2019 by a group of mainly ex-oil/gas industry executives, with the sole objective of meeting the global demand for effective carbon capture technology.

Membrane-based CO₂ capture.
CPT is the commercial partner for a membrane-based carbon capture technology developed at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in Germany. This provides CPT with exclusive worldwide rights to commercialise Hereon's latest generation PolyActive™ membrane and carbon capture technology. CPT and Hereon have filed a patent application for the design of their jointly developed carbon capture module, and will continue to collaborate on the further development of the technology.

Hereon’s Torsten Brinkmann says: “Membrane technology offers a number of advantages over alternative carbon capture methods. Importantly, no chemicals or consumables are necessary, and membranes have a long lifetime of around 5 years.” Comparing Hereon’s membranes with hollow fibre membranes, Torsten adds: “Flat sheet membranes offer greater flexibility in the selection of application-specific materials, and they provide superior fluid dynamics in the gas flow path, allowing optimum exploitation of the intrinsic membrane properties.”

Summarising the advantages of their flat sheet membrane technology, CPT’s Chief Technology Officer, Simon Gorringe says: “These membranes are highly efficient, easy to work with, compact and environmentally friendly.”

A key element in the success of carbon capture will be finding economically effective opportunities for CO₂ utilisation, storage or sequestration. So, once carbon dioxide has been captured by CPT’s technology, a post-processing unit can be utilised to purify or liquify the CO₂ to food or sequestration grade.

Proving carbon capture effectivity with CO₂ probes In the early days of its development, the operating performance of the carbon capture modules was predicted by specifically developed simulation tools, which employ single-gas permeation data as the only experimental input. These models were then evaluated by comparisons with tests undertaken at the Grimsby pilot plant, and found to be extremely accurate – performing to within 1% of predicted CO₂ capture.

CPT’s pilot carbon capture facility in Grimsby was designed to allow control of the pressure ratio across the membranes in the modules, and control of the CO₂ content of the feed gas. The plant is equipped with two CPT modules, although the plant is able to accommodate four modules. The two modules in the demonstration plant operate in series, offering CO₂ capture capacity up to 37,000 tonnes/annum (tpa).

Two live demonstrations of carbon capture performance by the CPT plant in Grimsby were conducted in June and October 2025, providing invited guests from industries such as lime, cement and steel with proof of concept and performance verification for CPT’s carbon capture data.

Vaisala inline CO₂  probe

Five of Vaisala’s MGP241 probes continuously monitor CO₂ concentrations in the feed gas, during the process and in both the permeate and the retentate. Data are logged once per second and carbon capture efficiency is calculated and displayed in real-time. “The accuracy and reliability of the CO₂ probes is critically important,” Simon Gorringe explains. “Our initial research indicated that the Vaisala probes would meet our stringent requirements, but the pilot plant has allowed us to perform mass calculations to check their accuracy. Happily, this work was able to verify the high performance levels that the Vaisala probes deliver.”

The MGP241 probe was developed specifically to fill a gap in the market for carbon capture measurement probes. Uniquely, the MGP241 uses patented CARBOCAP® auto-calibrating infrared technology for the simultaneous inline measurement of both carbon dioxide and humidity. Importantly, the probes are able to accurately measure any CO₂ concentration from 0 – 100%. Humidity measurement is also important because condensation would allow the formation of acids that would damage the equipment.

Next steps.
CPT has recently announced that it has commenced the assembly of its 10,000 tonnes per annum carbon capture plant on site at Höver. CPT’s construction team is currently installing and connecting the prefabricated modules, which is expected to take around two months. Capture operations are scheduled to begin in Q2 2026 following which the plant will demonstrate the performance, economics, and operability of CPT’s technology at scale over a 12-month period, and will also utilise Vaisala probes to verify projected performance. For example, CPT will target 95% CO₂ recovery. CPT and Holcim will then collaborate on the full decarbonisation of the Höver plant with plans to build a larger plant to capture around 90% of Höver’s CO₂ emissions (around 800,000 tpa), at the start of the next decade.

Looking forward, CPT CEO Andrew Corner says: “With over 150 locations worldwide, Holcim represents enormous decarbonisation potential for CPT’s technology.” However, given the size and urgency of worldwide demand for decarbonisation, Andrew is keen to emphasise the global potential: “From the outset, we have been resolutely determined to ensure, not just that our carbon capture solution is modular and scalable, but also, that it is both environmentally and financially sustainable.”

Clearly, CPT is targeting all of the hard-to-abate industries, and Andrew believes that the key to unlocking this potential is the provision of trust and confidence in carbon capture efficiency. “I am very happy to acknowledge the role that Vaisala’s probes play in delivering that trust,” he explains. “Our customers need to know what levels of performance they can expect from our systems, so the inline measurement of accurate, reliable CO₂ concentrations is critically important.”

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@VaisalaGroup @_Enviro_News  #Emissions #PAuto

Metal bellows coupling clamping.

The metal bellows coupling of the KP series from Jakob, is characterized by its short design and a 4-wave bellows with two radial clamping hubs. This compact design is ideal for applications with minimal shaft spacing and limited space. The high torsional rigidity and easy assembly thanks to the clamping hub design are particularly noteworthy. The coupling also offers a low moment of inertia and good values ​​for permissible shaft misalignments and restoring forces.

The multi-layer metal bellows made of certified stainless steel offers high torsional rigidity and compensates for axial, radial and lateral shaft misalignments. The shortened design saves weight, which leads to a lower moment of inertia.

The clamping hub is made of high-strength aluminum to keep the moment of inertia as low as possible. With the innovative Easy-Clamp system, the hubs can be pushed on easily and with sufficient clearance. A single, radially easily accessible screw per hub provides the necessary preload force for torque transmission. This simple yet reliable connection enables the couplings to be assembled quickly, even under difficult installation conditions.

The connection between bellows and hub is made using an optimal, backlash-free brass-wire press-fit method. In contrast to adhesive connections, this joining process is absolutely permanent under critical operating conditions (-40°C to +200°C, chemicals) and ensures that the torque of each individual bellows layer is safely transmitted to the hub.

The KP series is available for nominal torques from 25 to 900 Nm and covers bore diameters from 10 to 75 mm.

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@UnnGmbh @PresseBox #jakobantriebstechnik  #Manufacturing #Pauto

Any old clothes!

Automated system enables intelligent sorting of used textiles.

The mountain of old textiles continues to grow in Germany every year. Less than one per cent of this enters a closed recycling loop. Reasons for this include so-called "fast fashion", which leads to an increasing amount of low-quality textiles, as well as the wide variety of materials, which makes efficient recycling even more difficult. Today, sorting is mostly done manually and is almost impossible to manage given the quantities involved: Of around 1.4 million tonnes, only about 200,000 tonnes are actually checked and allocated. The rest is thermally recycled or exported abroad. Automated processes are therefore a key lever for keeping significantly more used textiles in circulation.

The Recycling Atelier at the Augsburg Institute for Textile Technology (ITA)* is tackling this challenge. As a model factory, it maps the entire process of mechanical textile recycling. The focus is on a holistic concept that does not optimise individual sub-processes but rather takes the entire system into account. This approach led to the development of DETEX – an Ai-based system for the automatic sorting of textiles. With the help of artificial intelligence and two high-resolution uEye XC cameras from IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH, DETEX captures the essential features of the garments and assigns them precisely to specific categories. This makes sorting more accurate and lays the foundation for efficient recycling.

Why is sorting old clothes so important?
Before worn-out trousers, T-shirts or jumpers can be turned into something new, they must first be mechanically processed. The aim of this process is to create entirely new fabrics from the used garments. To achieve this, they are shredded, freed from buttons or zippers, and broken down into individual fibres. Preserving fibre length during this process is crucial to the quality of the recycled material produced. Differences in fabric structure and areal density must also be taken into account during processing. Precise classification into material categories is therefore essential and determines the subsequent handling of the textiles. Until now, sorting has been done mainly by hand – a time-consuming process that requires a high level of expertise. In other industries, such tasks have long been performed by automated, Ai-supported recognition systems. This is precisely where DETEX comes in: The research project is developing and testing Ai models designed to make the sorting of used textiles significantly more efficient.

How does the system work?
DETEX relies on intelligent image processing to automatically recognise and classify textiles. Two high-resolution industrial cameras provide the necessary images by scanning garments as they move along a conveyor belt. Neural networks analyse the images and recognise patterns and structures based on previously learned data. To enable this, they were trained in advance using a large number of sample images, including photographs of various garments as well as close-up images of different fabric types. At least 3,000 samples per clothing category were required. This training data had to be manually categorized beforehand, for example by labelling an image of trousers as “trousers“. On this basis, DETEX can quickly and reliably assign new images to the appropriate textile categories.

For precise analysis, DETEX works with pre-trained neural networks – one model each for classification, object recognition and material identification. Different architectures and scenarios are being tested. This allows different degrees of difficulty and realism to be simulated in order to test how robust the Ai models are against folds, overlaps or rotations. 

Initially, an object detection model analyses the images captured by the first camera mounted above the conveyor belt. It determines the type of garment, such as a T-shirt, trousers or a dress. The second camera scans the garments again from a height of approximately 5 centimetres, focusing on material properties and the detection of features such as stains or buttons. The identified image sections are cropped and passed on to a second Ai model, which classifies the type of material – specifically distinguishing between woven and knitted fabrics. Finally, the analysis results are clearly displayed on a screen.

Which cameras are used?

uEye XC Starter Set

For image capture, the Augsburg-based institute relies on uEye XC cameras from IDS, specifically the uEye XC Starter Set. The complete package includes a camera, tripod, cables and a macro lens, providing a ready-to-use solution for the research project. Key factors in the camera selection were its compact design, 13-megapixel sensor and ease of use, as Martin Kohnle, Project Manager for Ai & Digitalisation at ITA, explains: “The uEye XC is as easy to use as a webcam, but has been specially developed for industrial applications. It delivers razor-sharp images even with varying object distances or challenging lighting conditions.” 

In addition, features such as a 24x digital zoom, auto white balance and automatic colour correction ensure precise capture of even the finest details. As a genuine industrial camera, it was designed with long-term component availability in mind – an important advantage over conventional consumer webcams.

The Augsburg-based team relies on the free IDS peak camera software for image processing integration. The Software Development Kit (SDK) provides all necessary programming interfaces and tools for operating and controlling the cameras. “IDS peak enables straightforward and high-performance integration of our cameras via USB3 Vision. The uniform SDK structure greatly simplifies development, control and image acquisition. This enables us to implement our AI-based image processing workflows more quickly and adapt them flexibly”, Kohnle confirms.

What’s next?
The textile recycling market is increasingly moving towards data-driven, Ai-based processes that require high-quality image data in real time. This increases the requirements for camera quality, synchronisation and API compatibility for the recycling studio. Research focuses in particular on the flexible integration of various sensor technologies into adaptive sorting and analysis systems.

DETEX itself is also set to evolve: What is currently a conveyor-belt-based system will be expanded into a modular, mechanical-robotic overall solution that addresses both recycling and reuse. At its core will be a free-fall system enabling multi-perspective, 360° capture of textiles. In addition, a downstream, two-sided shot by robot-assisted grippers will allow for detailed analysis of further material characteristics. This approach makes it possible to capture a significantly broader range of information and to assign textiles even more precisely to suitable recycling or reuse pathways. Another important step towards a closed recycling loop – supported by industrial image processing.

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* The Recycling Atelier at the Institute for Textile Technology Augsburg (ITA) is a model and learning factory for mechanical textile recycling. The team is researching pioneering methods for the circular recycling of textiles. The vision: High-quality recycling instead of landfill and energy recovery.

@IDS_Imaging @mepaxIntPR #Pauto 

Covering the wide-belt.

The Matrix 830 and 930 series has been introduced by Datalogic. These are the only 2D area imagers in the world that can scan conveyor belts up to 1 meter wide with a single device. With ultra-high-resolution sensors, unmatched throughput, and patented focus technologies, they deliver a truly revolutionary solution for parcel sortation, combining maximum performance with the lowest system cost. These ultra-high-resolution 2D imaging barcode readers set a new benchmark for performance, efficiency, and total system cost, redefining how large-area conveyor scanning is achieved.

Unique for wide-belt coverage
The Matrix 930 is the only device in the world capable of covering conveyor belts up to 1 meter wide with a single reader. With its 28-megapixel, 8000-pixel-wide sensor, no other industrial scanner can match its ability to capture large-area flows without multiple cameras, folding mirrors, or added complexity. This unique capability allows logistics operators to drastically reduce system complexity, installation time, and maintenance costs.

The Matrix 930 Premium is AI-ready, fully compatible with Datalogic’s Smart Vision Suite for Logistics. From Hazmat label recognition to advanced parcel classification, customers can unlock new value from existing infrastructure and prepare for the next generation of logistics automation.

Thanks to PackTrack™ technology, the Matrix 830/930 handles conveyor speeds up to 3.5 m/s, accurately capturing multiple parcels even in dense flows. The combination of ultra-high resolution and patented focus technologies ensures maximum read rates and operational robustness—performance no other scanner can achieve.

Designed for seamless integration, the Matrix 830/930 series reduces hardware complexity, simplifies layouts, and enables faster deployment. Its industrial-grade design ensures durability while maintaining the smallest possible system footprint without compromising performance, delivering the lowest total system cost in the market

“The Matrix 830 and 930 represent a paradigm shift in large-area conveyor scanning,” said Michele Leoni, Product and Solutions Executive Vice President, Industrial Automation Products at Datalogic. “For the first time, customers can achieve unmatched throughput and accuracy across conveyor belts up to one meter wide using one single reader. This is not just about performance — it’s about radically simplifying system design while opening the door to AI-driven logistics applications.”

Matrix 830–930: ultra high resolution scanning that cuts complexity, boosts throughput, and sets the stage for the future of automated logistics.

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@DatalogicGroup  @mepaxIntPR #PAuto #Automation

5D vision camera.

The Perciva™ 5D camera, a breakthrough imaging innovation designed to make high‑quality short‑range 3D vision cost-effective, reliable, and easy to integrate has been launched by Teledyne e2v.

Most industrial cameras only capture 2D images, yet many applications increasingly require depth perception at close and very‑close distances. Perciva 5D delivers this capability through a unique Angular Sensitive Pixel technology and advanced on‑board processing, enabling real-time 2D and 3D image fusion at the calibrated working distance range. Perciva 5D also features a powerful Neural Processing Unit (NPU), enabling Artificial Intelligence models to run on-device and be customized to each customer’s specific requirements.

Perciva 5D generates 2D and 3D data from a single CMOS sensor, free from optical occlusion, producing time-aligned 2D frames alongside pixel‑aligned 3D depth maps. With comprehensive 3D processing built directly into the camera, users benefit from immediate depth maps or point‑cloud outputs. Perciva 5D operates using ambient light, indoors or outdoors, eliminating the need for an external NIR source while maintaining reliable performance and minimizing overall system costs. Designed for challenging environments, it offers plug‑and‑play integration through its GenICam‑compliant, GigE Vision interface and robust IP6x‑rated housing with industrial M12 connectors.

Factory calibrated and weighing just 230 grams, Perciva 5D operates at less than 5 W, and is ideal for robotics (arms, cobots and humanoids), retail self-checkout solutions, and 3D industrial process monitoring. It supports user-adjustable frame rates or triggered acquisition and multiple power options. Using GenDC / GenTL the camera integrates seamlessly with Teledyne’s Spinnaker® 4 API and SpinView® for 2D / 3D visualisation, as well as leading machine‑vision software platforms.

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@e2vteledyne #PAuto

Partnership to unify fragmented building data.

To boost efficiency and meet growing regulatory and financial requirements

EnOcean and Bember, a specialist in compliance, analytics, and reporting software, have just announced a strategic partnership. By combining their technologies, they aim to address a key challenge in commercial real estate: establishing a scalable and efficient foundation for energy optimization by transforming fragmented building data into reliable insights that support full compliance and ESG standards.

Bridging IT and OT for Real-World Building Performance.
The cooperation combines the battery-free IoT sensor ecosystem and SmartServer platform from EnOcean with Bember’s software for compliance, analytics, and reporting. “The joint solution e

LtoR: Anders Fjærli, CEO, Bember  &
Raoul Wijgergangs, CEO, EnOcean

nables system integrators, building and portfolio owners to advance sustainable building automation,” says Raoul Wijgergangs, CEO of EnOcean GmbH. “By digitally unifying building data, it improves operational performance, reduces energy and CO₂ consumption and helps meet increasing regulatory and financial reporting requirements. A core element of the partnership is the seamless integration of IT and OT domains, which are traditionally siloed in buildings.”

Wireless, battery-free EnOcean sensors and partner eco-system devices provide IT data on occupancy, presence, temperature, CO₂, humidity, and usage patterns. Through EnOcean SmartServer, Bember also gains access to OT data from building automation and control systems, including HVAC operation, energy flows, meters, and control states. By combining sensor-level IT data with operational OT data, the solution delivers a unified, real-world view of how buildings are used and how technical systems actually perform.

“Buildings generate enormous amounts of data, but too often that data remains fragmented and underutilized,” says Wijgergangs. “By combining our battery-free IoT ecosystem and SmartServer platform with Bember’s analytics and compliance expertise, we enable a practical bridge between IT and OT — turning raw building data into actionable insights that supports both operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.”

From Unified Data to Actionable ESG Insight.
Bember structures and contextualizes the combined IT and OT data into sustainability-aligned metrics. The shared data foundation supports AI-based analysis, continuous optimization, and audit-ready data for reporting and control, without duplicating systems or workflows.

“Our focus is on making ESG and regulatory reporting reliable, continuous, and grounded in real operational data,” says Anders Fjærli, CEO of Bember. “Partnering with EnOcean allows us to connect sensor-level insights with building system data at scale, giving building owners and operators a transparent and audit-ready basis for compliance, optimization, and long-term value creation.”

Benefits Across the Building Ecosystem.
The Bember - EnOcean partnership enables system integrators to expand traditional automation projects into scalable digital services, while reducing installation and lifecycle costs through wireless, battery-free sensor technology from EnOcean. Building owners and operators benefit from a single, coherent view of occupancy, indoor climate, energy use, and system performance. Data-driven optimization helps reduce energy consumption and operating costs, while audit-ready data supports reporting towards CSRD/ESRS, EU Taxonomy, SFDR, EPBD, and BREEAM In-Use requirements. With this partnership, EnOcean and Bember address a key challenge in commercial real estate: transforming fragmented building data into reliable insight that supports efficiency, compliance, and scalable portfolio management.

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@EnOcean  #Bember #BMS #Pauto  #Energy

A fully European alternative.

All-in-One Office Suite, 100% European.

Office.eu, a 100% European owned alternative to widely used productivity platforms such as Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, has officially launched today in The Hague (NL). Built on open-source technology and running entirely on European infrastructure, Office.eu enables organisations to regain control over their data and digital operations.

"We have seen more and more how essential it is to become cloud-independent and to rely on software that is built around European values,” said Maarten Roelfs, CEO of Office.eu. “For many years, Europe has relied on American software and therefore created a certain risk of dependency, but we have also given away the control over our own data. Office.eu proves that we now have a strong European alternative, with sovereignty, privacy and transparency at its core.”

The platform has been tested over recent months by early adopters across Europe. Designed as a complete office suite, Office.eu combines document editing, collaboration and secure data storage, while fully complying with European Union data protection legislation.

The launch comes at a time of growing concern about digital dependency and data sovereignty. Recent geopolitical developments have underlined the strategic importance of having secure, independent digital infrastructure within Europe.

Maarten Roelfs explains the positioning of the company: “Office.eu is 100% European owned and runs entirely on European data centres. The data and the apps stay exactly where it belongs and are safe from non-European control. The Office Suite is very intuitive and easy to use enabling a seamless switch from American software to office.eu. We also help customers to migrate very conveniently from Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. It is currently rolling out across Europe by invitation for selected clients who have requested access. Pricing is comparable to existing market alternatives and tools are available to ensure smooth data migration. Potential clients are welcome to apply. A widespread, phased European rollout is planned in 2nd quarter 2026. It's now available across Europe, with pricing comparable to existing market alternatives and tools to facilitate smooth data migration.”

"Security Delta (HSD) is proud that Office.eu is rooted in The Hague, the International City of Peace and Justice. In this city we work together and we are a leading hub for digital governance, cybersecurity and innovation. The city actively supports initiatives that strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty and contribute to a secure, open and resilient digital future.” Joris den Bruinen, General Director of Security Delta (HSD).

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• Read the full story and listen to the interview with Maarten Roelfs on Stories of Purpose The Hague.

#OfficeEU #Software