k8彩乐园app官网下载的玻璃科学家们正在研究一种清洗酒瓶以供重复使用的方法

The bottle washing research project, conducted at Alfred University’s Center for Glass Innovation, 由纽约州环境保护部(DEC)拨款支持, with assistance from Vitricity, 该公司进行市场研究，并为寻求玻璃回收/再利用倡议的企业和组织提供顾问服务.

The DEC has awarded Alfred University $4.由环境保护基金拨款200万元进行研究，以促进玻璃的回收及再用. The bottle washing project is supported by these grant funds.

“纽约州的公民真的很关心制造业的可持续性. DEC认识到这一点，并在促进循环经济的项目中发挥了领导作用, in which we take waste products and use them for something else,” said Collin Wilkinson, 他是k8彩乐园app官网下载稻盛工程学院的玻璃科学教授, who directs the Center for Glass Innovation. “The difficulty is finding ways to do that. Our job is to think about glass” and how it can be reused.

Rebecca Welch, 宾夕法尼亚州立大学材料科学与工程专业博士生，自去年春天起在k8彩乐园app官网下载担任访问学者和副教授, is a researcher for Vitricity. 她在洗瓶项目上的工作包括调查该地区的葡萄酒生产商，以衡量他们对该项目的兴趣, 并就可持续发展的好处提供教育.

There are more than 130 wineries in the Finger Lakes Region, primarily on Keuka, Seneca, and Cayuga lakes. Welch said according to surveys the region’s wine producers, the average winery uses about 10,000 bottles each year in their tasting rooms alone, with some going through as many as 50,000 annually. 在大多数情况下，这些瓶子没有被再利用，很可能最终被填埋. 开发一种有效的瓶子清洗和再利用方法可能对该地区葡萄酒行业的可持续发展产生重大影响. And with the cost of wine bottles increasing, due in large part to supply chain issues, there is an incentive for wineries to reuse their bottles.

“我们的研究表明，在一些有洗瓶的国家, bottles can be used as many as 30 times. Canada has programs in place, focusing on the beer industry. 我们想做他们所做的，并将其应用到五指湖地区的酒庄. This would be a huge benefit, not only for the vineyards financially, but for our overall sustainability efforts,” Welch commented.

“There are some concerns,” she noted. “How do we know the bottles are clean enough to be reused? 水和清洁剂的作用是什么:会腐蚀玻璃吗? How does wine impact the integrity of the glass? As the bottles are washed, how long before the glass breaks?”

k8彩乐园app官网下载的玻璃科学家致力于回答这些问题. Arron Potter, a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Glass Innovation, 帮助领导找到清洁酒瓶的有效方法.

The process comes with some challenges. 波特解释说，玻璃是微小的多孔——它的孔是用纳米来测量的, which equates to billionths of a meter. Liquid stored in bottles—in this case, 葡萄酒-可以降解玻璃，沉淀在瓶子内部的表面下. 这种残留物在其气味中很明显，可能会影响葡萄酒的味道. 他把葡萄酒对瓶子的影响比作泡菜对罐子的影响.

波特说:“你可以把泡菜罐洗几次，泡菜的味道还是会保留下来。. “The same thing happens with wine bottles.”

波特的研究正在寻找一种清洗瓶子的方法，其中有一层非常薄的——小到一微米, or one-millionth of a meter—of the glass surface is removed, taking away any residual moisture and leaving a new, more pristine interior surface of the bottle.

“最大的挑战是知道玻璃表面有多少水. It can be very difficult to measure,” Potter said, 注意到研究人员使用红外显微镜来确定瓶子内部表面有多少水, and how far into the surface it is evident.

韦尔奇说，一旦找到了合适的洗瓶方法, 重点将放在开发收集和清洗瓶子的设施，并确定如何将它们运送到酿酒厂和从酿酒厂.

“我们需要让清洗和重复使用瓶子变得更便宜，或者和购买新瓶子一样便宜,” Welch said, 他指出，国家可能会考虑向酿酒厂提供补贴，以鼓励他们重复使用酒瓶. “I feel we can meet the current cost without subsidies. With government support, it would be cheaper” to reuse bottles.

k8彩乐园app官网下载和Vitricity将于5月8日在哈蒙德波特附近的Barrelhouse酿酒厂举行宴会, 纽约-其中k8彩乐园app官网下载校友卡拉麦基88年是联合创始人和董事总经理-提供信息酒厂/葡萄园主和当地企业对项目的状态，以及它如何有利于他们的业务和提高可持续性. 项目组织者希望在活动结束后，他们能更好地了解有多少酒庄支持这个想法.

“我们希望通过传播意识和教育葡萄园来帮助这个项目取得成功,” Welch said. “大多数(葡萄酒生产商)回答我们的调查说，他们关心环境，希望使五指湖地区更具可持续性. 可持续性是他们许多商业模式的核心.”