Sustainable Technology
Due to its innovative products and production processes, Metafoam’s sustainable technology development benefits are:
The reduction of copper requirements, thus of copper production, also results in a diminution of clean water used in the copper production process. For every ton of copper saved there is 22.0 cubic meter of water conserved during the processing of copper.
Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and other Pollutants
GHG and other pollutant reduction resulting from the use of Metafoam metal foams in heat sinks in various electronic components arise from four sources:
Metafoam’s metal foam wicks are made with a mixture of foam and several polymers. Within the manufacturing process, the polymers are removed and the remaining product is a metallic foam composed of pure copper. Copper has a long recycling history and has one of the highest rates of recycling of engineered metal. Since this copper foam is pure, its recycling does not require any additional treatments to existing waste streams. It can be collected in scrap copper piles and sold for recycling purposes. It has an infinite recyclable life and maintains 95% of its value from the primary metal from newly mined ore.
By recycling copper the resource is conserved and, according to the International Copper Association, 40% of copper that is currently used annually is recycled from previous use and 80% of the copper that was ever used remains in use today. Recycling of copper conserves the resource and creates a sustainable market for the metal.
- Usage reduction of non-renewable resources
- Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other pollutants
- Material recycling
- Usage reduction of non-renewable resources
The reduction of copper requirements, thus of copper production, also results in a diminution of clean water used in the copper production process. For every ton of copper saved there is 22.0 cubic meter of water conserved during the processing of copper.
Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and other Pollutants
GHG and other pollutant reduction resulting from the use of Metafoam metal foams in heat sinks in various electronic components arise from four sources:
- Reduction of SO2 emissions in the smelting stage of copper metal processing.
- Reduction of sulfur releases into ground and surface water from reduction in copper mining wastes and tailings.
- Within the electronics market, the use of Metafoam material in heat sinks for CPU server processors with power requirements of > 150W will displace the requirement for active liquid cooling of units, saving on average 3.5 W of power required to pump and cool the liquid per device. This operational saving results in avoided electrical energy requirements of 30.6 kWh per year per device. Depending on the location of the device, the GWF for this displaced electricity would be on average 600 kg/MWh, and thus each Metafoam heat sink in a server CPU processor > 150 W would avoid 18.36 kg CO2e per device.
- The amount of copper used in the heat sinks is reduced when using Metafoam material, and therefore there is a GHG emission reduction associated with the avoided GHG emissions for copper mining and processing activities that are not necessary.
Metafoam’s metal foam wicks are made with a mixture of foam and several polymers. Within the manufacturing process, the polymers are removed and the remaining product is a metallic foam composed of pure copper. Copper has a long recycling history and has one of the highest rates of recycling of engineered metal. Since this copper foam is pure, its recycling does not require any additional treatments to existing waste streams. It can be collected in scrap copper piles and sold for recycling purposes. It has an infinite recyclable life and maintains 95% of its value from the primary metal from newly mined ore.
By recycling copper the resource is conserved and, according to the International Copper Association, 40% of copper that is currently used annually is recycled from previous use and 80% of the copper that was ever used remains in use today. Recycling of copper conserves the resource and creates a sustainable market for the metal.