But what Dustin Hoffman's character wasn't told was how bad making plastic can be for the environment. Dr. Chuck Zhang, assistant professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and his colleagues Kerang Han and H.P. Ben Wang see a way to cut much of the toxic waste stream produced by the world's immense plastics manufacturing complex. Results of the research, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, show promise for significantly changing the way boats and other large Fiberglas items are manufactured and could be applied to the aerospace and building construction industries as well, says Zhang.
Workers wear masks and other protective clothing in what amounts to an unhealthy environment.
Zhang's vacuum infusion process would change all that. Vacuum infusion uses a sealed bag mold. The fiber is already in the mold and a vacuum, controlled by one person at a computer, pumps in the resin. By using the closed mold, the self-layering process reduces 95 percent of the VOC emissions, says Zhang. Citing new, stricter federal emission regulations, Zhang sees this vacuum infusion process as a huge environmental plus.