We thank our business and research partners for their excellent co-operation throughout the last year, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a successful New Year.

Yours BAM

The new Energy Label for dish washers. Previous classes below D are not indicated any more

The Energy Label, which helps select an efficient electric appliance, has existed for over ten years. Today, almost all equipment corresponds to Class A. That is a major improvement in terms of energy efficiency. Further improvements, however, are not visible to the customers.

New classes

The new label looks a little different and has additional classes depending on the product. Manufacturers may use the new labels from 20 December 2010 and will be required to do so from the end of 2011. The additional classes are ”above“ the previous Class A and designate equipment with noticeably higher efficiency. Thus a Class A+++ refrigerator of the same size requires 60 % less energy than a device which qualifies for Class A and a washing machine 30 % less.

New: television sets will also obtain a label. Decisions will be based on the energy consumption per screen area of the equipment. Most labels will also provide information on standby consumption. The old label will be there in the shops for a while beside the new one. Then you will be able to compare products according to their annual consumption, also indicated on the label.

There is some change at the bottom end of the scale too. Most equipment which carries an energy label also falls within the eco design guideline. The less efficient products will encounter bans. This is why one cannot find standard incandescent light bulbs under Class E in the shops any more and washing machines and dishwashers under Class A will soon disappear from the market. Residual stocks, however, may still be sold.

More information on the energy label : http://www.stromeffizienz.de/eu-label.html
More information on eco design: http://www.ebpg.bam.de

Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Floris Akkerman
Department S Accreditation, Quality in Testing
Phone:+49 30 8104-3810, email: ebpg@bam.de

Silicon compound; ball and stick model
(© Peter Portius)

A group of researchers with the collaboration of BAM has prepared and fully characterised the first base adducts of silicon tetraazide. The highly energetic compounds combine a remarkable thermal stability, with a high reactive nitrogen content (up to 48 %) and convenient accessibility.

These properties and because silicon is abundant, cheap and environmentally harmless, such adducts of silicon tetraazide are promising highly energetic materials. The safe and convenient synthesis of solutions of pure silicon tetraazide is a major progress which opens up a new route to a number of new nitrogen-rich compounds.

Neutrale Lewis-Basen-Addukte des Siliciumtetraazids. Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., Volume 49, Issue 43, pages 8013-8016, October 18, 2010. First published online on 15 September 2010. DOI: 10.1002/ange.201001826.

Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Klaus-Dieter Wehrstedt
Department 2 Chemical Safety Engineering, Division 2.2 Reactive Substances and Systems
Phone: +49 30 8104-1220, email: klaus-dieter.wehrstedt@bam.de

Test samples: firework rockets

For over a year BAM has been testing New Year’s Eve Fireworks according to the European Directive 2007/23/EG.

This guideline which must be implemented throughout Europe by the end of this year provides the basis for uniform Europe-wide testing for safe handling of firecrackers, rockets or firework batteries.

Has anything changed for us New Year’s Eve fireworks users? Are the fireworks just as safe now as they used to be? BAM will answer all these and other questions about the topic of testing and safety of fireworks in Europe at its press conference.

Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 15:00 hours at the
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin
Building 8, Visitors’ Centre in the library (car entrance from Mörchinger Straße)

Additionally, particularly beautiful rockets and firework batteries, new on the market, will be fired.

Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Ulrike Rockland, Spokeswoman
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Phone: +49 30 8104-1003, email: presse@bam.de

• BAM Research Reports 293
  Dr.-Ing. Margit Weltschev, Dr.-Ing. Ute Niebergall, Manuela Haufe, Martina Heyer
  Vergleich der Materialeigenschaften von Polyethylenformstoffen und der Baumusterprüfungen von Gefahrgutverpackungen in Abhängigkeit von der Vorlagerungsdauer mit 55 %-iger Salpetersäure - only in German
  (Comparison of material properties of polyethylene plastics and the design type tests of dangerous goods packaging as a function of the pre-ageing duration in 55-% nitric acid)
  (Full text, PDF, 4.7 MB, Abstract, PDF)
  ISBN 978-3-9813853-3-5
  
  Contact:
  Dr.-Ing. Margit Weltschev
  Division 3.2 Tanks for Dangerous Goods and Accidental Mechanics
  Phone: +49 30 8104-3959, email: margit.weltschev@bam.de 
  

• BAM Dissertation Series, Volume 68
  Dipl.-Ing. Hamid Naghib Zadeh
  Niedrig-sinternde Kondensatorwerkstoffe auf der Basis von Bariumtitanat - only in German
  (Low-sintering capacitor materials based on barium titanate)
  (Full text, PDF, 4 MB, Abstract, PDF)
  2010, ISBN 978-3-9813853-2-8
  
  Contact:
  Dr.-Ing. Hamid Naghib Zadeh
  Department 5 Materials Engineering, Division 5.4 Advanced Ceramics
  Phone: ++49 30 8101-4442, email: hamid.naghib-zadeh@bam.de
  
  
• BAM Dissertation Series, Volume 67
  M. Sc. Carlo Tiebe
  Detektion leicht flüchtiger organischer Verbindungen mikrobiellen Ursprungs (MVOC) mittels Ionenmobilitätsspektrometrie (IMS) - only in German
  (Detection of highly volatile organic compounds of microbial origin (MVOC) using ion mobility spectrometry (IMS)
  (Full text, PDF, 1.4 MB, Abstract, PDF)
  2010, ISBN 978-3-9813853-1-1
  
  Contact:
  Dr. rer. nat. Carlo Tiebe
  Department 4 Materials Protection and Surface Technologies, Division VI.4 Surface Technology
  Phone: +49 30 8104-4518, email: carlo.tiebe@bam.de