Automotive HVAC and Cabin Comfort Systems

Source : www.asdreports.com

Automobile air conditioning works in the same manner as of regular AC. Its ultimate use is to cool the occupants of a vehicle in hot weather.

There has been much debate on the relationship between fuel efficiency while using AC. Technically speaking; there are some other important factors to be considered while finding the actual variance of fuel. Factors like engine power & weight, aerodynamics and wind resistance are to be considered to get accurate mileage of the vehicles. The overall engine heat increase can also have impact on cooling system of the vehicle.

Automotive HVAC and Cabin comfort systems have growing demand for luxuries car markets. Developed markets like U.S. & Europe are always showing boosting demand for HVAC systems.

People are spending more time in their vehicles; also there is an increasing trend of private vehicles. Popularity of luxuries private vehicles is increasing day by day. These all factors proved to be driving forces for increasing demand of HVAC system in vehicles.

Countries such as China, India, and Japan are having large production capacity which makes Asia-Pacific region as the largest market for automatic HVAC systems.

Automotive HVAC systems have added value to cabin comfort features of passengers’ cars. These are finding attractive to customers to buy vehicles with premium price range.

However, we can say that there is the skimming pricing system for HVAC market as price is constantly decreasing. Therefore now days, one can find AC systems in the lower segment cars also.

The main four cabin comfort features are power window, power seats, heated seats & sunroof system. Out of these four features, power seats & power windows are largely accepted as having more awareness. On the other hand, heated seats & sunroof systems are still perceived as luxurious features.

Sunroof, being a luxurious feature, is having high price range so this will have largest share of cabin comfort system in terms of value. As power windows is having high penetration rate through customers, it will have largest share by volume.

The HVAC systems market can be classified on the various bases as geography, technology & components. 

• Asia, Americas & Europe are the main regions having greater demand of automotive HVAC system.
• Technologically this market is classified as automatic and manual.
• Again, by components wise it is classified as heat exchanging equipment, receiver/dryer, compressor and expansion valve.

Source: www.marketsandmarkets.com 

The popularity of automatic HVAC systems is growing continuously which is resulting in increasing demand for this market. Skimming price systems ensures greater penetration of automatic HVAC systems in many lower level vehicles.

In short we can say that automatic HVAC market has huge potential and marketers have to be ready to tap this golden opportunity by introducing lower segment vehicles with pre-installed automatic HVAC systems.

For information about latest trends in  automatic HVAC market visit @
http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/automotive-hvac.asp

Food Texturizers & its types- thickening, gelling, emulsifying, stabilizing, binding & clarifying

Texturing agents are widely used in food items to improve texture of the food. One can change thickness, clarity, creaminess & some other characteristics of food by adding texturing agents to it. Texturing agents provides flavour to food product. It is found that there are many people unaware about importance of texturing agents. It can be used separately or in a blend to provide desired texture to the product. It helps to gain additional characteristics of a product which can be useful to maintain products long life by providing stable structure to it.

The food texture market is having promising future and it is growing at CAGR of 5.0% from 2013 to 2018. This market is expected to reach $11,840.8 million by 2018.

Due to the increase in innovations in food solutions, demand for ingredients providing textures to food has been increased.

•  North America forms the largest segment of the food texture market in 2012. It is poised to grow at a steady CAGR of 4.5% over the forecast period.
• Europe stands to be the second largest market due to increase in demand for processed food.
• Asia-Pacific is projected to gain the fastest growth of 6.2%.

The market for texturizing agents is growing steadily. These products found its applications in a vast variety of businesses. Some of the major businesses finding applications of texturizing agents are meat & poultry, bakery and confectionaries.

There are different types of texturizers based on their mode of uses such as emulsifying, stabilizing, binding, clarifying, thickening & gelling.

Texturizing agents are used in many flexible ways so they found their uses in many application-specific conditions. They are having versatile functioning and characteristics.

Texturizing agents are witnessing greater product penetration in the market due to increasing purchasing power of the global population in the emerging economies. This is reflected in the changing trends of consumption of texturizing agents.

Major market for food texture agents is spread all over the world covering North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

The marketers are having great hope from the regions like Asian, Latin American, and Eastern European markets. Major market players are focusing on these areas. This market is predicted to have boosting demand from developed as well as developing countries.  

The growth is also attributed to growing demands for healthy and nutritious products, and increase in demand for processed food. U.S. is one of the largest players in the texturizing agents business due to excessive demand for processed food products, followed by Western Europe and China.

Profile of key players in this market is as follows:

CP Kelco - (U.S.) - Manufacture of texturizing agents such as hydrocolloids and whey proteins

Tate and Lyle PLC-(U.K.) - Production of food stabilizers, emulsifiers, hydrocolloids, food starches, dietary fibers, etc.

Ingredion Inc- (U.S.) - Production of starches, emulsifiers and some other texturants.

All the above-mentioned companies conquer more than 33% of the market share. Other companies contributing to prominent market shares in food texture market are DuPont (U.S.), and Kerry Group (Ireland).

Classification of different texturizing agents is shown below.

Source: www.marketsandmarkets.com

These companies are adopting different marketing strategies such as expansion & diversification to increase market shares.

Demand for food texture agents is growing from last few years it is expected to continue in the future.  Some of the reasons behind this are as follows:   

Ø  Growing consumer preferences towards consuming low-fat foods

Ø   good textured food,

Ø  increasing innovations in the food processing industry, and

Ø  cost advantages provided by the substitutes

Currently, food texture market is dominated by hydrocolloids, emulsifiers, starches and stabilizers but it is expected to see presence of  natural polysaccharides in the near future.

When it comes to look at application sectors of food texture agents, bakery & confectionaries are the dominating one. But it is also used in other food products, beverages, meat, poultry & dairy. Increasing demand for processed food directly relates with growing demand of food texture agents across the globe.

For more info about the topic visit @

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Semi-Autonomous Passenger Cars- Need of the time

Source: www.bmw.com

The market for semi-autonomous passenger car is seeing a fast growth in the coming years. The market is having huge potential and is expected to reach $21.4 billion by 2018 growing at CAGR of 15.08%.

This market is having increasing demand across the world, mainly due to upcoming stringent safety regulations. In this segment, Adaptive Cruise Control and Adaptive Front Lights are the main categories which are expected to dominate the market in terms of volume.

The issue of road safety is gaining more n more importance in different countries. There are various surveys and reports published, showing fatal disasters caused in road accidents. As the global population is increasing so is the no of vehicles & road traffic is also increasing. According to the report “Global Status Report on Road Safety (2013)”, published by WHO, there are 1.24 million total no of deaths due to road accidents. This raises the attention of governments and different car manufacturers to focus on cars safety issues. So automobile manufacturers felt the need of semi autonomous and autonom-ous --car features.

Source: spectrum.ieee.org

Automobile manufacturers are extensively focusing on R&D activities for making passenger cars with advanced safety features. Manufacturers are doing heavy investments in R&D centres. They are making tie ups with partners using latest technological production processes. Now a day’s most of the new cars are coming with the default advanced safety features.

Along with the reasons mentioned above, there are some psychological & sociological preferences developed over the period of time for the safety & comfort of one’s life. These factors includes increased average miles driven per year, increase in the development of compatible infrastructure, improved lifestyle and changing buyer’s preferences. All these factors are responsible for boosting the growth of safety concerns in semi-autonomous passenger cars.

According to various studies by industry experts, the driver’s error is the most common reason for accidents, and hence autonomous cars are said to be the best solution to reduce the no of accidents. Autonomous cars can help to reduce traffic load and thus increases road capacity.

The autonomous vehicles are also known as driverless cars or self-driving cars. These vehicles are capable of sensing the external environment with the help of various technologies. Technological systems such as GPS, RFID, Satellite & mobile network can be used to access data from other vehicles. This helps to navigate the car to the desired destination.

To develop an autonomous vehicle it requires collaboration of different streams of engineering such as mechanical, electrical, computer and artificial intelligence system (AI). AI gives machines the ability to think on its own ground. It will help the vehicle to estimate distance between two vehicles & adjust the speed accordingly. It also identifies any obstacles in the path and gives signal to the driver.

The major automobile manufacturers such as Audi (Germany), BMW (Germany), Mercedes-Benz (Germany), Volvo (Sweden), Nissan (Japan), and others have started manufacturing passenger cars installed with semi-autonomous/autonomous features to provide better vehicle, driver & passenger safety & comfort, better handling, high performance, and environment-friendly cars.

Autonomous Cruise Control

Autonomous cruise control automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead. It is also called as adaptive or radar cruise control. It does not use any satellite or neither radar system nor it takes any support from another vehicles. Sensors are used here which works on data exchanged between transmitter & receivers.

This system has different commercial names by different manufacturers. This system uses a radar or laser sensor setup. It allows a vehicle to slow down its speed when there is any obstacle ahead and it accelerate again to the preset speed when road is obstacle free.

The market for semi-autonomous passenger cars is growing rapidly. This market can be divided geographically as Asia-Pacific, Europe, Americas, and Middle-East & Africa (MEA).

 

Source: www.autointhenews.com

The market is changing with the time & changing preferences of customers. A well prepared marketer will always have close look on the market conditions so that it can play safely. For this it is very helpful to study the trends & forecasting about this market with the help of some quality research work. There are a lot of research works going on to improve safety of passengers’ cars.

In future we can see vehicles having high end safety systems and more advanced technological integrations in passengers’ cars. 

For more information about trends of Semi-Autonomous market visit @

http://www.prweb.com/releases/near-autonomous-passenger/car-market/prweb11034245.htm 

Advanced functional materials Industry - Ceramics, Composites, Energy Materials, Conductive Polymers & Nanomaterials

Ceramic materials are compounds made up of a metal and a non metal. It is inorganic and non metallic in nature. They are formed by the iterative actions of heating and subsequent cooling. Clay was used for making ceramic from ancient time, but now a day many different materials are used, more recently aluminium oxide or alumina is used. Advanced ceramic also include silicon carbide and tungsten carbide.

Some of the general properties of ceramic materials are it is inert, brittle, stiff, strong and non-conductor of heat & electricity. Due to its non-conductive nature, ceramic is used as an electrical insulator e.g. porcelain.

There are five different types of advanced functional materials for low carbon applications. It consists of advanced functional ceramics, advanced functional composites, advanced energy materials, conductive polymers, and nanomaterial.

AFMs are important with respect to reduction of carbon footprint of the components in which it is incorporated. During manufacturing process it consumes less energy and has a smaller carbon footprint during its use & recycling.

Source: www.marketsandmarkets.com 

Advanced functional material has large demand from industries like automotive, aerospace, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, electrical & electronics and energy & power. AFMs found its applications in all these sectors.

Electrical and electronics

Electrical and electronics is the largest application segment for AFM having revenue up to $35,356.3 in 2012.

Advanced functional ceramic is used in many electrical devices such as capacitors. The other products which are used by this sector are conductive polymers, Nanomaterial and advanced energy materials. There is an extensive ongoing research on these materials for the electrical & electronics applications.

At present, the global market for advanced functional material is growing with a CAGR of 6.6%. It is expected to reach to $1, 13,881.9 million by 2018.

Coming to geographical market analysis, Asia-Pacific emerges as the largest market for advance functional material. China, Japan, and South Korea are the major markets for AFM in Asia-Pacific.

Advanced functional material market has end users industries like consumer durables, electronics, healthcare, and energy, automotive and aerospace.

Nanomaterials

The fastest growing category of advanced functional material market is .Nanomaterials. This market is growing with a CAGR of 19.7%. Due to its magnetic, optical, catalytic, and electronic properties, Nanomaterials are used by many industries.

There are some already established markets for Nanomaterials which includes zinc oxide, silicon oxide nanopowders and carbon nanotubes, titanium dioxide, , nanofibers, nanosilver, nanoclays, nanoporous materials and quantum dots.

Nanoparticles found its applications in filtration, electronics, cosmetics, energy, medicine, chemicals, coatings, and catalysts.

Advanced Functional Composite

The advanced functional composite is the largest category of advanced functional material by volume. The market for advanced functional composite is expected to reach 8,230.0 kilotons by 2018.

Mainly there are two types of advanced functional composites as metal matrix composites and fiber reinforced plastics.

Based on strengthening of materials, composites are divided into 3 types as

·         dispersion strengthened,

·         particle reinforced, and

·         fiber reinforced.

Asia-Pacific with a CAGR of 9.2% is the fastest growing market for advanced functional composites.

Major areas of applications for advanced functional composites include automotive, marine, energy, aerospace, pipes & tanks, electrical & electronics, and consumer durables.

European Food Safety Testing Market & GMO Market- an Overview and Trends

The European food safety testing market is driven by the stringent food safety regulations imposed by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to prevent increasing outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and poisoning. The EFSA specifies that food manufacturers in Europe are responsible for safety of food that further helps to drive the market.

In 2012, salmonella testing accounted for major share in the European market. The application of rapid technology for contaminant testing has been increasing. 

Genetically modified food : 

Genetically modified foods or GM foods are produced by engineering the DNA of an organism. The latest developments in the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering helps in producing crops and foods with more advanced traits. These technologies help to have greater control over characteristics and traits of GM organism.

It took a long time for the first time commercial sale of GM foods happened in 1994. Previously, farmers concentrated on cash crops like corn, canola, soyabean & cotton seed oil. The advanced generation of these crops is made which are resistance to pathogens and are rich in nutritional value.

Regulation related to use of genetically modified organisms

There are different approaches regarding uses and risks of genetic engineering technology and the development of genetically modified organisms.

Governments across different countries have different policies for GMO. These differences are related with the use of the product of genetic engineering.

Labeling of GM products is also a major concern and it depends on minimum GM content levels in the GM product.

A major group of people is concerning about food safety issue of genetically modified organisms but till now there isn’t any strong scientific proof. Thus, rigorous testing of GM food becomes an important issue.

European Attitudes toward Genetically Modified Foods

The production and consumption of GM foods is a controversial topic in the European Union.

Biotechnology leads to production of genetically

Biotechnology has led to the production of food products that have been genetically modified, allowing the products to be produced more efficiently while causing less damage to the environment.

Crops can be modified to contain traits that would prevent the need for pesticides, improve shelf life and nutrition, and offer protection against natural disasters.

Despite the benefits of GM foods, fear exists about potential health risks and possible damage to the environment.

People have less trust on media than in the EU and governments. A survey conducted in the EU has shown some of the reasons for supporting ang rejecting GM foods.

The factors that lead to support or rejection of GM food

• Still there are large no of people who are not ready to accept GM foods.
• Many people don’t know about what actually a GM food is.  
• This lack of knowledge leads to hesitation in accepting the production of GM foods.
• In a time when people heavily rely on technology on a daily basis, it is surprising that people have not begun to accept everything the media suggests as true and accurate.
• People who are knowledgeable about GM foods are more likely to support its production than those who lack sufficient knowledge about the subject.

Market Overview:

• The food safety testing market is projected to grow reach to $4,068.8 million by 2018.
• In 2012, Germany was the largest market for food safety testing and it is projected to be the fastest growing market in Europe.
• In 2012, U.K. was second largest market followed by the France.
• In 2012, contaminant testing in fruit and vegetable was the largest segment in European market. 
• In 2012, pathogen testing dominated European food safety testing market followed by GMOs testing. Pathogen safety testing in food samples was dominated by salmonella testing as the largest segment.

Polymer Emulsion Market

There are five different types of waterborne polymers. These include acrylic emulsions, vinyl emulsions, SB latex emulsions, PU dispersions and others. To estimate the upcoming demand and opportunities in global polymer market it is necessary to identify revenue pocket for this market.

Among all the types of EPs, Acrylic emulsion has the largest share of the global polymer emulsion market. Its consumption is estimated to increase to 6,017.6 kilotons by 2018.

The past few years are proved to be positive for global polymer market and this trend will be continuing in the near future. Asia-Pacific region has great potential in this growing market. Market revenue for EP in Asia-Pacific was $ 17,320.5 million in 2012.

The market for Emulsion polymer in Asia-Pacific is spread widely across the countries like India, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, the major market being China, Japan and South Korea.

Building & construction, transportations and consumer durables are some of the end users for emulsion polymer market having increasing demand in the future years. Among all the types of emulsion polymers, PU dispersion is growing at the fastest CAGR of 6.8%. It finds its application mainly in Adhesives & sealants.

The emulsion polymer market has many industry applications as paper & paperboard, paints & coatings, adhesives & sealants and others.

Emulsion polymers are preferred over their solvent-borne counterparts due to two main reasons. Firstly, EPs have low VOC content, which makes it environmentally favorable. Secondly, they are not dispersed in solvent, which makes it a safer to use, as water-borne polymers are easier to handle than solvent-borne polymers.

Source: www.ecosynthetix.com

Emulsion polymers are assumed to be superior to solvent-borne polymers because EPs have low VOC content, secondly they are not dispersed in solvent. These properties make emulsion polymers environmentally favorable. Also, it is safer to use as water borne polymer are easier to handle than solvent-borne polymers.

Vinyl emulsions are the fastest growing type of emulsion polymer growing with a CAGR of 8.1%. It is used in Adhesives, sealants, Paints & coatings. Acrylic vinyl emulsion is used in paints and coating and tile coating as it is glossy and has water resistive properties.

Acrylic emulsions are the most consumed EP by volume. Polymer emulsion market is expected to reach $10,767.3 million by 2018. Acrylic emulsions found its applications in Building & construction industry, paints & coating applications and architectural paint.

Adhesives & sealants is also a growing application for acrylic emulsions. Asia-Pacific with a CAGR of 8.9% is the fastest growing market for acrylic emulsions.

The quality research will provide a comprehensive review of major market drivers, key issues, restraints, opportunities, challenges and winning imperatives in the market. Porter’s five forces model can be used to understand about opportunities for new entrants in this market.

U.S., U.K., Germany, France, China, Japan, South Korea and Brazil are some of the important market places in the world for emulsion polyumer market.

The research can be done through competitive analysis including product portfolio, strategic industry activities and specific financial information. SWOT analysis can be helpful to identifying Strength, weakness and degree of market activeness of major EP players.

To tap the growing opportunities in this market, marketers must be informed and updated about latest trends. The quality research work will give clear situation about the emulsion polymer industry. The quality research will provide an insight about future moves of the players. It will help to strategies the marketing campaign and survive the battle among competitors.

For more information about polymer emulsion market visit @
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Shotcrete/Sprayed Concrete Market

Source: www.euclidchemical.com

Shotcrete are nothing but a different form of concrete or mortar which can be projected on a surface with high velocity.

It is also known as air-blown mortar, sprayed mortar, pneumatically applied mortar or gunned concrete. Al these names indicate the method of using this concrete.

Ingredients of shotcrete materials are cement, additives, admixtures, and special construction chemicals.

Shotcrete has high strength, durability, low permeability, excellent bond, and limitless shape possibilities. These properties can be enhanced with addition of different admixtures such as fibers, silica fume, accelerators, retarders, plasticizers, etc. These materials make shotcrete highly resistant to heat, water washout, and alkali & chemical attacks.

What makes a shotcrete different from mortar is its method of applying mortar to a surface which gives additional advantages to the dry or wet shotcrete.

Because of spraying action, shotcrete can be used in various surfaces constructions like dams, bridges, Sewers, Tunneling, Mining, Tanks, Domes and many others. It found its applications mainly as structural material for surface coatings in tunnels and mines.

Shotcrete is used in two ways as Dry Mix and Wet Mix. Both dry and wet processes result in the production of material having superior hardened properties as compared to normal concrete. The resulted material usually has high strength and high durability. This is why shotcrete is widely accepted as structural material in different work scenario. 

Source: miningandconstruction.com

The reason why shotcrete is preferred over mortar is the process of implementing shotcrete on a surface. This helps to get stronger bond with different substrates.

Both methods can be used interchangeably. The preferred method is determined by certain factors as Economics, Availability of material and equipment, Site access and the expertise and preference of the contractor.

 In the wet mix process, all ingredients are thoroughly mixed with water and then added to delivery equipment. Delivery equipment is a nozzle or pump which uses com pressed air to spray the mixture with high velocity.

Shotcrete Process has following benefits

•   Ideal for irregular surface applications;
• Allows for easier material handling in areas with difficult access;
• Little or no formwork is required; and
•  Cost effective method for placing concrete.

 Discussing about shotcrete market, there are a few drivers leading to increased demand. These drivers can be of the following

• Underground constructions industry and a range of applications,
•  increasing R&D efforts to make shotcrete highly resourceful, and
• The huge demand from the construction sector which finds shotcrete useful in a myriad of applications.

Growing advancements and technological inventions in shotcrete equipment and materials can found huge potential in the future.

As from the figures from 2012, European region found to dominate the global shotcrete market by revenue while Japan, China, and the U.S. shared 25.8% of the total shotcrete consumption in 2012. The Brazilian shotcrete consumption for end-use applications is expected to grow at 7.9% from 2013 to 2018.

Market players are concentrating on expansion strategy with increasing geographical base. At the same time they are focusing on new product launching, collaboration with similar organizations, acquisition and merger.

There are continuous efforts taking place in R&D to develop new equipments and improved processes so that human efforts can be minimized and work quality gets improved.
  
For more information about Sprayed Concrete Market visit @ 
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