All posts by Nadine LAURET

Biodiversity at Thermocoax through insect hotels

As part of its efforts to take the environment and biodiversity into account, Thermocoax introduced its teams to the concept of insect hotel.

Insect hotel's challenge at Thermocoax

Background

The concept of the multi-dwelling insect hotel was invented by a German gardener interested in entomology. At the end of the 1980s, insect hotels were already being built in Germany and France, but this type of construction was not widely known.

This type of structure was inspired by entomological study devices developed by biologists for the study of certain species. In the 19th century, in England, the existence of “bee boxes”, intended for the observation of these insects, is documented in botanical gardens.

In France, in the 1970s, specific devices, equipped with slits, were used to study a ladybird summering at altitude on Mont Ventoux.

In the early 2000s, insect hotels were becoming increasingly popular in France as the general public became aware of the urgent need to protect biodiversity. Numerous models are now on the market.

Usefulness

Insect hotels are an undeniable educational tool for raising awareness of the importance of insect fauna. However, in ecological terms, they are only of significant interest in areas where Nature is no longer present or is too restricted: urbanised areas and gardens that have been severely “tidied up”. In these areas, insects no longer find the natural habitats they need, and insect hotels can provide a refuge.

Bundles of hollow or pithy stems and logs with drilled holes are effective in providing shelter for solitary wasps and bees. Hotels for butterflies, lacewings or ladybirds are generally not very effective as these insects still manage to find places to spend the winter: ivy, dead leaves, cellars or garden sheds.

Insect hotels can only provide a back-up solution and it is preferable to encourage gardeners and green space managers to keep areas of wild plants on their land, to create piles of dead leaves or wood… And of course, to ban all insecticides and herbicides.

Biological and naturalistic background

In their living environment, small invertebrates such as insects can be preyed upon by other animals in food chains.

They may therefore try to camouflage themselves from their predators in their natural habitats (tall grass, holes in trunks, under stones or dead wood, etc.)

They may also be forced to protect themselves from the physical conditions of their habitat, depending on the season (light, dryness, cold, etc.).

Some invertebrates can be useful to gardeners by eating crop pests but also by pollinating fruit trees and other plants. They are known as beneficial insects for crops.

Illustration 1: Diagram showing the important role of insects in the growth of flowers and fruits. (Illustration source: OPIE)Illustration 1: Diagram showing the important role of insects in the growth of flowers and fruits. (Illustration source: OPIE)

 

In gardens at home or at work, we can encourage insect diversity and apply the concept of biological pest control to protect our plants rather than using insecticides that are harmful to the environment. The idea is to attract and encourage predators of animals that destroy plants in the garden. For example, ladybirds or lacewings can devour the aphids that consume the sap of crops.

Illustration 2: An adult ladybird can eat several dozen aphids a day. A ladybird larva can eat up to 150 aphids a day. (Illustration source: sciencesetavenir.fr)Illustration 2: An adult ladybird can eat several dozen aphids a day. A ladybird larva can eat up to 150 aphids a day. (Illustration source: sciencesetavenir.fr)

Illustration 3: A lacewing larva can eat hundreds of aphids before reaching adulthood. (Illustration source: pepinieres-huchet.com)Illustration 3: A lacewing larva can eat hundreds of aphids before reaching adulthood. (Illustration source:  pepinieres-huchet.com)

As beneficial insects for crops, we may like to attract insects such as ladybirds and lacewings to our gardens.

We can encourage them to visit our gardens:

by planting locally adapted plants, for example yarrow which attracts ladybirds, and simply by keeping an area of ‘wild’ grass (wild plants that grow as they please, yet are sometimes called ‘weeds’).

by building an insect hotel that will serve as a shelter for them.

In order to encourage the presence of insects in your garden, it is therefore important to adopt the two complementary approaches described above: keeping an area of wild grass (so that they can feed and hide) and building an insect hotel (so that they can settle in permanently).

How to build an insect hotel ?

Before building an insect hotel, it is important to know which species to attract, the benefits they will bring to your garden and, of course, the materials that could attract them.

The table below, which is not exhaustive, shows some of the insect species that are useful in gardens and what materials are likely to attract them. The materials, which are most often recommended for the construction of insect hotels, can be used for this type of project.

Here is a link to a fairly thorough video that outlines the steps involved in building a multi-chambered hotel of the type shown in Illustration 5 which will attract all kinds of insects : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EINP3vZL46Y#t=536.175313

Table 1: Overview of the role of insects and the materials that can attract them to your garden.Table 1: Overview of the role of insects and the materials that can attract them to your garden.

Nevertheless, it would appear that two simple types of insect hotel—dried stem bundles and logs with drilled holes—are just as effective as the multi-chamber model shown in illustration 5. For example, earwigs will always find a crack to take refuge in, even in the most unnatural garden. A butterfly hotel will often be less attractive to butterflies than a thick ivy… This underlines the importance of having a suitable space in terms of the plants in the garden and the way it is managed. Schematically, the “tidier” a garden is, the less hospitable it is to insects.

The “dried stem bundle” hotel

In nature, many hymenopterans (solitary wasps, solitary bees) use hollow stems to build their nests. The bundle of stems, which may or may not be set in a wooden frame, is a simple hotel using stems of different sizes: hollow (bamboo, umbellifers) or full of pith (bramble, elder). The two types of stems will attract different species. The diameter of the pithy stems will be 1 to 2 cm, the hollow stems between a few millimetres and 1 cm.

How to build and install the hotel:

1) Cut the hollow stems with a knot at one end so that there is only one entrance/exit. Gather the stems into a bundle of 10 to 20 sections of about 15 cm in length.

2) Tie these bundles with wire or strong string, especially if they are not set in a wooden frame.

3) Set up the bunches in a wooden frame or in the middle of the vegetation on stakes about 1 m long. This insect hotel should be set up between 50 cm and 2 m high, facing east or south in order to give it good sunlight in the morning. A wall protected by a roof overhang, for example, is suitable for this hotel, provided that the orientation is respected.

It is a good idea to replace this type of hotel every year, especially those with pith stems. This is because the pith can only be dug out once, unlike hollow stems which can be reoccupied two years in a row.

Illustration 6: Dried stem bundle. (Illustration source: magasinsaveve.be) Illustration 6: Dried stem bundle. (Illustration source: magasinsaveve.be)

The “log with drilled holes” hotel

 

In nature, dead or dying trees provide an important food resource for beetle larvae, which burrow into the trees to feed, after which adults will emerge.

The burrows created in this way can be inhabited by a solitary bee or wasp, which builds the cells for its larvae.

In view of the scarcity of dead trees in nature, which is nowadays “excessively tidied up”, it may be useful to offer insects alternative nesting sites by installing a “drilled wood log” hotel.

How to build and install the hotel:

1) In a hardwood log or cube, drill holes of different diameters (2 to 8 mm), of varying depths. Be careful that the drill bit does not go through the piece of wood so that only one entrance/exit is left.

2) The drilled piece of wood can then be installed in a wooden frame or hung 1 or 2 m high in a weatherproof location. It should preferably face south or south-east so that it gets sunlight in the morning and is quickly adopted by insects.

Over the years, it will be necessary to replace these hotels because the holes will eventually become clogged with debris. In the spring, the pieces of wood can be placed at the base of the hedge to allow any remaining tenants to leave. The wood will finish decomposing naturally and will be beneficial to woodborers.

Illustration 7: log with drilled holes (Illustration source: gerbeaud.com)Illustration 7: log with drilled holes (Illustration source: gerbeaud.com)

As a conclusion, various types of insect hotels can be considered, from the simplest (a bundle of dried stems or a log with drilled holes) to the most elaborate (hotels featuring several chambers and built with various materials). This gives employees a degree of freedom depending on their creativity or the amount of DIY time they wish to devote to the project.

In any case, certain simple rules of construction (materials chosen, size, etc.) and installation (location, orientation, etc.) must still be respected in order to optimise the chances of insects being able to live there. It should be noted that an insect hotel can be installed at any time of the year, but it may take some time before it is inhabited. Lastly, the installation of insect hotels must be coupled with the establishment and conservation of favourable flora (native species hedges, areas of wild and honey-producing plants), which is already envisaged by Thermostat.

For inspiration, see below some insect hotels designed and built by schoolchildren. Some have chosen to use slate to cover their hotel, others have added wire mesh to keep the materials inside the frame.

Illustration 8: Insect hotels made by schoolchildren. (Source: Yohann Guillaume)Illustration 8: Insect hotels made by schoolchildren. (Source: Yohann Guillaume)

 

 

Moves of our factories in Normandy towards our new building in Caligny !

Thermocoax One, our new factory in Caligny is now ready to welcome our teams and machines.

Till mid of December 2021, we have been organizing moves to the Normand’Innov site.

During this month of November, let us tell you via our twitter account the history of the building of our first  factory at Planquivon.

Below, you will find all the interviews and articles explaining our goals to have a new factory in Caligny this year.

Have a nice discovery and hope to meet you soon in Caligny to work on your projects !

Thermocoax applications set on satellites dedicated for space debris clean up !

The 22nd of March, 2021 at 06:07am (UTC), GK Launch Services has launched Soyuz 2.1 rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The launcher has deployed a Fregat upper stage in space, and fired its engine several times over four hours to inject 38 small and medium-size international satellites into three different orbits.

On these 38 satellites, two of them are equipped with THERMOCOAX heating systems dedicated to activate the chemical propulsion.

One of the satellites is dedicated for space debris clean up. The other one is dedicated for imagery with electro-optical sensor in it for earth observation.

These heating systems are designed, developed and produced in our factory of Normandy, France. THERMOCOAX has 15 years heritage. Most of the application are:

  • Catalyst Bed heater for chemical propulsion
  • Magnetic coils and high temperature cabling for electrical propulsion
  • Rod heater for payload temperature control (Mechanical Pump loop )
  • Heating coils for actuators based on SMA technology (pyrotechnic free)THERMOCOAX success is based on the motivation and passion of his all employees plus of course, on the unic home made mineral insulated cable.

The cable offers small dimensions, flexibility, ability to withstand 1000°C and more with exotic material.

This technology has already demonstrated 15 years on board GEOSatcom with more than 15 000 devices.

THERMOCOAX is currently travelling on March with Curiosity for dust samples treatment and will be soon again with EXOMARS program on the landing propulsion system.

THERMOCOAX is pushing its technology on chemical propulsion to make it more efficient and proposes innovative solutions for the electrical propulsion. Some last developments are under qualification and dedicated for the thermal management of high energy intensive 100 volts plateforms.

THERMOCOAX on board Soyuz-2 number 90, launching happened 22nd March 2021.

Two satellites are equipped with catalyst bed heater systems for chemical propulsions.

Since more than 10 years, THERMOCOAX is supplying innovative heating systems for the chemical propulsion, green and hydrazine.

More than 200 catalyst bed heaters are flying currently successfully.

These propulsions are used several times per day for altitude, trajectory and orbit control.

New designs of catalyst bed heater with fast heating ramp-up are now qualified and aim debris avoidance and under demonstration for debris removal mission.

 

Gender equality index in 2020

Each year our company is required to calculate a gender equality index to evaluate whether we are taking appropriate action towards gender equality.

We are proud to share with you that last year, THERMOCOAX scored 80/100 toward 70/100 on 2019 !

Don’t hesitate to visit our page careers to get more information in the calculation.

 

Carbon neutral by 2040

Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, parent company of Thermocoax, is one of over 40 leading UK companies that has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 and one of over 20 companies that has committed to biodiversity net gain.*

The full list of commitments made by Group Chief Executive, Nicholas Anderson, ahead of a Business Leaders Event, organised by the Council for Sustainable Business and DEFRA, on 29th June 2020 include:

Climate change commitments

  • Achieve Net-Zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2040.
  • Source 50% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
  • Designate Board accountability for greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Extend our reporting to include Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Certify our greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts with an external body.

 

Biodiversity commitments

  • Establish a 2030 biodiversity net gain target.
  • Identify any harmful direct impacts and dependencies our business has on nature and biodiversity and set targets for reducing them.
  • Commit to publishing the results of our work.

 

The commitments were made on behalf of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc and all its Group companies.

Speaking of the commitments, Nicholas Anderson said,

“As a large and successful engineering company with a legacy of industry leadership and technical innovation, Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc is well positioned to take a leading role in the transition towards a more environmentally and socially sustainable economy.  I firmly believe that it is our responsibility to be an agent of positive change as we manage and improve our own sustainability and help our customers and suppliers to do the same. These are just some of the commitments that Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, and its Group companies, will make as we accelerate our Sustainability agenda and performance in the coming years.”   

Dominique Mallet, President of the Electric Thermal Solutions (ETS) business said,

“The time has come for businesses, and society, to take individual and collective responsibility for climate change and biodiversity loss, and to step up our efforts to tackle these important global challenges. I am fully supportive of the commitments made by Nicholas Anderson, our Group Chief Executive, and look forward to delivering progress against them in the coming years. As an organization ETS is developing innovative solutions with our customers to support their targets of energy efficiency and reduction of their own environmental impacts.” 

Progress against these and other sustainability targets will be outlined annually in the Annual Report and Accounts of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc.

 

* Source: https://councilforsustainablebusiness.com/our-supporters, (Accessed 9th July 2020)

Environment

THERMOCOAX, part of the new space propulsion technology of the key occidental Geosatellite makers.

THERMOCOAX equips with magnetic coils and heating systems to make the platform more reliable and 25 years service life.

The Challenge

Space platform request magnetic coils to produce the thruster of the engine to travel to final orbit and then keep the satellite on the orbit during all his life.

The customer system was looking for component withstand high temperature and long reliability (25 years).

Heating system is used to avoid the engine to rech too low temperature. By this, the engines are fully operational at full power when activated.

These systems need to be fully proven by strict tests and qualifications program. Heavy document have to be provide for a full traceability of the components and production.

The Solution

Based on our homemade mineral insulated cable and our high level of engineering, production and quality management, we design and produce dedicated final systems ready to be mounted on the propulsion system.

 

Choosing electrical propulsion increases the service life of the satellite, means more value for the OEM and more service for the satellite operator.

In pratice, electrical propulsion saves 10 to 15% of volume replaced by payload used for datas that the operator sell to his customers.

 

H2O2 sterilization units for Filling machines

THERMOCOAX H2O2 oven :

THERMOCOAX offers you the possibility of manufacturing your custom designed aseptisation oven that will fit perfectly to your industrial tools.

Our specific solution is widely used by major machine manufacturers for the “dry” sterilisation processes.

We ask our customers to define their specifications in terms of liquid to be used, liquid flow and temperature in order to have the sufficient level of sanitization in their parts before the filling process.

As an expert of electrical heating solutions, Thermocoax will determine the power density of the heating elements necessary to reach your specifications inside the vaporizer.

THERMOCOAX exports its know how all around the word.

We also offer standard version one or two heating zones H2O2 ovens.

Technical characteristics :

H2O2 vaporizer

  • Material: stainless steel 1.4404, 1.4541
  • Heater: Based on Thermocoax mineral insulated cables – vacuum brazed – water tide IP 54 standard
  • Operational power and voltage:
    • one or two heating zones in standard
    • 3 kW, 6 kW / 230 V
    • 6 kW / 400 V
    • Customized specifications on request
  • Temperature range: up to 500°C or higher on request
  • Operating conditions: corrosive media, acids and chemicals
  • Reduced response time

Heating elements : cold end heating element with safety thermocouples for each zone.

H2O2 vaporizer

H2O2 vaporizer

 

 

 

 

 

Fusion reactors : THERMOCOAX cabling solutions in the heart of ITER reactor

THERMOCOAX is committed to develop solutions for new nuclear reactor technologies. We are proud to have been elected as the Mineral Insulated Cable supplier for the ITER project in the frame of  F4E (Fusion For Energy) and ITER international call for tender.

THERMOCOAX will provide Cabling  systems for ITER Vacuum Vessel where harshest conditions are met. We greatly value this contribution to the FUSION reactor technology.

Click here to get the whole article.