The market
Estimates indicate that one-third of all energy expended worldwide is used to overcome friction. The cost of friction, based on premature part replacement and increased fuel consumption, reaches approximately $250 billion globally. The need to combat friction is shifting from garages and shops to the strategic positioning of multinational corporations. Currently, there are three major technological platforms for businesses to reduce friction. First, there is a $40 billion lubrication market that supplies technical oils to reduce friction. Second, there is a $65 billion ball and roller bearing market that is projected to grow at 8.5% annually through 2014. Finally, friction is reduced by the application of industrial diamond, whether natural or synthetic. This is worth another $10 billion. Ball bearings are used when speed is high, while roller bearings are used when load is high. Ball and roller bearings are used in all industries: transportation (automotive, rail, aerospace), power generation (hydroelectric, coal, wind), textiles, mining, sporting goods, air conditioning, food processing, and even precision industries. The global growth of wind energy, based on turbines, is driving demand for specialized ball bearings. SKF controls approximately 20% of the global market. Schäffler is the German competitor, also family-owned. The miniaturization of a wide range of devices is increasing demand for tiny ball bearings with an outside diameter of less than 22 millimeters. Minebea Co. Ltd. of Japan is the world's largest producer of the smallest ball bearings.
Innovation
The quest for reduced friction is a centuries-old endeavor, and companies are becoming increasingly creative. Mercedes-Benz has modeled a bionics-based concept car that glides through the wind with the aerodynamics of a fish. According to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, streamlining truck design to reduce friction could decrease drag by 12 percent, saving 1.2 billion gallons of fuel annually in America. The auto industry is under pressure to build better engines, which are far more fuel-efficient because they generate more efficient combustion, but are also more difficult to lubricate. Nanoscale spheres called fullerenes can now be mixed with regular engine oil to create an ultra-thin film inside the engine, just a few microns thick, reducing friction by up to 50 percent. With oil prices hovering around $80 a barrel and certain to rise in the coming years, researchers are designing hybrid bearings that never dry out and therefore never stop rolling due to a lack of lubricants. These bearings are not made of steel, but of engineered materials such as silicon nitride ceramic, a self-lubricating graphite alloy. It is expected that metallic bearings will one day be replaced by ceramic bearings, which are less susceptible to corrosion. Ingo Rechenberg, an aeronautical engineer from the Technical University of Berlin (Germany) and the University of Cambridge (UK), is passionate about optimizing technical systems based on observations of biological evolution. His search for hydrogen took him to the Sahara Desert in southern Morocco, where he studied hydrogen-producing bacteria. Coincidentally, he observed how the Saharan rockfish, a lizard, swims with minimal friction and abrasion in the sand dunes. He discovered that this reptile creates nano-splits and ridges on its scales to reduce friction and surface wear. The rockfish travels about a kilometer every morning, so it is constantly being scraped by the sand. When the lizard dives into the dune, its skin remains smooth and shiny. According to Dr. Rechenberg, an expert in evolutionary biology, energy conservation is the primary task of biological systems. He and his team measured skin friction and abrasion and concluded that cylindrical steel has 58% more friction than the rockfish. While sand causes abrasion with steel and glass, the lizard's skin showed no damage under comparable conditions. His team explored all the scientific possibilities, and one working hypothesis is that the tips of the skin ridges, which contain silicon, could function as electron emitters. Perhaps the rockfish acts like two negatively charged magnets: they repel each other. Thus, the rockfish may have invented magnetic levitation long before German and Japanese engineers conceived of it as a new, low-friction rail transport system. This is a clever design of the Saharan ecosystem, which is negatively charged, and of the rockfish, which seems to have found a way to thrive in its habitat.
The first cash flow
Dr. Rechenberg's work is still in its initial discovery phase. However, it provides intriguing information that could be extremely valuable for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). These systems integrate mechanical components, sensors, and electronics. The safety device known as an airbag is controlled by a MEMS. A sensor detects the impact, the microelectronics process the information with decision-making capabilities, and the mechanical device releases air to protect the passengers. These tiny systems involve very few moving parts due to the wear and tear caused by the high friction of these silicon-based systems. The rockfish solved this problem using glycoproteins and carbohydrates, along with a small amount of silicon. We would call this edible chemistry—a welcome alternative to the harsh, high-temperature, high-pressure chemistry of the processes that dominate the world of coatings, lubricants, synthetic diamonds, and ball bearings.
The opportunity
The innovation is not yet ready for mass commercialization. However, the identified pathways provide a solid foundation for entrepreneurs willing to commit to a long-term project, developing an innovative platform technology that could permeate nearly every sector of the global economy. Just as ball bearings and lubricants became a $100 billion business in a century, those with the foresight to focus on innovations based on the laws of physics and biochemistry to save billions of dollars in energy will build a competitive commercial platform in the coming decades. The rockfish and its clever way of moving through the sand may also forever change our perspective on the value of the Sahara.
