Plant capacity changes

Capacity Changes Plant capacities of 25 and 50 million SCF/day were considered. The power factors on capacity were assumed as follows ... 

Toluene demand in 1996 increased because of the new Amoco and Mobil (Chalmette) disproportionation plants as well as other capacity changes at Coastal (Eagle Point), Phillips (Sweeney), Gulf Chemicals (Arochem plant, Puerto Rico), Koch, and Texaco (Huntsman, Port Arthur). Dewitt (71) forecasts continued increase for this appHcation at the rate of about 14% between 1995 and the year 2000. These will have a significant effect on toluene price and availabiUty in the later 1990s. On the other hand, toluene demand for gasoline blending is expected to decline by about 283 million Hters by 1997-1998. 

The capacity of PVA in 1995 was greater than 550,000 t. Several manufacturers have added capacity since 1987. Air Products Chemicals added 40,000 t of new capacity Chang-Chun, Nippon Gohsei, and Hoechst all debottlenecked their plants and a new small plant was built in Korea by Oriental Chemical Industries (10,000 t). 

It should be noted though, that in practice the restructuring of a value chain s production network often combines different basic restructuring types and includes capacity changes. Also, the relative importance of decision criteria depends on the type of project. For example, in plant closures factors such as public opinion towards the decision (sometimes causing a company to favor closures in countries other than their home country) and possible obligations to repay subsidies received become important (cf. Richbell and Watts 2000). 

Within a plant (cf. Fig. 22) the major decisions concern product allocation, product transfers, production volumes and capacity changes. 

The third priority, that of changing plant process or reducing plant capacity, will only be implemented after all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted. These reductions may take the form of longer press times, more complex or limited assembly procedures, or restrictive handling requirements dictated by the operating characteristics of available adhesives. Loss of productive capacity... 

Interestingly, the Cativa process can be realized as a drop-in replacement in plants that have been used beforehand for the rhodium-based Monsanto process, a fact that makes the technology change very attractive for the plant owner. Today, very efficient high capacity production plants based on the Cativa process with capacities of up to 500 000 ta are in commercial operation worldwide. 

You have been hired as a consultant to a legal firm. Part of your assignment is to determine the size of a storage tank purchased in 1978 (CEPCI = 219), before computerization of records. Many records from this era were destroyed in a fire (not in the plant, but in a distant office building). The tank was replaced every 10 years, and the sizes have changed due to plant capacity changes. You have the information in the table below. Estimate the original capacity of this vessel. 

The allocation of supply sources and markets to facilities has a significant impact on performance because it affects total production, inventory, and transportation costs incurred by the supply chain to satisfy customer demand. This decision should be reconsidered on a regular basis so the allocation can be changed as production and transportation costs, market conditions, or plant capacities change. Of course, the allocation of markets and supply sources can be changed only if the facilities are flexible enough to serve different markets and receive supply from different sources. 

New plant constmction will bring iacreased capacity to a level which will depend on real growth to keep sales abreast with production. It is anticipated that consoHdation of ownership will continue and that the trend to specialized busiaesses supporting a plant faciUty will also continue. Pressures from environmental issues could change the cost of final products as well as mandate the use of post-consumer waste resia as feedstock for production. 

In the 1980s manufacturing capacity for aniline underwent some major changes. It is estimated that aniline capacity utilization was about 50% of nameplate capacity when Aristech s new 91,000 t/yr plant came on stream. That same year American Cyanamid closed its 23,000-t plant at Willow Island, W. Va., and withdrew from the aniline business. Mobay shut down its larger plant (45,000-t) at New Martinsville, W. Va. in 1983 and Du Pont idled its 77,000-tfacihtyinl984. 

The impact of cold GR-S was quite pronounced. The U.S. government edicted that all of the emulsion SBR plants switch to the cold process. This required addition of refrigeration capacity in these plants as well as other significant changes, such as insulation of reactors, improved vacuum to reduce oxygen that retards polymerization, and the heating of latex in blowdown tanks to aid in the disengagement of butadiene when transferred to the flash tanks. 

The shrinkage in demand has resulted in a restmcturing of the carbon black-industry. Several of the principal multinational oil companies have left the business including Ashland, Cities Service Co., Phillips, and Conoco. Some plants have changed ownership. In the United States this has increased the production capacities of Degussa, Sid Richardson, and Huber. Today s U.S. industry consists of six principal producers. Rated capacities of the six U.S. manufacturers is shown in Table 13. Cabot Corp. and Columbian Chemicals are the leading producers, followed by Degussa, Sid Richardson, J. M. Huber Corp., and Witco. A survey of the future markets and present stmcture of the carbon black industry has been presented (1). 

It can be assumed that P,Jp, and for the cascade have been specified, and that the cost of feed and the cost per unit of separative work, the product of separative capacity and time, are known. The basic assumption is that the unit cost of separative work remains essentially constant for small changes ia the total plant size. The cost of the operation can then be expressed as the sum of the feed cost and cost of separative work ... 

---