Capital investment, conventional results

Some details of this new process have been pubUshed by UOP (86). UOP claims equal or better LAB product quaUty via the fixed-bed process compared with the conventional Hquid-phase process employing HP acid catalyst. The new technology requites approximately 15% lower capital investment, mosdy the result of the elimination of safety equipment and equipment related to HP acid neutralization. 

A summary of levelized H2 pump prices, system capital investments, and levelized PV electricity prices are presented in Figs. 8-11 A summary of results for first gen eration (Year 1 Year 30) H2 production are as follows. The levelized H2 pump price, which does not include fuel use taxes, ranges from 6.48- 5.53/kg for 10% and 14% efficient PV modules respectively. With fuel tax, the H2 pump price is 7.47 6.52/kg, which is comparable to high-end 2005-2006 U.S. gasoline prices when the H2 is for FCVs with a fuel economy 2.2-times greater than conventional ICE ve hides. 

The net effect of these differing area investments for the two processes is that the total direct investment for the spray dryer MgO process is about 6 lower ( 72.OM vs. 76.2M) than that for the conventional MgO process. This cost advantage for the spray dryer MgO process is further increased as a result of the premise-derived indirect investments (construction expense, contingency, etc.,) and other capital investments (allowance for startup and modification and interest during construction) even though the cost factors (i.e., percentages) for both processes are identical. 

The higher direct investment for the conventional MgO process results in the higher indirect investments and other capital investments and hence the total capital investment when these factors are applied. 

One of the recurrent features of the commodity chemical industry is its instability or cyclic nature. This is, in large part, due to the tendency for many firms to make investment in new plant simultaneously, to follow a rising market, only to see prices fall when overcapacity results. The conventional view of a world class plant is that it must be big in order to capitalise on the 0.6 power rule, which states that capital costs only increase at (production rate)° as discussed with an example in Chapter 2. Intensified plants, however, with their lower capital costs, should allow smaller-scale plants to compete economically with their standard counterparts. Thus, in following a rising market, the capital investment can be made in smaller increments and be much less risky. This should facilitate a more orderly market development without recurrent bouts of feast and famine . 

The simplicity of design, short construction period, and an option of incremental capacity increase through modular approach are expected to result in a much smaller capital investment for the FBNR as compared to conventional PWRs. 

The principal advantages of the Catacarb process are production of higher purity product gas than the uncatalyzed hot potassium carbonate process, consumption of less steam than either the potassium carbonate or monoethanolamine systems, and use of smaller equipment (resulting in 20 to 30% savings in capital investment) than the conventional monoethanolamine process (Morse, 1968). 

Extractive distillation can be generally used to separate close boiling liquids or azeotropes, which cannot be separated through conventional distillation process. A solvent is introduced into the distillation column to alter the relative volatility of the feed components, and to avoid the formation of azeotropes. The extracted less volatile components leave from the bottom, whereas more volatile components come out as top products in pure form. Extractive distillation can replace conventional distillation or extraction processes resulting in improved separations, reduced capital investment and energy consumption. Industrially, extractive distillation can be implemented for binary separations resolving the close boiling mixtures, namely m-xylene/ o-xylene, methyl-cyclohexane/toluene, propylene/propane, 1-butane/1,3-butadiene, and azeotropic mixtures such as iso propylether/acetone, ethyl acetate/ethanol/water, MTBE/ethanol, etc. 

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