Chemicals, price escalation

Although benzene prices have escalated in recent years, a concurrent need for butenes for use in alkylates for motor fuel has also increased and butane prices have also escalated. As a result, a search for alternative feedstocks began and Amoco Chemical Co. commercialized a process in 1977 to produce maleic anhydride from butane. A plant in JoHet came on-stream in 1977 with a capacity of 27,000 t/yr (135,136). No new plants have been built in the United States based on butenes since the commercialization of butane to maleic anhydride technology. In Europe and particularly in Japan, however, where butane is in short supply and needs for butenes as alkylation feed are also much less, butenes may become the dominant feedstock (see Maleic anhydride). 

However, this cost in 1991 dollars has to be escalated to 2001 dollars. As shown in Problem 18.2, the escalated cost is the product of the base cost and the escalation factor. The costs of gas absorbers can be escalated via one of the Vatavuk Air Pollution Control Cost Indexes (VAPCCIs). Updated quarterly since 1994 and published in Chemical Engineering, the VAPCCIs have been developed for gas absorbers and eight other types of air pollution control devices. The annual indices for gas absorbers for the years 1994 and 2001 are 100.8 and 114.4, respectively. In addition, the EPA study documenting the development of the VAPCCIs showed that gas absorber prices increased by 5.06% from 1991 to 1994 [Ref. 7]. Combining this increase with the VAPCCI data, we get... 

The fatty acid spectrum of rice bran oil is 22-25% palmitic acid, 37-41% oleic acid and 37-41% linoleic acid. More recently, interest in rice oil escalated with its identification as a healthy oil that reduces serum cholesterol. Rice bran is a good source of antioxidants including vitamin E and oryzanol (ferulic esters of sterols and triterpene alcohols), cholesterol-lowering waxes and antitumor compounds like rice bran saccharide.Besides applications in nutrition and in phyto-chemicals, rice bran oil has traditionally been used for industrial applications, such as dimer acid manufacturing, depending on pricing for alternative vegetable oils. 

Several studies have been conducted to estimate the economic values of environmental quality. Table 6.1 Hsts values of some of the environmental quality variables related to the chemical and energy processes [11]. In Table 6.1 the dollar values in 2015 have been calculated by escalating the values available for earher years using the consumer price index (CPI) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Do the escalated prices for a barrel of crude oil, and the visible end of fossil supplies of energy,justify a new look at fermentation for bulk chemicals ... 

Because of their high availability and low prices, the chemical industries in thelatter part of 20 and the early 21 century rely heavily on crude oil. However, this strong focus of raw materials now appears to be more precarious due to escalating international financial problems and unknown political factors. 

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