Costs And Economics

What can drive the switch from existing homogeneous catalytic processes to novel ionic liquids technology One major point is surely if a higher cost-effectiveness can be obtained in some cases. This can be attributed to an improved reaction rate and selectivity, associated with more efficient catalyst recovery and better environmental compatibility. 

The cost of the ionic liquid is still a limiting factor. However, the commercial availability of these liquids has improved considerably over the last few years and prices have already gone down significantly [20], This development can be expected to continue as ionic liquids continue to make their transition from curiosities to commodities [79]. In any case the cost of the ionic liquid has to be weighed against that of current chemicals or catalysts. If the ionic liquid can be recycled and if its lifetime proved to be long enough, then its initial price is probably not the critical point. 

TABLE 7.6. Process characteristics for optimised nonanal production (using liquid-liquid biphasic catalysis with ionic liquids) and butanal production (using SILP catalysis) on a 100.000 tons/year scale 

Since in some of the preliminary experiments no rhodium losses could be detected, it is assumed that in an optimised continuous process the metal leaching will be in the range of the biphasic Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc process operating around 1 ppb. This would result in a loss of rhodium of 0.1 kg per year which is approximately 0.7 % in the case of the biphasic ionic liquid process and 0.2 % in the case of the SILP process. The inventory of the ionic liquid is slightly lower in the case of the liquid-liquid 

The ionic liquid investment could be further reduced if future research enables the application of ammonium based alkylsulfate or arylsulfonate ionic liquids. For these systems bulk prices around 15 /kg are expected. Ammonium based alkylsulfate or arylsulfonate ionic liquids usually show melting points slightly above room temperature but clearly below the operating temperature of the hydroformylation reaction. Therefore these systems may be less suitable for the liquid-liquid biphasic process in which the ionic liquid may be involved in process steps at ambient temperature (e.g. phase separation or liquid storage). In contrast, for the SILP catalyst a room temperature ionic liquid is not necessarily required as long as the film becomes a liquid under the reaction conditions. Assuming an ammonium based SILP catalyst, the capital investment for the ionic liquid for the industrial SILP catalyst would add up to 105,000 . 

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Ethers, such as MTBE and methyl / fZ-amyl ether (TAME) are made by a catalytic process from methanol (qv) and the corresponding isomeric olefin. These ethers have excellent octane values and compete on an economic basis with alkylation for inclusion in gasoline. Another ether, ethyl tert-huty ether (ETBE) is made from ethanol (qv) and isobutylene (see Butylenes). The cost and economic driving forces to use ETBE vs MTBE or TAME ate a function of the raw material costs and any tax incentives that may be provided because of the ethanol that is used to produce it. 

The cost and economics of cathodic protection depend on a variety of parameters so that general statements on costs are not really possible. In particular, the protection current requirement and the specific electrical resistance of the electrolyte in the surroundings of the object to be protected and the anodes can vary considerably and thus affect the costs. Usually electrochemical protection is particularly economical if the structure can be ensured a long service life, maintained in continuous operation, and if repair costs are very high. As a rough estimate, the installation costs of cathodic protection of uncoated metal structures are about 1 to 2% of the construction costs of the structure, and are 0.1 to 0.2% for coated surfaces. 

Further chapters cover in detail the characteristics and applications of galvanic anodes and of cathodic protection rectifiers, including specialized instruments for stray current protection and impressed current anodes. The fields of application discussed are buried pipelines storage tanks tank farms telephone, power and gas-pressurized cables ships harbor installations and the internal protection of water tanks and industrial plants. A separate chapter deals with the problems of high-tension effects on pipelines and cables. A study of costs and economic factors concludes the discussion. The appendix contains those tables and mathematical derivations which appeared appropriate for practical purposes and for rounding off the subject. 

Costing and economic evaluation programs also form part of some of the commercial process design packages such as the ICARUS program which is available from Aspen Tech, see Chapter 4, Table 4.1. 

Roztocki, N. and Needy, K.L. (1998) An integrated activity-based costing and economic value added system as an engineering management tool for manufacturers. ASEM National Conference Proceedings, Virginia Beach, 1-3 October 1998, pp. 77-84. 

All eleven references in this category relate directly to Section 6.1, the Economic Evaluation of this project. They contain capital costing methods, cost correlations, typical plant and equipment costs, and economic indicators to account for cost changes with time. 

Membrane materials used are polysulfone, polystyrene, Teflon, and various rubbers. This type of separation possesses many advantages over other types of gas separation, e.g., mild operating conditions, lower energy consumption, low capital cost, and economic operation at both low and high flow rates. 

ASPEN can also provide preliminary estimates of capital and operating costs and economic viability. The project is funded by the Department of Energy which will use ASPEN to evaluate process alternatives for fossil energy conversion. 

Step 5. Economic evaluation. Not shown in this example, but included in a process synthesis program such as PIP, are algorithms for costing and economic evaluation of the process. Process equipment is sized and priced and total plant investment is estimated. Requirements and costs for utilities and raw materials, other operating costs, and product values are estimated. These values are used to evaluate the profitability of the proposed process and can provide a sound basis for a more detailed design. 

Economics Capital costs and economics depend on feed composition as well as the desired increase in ethylene and propylene production in the steam cracker. 

Economic considerations are obviously a major constraint on any engineering design plants must make a profit. Process costing and economics are discussed in Chapter 6. 

While each of the above considerations nominally focuses on only two of the dimensions of sustainable development, it is in fact closely connected to all three. Environmental degradation or improvement, for example, is one important factor related to how economic activities affect societal well-being (a socio-economic consideration). Similarly, socio-environmental impacts have their related cost and economic implications. Further, judicious consideration of eco-efficiency may result in various societal advantages, including (a) the benefits derived from the products... 

Fabrycky J.W. and Blanchard, B.S. (1991) Life-Cyde Cost and Economic Analysis, Prentice Hall, Englewood ClilFs, NJ. 

D. In dealing with production, sales, or management personnel, one can usually gain more respect, and be considered more practical and less theoretical, by having a reasonable knowledge of the costs and economics of the projects under study, and general industry economics. 

B. Salesmen often recommend new products, improvements, or pricing ideas to their management. A cost and economic estimate for these ideas should be helpful in the proposal report. 

Industrial effluent limitations are derived from technologies that are available for treating the effluent and removing pollutants, and also are based on considerations of cost and economic achievability. The water quality based approach is used to develop stricter effluent limitations where technology based controls will not be stringent enough to ensure that waters can support their intended uses. 

The detailed economic analyses were based on three distinct systems for which cost and economic data were available. These data may or may not be representative of the costs and systems within each category. These three systems represent a small neighborhood ( 20 kg/day), a small public space ( 100 kg/day), and apublic space size ( I (MX) kg/day). In this analysis, the hydrogen selling prices for the United States or Europe were US 19.0/kg of H2 for the small neighborhood size, US 8.0/kg of H2 for the small public space size, and US 4.0/kg of H2 for the open space size. 

A.n Fstimate of Industry Regulatory Compliance Costs and Economic Impactfor Meeting an OSHM Workplace Exposure Standardfor4,4 Methylenedianiline (MDA), Heiden Associates, Inc., Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 1986. 

The physical construction of an indnction motor is greatly influenced by the enviromnent and ambient conditions. The environmental conditions include considerations for explosion, corrosion, dampness, ingress of dnst and solid particles, proximity to human operators, cost and economics. Ambient conditions relate to snrface temperatnre, methods of cooling, fan design and appropriate derating factors. 

Cubicle type switchgear can be constructed in many different arrangements depending upon a variety of requirements. For example the following aspects may be important for a particular plant, environmental protection, ease of access to internal parts, ease of terminating cables, fixed or withdrawable switching devices, maintainability and level of personnel skill, cost and economics, expected life duration of the product, fitness for its purpose. The switchgear industry is very competitive and so it is essential to clearly specify what is required in the form of assembly and its construction. Otherwise a false or unsatisfactory decision may be made mainly based on a cost comparison. 

A proper cost and economic analysis can only be made after all the invited manufacturers have fully complied with the details of the enquiry specification. The engineer must satisfy himself that this requirement has been properly met, otherwise a low bid price may indicate non-compliance or poor understanding of the enquiry specification. Apart from the important technical requirements there are often other engineering considerations that should be taken into account, e.g. vendor documentation, spare parts, delivery schedule, obsolescence, testing and inspection. Some of these aspects have a definite cost impact whereas some are somewhat intangible, e.g. history of performance, delivery schedule, obsolescence. 

Choosing a reaction pathway for any reaction, simple or complex, is always a difficult task, more so for a new, untried product. Even so, several considerations are common to both new and old products. Among them are cost and economic recovery of solvents, minimization of side reactions, use of relatively mild reaction conditions (although extreme conditions are not always precluded), and minimization and efficient disposal of wastes. In a multistep (as opposed to multiple) process, considered in the next section, minimization of the number of steps is particularly important. 

It is difficult to accurately determine the costs and economic benefits of introducing and maintaining a good EMS. A number of studies are presented below. However, these are just examples and their results are not entirely coherent. They might not be representative for all sectors across the EU and should thus be treated with caution. 

Operating Cost and Economic Analysis. This section begins with a presentation of the annual costs of operating the proposed plant, that is, the cost sheet, as discussed in Section 17.2 and shown in Table 17.1. In addition to the total production cost on the cost sheet, it should provide an estimate of the cost per unit weight of the product (e.g., per lb, kg, ton, or tonne). Note that when cash flows are computed for different production rates from year to year, a separate cost sheet is required for each unique production rate. Note also that, in addition to appearing on the cost sheet, the utilities for each equipment unit and their costs should be sununarized in a separate table. 

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