Critical factors

Natishan P M, Kelly A G, Frankel G S and Newman R (eds) 1996 Critical Factors in Localized Corrosion II Proc. vol 95-15 (Pennington, NJ Electrochemical Society)... 

The critical factor for any method involving an approximation or an extrapolation is its range of application. Liu et al. [15] demonstrated that the approach performed well for mutations involving the creation or deletion of single atoms. The method has also been successfully applied to the prediction of the relative binding affinities of benzene, toluene and o-, p-, and m-xylene to a mutant of T4-lysozyme [16]. In both cases, however, the perturbation to the system was small. To investigate range over which the extrapolation may... 

An important step in developing a standard method is to determine which factors have a pronounced effect on the quality of the analytical method s result. The procedure can then be written to specify the degree to which these factors must be controlled. A procedure that, when carefully followed, produces high-quality results in different laboratories is considered rugged. The method by which the critical factors are discovered is called ruggedness testing. ... 

Weak and strong acid-type resins are for removal of cations and are called cation exchangers. Weak and strong base resins remove anions and are called anion exchangers. In addition to these four resin types, there are specialty resins used in appHcations where higher specificity for certain ions under challenging conditions is a critical factor. 

The effect of temperature, pressure, and oil composition on oil recovery efficiency have all been the subjects of intensive study (241). Surfactant propagation is a critical factor in determining the EOR process economics (242). Surfactant retention owing to partitioning into residual cmde oil can be significant compared to adsorption and reduce surfactant propagation rate appreciably (243). 

The compounding technique for latex differs from that of dry mbber and is fundamentally simpler. A critical factor of colloidal stabiUty makes necessary that each ingredient is of optimum particle size, pH, and concentration when added as an aqueous dispersion to the latex. Rubber latex is a colloidal aqueous emulsion of an elastomer and natural mbber latex is the milky exudation of certain trees and plants that of greatest commercial importance is the... 

Vitamin D intoxication causes 25-hydroxy vitamin blood levels to go from a normal of 30—50 ng/mL to 200—400 ng/mL. At this high level, the metabohte can compete with 1 a-25-dihydroxy vitamin for receptors in the intestine and bone and induce effects usually attributed to the dihydroxy vitamin D. Thus, 25-hydroxy vitamin is beUeved to be the critical factor in vitamin D intoxication. Vitamin D2 is metabolized slower than vitamin and thus appears to be less toxic (218). 

Because PEA is such an important fragrance material this simple, essentially one-step process has been exhaustively studied to optimize reaction conditions and purification procedures. Because of the high reactivity of the iatermediates and the tendency toward polymer formation, critical factors such as throughput, temperature, molar ratios of reactants, addition rates, reactor materials and design, and agitation rate must be carefully balanced to provide an economical product with acceptable odor properties. 

Steam is introduced at the base of the whiskey column through a sparger. Where economy is an important factor, as in a fuel alcohol plant, a calandtia is employed as the source of indirect heat. The diameter of the stiU, number of perforated and bubble cap plates, capacity of the doubler, and proof of distiUation are the critical factors that largely determine the characteristics of a whiskey. 

Implementation Issues A critical factor in the successful application of any model-based technique is the availability of a suitaole dynamic model. In typical MPC applications, an empirical model is identified from data acquired during extensive plant tests. The experiments generally consist of a series of bump tests in the manipulated variables. Typically, the manipulated variables are adjusted one at a time and the plant tests require a period of one to three weeks. The step or impulse response coefficients are then calculated using linear-regression techniques such as least-sqiiares methods. However, details concerning the procedures utihzed in the plant tests and subsequent model identification are considered to be proprietary information. The scaling and conditioning of plant data for use in model identification and control calculations can be key factors in the success of the apphcation. 

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