Economic aspects

The results obtained by VEBA in a high-pressure hydrogenation plant [21] indicated an almost four times higher price of fuels from waste plastics than current fuel market prices. At the beginning of 1990s on the basis of pilot-plant-scale hydrogenation process the UK researchers stated that this process is not economically viable and they foresaw that it would not be available commercially until after 2000. 

Economic efficiency of waste plastics processing depends on the methods of their selection and preparation for processing as well as the cost of thermal or catalytic treatment, i.e. the cost of investment and exploitation of the cracking plant. For instance the main characteristic of fluid-bed reactors is the possibility of exploitation of large-scale units (at least 50000 tons or more per year), low cost of exploitation, but accompanied by large investment and feed delivery costs. And on the other hand, smaller reactors can be built on a smaller scale, a few thousand tons per year output, lower investment costs and lower feed deliveries (processing of local wastes in limited area), but operated with larger exploitation costs. 

Kastner and W. Kaminsky, Recycle plastics into feedstocks, Hydrocarb. Process., 5, 109 (1995). 

Ramdoss and A. R. Tarrer, High-temperatnre liqnefaction of waste plastics. Fuel, 77, 4, 293 (1998). 

Rockwell, D. Bailey and G. Hnffman, Direct liqnefaction of waste plastics and coliqnefaction of coal-plastic mixtnre. Fuel Proc. Technol, 49, 17 (1966). 

In North America (United States and Canada), the Chlorine Institute estimated the value of sales of the chlorine-dependent industries in 1990 to be ca. 80 billion, the total benefits at the chlorine industry to consumers ca. 120 billion. About 1.4 million workers were directly or indirectly employed in chlorine-dependent industries. (The Chlorine Institute, Assessments of the Economic Benefits of Chlor-Alkali Chemicals to the United States and Canadian Economies by Charles River Associated Inc. April 1993). 

These figures demonstrate the economic importance of the chlorine industry. 

Chlorine capacities 1995 (in 10 t/a) in the main producer countries was as follows 

All chlorine producers are listed in [293]. A detailed review of the chlor-alkali market for 1994 is given in [294]. 

The production costs of 1 electrochemical unit (4 It chlorine +1.131 sodium hydroxide) depends up to 60 % on the price of electricity. At 3.5 0 AWh, they are about 250 /ecu (Fig. 109), so the total value of production is ca. 24 x 10 /a. The chlor-alkali industry is one of the biggest consumers of electrical energy, consuming ca. 0.15 X 10 kWh/a. 

Some of the more prominent carboxyhc acids that are not fat- or oil-based include acetic, acryUc, and olefin-based propionic, butyric/isobutyric, 2-ethylhexanoic, heptanoic, pelargonic, neopentanoic, and neodecanoic. Table 1 summarizes the production, pricing, and primary producers of these acids. 

2-ethyUiexanoic (C8) 12 1.25 Eastman, Union Carbide paint driers heat stabUizers for PVC 

With the exception of acetic, acryUc, and benzoic all other acids in Table 1 are primarily produced using oxo chemistry (see Oxo process). Propionic acid is made by the Hquid-phase oxidation of propionaldehyde, which in turn is made by appHcation of the oxo synthesis to ethylene. Propionic acid can also be made by oxidation of propane or by hydrocarboxylation of ethylene with CO and presence of a rhodium (2) or iridium (3) catalyst. 

Butyric acid is made by air-oxidation of butyraldehyde, which is obtained by appHcation of the oxo synthesis to propylene. Isobutyric acid is made from isobutyraldehyde, a significant product in the synthesis of butyraldehyde (see Butyraldehydes). Butyraldehyde is also used to make 2-ethylhexanoic acid. 

Rhodium catalyst is used to convert linear alpha-olefins to heptanoic and pelargonic acids (see Carboxylic acids, manufacture). These acids can also be made from the ozonolysis of oleic acid, as done by the Henkel Corp. Emery Group, or by steam cracking methyl ricinoleate, a by-product of the manufacture of nylon-11, an Atochem process in France (4). Neoacids are derived from isobutylene and nonene (4) (see Carboxylic acids, trialkylacetic acids). 

The variable operating costs, the investment costs and the rate of depreciation were taken into account. The cost analysis was kept simple because the main target was simply to evaluate the overall production costs. 

In Table 9.2, the basic economic assumptions and parameters are reported. 

The variable operating costs include the consumption of feed + fuel, cooling water and electricity. For their evaluation, it was taken into account that in the actual economic scenario the costs of such a scheme are mainly related to those of the natural gas and of the plant thermal efficiency. The evaluation is reported in Table 9.3. 

The investments are estimated on the basis of long-term experience in building hydrogen production plants and on the assumption of budding 10 identical units in order to optimize the construction costs. Table 9.4 gives the plant cost estimate as a percentage of the delivered equipment costs [99]. Such an estimate does not 

Natural gas price Electricity price Cooling water price Capacity factor H2 plant capacity Depreciation 

A considerable increase of capacity is planned by debottlenecking and building new plants. Pigment plant capacity is forcast to grow to 5.2 x 106 t in 2005 [2.58], 

Year W. Europe USA Eurasia[a] Japan Others Total 

Ciba Specialty Chemicals Lucky Gold Star Korea 

50% of the iron oxides. Estimated world consumption of inorganic pigments in 2000 can be broken down as follows  

TABLE 5.5 The Major Surfactant Consumption by Type Wbrldwide(10 t)[4,22] 

The two largest end uses, which are household products and industrial processing aids, together account for 86 percent of the total production of surfactants [4, 22], Household products include heavy-duty powder and liquid detergents, light-duty liquids, and fabric softeners. 

Industrial processing materials are covered by the following major end uses plastics and elastomers, textiles, agricultural chemicals, leather and paper chemicals, and other miscellaneous uses. 

The anionic surfactants, such as linear alkyl-benzene surfactants, represent the largest consumed type of surfactants worldwide followed by alcohol ethoxylate, and alkylphenol ethoxylates (Table 5.5) [4, 22]. 

For legal restrictions, the use of sodium triphosphate as a builder has sharply decreased mainly in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The application of sodium triphosphate in detergents dropped by more than 50 percent within 10 years in these countries [4, 23]. 

The major use in environmental protection is flue gas desulfurisation. In 1994, the U.K. had not commissioned any major units. 

Limestone competes with other hard rocks in the major market of aggregate for concrete and roadstone. In most countries, such rocks are widespread and there is intense competition between suppliers, based more on the delivered prices than on the properties of the aggregate. 

The production cost of limestone depends on a number of factors. The nature of the deposit can be important massive deposits with little overburden, horizontal strata and consistent physical/chemical properties favour low extraction costs, particularly if linked with a large-scale operation. Selection of appropriate equipment to keep the combined costs of labour, capital charges and other operating costs to a minimum is important to ensure a strong competitive position (see chapters 4 and 5). 

The cost of haulage is an important factor, as it can equal the ex-works cost of aggregate at a distance of 50 km. For road transport by tipper wagon, the economic distance may be as low as 40 to 60 km. Rail transport may extend that distance to 200 km and water transport can extend the distance eonsiderably further. 

Paints and varnishes (coatings) have two primary functions protection and decoration. Other objectives include information, identification, safety, insulation, vapor barrier, nonskid surface, and control of temperature, light, and dust. A range of product categories with a wide variety of application is therefore available  

1) Architectural (decorative) coatings include exterior and interior house paints which are normally distributed through wholesale-retail channels and purchased by the general public, painters, building contractors, government agencies, etc. 

2) Product finishes are coatings formulated specifically for original equipment manufacture (OEM) to satisfy application conditions and manufacturing requirements for a wide variety of industrial and consumer products, e.g., wood and metal furniture and fixtures automotive and nonautomotive transportation, aircraft, machinery and equipment, appliances, electrical insulation, film, paper, foil, toys, and sports goods. 

3) Special-purpose coatings are formulated for special applications or extreme environments and include automotive and machinery refinishing, high-performance maintenance, road markings, marine (bridge) maintenance, crafts, metallic and multicolored coatings. 

The number of coatings producers worldwide was estimated at about 7500 in 1997. The total world coatings market was estimated to be ca. 55-60 x 10 the product market sectors were as follows  

The pharmaceutical industry produces Vitamin D3 and, on a smaller scale. Vitamin D2 in pme crystalline form, or as a solution in vegetable oil (1 million lU/g) for manufacturing drugs, and as nutritional supplement (Multivitamin specialities). The lion s share of Vitamin D3 is sold as the crude product. Vitamin D3 resin (aroimd 500,000 lU/g), for the production of cattle feed. The bulk manufacturers of Vitamin D are DSM (Switzerland, D3), Dishman (India, Netherlands, D2, D3), and Synthesia (Czech Republic, D2). The annual global production comes to 1.5 X 10 lU (1 lU is the biological equivalent of0.025 pg), which translates into 37.5 tonnes of Vitamin D. 

The annual global production of calcitriol amounts to several hundred grams key producers are Hoffmann-La Roche and Abbott. Tritium-labeUed Vitamin D-derivatives for experimental purposes, like biological assays, are produced by Amersham (Great Britain) and by PerkinElmer/New England Nuclear Corp. (USA). 

Fibre glass This glass is classified as either wool or textile. More than a dozen companies produce textile fibers for draperies, tyres, paper, etc. More than 80% of production is used for building insulation, the remainder for industrial equipment and pipe insulation. Growth of the insulation market has been faster than the textile area because of the demand for additional insulation in both new and existing building. 

Specialty glass The pressed-and-blown or hollow-ware industry is comprised of over one hundred companies in United States. The wide variety of products is divided into categories of pressed-and-blown glass for table, kitchen, art and novelty applications and products of purchased glass. 

Refractory materials can withstand high temperature and do not fuse as these are chemically and physically stable even at a very high temperature. The oxides 

More than 1500 adhesives manufacturers worldwide offer a variety of not less than 250 000 products. The worldwide turnover of the adhesives industry is beUeved to be approximately 16 x 10 corresponding to a total consumption of 6 x 10 t. These figures do not include cement-based products and urea and phenolic resins used as binders for the production of chipboard. Market studies and national industry federation reports are available for the United States, Canada and Mexico, Latin America, western Europe, eastern Europe, Asia/Pacific, Japan, and Australia. The regional distribution of the world adhesives market is given in Table 1. 

Adhesives have a very wide spectrum of applications. They are applied in almost every industrial field. The largest markets are found in the paper, packaging, and board 

Considering the product groups, the highest growth rates are expected for hot-melt systems and polymer dispersions and emulsions. A continuing decrease will occur for adhesives based on natural polymers (animal and vegetable), solvent-based adhesives, and systems based on water-soluble polymers. 

In 2002 the world production of paper and board was ca. 331 x 10 t Although paper and board are used in some form or other in all parts of the inhabited world, the production is left to a limited number of countries. More than 9000 paper machines are responsible for production in 111 of the approximately 200 countries in the world, whereby the 15 largest producer countries alone account for 82% of total world production (Table 1.2). 

The various requirements for the production of paper are not met everywhere. For instance, suitable raw materials must be available, including water, energy, and trained personnel. Furthermore, the construction of paper mills requires a very high investment, and a sufficiently large market and a favorable location are both essential prerequisites for economic papermaking. For these reasons, the modern paper industry is based mainly in the coniferous forest zone of the Northern Hemisphere, with centers in Europe, North America, and in Japan. 

World paper production has increased more than sevenfold since 1950 when production was ca. 44 x 10 t (Table 1.3). During this time, the regions which did not belong to the classical paper producing countries - above aU China - have come to the fore, and their share of world production grew from ca. 3% in 1950 to 

13% in 1980, and to 30% in 2002. At the same time, the circle of paper producing countries has widened considerably from 61 to 111 and now includes a large number of developing countries. In these countries, the tendency towards self sufficiency is influenced by national economic considerations and the need to save foreign exchange for paper imports (Table 1.2). 

In 2002, Europe, North America, Japan and China produced 82% of the total world production (Table 1.3). However, the development in these regions has varied considerably. China s paper production has increased more than threefold since 1980 and it is now the second largest paper producer in the world. In Japan, the paper industry has developed from a low during the postwar years to become the third largest paper producer. In the last four or five decades. Western Europe has more or less been able to maintain its share of world production. North America has had to accept large losses of its share of production, which has, however, been increasing relatively constantly (Table 1.4). 

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A further advantage is the Selenium halflife of 120 days, which is 60% more when compared to iridium and a factor of approx. 4 when compared to Ytterbium. These differences turn out to be an important economical aspect when comparing the different sources, as they are a direct measure of the useful life of sources. The short halflife and the very high costs for Ytterbium sources have been the main factors for the rather low importance of Ytterbium in the full range of gamma radiography. 

An actual problem of a paper mill was the continuous measurement of the wall thickness of a heated roll which dries the paper in order to avoid severe crashes due to wearing. On one side the roll shall be used as long as possible because of economic aspects and on the other side the roll has to be replaced in time to avoid a severe crash. 

EPM/EPDM compounding pLASTOPffiRS, SYNPPiETIC - EPPiYLENE-PROPYLENE-DIENE RUBBER] (Vol 8) -in fats and oils [CARBOXYLIC ACIDS - ECONOMIC ASPECTS] (Vol 5)... 

Economic Aspects. The hardwood and decorative plywood industry has decreased in size and production significantly in the past few years. In 1994, there were an estimated 100 mills operating in the United States having a production volume of 1.135 x 10 m (2). The doUar value of this production is extremely difficult to estimate because of the very wide range of prices for the products. 

Economic Aspects. The stmctural plywood industry now has (ca 1997) about 105 operating mills, representing a significant decrease over the past several years. Production in 1994 was about 17.4 x 10 m (2), also representing a marked decrease over previous years. This decrease is a result of several factors, two of the most important being a decrease in availabiHty of suitable veneer logs, especially in the western states, and competition from the newer oriented strand board stmctural panel industries. 

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