Economic basic principles

Measurements and Audits. The enabling element of continuous improvement is measurement. An old rule of thumb says that increased accuracy in measuring an energy use ultimately yields a reduction in use equal to 10% of the increased closure of the balance. A basic principle of economics is that any thing that is free is used in excess, ie, an unmetered electrical use is bigger than expected by at least 10%. Metering of the cost elements at each unit in a chemical plant provides effective accountabhity. Measurements should be linked via computer software to production as weh as to weather to result in maximum feedback. 

The basic principle of regeneration was introduced in Figure 26.2. Regeneration is a treatment process but applied with the objective of reusing or recycling the water, rather than discharge to the environment. Regeneration of wastewater is most likely to be economic if... 

The applications of coordination compounds in catalysis that have been shown are by no means the only important cases. In fact, there are numerous reactions in which homogeneous catalysis forms the basis for a great deal of chemistry. From the examples shown, it should be apparent that this is a vast and rapidly developing field. It is also one that is important from an economic standpoint. Although the basic principles have been described in this chapter, the literature related to catalysis is extensive. For further details and more comprehensive reviews of the literature, consult the references listed. 

In Chapter 3 we discussed the formulation of objective functions without going into much detail about how the terms in an objective function are obtained in practice. The purpose of this appendix is to provide some brief information that can be used to obtain the coefficients in objective functions in economic optimization problems. Various methods and sources of information are outlined that help establish values for the revenues and costs involved in practical problems in design and operations. After we describe ways of estimating capital costs, operating costs, and revenues, we look at the matter of project evaluation and discuss the many contributions that make up the net income from a project, including interest, depreciation, and taxes. Cash flow is distinguished from income. Finally, some examples illustrate the application of the basic principles. 

Direct use of coal as a primary fuel is often the most efficient and economic method of utilizing this important energy resource. In many cases, however, certain undesirable properties of coal make direct utilization difficult. Coal is a solid and requires more effort to handle, measure and control than gases or liquids. Coal is usually contaminated with ash and other undesirable components and has widely variable chemical and physical properties. As a result, there is often a need to convert coal into more convenient and cleaner forms of energy and products. Before considering the basic principles of coal conversion, some important characteristics of fossil fuels will be reviewed. 

Most (if not all) companies within the pharmaceutical industry have recognised that such requirements are now a permanent part of doing business, and are developing internal health economics expertise, both on a global (corporate) and on a country-specific level. It should be noted that because of the multidisciplinary nature of this area of research, pharmaceutical company-based health economists cannot operate in isolation from the other disciplines within the company. It is therefore vital that pharmaceutical physicians understand the basic principles of health economic evaluations in order to work with the health economists in the development of high-quality analyses. 

The second issue discussed is the extent to which we can argue that the transportation network is in fact a natural monopoly. Having concluded it is, the third issue assessed is how the actual regulatory transition has adopted the basic principles of regulating a natural monopoly. The latter question is twofold how do access rules align with recognized principles, and how efficiently does the tariff system work if compared with predefined economic efficiency criteria ... 

The basic principles for the design and pre-feasibility analysis of hydrogen-based autonomous power systems are also given. The main outcome of the techno-economic analysis is the identification of technical and non-technical barriers and respective potential benefits for the implementation of hydrogen-based autonomous power systems in the short term and medium term as well. The analysis performed in this section of the book is based on real technology and market parameters acquired during the operation of these autonomous power systems rather than on theoretical assumptions. 

In this section the basic principles that should be taken into account in the design and optimisation of hydrogen-based autonomous power systems will be described in detail. The most important design parameters, having a significant impact on the economics of autonomous hydrogen-based autonomous power systems will be analysed. The most significant conclusions derived from the analysis of all case studies presented in previous sections will also be summarised. 

It is a fact of experience that pressurized apparatus should be fitted with a control and monitoring unit to ensure an appropriate purging procedure and maintain the protective gas flow and pressure differential which guarantee the safe operation of the apparatus. Purely hand-operated purging procedures are susceptible to errors and slips, and a permanently man-operated flow or pressure control for the protective gas is too remote from all basic principles of economic efficiency. Besides, the standards for pressurization contain requirements for safety devices for zone 1 apparatus (EN 50016) and for type px, py and pz-apparatus (IEC 60079-2, see Table 6.7). So, a safety device, or better a control and monitoring unit, is an essential part of a p-apparatus especially for Group I application and for zone 1. It is by no means an imperative that the control unit forms an integral part of the apparatus or has been made by its manufacturer pressurized apparatus without a control unit shall be marked X and the description documents shall contain all necessary information required by the user to ensure conformity with the requirements of the p-standards. 

Expenses for taxes and insurance play an important part in determining the economic situation for any industrial process. Because Federal, state, and local taxes may amount to a major portion of a concern s earnings, it is essential for the chemical engineer to understand the basic principles and factors underlying taxation. Insurance costs ordinarily are only a small part of the total expenditure involved in an industrial operation however, adequate insurance coverage is necessary before any operation can be carried out on a sound economic basis. 

The same methods that were explained and applied earlier in this chapter are applicable for replacement analyses. Net-present-worth and discounted-cash-flow methods give the soundest results for maximizing the overall future worth of a concern. However, for the purpose of explaining the basic principles of replacement economic analyses, the simple rate-of-retum-on-investment method of analysis is just as effective as those methods involving the time value of money. Thus, to permit the use of direct illustrations which will not detract from... 

Optimum design basic principles for, 6-9, 341-342 break-even chart for, 349-350 comparison of graphical and analytical methods for, 348-349 economic, 7-8... 

The Natural Step Framework and approach are elaborated from the constraints determined by basic principles of sustainability. Backcasting from basic principles of sustainability is a framework that covers relevant aspects of how to plan ahead in a complex system, such as for societies within the biosphere. The approach brings a sustainability perspective to analyses of current practices and materials, suggested solutions and visions, and the strategic evaluation of various solutions and paths to arrive at sustainability. And it brings this new perspective in with opportunities for improved economic outcomes. 

The reaction concept with this new hydantoinase-based biocatalyst is economically highly attractive since it represents a dynamic kinetic resolution process converting a racemic hydantoin (theoretically) quantitatively into the enantiomerically pure L-enantiomer [19]. The L-hydantoinase and subsequently the L-carbamoylase hydrolyze the L-hydantoin, l-11, enantioselectively forming the desired L-amino acid, l-2. In addition, the presence of a racemase guarantees a sufficient racemiza-tion of the remaining D-hydantoin, d-11. Thus, a quantitative one-pot conversion of a racemic hydantoin into the desired optically active a-amino acid is achieved. The basic principles of this biocatalytic process in which three enzymes (hydan-toinase, carbamoylase, and racemase) are integrated is shown schematically in Fig. 9. 

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