Economics plant capacity impact

How can you handle it economically This is a very serious issue, much more so than just forming granules. The major impact is plant capacity and recycle. 

The investment costs are intrinsically low due both to the simplicity of the process and to its operating conditions. This is however true for a limited interval of the inlet conditions, that is the total air flowrate and its TOC in other words the plant capacity is limited to an upper limit of about 20000 NmVh of treated air with a TOC < 1500. Whenever this uppo-limit is violated the plant cost is practically doubled being more effective to double the plant itself. Whenever this occasion occurs alternative technologies such as incineration arc more convenient from the economical point of view although less safe for the environmental impact and sustainability. 

Availability and reliability have a very major impact on the plant economy. Reliability is essential in that when the power is needed it must be there. When the power is not available it must be generated or purchased, and can be very costly in the operation of a plant. Planned outages are scheduled for non-peak periods. Peak periods is when the majority of the income is generated as usually there are various tiers of pricing depending on the demand. Many power purchase agreements have clauses, which contain capacity payments, thus making plant availability critical in the economics of the plant. 

Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is one of the leading chemicals used mainly for manufacturing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The PVC worldwide production capacity in 2005 was of about 35 million tons per year, with an annual growth of about 3%, placed after polyolefines but before styrene polymers. In the 1990s the largest plant in the USA had a capacity of about 635 ktons [1], but today there are several plants over one million tons. At this scale even incremental improvements in technology have a significant economic impact. Computer simulation, process optimization and advanced computer-control techniques play a determinant role. 

In addition to carbon sequestration, technologies that would provide economic benefits include those that enhance oil recovery, produce coalbed methane, and maintain pressures in depleted gas reservoirs to avoid surface subsidence. Currently, companies in the United States sell one billion standard cubic feet of C02 each day, or approximately the C02 output from one conventional coal-fired electric power plant with a power capacity of 2300 MW. This C02 is used economically and with little or no environmental impact for approximately 70 enhanced oil recovery projects and for other industrial applications. Pipeline specifications for C02 quality, pipeline safety issues, and custody of the C02 have a base of industrial experience that goes back to the 1970s. Today, there are operating C02 pipelines of up to 760 mm (30 inches) in diameter and 640 km (400 miles) in length (Fig. 6-6). 

The return on capital calculation indicates whether or not a project is economically worthwhile. To calculate the return, assumptions must be made about the most probable product prices, the production outlay, the plant loading (actual production/nom-inal capacity), investment costs, etc. Time will see whether these assumptions are correct. The impact of these uncertainties on the cost effectiveness of the project can be quantified by using the following variables. 

Turning to the hazards and the impact of industrial processes. Many disasters such as Flixborough, Seveso and Bhopal (see section 1.6) have ably illustrated the environmental impact of human errors and the need for rigorous safety controls. The capacities and productivity of chemical plants are driven upwards as are the magnitudes of losses in terms of economic cost and fatalities. Analysis of the major causes of accidents in the U.S. chemical industry in the 1978-1980 period highlighted that ... 

Other Cost Components include (a) owners Project Management cost, which includes technical and economic feasibility studies, environmental impact studies, plant site selection, land procurement, financing negotiations, preparation of technical specifications, selection or recommendation of contractors, and contract negotiations,- (b) Preoperation and Startup Expense, which provides for the costs incurred between the end of construction and the production of a quality product at design capacity and (c) Spare Parte. 

A review of the effect on the economics and of the environmental impact of PVC manufacturing on the production capacity of PVC plants and their ability to compete in Hungary is found in reference 4. 

The economic considerations associated with using opportunity fuels have been well identified by Letheby [4, 5] and Williams [32]. These issues extend beyond the cost of the fuel in /GJ ( /10 Btu). Among the economic issues is fuel transportation cost. Many opportunity fuels must be located near the power plant or energy user, due to inordinate impacts of transportation on final fuel costs. In addition, economic impacts include the monetary consequences of using the fuel with respect to boiler performance capacity, efficiency, and operability. They also include the impact of the fuel on emissions and emissions credits reductions in SO2 and NO emissions currently have significant economic values in the US. 

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