Equipment contracts

In addition to products and service which are incorporated or which form part of the products and service supplied to customers, there are tools, test equipment, contract labor, facilities, calibration services, computer services, and many other items which, if not of adequate quality, may adversely affect the quality of the products and service you supply. These items should also be governed by these requirements. 

Determine or assume losses through orifice plates, control valves, equipment, contraction and expansion, etc. 

Ibsen, K., Equipment design and cost estimation for small modular biomass systems, synthesis gas cleanup, and oxygen separation equipment, Contract Report NREL/SR-510-39943, NREL Technical Monitor, Section 2, May 2006. 

Equipment information sheets summary Name and location of equipment Model and serial number of equipment Purchase order for equipment/contract numbers Number and location of SOPs Number and location of calibration procedure Number and location of maintenance procedure(s)a Materials that come in contact with the product Lubricants General comments Safety comments... 

Permits defining and sequencing the specific job steps, identifying the required craft labor types, determining estimated times, as well as aU other resources, such as special tools and equipment, contract services, etc. 

Accounts payable Due to subcontractors Provision for income taxes Equipment contracts Long-term notes payable Total liabibties... 

Equipment contracts The company leases some of the equipment used on its projects. 

Stresses from welding result principally from the effects of differential thermal expansion and contraction arising from the large temperature difference between the weld bead and the relatively cold adjacent base metal. Shrinkage of the weld metal during solidification can also induce high residual stresses. Unless these residual stresses are removed, they remain an intrinsic condition of the weldment apart from any applied stresses imposed as a result of equipment operation. 

Expertise—A client may seek to issue a toll contract if it chooses to produce a new product of unfamiliar chemistiy or formulation type. A toller may already have knowledge, equipment, and personnel uniquely suited for a given process that cannot be readily duplicated. A toller with expertise in that particular type of chemistiy or formulation could speed production and assist them in building a higher level of in-house expertise through close interaction. This may enhance the level of process safety and personnel safety should the client ever bring the process in-house. 

A quality toll can only be achieved by tollers with properly designed and reliable equipment. Companies letting a toll contract should... 

A toller may need to use resources outside their company to measure physical properties, conduct safety or other testing, engineer changes to piping or other facilities and equipment. This need frequently occurs for products in the initial development or commercialization stage. The toller should maintain confidentiality agreements with their suppliers and subcontractors commensurate with the proprietary nature of their client companies processes. Provision to allow disclosure of information to third parties should be addressed in the contract between the toller and the client. It may be structured so that the client must approve the toller s release of information to third parties. 

A client may choose to develop a toller who is qualified, but will need additional or improved equipment and technology to meet the eventual production levels required later in the life of the toll contract. The client may require the toller to make changes or modifications at their plant in order to effectively manufacture a particular product in increasing quantity. Some areas of concern applicable to scale up were listed in Various Points to Consider, Section 3.1. Additional considerations to address in the contract may include ... 

Both parties need to identify responsibilities for choosing the right equipment for the process, preparing equipment for the process, and decontaminating equipment. Consider whether chemical and process hazards have been addressed in the selection, preparation, and decontamination of equipment. Examine the need to contractually address containment and disposal of residual process fluids and decontamination materials. If food products or pharmaceuticals are involved, cleaning methods may also be an issue to address in the contract. 

Acting as a consultant can result in new methods, techniques or tools producing more efficient or safer processing of the toll. In some cases, the toller may be the expert in the process or equipment thus consulting to their client company to help them gain expertise for contracting future tolls. 

Also in the long term, the equipment loses its eflicieney, and replacement parts are substituted in a maintenance function. Also, the plant goes through production expansions and contractions new equipment is added into the pipes. In short, the system and its elevations and pressures, its resistances and velocities, are very dynamic. The BEP of the pump is static. 

Provide flexibility to allow for thermal expansion, or contraction, of pipework and connected equipment. 

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