Hurdle

Corporate Planning Forecast oil and gas prices Discount rates, hurdle rates Exchange rates Inflation forecast Market factors Political risk, social obligations... 

Project screening means checking that the predicted economic performance of a project passes a prescribed threshold or hurdle . Investors commonly apply a screening value to the project, which is a chosen IRR at a chosen oil price (for example, 20% IRR at 20/bbl). Provided the project IRR exceeds the hurdle rate the project is considered further, otherwise it is rejected in current form. 

Some of the economic hurdles and process cost centers of this conventional carbohydrate fermentation process, schematically shown in Eigure 1, are in the complex separation steps which are needed to recover and purify the product from the cmde fermentation broths. Eurthermore, approximately a ton of gypsum, CaSO, by-product is produced and needs to be disposed of for every ton of lactic acid produced by the conventional fermentation and recovery process (30). These factors have made large-scale production by this conventional route economically and ecologically unattractive. 

Because soHd acid catalyst systems offer advantages with respect to their handling and noncorrosive nature, research on the development of a commercially practical soHd acid system to replace the Hquid acids will continue. A major hurdle for soHd systems is the relatively rapid catalyst deactivation caused by fouling of the acid sites by heavy reaction intermediates and by-products. 

PET imaging systems are somewhat more complex, and therefore more expensive than are SPECT systems, and the price factor is generally between two and three. The primary cost premium associated with these systems, however, is the need for a cyclotron and its attendant staff combined with the relative complexity of radiopharmaceutical preparation for short half-life isotopes. As of 1996, there are considerable hurdles blocking widespread regulatory approval and full reimbursement of PET studies. 

For many years, the perduorocarbons seemed to present iasurmountable hurdles to further development. However, newer emulsions are being developed that allow higher concentrations of dissolved oxygen and iaterest ia perduorocarbon products has been renewed (31). One product,... 

The Steam Injection Cycle Steam injection has been used in reciprocating engines and gas turbines for a number of years. This cycle may be an answer to the present concern with pollution and higher efficiency. Corrosion problems are the major hurdle in such a system. The concept is simple and straightforward Steam is injected into the compressor discharge air and increases the mass flow rate... 

There are four overall guidehnes that analysts should keep in mind. They must recognize the difficulties associated with the limited number and accuracy of the data, overcome the plant operation mythologies, overcome the designers and controllers biases and, finally, override the analysts own prejudices. The following four overall guidelines assist in overcoming the hurdles to proper plant performance. 

Analysts must have a strong foundation in plant operations and in the unit under study. The hurdles thrown at analysts increase the proba-bihty that the conclusions drawn will be incorrect. A lack of understanding in the operation of the unit increases the hkelihood that the conclusions will oe inaccurate. An understanding of the chemical... 

The hurdles to arriving at a unique set of parameter values are large. 

Despite these hurdles, models with accurate parameter estimates... 

Acceptance - Deadlines put pressure on the team, and CA may be seen as yet another hurdle for the team to jump, or as a eritieism of the designer s work. Teehniques must be aeeepted at all levels in the organization as measures of per-formanee on the design, not the designers, and as positive initiatives to promote ereative ideas to modify designs and eliminate risk. 

Probably the last hurdle is the cabinet size, which houses the electronics. It is large enough to be a factor in location. If located in an air-conditioned space, the air conditioning must be sized to accommodate the additional heat load, which is significant on the larger drives. 

If the instruments are in, the meter run was available, and gas composi-tion can be accurately determined as needed, one last minor hurdle should be addressed. This is power measurement. The indirect method, such as heat balance can be used. In fact, it should be used as a redundant method. 

Many companies apply a minimum rate of return, or hurdle rate, to express the opportunity-cost competition between investments. For example, if a firm can draw 10 percent interest on cash in the bank, then 10 percent would be a valid choice for the hurdle rate as it represents the company s cash opportunity cost. Then, in analyzing investment options under a return-on-investment criterion, not only would the highest returns be selected, but any project that pays the firm a return of less than the 10 percent hurdle rate would not be considered. 

HSrbarkeit,/. audibility, horchen, v.i. listen, hearken eavesdrop. Horchgerati n. listening device sound locator. Horde, /. hurdle, wickerwork lattice (Brewing) kiln floor horde, band. hSren, v.t. tfe i. hear. 

Hiirde, /. hurdle, wickerwork, lattice rack, shelf. 

The controlled synthesis of polymers, as opposed to their undesired formation, is an area that has not received much academic interest. Most interest to date has been commercial, and focused on a narrow area the use ofchloroaluminate(III) ionic liquids for cationic polymerization reactions. The lack of publications in the area, together with the lack of detailed and useful synthetic information in the patent literature, places hurdles in front of those with limited loiowledge of ionic liquid technology who wish to employ it for polymerization studies. The expanding interest in ionic liquids as solvents for synthesis, most notably for the synthesis of discrete organic molecules, should stimulate interest in their use for polymer science. 

In the above equation, r can indicate the internal rate of return on an investment. Suppose that an investment in an energy-saving technology cost 100 and reduces energy costs by 20 per year indefinitely. The reduction in costs is comparable to net revenues received. The above equation can be modified as follows I equals R/r, where the values of I and R are specified and the value of r is computed. Hence 100 equals 20/r, and r equals 0.20, or 20 percent. The internal rate of return on the 100 investment is 20 percent per year. An investment is generally profitable when its internal rate of return exceeds the (interest rate) cost of obtaining credit. The investment is attractive when its internal rate of return exceeds the investor s hurdle rate, which may vary depending on the riskiness of the investment, and on the rate that can be earned from alternative uses of the investment funds. 

A major hurdle to greater efficiency is the constant-speed nature of induction and synchronous motors. Nevertheless, considerable advances have been made in improving motor speed controls that essentially better optimize the motor speed to the task at hand, resulting in substantial energy savings, decreased wear of the mechanical components, and usually increased productivity from the user. 

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