Investment and Operating Costs

The economics of the four basic compound fertilizer production processes (bulk blending, compaction granulation, steam/water granulation, and chemical granulation) are compared in terms of (1) required fixed captal investment, (2) conversion cost (not including raw materials), and (3) production cost (conversion cost plus raw material cost). The premises and assumptions used in this evaluation and a discussion of the main economic characteristics of the processes follow. 

All estimates (mid-1995 US ) are based on a grassroots production facility in a developing or transition economy country with an existir industrial infrastructure where the investment cost is assumed to be similar to that of a U.S. Gulf Coast location. Conveniait access to an ocean or inland port is assumed and the cost of land is not included. All raw materials are assumed to be purchased from international sources at the indicated free-on-board (f.o.b.) prices which, of course, can vary quite widely. The f.o.b. raw material prices were increased by US 30/tonne for solid materials and US 40/tonne for liquid materials to arrive at an assumed delivered cost at the plant site. Storage facilities (capacity) for dry and liquid raw materials are based on the receipt of raw materials in 3,000- to 5,000-tonne lots and an apj rcKimate.2 rnonth inventory at the plant ate. 

The base case capacity of each NPK production unit is 120,000 tpy while operating at 75% capacity utilization. This translates to 160,000 tpy at 100% capacity utilization assuming 330 days/year. 

As indicated in Table 16.8 the estimated total fixed capital investment for the four production schemes varies from a low of US 3.83 million for a batch-type bulk-blending plant to a high of US 19.37 million for the chemical granulation facility. In the case of the bulkblending plant, the storage facilities represent about 65% of the total fixed capital investment, whereas storage facilities account for only about 20%-24% of the total fixed investment in the more costly compaction, steam/ water, and chemical granulation units. 

The estimated unit consumptions (not including raw materials) for the four compound fertilizer production processes are summarized in Table 16.9. Using these unit consumptions and typical mid-1995 U.S. costs, the conversion cost, based on a production of 120,000 tpy, including bags and bagging but not raw materials, varies from about US 26/tonne for bulk blending to about US 63/tonne for chemical granulation. In all cases fixed 

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Manufacture Various methods for the manufacture of acrylates are summarized in Figure 1, showing thek dependence on specific raw materials. For a route to be commercially attractive, the raw material costs and utilization must be low, plant investment and operating costs not excessive, and waste disposal charges minimal. 

Anhydrous Acetic Acid. In the manufacture of acetic acid by direct oxidation of a petroleum-based feedstock, solvent extraction has been used to separate acetic acid [64-19-7] from the aqueous reaction Hquor containing significant quantities of formic and propionic acids. Isoamyl acetate [123-92-2] is used as solvent to extract nearly all the acetic acid, and some water, from the aqueous feed (236). The extract is then dehydrated by azeotropic distillation using isoamyl acetate as water entrainer (see DISTILLATION, AZEOTROPIC AND EXTRACTIVE). It is claimed that the extraction step in this process affords substantial savings in plant capital investment and operating cost (see Acetic acid and derivatives). A detailed description of various extraction processes is available (237). 

Table 2. Estimated Investment and Operating Costs for New Malting Facilities 120,000 Malt t/yr...

These mixing systems offer high flexibility because they can be operated in batch, semibatch, or continuous modes. Adequate mixing is a prerequisite for the success of chemical processes in terms of rninirnizing investment and operating costs. In addition, chemical reactions with... 

Batch reactors often are used to develop continuous processes because of their suitabiUty and convenient use in laboratory experimentation. Industrial practice generally favors processing continuously rather than in single batches, because overall investment and operating costs usually are less. Data obtained in batch reactors, except for very rapid reactions, can be well defined and used to predict performance of larger scale, continuous-flow reactors. Almost all batch reactors are well stirred thus, ideally, compositions are uniform throughout and residence times of all contained reactants are constant. 

Activated alumina and phosphoric acid on a suitable support have become the choices for an iadustrial process. Ziac oxide with alumina has also been claimed to be a good catalyst. The actual mechanism of dehydration is not known. In iadustrial production, the ethylene yield is 94 to 99% of the theoretical value depending on the processiag scheme. Traces of aldehyde, acids, higher hydrocarbons, and carbon oxides, as well as water, have to be removed. Fixed-bed processes developed at the beginning of this century have been commercialized in many countries, and small-scale industries are still in operation in Brazil and India. New fluid-bed processes have been developed to reduce the plant investment and operating costs (102,103). Commercially available processes include the Lummus processes (fixed and fluidized-bed processes), Halcon/Scientific Design process, NIKK/JGC process, and the Petrobras process. In all these processes, typical ethylene yield is between 94 and 99%. 

Direct type, hatch operation Laboratory drying capacities, investment and operating costs are high. Long drying times ments under Pastes and Sludges... 

Two main benefits accrue from a systems approach to materials handling and packaging. First, a trade-off of investment and operating costs is made possible nigher costs in some parts of a system become permissible in return for much lower costs in other parts. The net result is usually the lowest overall cost. If this is not the case, the reasons for incurring the higher costs can be identified and justified. The second benefit is that customers are not offended by ill-conceived packages, delivery vehicles, or product characteristics. 

The annualized capital cost (ACC) is the product of the CRF and TCC and represents the total instaUed equipment cost distributed over the lifetime of the project. The ACC reflects the cost associated with the initial capital outlay over the depreciable life of the system. Although investment and operating costs can be accounted for in other ways such as present-worth analysis, the capital recovery method is preferred because of its simplicity and versatUity. This is especiaUy true when comparing somewhat similar systems having different depreciable lives. In such decisions, there are usuaUy other considerations besides economic, but if all other factors are equal, the alternative with the lowest total annualized cost should be the most viable. 

An old variation of the conversion type is a catalytic combination unit. Development of this scheme was necessitated by the rising cost of refinery construction after World War II and by the great demand for capital for postwar expansion. The scheme reduced the investment and operating costs for refining equipment. The basic feature of the combination unit lies in the integration of the fractionation facilities of the reduced crude distillation and catalytic cracking sections. 

Table 5. Overall Investment and Operating Cost for Design Case Study.

In catalytic incineration, there are limitations concerning the effluent streams to be treated. Waste gases with organic compound contents higher than 20% of LET (lower explosion limit) are not suitable, as the heat content released in the oxidation process increases the catalyst bed temperature above 650 °C. This is normally the maximum permissible temperature to which a catalyst bed can be continuously exposed. The problem is solved by dilution-, this method increases the furnace volume and hence the investment and operation costs. Concentrations between 2% and 20% of LET are optimal, The catalytic incinerator is not recommended without prefiltration for waste gases containing particulate matter or liquids which cannot be vaporized. The waste gas must not contain catalyst poisons, such as phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, lead, zinc, mercury, tin, sulfur, or iron oxide.(see Table 1.3.111... 

In the selection of control equipment, the most important waste-gas characteristics are volumetric flow rate, concentration and composition of organic compounds in the waste-gas, waste-gas temperature and humidity, and rbe content of particulate matter, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and toxic pollutants. Other factors influencing the equipment selection are the required removal efficiency, recovery requirements, investment and operating costs, ease of installation, and considerations of operation and maintenance. The selection of a suitable control method is based on the fundamental selection criteria presented as well as the special characteristics of the project. 

FIGURE 16.1 Comparison of life cycle assessment and life cycle cost calculations. The result of LCA is (weighted) emissions and the present value of investment and operating costs, e.g,. in Euros. Note that in LCA calculations the present value coefficient is I, but the present value of LCC is always affected by interest rate and the length of the period. ... 

Poor solvating ability of supercritical fluids High investment and operating costs... 

Catalysts accelerate reactions by orders of magnitude, enabling them to be carried out under the most favorable thermodynamic regime, and at much lower temperatures and pressures. In this way efficient catalysts, in combination with optimized reactor and total plant design, are the key factor in reducing both the investment and operation costs of a chemical processes. But that is not all. 

One main driver was to increase the processing temperature for this class of metallation reactions more towards ambient. Typically, Li alkylations are conducted under cryogenic conditions (e.g. at -60 °C) [83]. Further motivation came from aiming at increasing the yield reducing investment and operating costs. 

Type 1 Costs Direct costs. Traditional capital investment and operational costs, including Equipment Labour Raw materials Waste treatment... 

Based on a detailed mathematical model, one can make computer simulations of the behaviour of various reactor types. Optimization of operating conditions and design parameters can be done for each reactor type. Downstream equipment should also be taken into account since the cost of product isolation and purification can heavily influence the final choice of all equipment items. A proper combination of investment and operating costs is used as the... 

Expensive high investment and operating costs (need for high-purity scCCE)... 

Polymer/additive analysis greatly benefits from high-resolution mass data, which often leads to unambiguous identification of (known) additives. However, the investment and operating costs of this instrument do not easily justify its (exclusive) use for the purpose of routine polymer/additive analysis. Analysis of organic polymer additives by means of mass spectrometry is aided by the utilisation of precursor ion and second-generation product ion (MS3) scanning experiments [169], A four-sector... 

It is worth noting that there are preparation stages of the plant biomass before they can be used for pollutants removal, in the case of rhizofiltration and bioadsorbents-based systems (Figure 10.2), which may increase the investment and operational costs. On the contrary, the lagoons and CWs are designed to process the influents in one single stage. 

Bibliography of Investment and Operating Cost for Chemical and Petroleum Plants, January-December... 

The catalytic esterification of ethanol and acetic acid to ethyl acetate and water has been taken as a representative example to emphasize the potential advantages of the application of membrane technology compared with conventional distillation [48], see Fig. 13.6. From the McCabe-Thiele diagram for the separation of ethanol-water mixtures it follows that pervaporation can reach high water selectivities at the azeotropic point in contrast to the distillation process. Considering the economic evaluation of membrane-assisted esterifications compared with the conventional distillation technique, a decrease of 75% in energy input and 50% lower investment and operation costs can be calculated. The characteristics of the membrane and the module design mainly determine the investment costs of membrane processes, whereas the operational costs are influenced by the hfetime of the membranes. 

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