Material handling cost effect

Distribution costs depend on plant location, physical state of the material (whether liquid, gas, or sohd), nature of the material (whether corrosive, explosive, flammable, perishable, or toxic), freight rates, and labor costs. Distribution costs may be affected by any of the following new methods of materials handling, safety regulations, productivity agreements, wage rates, transportation systems, storage systems, quality, losses, and seasonal effects. 

Cost-effective control of dust problems arising from bulk materials handling requires an initial examination of the overall handling operations. Factors influencing dust generation and dispersion must be understood in order to achieve a proper design. 

Modern materials handling techniques in US Army Ammunition Plants are detailed in the Refs given under Modernization Engineering Project for US Army Ammunition Plants in this Vol, A study of materials handling at the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, carried out under the above project, is reported in Ref 6. The principal objectives of this study were to develop recommendations to modernize materials handling in a cost effective and safe manner. 

Only two processes, high-temperature pyrolysis and mobile incineration, have proved effective for soil decontamination and are considered to be commercially viable. Both involve heating the contaminated soil to a high temperatnre, which is costly in terms of energy use and materials handling. There are substantial opportunities for innovation and development of processes for the separation of eontaminants from soils and the in-situ treatment of contaminated soils. Examples of each are given in the following subsections. 

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