Operating labour

Brushing Suitable for use on most articles, but use limited for economic reasons. Results rely almost entirely on skill of the operator Labour cost is high... 

This item will include the cost of maintenance labour, which can be as high as the operating labour cost, and the materials (including equipment spares) needed for the maintenance of the plant. The annual maintenance costs for chemical plants are high, typically 5 to 15 per cent of the installed capital costs. They should be estimated from a knowledge of the maintenance costs on similar plant. As a first estimate the annual maintenance cost can be taken as 10 per cent of the fixed capital cost the cost can be considered to be divided evenly between labour and materials. 

Chemical plants do not normally employ many people and the cost of operating labour would not normally exceed 15 per cent of the total operating cost. The direct overhead charges would add 20 to 30 per cent to this figure. 

As a rough estimate the cost can be taken as 20 to 30 per cent of the operating labour cost, or 2 to 4 per cent of the total production cost. 

Fixed costs 5. Maintenance 6. Operating labour 7. Laboratory costs 8. Supervision 9. Plant overheads 10. Capital charges 11. Insurance 12. Local taxes 13. Royalties 5-10 per cent of fixed capital from manning estimates 20- 23 per cent of 6 20 per cent of item (6) 50 per cent of item (6) 10 per cent of the fixed capital 1 per cent of the fixed capital 2 per cent of the fixed capital 1 per cent of the fixed capital... 

Operating labour, allow one extra man on days. It is unlikely that one extra man per shift would be needed to operate this small plant, and one extra per shift would give... 

In the first years of operation, operating persoimel are required to a level of 75 h/day, seven days per week for monitoring (note that chemical and radionuclide analyses are not included in this costing), visual inspection and minor repair works. These expenses will be reduced over time when more statistical data become available from the wetland operation. Labour costs are estimated at about 30/h. 

Among direct production costs, we can list raw materials, utilities, direct operation labour, maintenance, catalysts, royalties, etc. In our case, solvents (THF and pressurised CO2), polymer, and active ingredient are needed on a daily basis. The corresponding quantities were determined using the process simulator, as described in paragraph 8.3.3. In this discussion, additional solvent (THF) losses are supposed to equal 5% of the total flow rate entering the... 

Labour, Maintenance and Administrative Costs. As a general rule, labour and maintenance were each charged at the rate 3% of the capital per annum. For labour, this included both direct and indirect labour costs. For maintenance, this included both materials and labour. Over the past decades, many companies have made attempts to reduce the operating labour and maintenance charges. Labour can be reduced by extensive computer control. However, the success or otherwise, in reducing the maintenance charge is difficult to quantify, several operations have suffered major problems claimed to be due to the cutbacks in maintenance costs. Administrative costs are basically insurance and local land taxes. A value of 1.5% of the fixed capital as an annual charge was used. 

Table 15.11 presents data for the estimation of operating costs based on the above decomposition. The basis is the material and heat balance from flowsheeting, as well as the operating labour. This checklist can be used to compute the operating costs for profit and cash flow calculation. Note that the depreciation charge should be excluded, if it is accounted separately. 

Direct costs (DC) Raw materials Operating labour (OL) Direct Supervisory Utilities Maintenance and repairs Operating supplies Laboratory charges Patents and royalties From material balance (10-50% )TOC From manpower (10-20% TOC) 20% OL From energy balance (10-20% TOC) 10% Fc 1 % Ff. (6%OL) 10-20%OL 0-6% TOC... 

Plant overhead (OVHD) 50-70 % from operating labour or 5-15 % TOC It includes general and payroll overhead, medical and safety services, restaurant, lab, storage, etc. 

Direct costs are composed from the costs of raw materials RAf), utilities Ut), operating labour (OL), direct supervision and clerical labour Ds), maintenance and repairs (M), operating supplies (Os), laboratory charges (Lab), patents and royalties. We may neglect the last term. By using the factors in Table 15.10 we obtain ... 

The cost of operating labour can be further refined taking into account that 4.5 shifts are needed for an operator position. The average salary of a Dutch worker in year 2000 can... 

Know-how. While a simple batch-wise flash-over distillation from, say, a mother liquor can be done with minimal operating labour (perhaps 0.5 a person on day work) on a small plant provided as a package by a plant supplier, a more difficult separation may need skilled labour on a complex plant. The specialist recoverer may have the right equipment and labour. 

Automated control of systems resulting in reduced operating labour costs. 

In the scaling analysis, a 50 MW(e) power level has been assumed for SSTAR. The other costs of the ALMR, such as the operating labour and other operating costs, have been adjusted to reflect the likely operation of the SSTAR. 

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