Operational efficiency

Rarely in the pharmaceutical industry is a new plant built to accommodate a new process or product It may happen in the petrochemical industry, where economies of scale mean that product-specific plants are designed from scratch and then continuously de-bottlenecked over a number of years to increase and optimize productivity, but it is not the case in the pharmaceutical industry, where the number of types of unit operations in use is generally fairly small and fixed. Within a multi-purpose chemical plant commonly found in the batch chemical industry, it is common practice for process designers to make do with what is available on a given site to avoid capital expenditure and plant shut-down for modifications. 

In the pharmaceutical industry, a metric used to measure performance is the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which takes into account 

This metric gives an indication of the performance of equipment against its design capacity. Typically, the OEE is recorded for as many unit operations or equipment lines as possible in a manufacturing plant. 

This results in an inherent inefficiency built into the overall process. 

By taking this approach, the benefits from recovering solvent versus incineration can be evaluated with greater confidence. Over time, robust models can be developed which show the life cycle energy and economic benefits of recovery versus incineration and provide an understanding of where the transition point for the process comes. 

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Centrifugal demister or cyclone) devices rely on high velocities to remove liquid particles and substantial pressure drops are required in cyclone design to generate these velocities. Cyclones have a limited range over which they operate efficiently this is a disadvantage if the input stream flowrate is very variable. 

The mercury cell operates efficiently because of the higher overpotential of hydrogen on mercury to achieve the preferential formation of sodium amalgam. Certain trace elements, such as vanadium, can lower the hydrogen overpotential, however, resulting in the release of hydrogen in potentially dangerous amounts. 

Design operating efficiencies of fans under test conditions are ia the range of 40—80%. Actual efficiency can be affected appreciably by the arrangement of inlet and outiet duct connections. 

Often, maximum thermal operating efficiency is incompatible with optimum lime quahty. Usually this problem is resolved by operating under compromise conditions between these two extremes. 

Modification of Equipment. (/) Install equipment that produces minimal or no waste. 2) Modify equipment to enhance recovery or recycling options. (I) Redesign equipment or production lines to produce less waste. (4) Improve operating efficiency of equipment. (5) Maintain strict preventive maintenance program. 

The sodium carboaate process is used ia a number of dry-ice plants ia the United States, although its operating efficiency is generaHy not as high as that of processes using other solutions. These plants obtain the carbon dioxide from flue gases as weH as lime-kiln gases. 

For operational efficiency a number of gaseous diffusion stages are operated together in units referred to as cells and buildings. Cells and buildings. Cells and buildings can be removed from operation for routine maintenance and bypassed without disturbing the diffusion cascade. 

Two-fluid nozzles do not operate efficiently at high capacities and consequently are not used widely on plant-size spray diyers. Their chief advantage is that they operate at relatively low pressure, the hq-uid being 0 to 400 kPa/m" pressure, while the atomizing fluid is usually no more than 700 kPa/m" pressure. The atomizing fluid may be steam or air. Two-fluid nozzles nave been employed for the dispersion of thick pastes and filter cakes not previously capable of being handled in ordinaiy atomizers [Baran, Ind. Eng. Chem., 56(10), 34-36 (1964) andTurba, Brit. Chem. Eng., 9(7), 457-460 (1964)]. 

The particle size and porosity of the filter media, since operating efficiency is directly related to the available biofilm surface area. 

Identify better operating regions leading to improved product or operating efficiency. 

Has the unit operation efficiency deteriorated resulting in poorer performance ... 

These benefits directly translate into lower costs and improved operating efficiency for rotating machinery. Lubrication is unnecessary. The bearing is operable in hostile environments and, in many cases, can operate in the process fluid at high pressures and temperatures. Experience shows that total consumption of frictional power is drastically reduced. 

Far-reaching effects on operational efficiency in product development. 

The high cost for machinery replacements and downtime makes machinery operational reliability very important however, with the current and projected increases in fuel costs, aerothermal monitoring has become very important. Aerothermal monitoring can provide not merely increased operational efficiency for turbomachinery but, when combined with mechanical monitoring, it provides an overall, more effective system than one that monitors only the mechanical functions or aerothermal functions. 

The assessment of the amount of primary product or useful product is a key factor in process or unit-operation efficiency. If the product is sent off-site for sale, then the amount produced is likely to be documented in company re-cords. However, if the product is intermediate, meant for input to another process or unit operation, then the output may not be so easy to quantify. 

Typical new equipment design efficiencies are between 99 and 99.9%. Older existing equipment have a range of actual operating efficiencies of 95 to 99.9%. Several factors determine fabric filter collection efficiency. These include gas filtration velocity, particle characteristics, fabric characteristics, and cleaning mechanism. In general, collection efficiency increases with increasing filtration velocity and particle size. 

Older existing cartridge collector types have a range of actual operating efficiencies of 99 to 99.9% for PM,q and PMj j. Typical new equipment design efficiencies are between 99.99 and 99.999 -t- %. In addition, commercially available designs are able to control submicron PM (0.8 m in diameter or greater) with a removal efficiency of 99.999 + %. 

Typical new equipment design efficiencies are between 99 and 99.9%. Older existing equipment have a range of actual operating efficiencies of 90 to 99.9%. 

The cost of equipment determines the capital investment for a process operation. However, there is no direct relationship to profits. That is, more expensive equipment may mean better quality, more durability and, hence, longer service and maintenance factors. These characteristics can produce higher operating efficiencies, fewer consumption coefficients and operational expenses and, thus, fewer net production costs. The net cost of production characterizes the perfection rate of the total technological process and reflects the influences of design indices. Therefore, it is possible to compare different pieces of equipment when they are used in the manufacture of these same products. 

Column internals that minimize holdup without sacrificing operation efficiency (Dale, 1987). 

In order for coils included in any of the above systems to operate efficiently, they must be designed to have a uniform air velocity across the whole of the heater s face area. This is of prime importance, and the manufacturer s specifications regarding the maximum and minimum air velocities must be met. 

For a steam coil to operate efficiently, it must have all the latent heat in the steam. This is achieved by the use of a steam trap. The correct trap type must be selected for the particular application in order to prevent waterlogging. All condensate, air, or other noncondensable must be removed from the system without delay otherwise,... 

These are made up of a large number of wide, shallow blades with a very large inlet area relative to the wheel diameter. For equal duty the speeds are lower than other centrifugal fans. They are sometimes called multivane the operating efficiencies are in the 65-75% range. They consist of a large number of relatively small blades mounted on the impeller. The blade tips are inclined toward the direction of rotation. The actual flow rate can be 2.5 times as high as the same size backward-curved fan. 

Collection efficiency is the single most important parameter in the performance of a filter. Based on typical operational efficiencies for various gas-... 

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