Pilot studies

The basic flow chart contains all the information necessary to obtain a quick survey concerning reactants, utilities and product. 

The process will be described with all apparatus, machines and product streams. The latter are identified by specification numbers and listed in a table together with properties such as mass flow, concentration, liquid/gas phase, density. If already known, also process parameters such as pressure and temperature are listed. A list of utilities covering heating fluids, cooling agents, pressurized air and nitrogen and the electrical power supply will be delivered. 

Substances which cannot be recycled or used economically in any other way will be disposed of. Toxic or other difficult to dispose of substances are clearly marked. The individual disposal in a sewage plant, by waste combustion or by neutralization will be recommended. 

The investment cost will be given, indicated as ISBL (inside battery limit plant, laboratories, process control system, etc.), OSBL (outside battery limit) or infrastructure costs. It is expected that the OSBL costs for a micro structured reactor plant will be a minor issue as here mainly costs for housing, cooling facilities, etc., are included. 

Based upon the process flow diagram and the investment costs, the product manufacturing costs or the necessary yield in the micro structured reactor plant to reach an overall profit of, for example at least 20%, will be calculated. 

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The performance of SCWO for waste treatment has been demonstrated (15,16). In these studies, a broad number of refractory materials such as chlorinated solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and pesticides were studied as a function of process parameters (17). The success of these early studies led to pilot studies which showed that chlorinated hydrocarbons, including 1,1,1-trichloroethane /7/-T5-6y,(9-chlorotoluene [95-49-8] and hexachlorocyclohexane, could be destroyed to greater than 99.99997, 99.998, and 99.9993%, respectively. In addition, no traces of organic material could be detected in the gaseous phase, which consisted of carbon dioxide and unreacted oxygen. The pilot unit had a capacity of 3 L/min of Hquid effluent and was operated for a maximum of 24 h. 

Acetyl-i-carnitine (4) is marketed in Italy for dementia as of this writing it is also in Phase III clinical trials in the United States and Europe. In a double-blind, placebo-controUed clinical trial over a one-year period involving 130 patients with clinically diagnosed AD, a slower rate of deterioration in 13 of the 14 outcome measures was observed in the dmg-treated group (28). Earfler smaller scale pilot studies in demented patients had also shown some improvement of various behavioral and cognitive functions (29). 

An alternative approach to stimulate cholinergic function is to enhance the release of acetylcholine (ACh). Compounds such as the aminopyridines increase the release of neurotransmitters (148). The mechanism by which these compounds modulate the release of acetylcholine is likely the blockade of potassium channels. However, these agents increase both basal (release in the absence of a stimulus) and stimulus-evoked release (148). 4-Aminopyridine [504-24-5] was evaluated in a pilot study for its effects in AD and found to be mildly effective (149). 

F. Rubel, Jr. and F. S. Williams, Pilot Study of Fluoride and Arsenic Femoralfrom Potable Water, EPA-600/2-80-100, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, N.C., 1980. 

W. Huber, S. Steiger, and co-workers, "A Pilot Study of Genotyping of MSAl and 2 During a Trial of Spf66 Vaccine in Tenzania," in Ref. 92. 

Reverse Osmosis. In reverse osmosis (qv), a solution or suspension flows under pressure through a membrane the product is withdrawn on the other side. This process can treat dissolved soHds concentrations ranging from 1 mg/L to 35 g/L (14). The principal constraint is the requirement that the waste material be relatively nonfouling. Recent advances have been mosdy in membrane development, and pilot studies are required (15). Energy costs can be significant, and it is frequently necessary to pretreat influent in order to minimize fouhng. Reverse osmosis can deal with particles < 1 to 600 nm in size. 

The Cardiac Arrhythmia Pilot Study (CAPS) Investigators, Am. J. Cardiol 61, 501 (1988). 

Typically, a filter cake or precoat is built up on the filter septa to prevent blinding, short filter cycle times, and cosdy cleaning of the septa. Then diatomite is added as body feed to the Hquid to be filtered so that the permeabiHty of the filter cake may be maintained. Filler aid permeabiHty of diatomite ranges from 0.06 to 30 lnF. At the end of the filter cycle the filtrate is clear and the soHds are retained in the soHd or semisoHd diatomite filter cake. The type and amount of diatomite for precoat and body feed are normally deterrnined by pilot studies (18,19). 

Pilot Studies. AppHcations requiring the reduction of VOC emissions have increased dramatically. On-site pilot tests are beneficial in providing useful information regarding VOC emission reduction appHcations. Information that can be obtained includes optimum catalyst operating conditions, the presence of contaminants in the gas stream, and the effects of these contaminants (see Pilotplants and microplants). 

Much of the experience and data from wastewater treatment has been gained from municipal treatment plants. Industrial liquid wastes are similar to wastewater but differ in significant ways. Thus, typical design parameters and standards developed for municipal wastewater operations must not be blindly utilized for industrial wastewater. It is best to run laboratory and small pilot tests with the specific industrial wastewater as part of the design process. It is most important to understand the temporal variations in industrial wastewater strength, flow, and waste components and their effect on the performance of various treatment processes. Industry personnel in an effort to reduce cost often neglect laboratory and pilot studies and depend on waste characteristics from similar plants. This strategy often results in failure, delay, and increased costs. Careful studies on the actual waste at a plant site cannot be overemphasized. 

NUREG 75/014, Washington, D.C., 1975. Rijnmond Public Authority, A Risk Analysis of 6 Potentially Hazar dous Industrial Objects in the Rijnmond Ar ea—A Pilot Study, D. Reidel, Boston, 1982. 

Risk Analysis of Six Potentially Hazardous Industrial Objects in the Rijnmond Area A Pilot Study, D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland, 1982. 

Thus, bench or pilot studies are necessary to avoid technology misapplication in the field. The loss of time in treatment or the requirement to provide additional treatment for the waste is very expensive. Therefore, the relatively small costs and time needed for these studies make them useful tools in treatment selection. Bench-scale treatability studies for demonstrated technologies can cost between 10,000- 50,000 and take up to 6 weeks. Demonstrated technologies are those for which the major design parameters and treatment efficiencies are well understood. Innovative (and some biological processes) will require substantially more time (4-16 weeks) and money ( 25,000-> 200,000). These are estimates, and actual time and costs are going to depend on what kind of technology is under consideration. 

Market areas of interest to manufaeturers of ozone systems, aetual uses defined as those whieh have been in operation for some time and not ineluding "pilot" studies, arise in the following eategories odor eontrol (sewage treatment and industrial), industrial ehemieals synthesis, industrial water and wastewater treatment, and drinking water disinfeetion. 

For other CERCLA sites the proeess ean be very different from the typieal DOE site. The proeess may start with various phases of site assessments. The intermediate step may be a pilot study, followed by a pilot plant operation, or possibly a removal aetion or other alternative. The final steps may vary widely. However, just as in DOE sites, the appropriate rule or requirement depends on the site-speeifie faeility or operation, the assoeiated hazards, and the potential for worker exposure to the hazards. For the Army Corps of Engineers eleanup or oversight, the rules will most likely be even more stringent than for OSHA or DOE. 

The interface between lATF and ISO/TC 176 was in the form of a pilot study to consider the implication of sector standards. The output was in the form of a new ISO document a Technical Specification. The requirements for such a document are for a revision within three years and a limit of only one revision, after which it must either cease or become a full standard. The document when submitted for ballot to ISO/TC 176 significantly exceeded the 66% favorable majority required for its adoption. 

A Initially a team of five or six will develop a detailed proposal. We will then select a division for a pilot study. The pilot will have a team of about 12 people, half of whom will be full-time. As the integration is rolled out in other divisions, I expect a slightly lower level of effort, as we will have learned from our earlier experiences. We will also use an outside consultant to help us develop our plans and review implementation. 

In selecting a candidate for a pilot study, don t choose either the toughest or easiest candidate. In one case you are setting yourself up for failure, and in the other you may not adequately test your approach. Try to select a candidate where local management is supportive of your project, and where you expect to gain some obvious benefits. 

The assessment of existing systems should provide all the information needed to select a candidate for the pilot study. Many of the competing criteria for choosing a pilot study location are discussed in the following paragraphs. 

The barriers to integration identified earlier in Sections 2.5 and 3.2 will influence the selection of the pilot location. Resistance is often very high for pilot studies—most managers would rather have someone else debug a new program before they have to work with it. This resistance is even more... 

If there are no existing measures of PSM and ESH, do not panic Use the results of an independent audit of the management systems conducted before and after the pilot study or use the results of existing audits. 

The results of the pilot study will be most credible if success criteria are established ahead of time. This avoids the temptation to adjust criteria to demonstrate success. Success criteria should be related to the benefits of integration previously identified. Ideally they should be able to provide an indication of the economic benefit achieved. For example, reduction in... 

As always, communication is critical to the credibility of the pilot study. Communication must include those directly affected by the pilot study and... 

The pilot study is likely to use all the same Quality Management tools that were used for the integration framework development (Chapter 5). However, the limited scope of the pilot study enforces some limitations and compromises—it will not be possible to make changes outside of the department covered by the pilot. Any existing interfaces with other departments must remain the same. This will impact the design phases of the work. For example, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) may currently be prepared locally, in the overall project it might be proposed to develop these centrally. However, for the pilot study it will not be possible develop the central resource so the pilot would have to continue to rely on local resources and there will be no efficiency improvement. 

The use of the pilot study to confirm the benefits, costs, methodologies, and integration framework imposes some extra requirements. Additional resources will be required to determine the effectiveness of existing systems and to measure the improvements as early as possible. As mentioned above, the team should consider using outside resources for these activities. 

You can also use the pilot study to provide a training ground for the integration team, with care to avoid overwhelming the subject department with the whole integration team. It is unlikely that you can fmd realistic opportunities to involve the whole team directly. But you may be able to... 

The most important objective of the pilot study is testing and improving the integration plan. Deficiencies may be uncovered in the design or installation process. Problems with the installation will usually be evident immediately, as will some design problems other design problems may not be evident for sometime. 

Team analysis of the plan. This will usually take the form of a meeting, or series of meetings, where Quality Management techniques are used (see below) to analyze the pilot study. 

The Osprey River facility is about to undergo a revolution Osprey River has been selected for a pilot study to integrate all aspects of EHS into a single management system. This is the first stage of what will be a company-wide project. The pilot project will b e used to test the design and installation strategies and to firm up the costs and benefits of the overall project. 

Al Bickman, Osprey River site manager, expects the work on the pilot study to start next month and be completed within 12 weeks. He has established a local team of managers, engineers, and operators to work with the integration team. Most of this team will be committed for up to half of their time. The team leader will be dedicated to the project. 

A large number of molecules have provided experimental evidence of neuroprotection in in vitro and in vivo models of Parkinson s disease and many of these putative neuroprotective substances are now the objects of clinical trials. Recently, a team of experts has identified potential neuroprotective agents to be tested in pilot studies [4]. Twelve compounds have been considered for clinical trials caffeine, coenzyme Q 10, creatine, estrogen, GPI1485, GM-1 ganglioside, minocycline, nicotine, pramipexole, ropinirol, rasagiline, and selegiline (for individual discussion see [4]). 

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