Production costs, factors affecting

Price fluctuations, 154 Probability distribution, 745-746 Process design deflnition of 2 development of 2-4, 14-19 Process engineering, deflnition of 2 Process synthesis, 112, 117-125 Product cosf estimation of 192-209 Production costs, factors affecting, 154-157... 

Production costs are affected by undesirable factors, such as loose sand in the oil and large amounts of hydrogen sulphide gas. These will damage equipment and require costly repairs. They may cause a prospect to be abandoned. The natural drive is important along with the probable recoverable reserve. 

These factors are a compromise between estimated costs fr.om se.ver.al s.our.ces. aiid are milar to relative costs given by Nichols and Houin [52]. The factor for naphtha-based plants presumably can be applied with some degree of confidence to standardized plant sizes that are lower and higher than the base case. For other feedstocks there is insufficient data to indicate how the plant cost would vary with capacity. Comparisons of the estimated production costs as affected by factors other than the scale of operation will be based on 1,500-tpd capacity. 

Statistical designs for experiments maximize information and reduce research time and costs. These techniques are less likely to miss synergistic factors affecting performance or product quaUty, minimize the element of human bias, eliminate less productive avenues of experimentation by taking... 

Other factors that affect either production cost or the consumption of fertilisers tend to be periodic and short-Hved. On the consumption side, weather conditions, prices of fertilisers, and the pohtical stabiUty of a region influence demand. The supply side is influenced by raw material availabihty, rehabihty of infrastmcture, on-stream efficiency, age of plants, and the constmction or modernisation of existing plants. 

The cost and price of sulfuric acid depend in large part on raw material cost and on freight costs. In many areas, the deUvered cost of sulfur is the most important factor affecting sulfuric acid pricing. By-product raw material, ie, SO2, costs at smelters are essentially zero, but the remote locations of many smelters make freight costs significant. Nevertheless, the nondiscretionary nature of smelter acid means that it must be sold if the smelter is to operate. 

Several factors affect the overall economics of PHA production. These include PHA productivity, PHA content, yield of PHA on carbon source, carbon substrate cost, and recovery method employed. Figure 1 shows the production costs of P(3HB) by various P(3HB) contents and P(3HB) productivities [29]. The effect of P(3HB) productivity on the production cost is only related to the cost of the fermentation equipment [18]. However, the P(3HB) content has multiple effects on the volume of the fermentation equipment and the recovery process [17,18]. The increase of P(3HB) yield on carbon source and the use of less expensive carbon substrates reduce the cost of carbon substrate [17, 29]. Development of an efficient recovery method, which will be different for each bacterium employed, is also important to overall economics of PHA production. When the actual fermentation processes employing many different re-... 

Extraction of PHA from plants is likely to be a major factor affecting the production cost of PHA from crops and, therefore, the economic viability of this approach. In contrast to production of PHA from bacterial fermentation, where the production system is designed to produce only PHA, an agricultural production of PHA is likely to be most viable only through the recovery of not only PHA but also all other useful components of the harvested crop, i.e., oil, proteins, and carbohydrates. This fact, combined with the lower level of PHA accumulation in plants in comparison to micro-organism, is likely to make PHA recovery from plants a challenging task. 

With a given system of constant K, a decrease of E/R increases y, but decreases y. Therefore, an optimum operation condition has to be determined based on the various factors affecting the economy of the separation processes, such as the value of products, equipment costs, and operating costs. It is interesting to note that Y depends on the ratio E/R, but not on the values of E and R. Can we increase E and R indefinitely to maintain the same y as long as E/R is constant for a continuous extractor The answer is "no." We should remember that Eq. (10.13) is based on the assumption that the extractor is in equilibrium. Therefore, the increase of E and R will shorten the residence time as a result, the extractor cannot be operated in equilibrium and y will decrease. 

One of the major factors affecting the overall production cost is bioreactor productivity, which can be defined as the amount of PHA accumulated per unit volume per unit time. T o increase PHA productivity, not... 

The same principles used for developing an optimum design can be applied when determining the most favorable conditions in the operation of a manufacturing plant. One of the most important variables in any plant operation is the amount of product produced per unit of time. The production rate depends on many factors, such as the number of hours in operation per day, per week, or per month the load placed on the equipment and the sales market available. From an analysis of the costs involved under different situations and consideration of other factors affecting the particular plant, it is possible to determine an optimum rate of production or a so-called economic lot size. 

The critical element affecting the production cost of electrolytic H2, over the range of electrolyser capacity factors, is electricity cost. While the 11% H2 cost pe nalty for the low electrolyser capacity factor from the use of PV electricity is signifi cant, it is hardly prohibitive. In conclusion, based on the assumed progress in PV cost reduction, PV electricity can be an economically viable source of electricity for electrolytic H2 production. 

Several economic factors affect commercialization of mycoherbicides (54. 64). the ultimate consideration being the projected economic returns from the mycoherbicide. A pathogen that is prone to be unprofitable or unpredictable in this respect, whether due to small market size, cost of production and marketing, competition from other alternative controls, or efficacy, is unlikely to be developed or offered for sale by commercial enterprises. 

Labor productivity and total labor cost is another important factor with a heavy impact on the total cost of the project. Even if there is a hardworking labor force their productivity could be affected by the lack of the proper hand tools and construction equipment. 

Site selection is probably the activity with the single greatest potential cost impact. The site factors affecting cost can go well beyond those affecting capital cost some, like those listed below, would also impact production and marketing costs. 

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