Production operational cost optimization

Chemicals Have Become More Global than Ever 244 Competition from Low-cost Labor Countries Is Changing the Industry Landscape 244 Challenges and Responses 246 Structural Cost Optimization 247 Designing a Global Production Network 247 Focusing on Distinctive Value Creation 248 Operational Cost Optimization 249... 

The detergent industry requires process equipment having high operation flexibility, low energy demand, low operation cost, consistent production yield, and, of course, ecological optimization with respect to effluents and air pollution control. To comply with these requirements, the continuous S03/gas sulfonation and double-step neutralization are the basic principles applied in multitube falling film reactor and Neutrex neutralization (Fig. 5). 

Based on a detailed mathematical model, one can make computer simulations of the behaviour of various reactor types. Optimization of operating conditions and design parameters can be done for each reactor type. Downstream equipment should also be taken into account since the cost of product isolation and purification can heavily influence the final choice of all equipment items. A proper combination of investment and operating costs is used as the... 

The objective of the present study is to develop a cross-flow filtration module operated under low transmembrane pressure drop that can result in high permeate flux, and also to demonstrate the efficient use of such a module to continuously separate wax from ultrafine iron catalyst particles from simulated FTS catalyst/ wax slurry products from an SBCR pilot plant unit. An important goal of this research was to monitor and record cross-flow flux measurements over a longterm time-on-stream (TOS) period (500+ h). Two types (active and passive) of permeate flux maintenance procedures were developed and tested during this study. Depending on the efficiency of different flux maintenance or filter media cleaning procedures employed over the long-term test to stabilize the flux over time, the most efficient procedure can be selected for further development and cost optimization. The effect of mono-olefins and aliphatic alcohols on permeate flux and on the efficiency of the filter membrane for catalyst/wax separation was also studied. 

Objective function. The objective function for the reactor optimization is based on the difference between the value of the product gas (heating value and ammonia value) and the value of the feed gas (as a source of heat only) less the amortization of reactor capital costs. Other operating costs are omitted. As shown in Murase et al., the final consolidation of the objective function terms (corrected here) is... 

In short, microbial cells can be employed as very effective reactors for the conversion of substrates to products, operating in mixed aqueous-apolar systems, optimized for the best space-time yields attainable at lowest cost. 

A set of products cfr CFR to be produced at multiple refinery sites i I is given. Each refinery consists of different production units m that can operate at different operating modes p P. An optimal feedstock from different available crudes cr CR is desired. Furthermore, the process network across the multiple refineries is connected in a finite number of ways and an integration superstructure is defined. Market product prices, operating cost at each refinery, and product demands are assumed to be known. 

These case studies show the versatility of KINPTR to optimizing unit performance in terms of cycle length, feedstock, yield, product octane, and operating costs. 

As shown in Section VII, KINPTR accurately predicts the effects of wide variations in unit operating conditions and feedstock. Therefore, it is a very valuable asset to reforming operations, allowing unit performance to be optimized in terms of cycle length, yield, feedstock type, product octane, and operating costs. 

In the daily production routine, both enzyme costs and operating costs play decisive roles. In addition, the amount of production is likely to be adapted to demand the load for the product, here HFCS, so that at high demand the optimal production temperature is higher than at lower demand. From Figure 19.9 it becomes apparent how optimal operating times and temperatures can be estimated if the operating costs of a column as well as the costs for the immobilized enzyme... 

Mechanisms of reactions are important for industry because they provide information useful for optimizing catalyst and reactor conditions. The study of reaction mechanisms in industry cannot stand alone as it can in academia. Mechanistic studies are funded to solve plant problems, to decrease operating costs, and to improve product quality. There is a wide variation in industry in the amount and type of mechanistic research funded and the timing for such research. Mechanistic research on chemical reactions is most easily justified when it is focused on the development of commercial products for a company. Often the results of mechanistic studies are not published but used instead in reactor modeling. The second reason is that competitors would obtain the information at no cost. 

After the solar-hydrogen demonstration plants have operated for a few years, methods will be found to increase their efficiencies, reduce their operating costs, and take advantage of mass production and free market competition to optimize their first costs. If the best scientific talent is mobilized, it... 

The goal of optimization is safety at maximum profit, but this can only be done if the market value of each product is known. This is not the case when the products of a column are not final products but feed flows to other unit processes. When the product prices are unknown, it is still possible to perform optimization, but the optimization goal changes. The criterion in that case becomes the generation of the required products at minimum operating costs. This can be called an optimum with respect to the column involved, but only a "suboptimum" with respect to the plant of which the column is a part. 

When the market values of the products are known, the column can be fully optimized, but additional variables must still be considered. These include the type of the market that exists for the products. If the market is limited, the goal is to generate the products at optimum separation and minimum operating cost. This cost varies as the feed flows and their compositions vary. When the market is unlimited and sufficient feedstock is available, the optimization task is more difficult, because one must determine both the optimum separation and the value of the feed streams. In this case the goal of optimization is either maximum loading or maximum energy efficiency. 

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