Production volumes

The volume of product to be manufactured is of prime importance and relates to existing and future machine capacity. Modern injection moulding machines are expensive and high volumes are required to support the necessary capital outlay. 

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Tasks of the USCT IT are restoring of SD of the certain acoustic parameter of material in product volume on the base of measured parameters of US signals, but afterwards determination of necessary PMF. It is defined strong factors basically on the grounds of their correlation with acoustic features. 

By introduction of Real-Time X-Ray the consumable costs and the waste disposal problems are reduced. The capacity of the system allowed an increase of production volume without the need for a investment for an additional film X-Ray unit which would have been needed otherwise. 

Economic Aspects. The hardwood and decorative plywood industry has decreased in size and production significantly in the past few years. In 1994, there were an estimated 100 mills operating in the United States having a production volume of 1.135 x 10 m (2). The doUar value of this production is extremely difficult to estimate because of the very wide range of prices for the products. 

Economic Aspects. In 1994 there were 8 operational insulation board producers in the United States. These mills produced about 1.15 X 10 m (2). The number of mills and total production volume have also decreased in this industry, primarily as a result of changes in building codes and avadabihty of other competitive sheathing products. Both wood composite panels and plastic foam sheathings have captured a segment of these markets. 

Economic Aspects. In 1994, there were 10 manufacturers of various types of stmctural composite lumber with a production volume of about 0.820 X 10 m (2). Several more plants are now in production or under constmction. Given the reduced availabiHty of soHd lumber in large stmctural sizes, this is another area of composite products having a promising future. 

Using hot-pressing, shaping and densiftcation occur in a single process step. The temperatures are in the range of 1650—1800°C and appHed pressures are from 30—40 MPa (4000—6000 psi) (45), resulting in parts of high quaHty. This method is limited to simple shapes and low production volumes, however, and the process may also impart anisotropic characteristics to the material (46). 

Military. The single-component explosives most commonly used for military compositions are TNT, RDX or HMX, nitrocellulose, and nitroglycerin. The last two are used almost exclusively to make propellants. The production volume of TNT far exceeds that of any other explosive. It is used as manufactured, as a base of biaary slurries with other high melting explosives, or ia ternary systems generally containing a biaary mix and aluminum. 

Such repositioning inevitably means reduced production volume, and for the first time this century production in the last decade has been below that a decade earUer (Eig. 9). Most capacity reductions have been in North America and especiaUy eastern Europe. This has been offset in part by capacity increases in the Ear East. Rayon is no longer a significant component of carpets, and has lost the disposable diaper coverstock business to cheaper and more easUy processed polypropylene. It has, however, gained share in health and hygiene products and is now a principal component of tampons worldwide. 

Polystyrene. Polystyrene (PS) film and sheet has the third largest production volume, behind only the polyethylenes and poly(vinyl chloride). 

Not many fine chemicals have a production value exceeding 10 million per year. Less than a do2en achieve production volumes above 10,000 metric tons per year and sales of > 100 million per year. Apart from the pharmaceutical and pesticide fine chemicals these comprise the amino acids (qv), L-lysine and n,T-methionine used as feed additives (see Feeds AND FEED ADDITIVES), and vitamins ascorbic acid and nicotinic acid. 

Manufacturers. Besides manufacturers in the United States, commercial fluorine plants are operating in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom (see Table 5). Fluorine is also produced in the Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet Union) however, details regarding its manufacture, production volumes, etc, are regarded as secret information. The total commercial production capacity of fluorine in the United States and Canada is estimated at over 5000 t/yr, of which 70—80% is devoted to uranium hexafluoride production. Most of the gas is used in captive uranium-processing operations. 

Zinc dialkyl dithiophosphates are the primary oxidation inhibitors in combining these functions with antiwear properties in automotive oils and high pressure hydrauhc fluids. Their production volume is followed by aromatic amines, sulfurized olefins, and phenols (22). 

Oil additives account on average for 7—8% of lubricant production volume (automotive 13%, iadustrial 3%) (67). Additive production volumes have largely mirrored overall lubricant production. New standards for automotive and diesel engine oils are requiring higher additive levels and more expensive chemistry. 

Commercial production of PE resias with densities of 0.925 and 0.935 g/cm was started ia 1968 ia the United States by Phillips Petroleum Co. Over time, these resias, particularly LLDPE, became large volume commodity products. Their combiaed worldwide productioa ia 1994 reached 13 X 10 metric t/yr, accouatiag for some 30% market share of all PE resias ia the year 2000, LLDPE productioa is expected to iacrease by 50%. A aew type of LLDPE, compositioaaHy uniform ethylene—a-olefin copolymers produced with metallocene catalysts, was first introduced by Exxon Chemical Company in 1990. The initial production volume was 13,500 t/yr but its growth has been rapid indeed, in 1995 its combiaed production by several companies exceeded 800,000 tons. 

Countries produciug commodity LLDPE and their capacities, as well as production volumes of some U.S. companies, are Hsted iu Table 5. Iu most cases, an accurate estimate of the total LLDPE production capacity is compHcated by the fact that a large number of plants are used, iu turn, for the manufacture of either HDPE or LLDPE iu the same reactors. VLDPE and LLDPE resius with a uniform branching distribution were initially produced in the United States by Exxon Chemical Company and Dow Chemical Company. However, since several other companies around the world have also aimounced their entry into this market, the worldwide capacity of uniformly branched LLDPE resins in 1995 is expected to reach a million tons. Special grades of LLDPE resins with broad MWD are produced by Phillips Petroleum Co. under the trade name Low Density Linear Polyethylenes or LDLPE. 

In addition, because of the extreme variation in the bulk density of products, use of the standard 19-L (5-gal), 38-L (10-gal), 61-L (16-gal), 114-L (30-gal), and 208-L (55-gal) metal dmms often results in excessive outage. Fiber dmms, in contrast, are available in a wide range of sizes, and can be sized to meet product volumes, thus allowing for Httle outage as weU as saving storage and shipping space. 

There is mote than one way to make PV systems cost effective, ie, by making mote efficient and less expensive devices, by stimulating the market toward higher sales in order to justify production volume increases to achieve economies of scale, and by combinations of these options. In any case, modules must operate tehably for long periods of time. 

The key determinants of future cost competitiveness of a-Si H PV technology are a-Si H deposition rates, module production yields, stabilized module efficiencies, production volume, and module design. Reported a-Si H deposition rates vary by more than a factor of 10, but most researchers report that the high quaUty films necessary for high stabilized efficiencies require low deposition rates often due to high hydrogen dhution of the Si (and Ge) source gases (see Semiconductors, amorphous). 

Like terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid is used as a raw material in the production of polyesters. Much of the isophthaUc acid is used for unsaturated polyesters, whereas terephthaUc acid is used almost exclusively in saturated (thermoplastic) polyesters. However, a considerable amount of isophthaUc acid is used as a minor comonomer in saturated polyesters, where the principal diacid is terephthaUc acid. The production volume of isophthaUc acid is less than 2% that of terephthahc. IsophthaUc acid was formerly produced in technical or cmde grades and only a small amount was purified. Now, however, it is all purified to a standard similar to that of terephthahc acid. 

Economic Aspects. Isophthahc acid in North America sold for 1.19— 1.32/kg in 1994, depending on the shipment method. The price of xylene plays a role, although not to the same extent as -xylene in terephthaUc acid. The far lower production volumes and smaller plant sizes for isophthahc acid do not give the same economies of scale. 

Production, Storage, and Shipment. As noted above, AUco Chemical, Amoco Chemical, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, and Hbls all produce either the acid or the anhydride using different production techniques. The relatively small production volumes of pyromellitic acid and dianhydride results in both storage and shipment in polyethylene-lined fiber dmms of 22—136-kg capacity. 

Fig. 2. 1993 Production volumes for (a) principal inorganic pigments ia units of millions of metric tons, and (b) some of the other pigments in thousands...

Open-Mold Processes. Polyester resins are fabricated easily in open molds at room temperature. Such processes account for over 80% of production volume, the remaining being fabricated using matched metal dies in high temperature semiautomated processes. 

United States International Trade Commission, Synthetic Organic Chemicals. Calculated from reported toluenediamine production volumes. 

Ammonium nitrate [6484-S2-2J, NH NO, formula wt 80.04, is the most commercially important ammonium compound both Hi terms of production volume and usage. It is the principal component of most iadustrial explosives and nonmilitary blasting compositions however, it is used primarily as a nitrogen fertilizer. Ammonium nitrate does not occur Hi nature because it is very soluble. It was first described Hi 1659 by the German scientist Glauber, who prepared it by reaction of ammonium carbonate and nitric acid. He called it nitrium flammans because its yeUow flame (from traces of sodium) was... 

Price and Demand. In terms of production volume, isopropyl alcohol is about the fourth largest chemical produced from propylene (66). Total 1993 U.S. nameplate capacity for isopropyl alcohol production was 8.48 x 10 metric tons. The total world capacity is about 2.0 x 10 metric tons (Table 4) (126—128). The 1995 U.S. prices were 0.55/L ( 2.10/gal) for refined 91 vol % and 0.62/L ( 2.36/gal) for anhydrous alcohol (129), an increase from the 0.18/L ( 0.70/gal) average price of 1977. The price of isopropyl alcohol is driven by the price of propylene, the primary feedstock, and by the price of ethyl alcohol, a competing solvent. 

The relative production volumes of pyridine compounds can be ranked in the following order pyridine (1) > P-picoline (3) > a-picoline (2)> niacin (27) or niacinamide (26)> 2-vinylpyridine (23)> piperidine (18). U.S. and Japanese production was consumed internally as well as being exported, mainly to Europe. European production is mosdy consumed internally. Growth in production of total pyridine bases is expected to be small through the year 2000. 

The process and economics are detailed (21). Owing to the complex nature of the wastes, the process becomes economical only at high production volumes. Several alternative schemes could be developed based on available technologies. Of primary importance is a thorough understanding of the types and constituents of the wastes that feed the processes. Once this is defined, the process options must be considered and tested. A knowledge of what the process caimot do, ie, its limitations, is just as important as a clear understanding of process capabiUties. 

Table 3. Estimated Production Volume and Prices of Stilbene Dyes...

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