Heat Exchanger Network Retrofit of an Oleochemical Plant through a Cost and Energy Efficiency Approach

Limited research of heat integration has been conducted in the oleochemical field. This paper attempts to evaluate the performance of an existing heat exchanger network (HEN) of an oleochemical plant at 600 tonnes per day (TPD) in Malaysia, in which the emphases are placed on the annual saving and reduction in energy consumption. Using commercial HEN numerical software, ASPEN Energy Analyzer v10.0, it was found that the performance of the current HEN in place is excellent, saving over 80% in annual costs and reducing energy consumption by 1,882,711 gigajoule per year (GJ/year). Further analysis of the performance of the HEN was performed to identify the potential optimisation of untapped heating/cooling process streams. Two cases, which are the most cost-effective and energy efficient, were proposed with positive results. However, the second case performed better than the first case, at a lower payback time (0.83 year) and higher annual savings (0.20 million USD/year) with the addition of one heat exchanger at a capital cost of USD 134,620. The first case had a higher payback time (4.64 years), a lower annual saving (0.05 million USD/year) and three additional heaters at a capital cost of USD 193,480. This research has provided a new insight into the oleochemical industry in which retrofitting the HEN can further reduce energy consumption, which in return will reduce the overall production cost of oleochemical commodities. This is particularly crucial in making the product more competitive in its pricing in the global market.

Designing the Next Generation of Vaccines: Relevance for Future Pandemics

ABSTRACTThe development of vaccines is one of the greatest medical interventions in the history of global infectious diseases and has contributed to the annual saving of at least 2 to 3 million lives worldwide. However, many diseases are not preventable through currently available vaccines, and the potential of modulating the immune response during vaccination has not been fully exploited. The first golden age of vaccines was based on the germ theory and the use of live, attenuated, inactivated pathogens or toxins. New strategies and formulations (e.g., adjuvants) with an immunomodulatory capacity to enhance the protective qualities and duration of vaccines have been incompletely exploited. These strategies can prevent disease and improve protection against infectious diseases, modulate the course of some noncommunicable diseases, and increase the immune responses of patients at a high risk of infection, such as the elderly or immunocompromised patients. In this minireview, we focus on how metabolic and epigenetic modulators can amplify and enhance the function of immunity in a given vaccine. We propose the term “amplifier” for such additives, and we pose that future vaccines will have three components: antigen, adjuvant, and amplifier.

Improving Intermodal Train Operations in Indian Railways

In Indian Railways, container train operators (CTOs) run intermodal trains. The success of a CTO depends on it providing timely delivery of containers at low haulage cost. The CTO must utilize its rolling stock efficiently, select containers, and assign these containers to wagons optimally considering multiple conflicting requirements. I discuss a mathematical programming–based approach we developed for a major CTO for train-load planning, which reduces the average cost of container haulage and increases the timeliness desired by customers. After being used to plan more than 1,000 trains, my model has been estimated to save about 2% in rail haulage cost, which corresponds to an annual saving of more than 300 million Indian rupees for Indian Railways trains. This study has led to a remarkable turnaround in the operations strategy of the operator, with a shift in emphasis from increasing train utilization to maximizing the contribution to profit.

Exergy-based Control of a Dwelling Ventilation System with Heat Recovery

On the base of exergy-based approach it is shownthat for the ventilation systems there are operating modes forwhich heat recovery increases exergy of fuel expended to providethe ventilation air compared to cases without bringing anyrecovery of heat and additional power consumption to drive theair flow by the fans. For the specified system, in case of switchingventilation unit to the operation mode of lower values of spentfuel exergy it is possible to provide annual saving from 5 to 15 %of the primary energy sources.

How critical cost analysis can save money in today’s NHS: a review of carpal tunnel surgery in a district general hospital

With today’s National Health Service (NHS) facing huge financial pressures the healthcare profession cannot afford to carry on spending at the current rate. Individual clinicians should be encouraged to critically appraise their own practices to bring about a more efficient and cost-effective service.The purpose of this project was to analyse the way that carpal tunnel surgery was being performed within our institution and bring about safe changes to practice that reduce expenditure.By critiquing our practices and applying simple changes based around sound evidence an annual saving of over £15 500 to the department was made. The changes instigated are simple, sustainable and safe to implement while providing improved patient satisfaction. They are also easily transferrable across institutions and to other minor hand surgical procedures to afford even greater ongoing savings to the NHS.

Improving Heat Exchanger Network Design of a Revamped Chemical Plant

Pinch analysis has been known as one of the tools for smart energy management. This technique has successfully been applied in more than three decades in various industries. Here, the purpose of this study was to describe how to use pinch analysis for improving heat exchanger network design of a revamped chemical plant. In a revamping project of a chemical plant, the pinch analysis is applied to find a better design. The analysis reveals that the revamped case can be further improved to achieve more energy saving. This is done by applying one of the golden rules in pinch analysis, which is not to transfer heat across the pinch. The proposed solution is rather simple and straightforward, leading to only few months of payback period and 165 k€ per annual saving.

A Financial Analysis of Ludhiana’s Migrant Labour

This study focuses overall on the financial health of industrial migrant labour working in the industrial units of Ludhiana city in terms of their income, consumption, expenditure, savings and remittance. Our survey reveals that the average annual income of these labourers was ₹35,112 while their average annual saving was ₹7,548 and their average annual remittance was ₹5,786. About two-thirds of the total industrial migrant labour surveyed remitted their entire savings. The meagre amount of their savings highlights the plight of this labour and their families back home. Indebtedness was identified as the most common reason for the remittance of money. But compared to their local counterparts, it seems that migrants experienced an improvement in their standards of living after they migrated.

Active intervention in hospital test request panels pays

Ordering laboratory tests by means of test panels is a convenient way of requesting tests, preventing necessary tests from being forgotten. However, it also leads to redundant test ordering, as not all tests in a given panel are required for each patient. As test panels proposed by doctors may contain redundant, overlapping or infrequently used tests, the active involvement of knowledgeable laboratory staff in the organisation of test panels is advisable to promote efficient test use.Laboratory staff initiated an intervention in the organisation of test panels at our hospital in 2009. After a review of the existing panels and the proposals for new panels, we established a total of 60 panels (down from 171 previously). We also stipulated that the laboratory is to be involved with all proposals for new test panels in the future.The reorganisation reduced the number of tests in the test panels by 17.7% (n=60), which theoretically should have resulted in 4.5% fewer tests being ordered. However, as an estimated 14% of the tests removed were then ordered individually in addition to the panels, 3.9% fewer tests were ordered, yielding an annual saving of about €58,000 (4.5% of the costs of all tests ordered in test panels). The savings amount to 7–8% if the frequently ordered metabolic panel (which was left unchanged) was excluded from the survey.Active intervention by the laboratory in the organisation of test panels results in a reduction in the use of tests and in interesting savings.

A laboratory algorithm with homocysteine as the primary parameter reduces the cost of investigation of folate and cobalamin deficiency

Analyses of total homocysteine (tHcy) and to some extent methyl malonic acid (MMA) have become increasingly used in Sweden, primarily for investigating folate and cobalamin deficiency. This has led to increasing costs for diagnosis and laboratory testing, since clinicians still order the established tests, cobalamin and folate. The purpose of this study was to compare the profile of test parameters in six Swedish counties, using laboratory statistics from 2003, and to relate these to medical prescriptions for folate and cobalamin in the same counties. We also wanted to evaluate whether or not a laboratory algorithm with tHcy as the primary test-parameter, followed by vitamin analyses only when tHcy is above a certain decision limit, could reduce the expanding cost of diagnosing folate and cobalamin deficiency. For this analysis we used patient results from two counties in Sweden collected during 2003. There is a slight positive correlation between resources spent upon tests and resources spent upon treating these deficiencies, and a laboratory algorithm based upon initial analysis of tHcy, instead of conventional clinical requests for all parameters, could save approximately 30% of laboratory costs. A typical annual saving in one of these counties (ca. 260,000 inhabitants) by implementing this algorithm would be ca €100,000.

THE APPLICATION OF LINEAR PROGRAMMING IN NUTRITION AT THE CHILDREN’S HOME IN SLAVONSKI BROD

The nutrition model belongs to a broader set o f problems known as mixture problems. In the literature, it is used as one of the typical examples of linear programming solved by the simplex method. It is of interest to investigate the possibilities of applying this model to an actual situation, such as the problem of nutrition at the Children’s Home in Slavonski Brod. Despite certain limitations to the simplex method, as well as limitations in problem formulation, in which the issue of tastes is neglected, by solving the assigned mathematical model for nutrition using the simplex method an optimum solution has been reached which meets all the conditions set forth in the formulation of the problem. The application of the model using the simplex method indicates a possible annual saving of 74,866 kunas per single meal. Results obtained could serve as guidelines in analysing the costs of the Children’s Home and in improving costs management by helping to determine the optimum financial schedule for nutrition. Benefits would include reducing the costs of nutrition and minimizing the wastage of food.