Material recycle/reuse is one of the key strategies in reducing the consumption of fresh resources in the process industries. Over the past decade, several techniques have been developed to reduce the consumption of specific material utilities such as water and hydrogen. To date, none of the published techniques provides a noniterative, systematic, and graphical technique for identifying a target for minimum usage of the fresh resources ahead of detailed design of the recycle/reuse network. In this paper, we present a rigorous graphical targeting approach to minimize the use of fresh resources by using segregation, mixing, and direct recycle/reuse strategies. First, the problem is formulated mathematically to provide a systematic basis for its solution. Then, dynamic programming techniques are employed to derive the mathematical conditions and characteristics of an optimal solution strategy. These conditions and characteristics are transformed into a graphical form that can be readily used to identify rig...

Rigorous graphical targeting for resource conservation via material recycle/reuse networks

Material recycle/reuse is one of the key strategies in reducing the consumption of fresh resources in the process industries. Over the past decade, several techniques have been developed to reduce the consumption of specific material utilities such as water and hydrogen. To date, none of the published techniques provides a noniterative, systematic, and graphical technique for identifying a target for minimum usage of the fresh resources ahead of detailed design of the recycle/reuse network. In this paper, we present a rigorous graphical targeting approach to minimize the use of fresh resources by using segregation, mixing, and direct recycle/reuse strategies. First, the problem is formulated mathematically to provide a systematic basis for its solution. Then, dynamic programming techniques are employed to derive the mathematical conditions and characteristics of an optimal solution strategy. These conditions and characteristics are transformed into a graphical form that can be readily used to identify rigorous targets for minimum usage of fresh resources. The graphical technique is also useful in locating a material recycle/reuse pinch point, which provides insightful information on the use of fresh resources, the discharge of unused materials, and the relationships between process streams (sources) and units (sinks). Several test problems are solved to illustrate the ease, rigor, and applicability of the developed targeting technique.

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PROCESS DESIGN AND CONTROL Rigorous Graphical Targeting for Resource Conservation via Material Recycle/Reuse Networks

https://www.ou.edu/class/che-design/pub-papers/A%20review%20of%20recent%20design%20procedures%20for%20water%20networks%20in%20refineries%20and%20process%20plants(Bagajewicz)-00.pdf

A review of recent design procedures for water networks in refineries and process plants

Water network synthesis has been an active area of research for the past one and a half decades. Many think that the technology reached a mature stage in the late 1990s, especially for the insight-based technique based on pinch analysis. The only review for the field dates back to 2000. However, many new papers published in this century reveal that new research gaps are found and more works were carried out to address the limitations of the “old” techniques. The main objective of this review is to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the insight-based techniques developed in the 21st century, particularly those developed for single impurity network of the fixed flow rate problems. Comparisons were also made between these recent techniques and those developed for the fixed load problems in the past century. Various flow rate targeting techniques developed for water reuse/recycle, regeneration, and wastewater treatment are reviewed in detail, along with the network design techniques that achieve the estab...

/pdf/state-of-the-art-review-of-pinch-analysis-techniques-for-3379g4mv9m.pdf

State-of-the-Art Review of Pinch Analysis Techniques for Water Network Synthesis

A new graphical targeting method for water minimisation

Environmental protection, rising costs for wastewater-treatment, and at many sites a shortage of fresh water are all persuasive motives for reducing raw water consumption and wastewater discharge at a chemical-process plant. Maximizing the re-use of water within the plant can be of great help. Systematic strategies for such maximization can lower freshwater usage and wastewater discharges by 50% or more, while also significantly reducing capital investment in treatment facilities. The typical base case or starting point for such improvements appears in a figure which shows a conventional water network in a process plant. After undergoing initial treatment, the incoming water goes in parallel streams to the various individual process units, as well as to the utility system for steam production and for use in cooling towers. Wastewater streams from the processes, along with blowdown and condensate losses from the utility system, are usually collected together and the combined stream fed to a wastewater treatment facility prior to discharge. There are two basic strategies for reducing water demand in such a plant. One strategy consists of modifying individual process and utility units to reduce their inherent need for water. Examples include replacing water cooling with air cooling, improving controls of boilermore » and cooling-tower blowdowns, and increasing the number of stages in an extraction unit that employs water as its extractant. In the other basic strategy, which is the main focus of this article, the engineer seeks opportunities to use the outlet water from one operation to satisfy the water requirement of another or the same operation. In some cases, the water may require some regeneration prior to re-use. Examples of regeneration include pH adjustment, filtration, membrane separation, sour-water stripping and ion exchange.« less

Make your process water pay for itself

Decentralization in Ukraine was actualized due to the inability of the local self-government system to satisfy the needs of the rural population in public services for the comprehensive development of a person, their self-realization, and the protection of their constitutional rights. The purpose of this empirical study is to examine development of rural areas in Ukraine in the context of decentralization. The methodology used was exploratory qualitative in nature and used a multiple case study, wherein data analysis were applied. We have found that the first result of decentralization in 2015–2018 is a slowdown in the decline of the proportion of the rural population, in the rate of decline of the available rural population, and the employment rate of the rural population. Our study refutes the hypothesis that the rural development targets, which were defined at the beginning of decentralization and fixed in the current legislation, have been achieved. Rural development targets have not been achieved, and economic modeling shows that there are no prospects for achieving them in the near future. The research results presented in the paper are of considerable importance for developing economic policy and the social development of rural areas, by addressing the needs of these rural areas.

/pdf/development-of-rural-areas-in-ukraine-in-the-context-of-2qv8k6z5.pdf

Development of Rural Areas in Ukraine in the Context of Decentralization: An Empirical Study

By studying M&A deals completed by European energy and power companies between 2002 and 2021, the paper inquires into the impact of corporate consolidation on the competitive positioning of individual energy firms and the concentration of market power on the national energy markets in the EU countries. Our evidence suggests that the European energy market may be moving towards a greater concentration of market power as market leaders are shown to primarily acquire their peers from national markets, while outsiders are more likely to diversify into non-energy sectors, which may further endanger their competitive positioning in the future. We also find that M&As allow energy and power companies to substantially increase their market share within national markets. The said impact is stronger in case of cross-border deals, including those within and outside of the EU. At the same time, only cross-border deals are associated with sufficiently strong revenue growth to advance firms’ relative positioning within national markets. The relative positioning of firms in the EU market remains unaffected by M&A activities, which may be indicative of extreme rigidity and segmentation of the EU market. While at the country level, M&As are found to contribute to a reduction in market concentration measured by a number of indicators, this negative link is documented to be entirely driven by non-core acquisitions involving targets from non-energy industries.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/23/8798/pdf?version=1669274783

The Impact of M&As on the Competitive Positioning of European Energy Firms and Market Power Concentration on EU National Energy Markets

The purpose of the article is to actualize the challenges faced by Ukrainian agriculture in the context of climate change and the impact of the economic activity of enterprises on the state of natural resources, as well as to consider the ways and mechanisms of the post-war transition of Ukrainian agriculture to sustainable development. In the study, we used monographic, comparative analysis, empirical, abstract, and logical methods. The first consequences of climate change in agricultural sectors of the planet are characterized. Increasing temperatures to a maximum level, longer periods of extreme heat, more intense droughts, increased moisture deficit during the growing season, winter thaws, the spread of pests and diseases, and other manifestations of climate change have a negative impact on agricultural production. In the context of climate change, as highlighted in the paper, these negative processes will significantly intensify, requiring an immediate transition from ecologically and socially destructive monoculture to agroecological agriculture, which is recognized as one of the most affordable, low-cost, socially oriented, and environmentally relevant ways to transition to sustainable development of the industry. The principles and institutional support for such a transition are revealed, taking into account the expected climate change and post-war consequences for Ukrainian agriculture.

/pdf/sustainable-development-of-agriculture-of-ukraine-in-the-3i4ghlxa.pdf

Sustainable Development of Agriculture of Ukraine in the Context of Climate Change

The aim of the study is to determine the relation of operating costs to revenues from operating activities and economic productivity of assets depending on the type and scale of companies’ activity in the food sector. The research was carried out using the indicator of the level of operating costs to operating income, as well as the indicator of economic productivity of resources, measured by the ratio of operating result to average annualassets. The research included 175 companies of Polish food sector with revenues exceeding EUR 5 million per year from 2009 to 2017. It was found that at the operational level, the ratio of costs to revenues depended on the type of activity of the enterprise and raised with the increase in its scale. The dependence of the economic productivity of assets on the ratio of operating costs to operating income decreased along with the increase in the scale of the company’s operation. It was also noted that the level of operating costs did not independently affect the size of the economic productivity of assets of food sector enterprises.

M. Wasilewski

Papers

Make your process water pay for itself

Development of Rural Areas in Ukraine in the Context of Decentralization: An Empirical Study

The Impact of M&As on the Competitive Positioning of European Energy Firms and Market Power Concentration on EU National Energy Markets

Sustainable Development of Agriculture of Ukraine in the Context of Climate Change

The relation of operating costs and the economic productivity of assets according to the type and scale of activity in food enterprises