Comparative study of cogeneration systems in a chemical industry

With the large penetration of the natural gas into the Brazilian energy structure, industries such as paper mills and chemical plants are analyzing the feasibility of implementing cogeneration schemes appropriate to this fuel. The analysis of the energy demand patterns of a chemical company from the photographic sector revealed the possibility of using combined cycles or diesel engine cogeneration schemes keeping the existing compression refrigeration units and steam or gas cycle cogeneration systems with absorption refrigeration units. In terms of economic attractiveness, an analysis based on the method of the internal rate of return was performed. The results indicated that the schemes composed by reciprocating engines and combined cycle with compression chillers, as well as the gas cycle scheme with absorption chiller, present return periods of up to 3 years, showing that the investment in cogeneration could be of interest for this plant. (C) 2000 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implantação do método activity based costing na logística interna de uma empresa química

Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar como o método ABC - activity based costing foi implantado para realizar o custeio da logística interna da empresa química BASF SA., situada na cidade de Guaratinguetá - SP. Apresentam-se: a descrição do processo de mudança do método de custeio tradicional para o método ABC, as dificuldades encontradas e como foram ultrapassadas, bem como as vantagens constatadas pela empresa. O departamento de logística da empresa funciona como um prestador de serviços, atendendo a todos os processos produtivos das divisões (unidades de negócio) existentes na planta de Guaratinguetá, no que concerne à armazenagem e ao fornecimento de matérias-primas, além de atuar na retirada e na armazenagem de produto acabado. Como principais resultados, obteve-se uma distribuição de custos mais justa entre as divisões da planta, identificação de oportunidades de melhoria nos processos logísticos, identificação de processo e atividades que não agregavam valor aos produtos, entre outros. Finalmente, o processo de implantação e os resultados foram muito bem avaliados pelos gestores, o que foi decisivo para a adoção do método ABC como sistema gerencial de custos logísticos da empresa.

Proposta de implementação da ISO 14001 em uma empresa química

Due to environmental concerns and the current legal requirements, companies are looking for ways to reconcile economic growth with environmental preservation. The purpose of this project is to show the stages of implementation of ISO 14001 in a chemical company and propose changes in chemical procedures creating goals to be achieved. In this paper, the study for the implementation of ISO 14001 is in Viapol ltda., where the lack of environmental management can cause enormous impact to the environment and may generate air, soil and water pollution. The project resulted in a mapping of all the processes and a broad survey of waste and emissions, generating proposals to change some of the processes and and creating programs to achieve the goals and objectives proposed in the Environmental Policy. Adopting an environmental management system (EMS), the company will reduce costs by decreasing the amount of raw material used, shooting down on waste disposal and the amount of it, and increasing productivity. By committing to the implementation of the EMS, companies will be demonstrating a proactive approach to environmental issues and enrich its image to consumers’ point of view

Análise crítica de contratos técnicos como ferramenta para melhoria da gestão da manutenção

Currently, due to the highly competitive search among industries are becoming more tools for managing product that provides higher availability and therefore profitability. Maintenance as a strategic sector and of fundamental importance in business, it seeks to maximize availability and available resources, minimizing costs and waste, which directly impacts the company's results. The present work has as main objective the review of contracts for maintenance services for companies contracted by a chemical company in the Paraíba Valley, since most of its maintenance services are outsourced, and raise these contracts which are more critical and higher risk to the company's success, thus creating a tool for decision-making by maintenance managers in the act of seeking renewals or new contracts to provide services. As a result after drawing up a standard procedure for contracting of services and a better structuring of the same, we developed a method for the calculation of the criticality of the contracts and based on these calculations, charts were prepared which showed that the current scenario of maintenance contracts the company studied. Thus it is possible to evaluate the contracts which are most critical to the success or failure of the company studied, and also pave the way for further studies on how this criticality of a contract can affect the relationship, the contractor x contracted

Aplicação dos conceitos de RCM e a ferramenta FMEA no aumento de confiabilidade em equipamentos de uma indústria química

The growing demand for quality at competitive prices and fast production process put to the test function in the industrial Maintenance. The need for equipment with high availability to fit this fierce competitiveness makes maintenance becomes essentially reliable. Despite this current context, many companies still have an old view of maintenance, focused only on corrective services, and proposals for change are often neglected due to the sense of urgency day to day. Thus, this study aims to demonstrate through theoretical applicability of simple tool, but of great value in increasing reliability within the maintenance sector of an industry, applying the concepts of Reliability Centered Maintenance – RCM and Analysis tool Failure Modes and Effects – FMEA in equipment of a chemical company directly involved in the manufacturing process of the brake fluid, which this product is used in vehicles around the country. That way, you can identify the types, occurrence and criticality of each failure and evaluate assertively decision making for each device, avoiding unnecessary downtime and potential failures of the same

Criação de novo procedimento de engenharia que possibilite a rastreabilidade das tubulações de uma indústria química

The number of piping in an industry is high. Through this piping are conducted several kind of products at several temperature and pressure conditions. In a chemical company, the piping quantity conducting harmful chemical products to human health and to the environment is higher. Nowadays the theme sustainability is often mentioned and harm to environment may cause irreversible damage to the human being, to the fauna, to the flora and to company´s credibility. In this context, controlling over the piping to avoid accidents is mandatory. The objective of this monograph is to create a procedure which enables the chemical companies piping traceability. This monograph analyses the several existent traceability system in the three economy sectors and approaches the technical question of industrial piping in order to create a procedure that achieves its objectives as a technical document and at the same time be economically feasible, with low complexibility level and high practicability. Some possibilities to elaborate this procedure had been studied, as the creation of an alphanumeric code and making with a chisel in the pipeline based on ASTM F2897 and the use of chips to store the information. However, the procedure which best meet the requirement as low cost and high applicability is filling out an electronic plan with information about welding process, welding certification, welding consumables and inspections

Fatores críticos de sucesso na implementação e gerenciamento do pensamento enxuto: um estudo na manufatura de fitas acrílicas

As a result of the industrial competitiveness increase in recent decades, concern about process improvements has been growing significantly. Lean Thinking principles are being more and more applied in the different sectors of the industry and aim to reduce costs, which can generate satisfactory results for an organization. Besides the application of lean tools on workstations, Lean Thinking seeks cultural change of the employees. Although the concepts of this management philosophy are widely disseminated, many organizations find barriers in their implementation and management. This study seeks to identify and evaluate the critical success factors in the implementation of Lean Thinking based on a qualitative research in the manufacturing environment of a multinational chemical company that produces acrylic tapes for the automotive market

Inactivation of vesicular stomatitis virus through inhibition of membrane fusion by chemical modification of the viral glycoprotein

Membrane fusion is an essential step in the entry of enveloped viruses into their host cells triggered by conformational changes in viral glycoproteins. We have demonstrated previously that modification of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) with diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) abolished conformational changes on VSV glycoprotein and the fusion reaction catalyzed by the virus. In the present study, we evaluated whether treatment with DEPC was able to inactivate the virus. Infectivity and viral replication were abolished by viral treatment with 0.5 mM DEPC. Mortality profile and inflammatory response in the central nervous system indicated that G protein modification with DEPC eliminates the ability of the virus to cause disease. In addition, DEPC treatment did not alter the conformational integrity of surface proteins of inactivated VSV as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy and competitive ELISA. Taken together, our results suggest a potential use of histidine (His) modification to the development of a new process of viral inactivation based on fusion inhibition. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.