Techno-economic evaluation of a chromic wastewater treatment plant proposal

As estações de tratamento de águas residuais são sistemas que, se operados corretamente, podem ajudar a saúde da indústria e do meio ambiente. No presente trabalho, foi realizada a avaliação técnico-econômica de uma proposta de estação de tratamento de efluentes de cromo com capacidade de processamento de 9 t de efluente por lote, a fim de determinar seus principais parâmetros de rentabilidade, utilizando o simulador SuperPro Designer® v. 10. Cerca de 6.959,90 L/lote de água tratada são gerados, enquanto um investimento de capital total de US $3.549 milhões e um capital fixo direto de US$ 3.222 milhões são necessários. O item que mais influencia nos custos operacionais anuais é o dos custos dependentes da instalação (US $345.000/ano) enquanto o reagente que mais influencia nos custos anuais de consumo de materiais é o cloreto férrico (US$ 56.805/ano). Houve um custo unitário de processamento de US $0,22/kg, um lucro líquido anual de US$ 486.000 e um retorno sobre o investimento de 22,16%. Os valores obtidos a partir dos indicadores Valor Presente Líquido (US $3.361.000), Taxa Interna de Retorno (29,61$ 3,549 millones y un capital fijo directo de USD $3,222 millones. La partida que más influencia presenta en los costos anuales de operación es la de costos dependientes de la instalación (USD$ 345 000/año) mientras que el reactivo que más influye en los costos anuales por concepto de consumo de materiales es el cloruro férrico (USD $56 805/año). Se obtuvo un costo unitario de procesamiento de USD$ 0,22/kg, unas ganancias netas anuales de USD $486 000 y un Retorno de la Inversión de 22,16$ 3 361 000), Tasa Interna de Retorno (29,61 %) y Periodo de Recuperación de la Inversión (4,51 años) permiten establecer que la propuesta es rentable bajo las condiciones económicas actuales de Cuba.Wastewater treatment plants are systems that, if properly operated, can help the health of industry and the environment. In the present work, the techno-economic evaluation of a proposed chromic wastewater treatment plant with a processing capacity of 9 t of wastewater per batch was carried out, in order to determine its main profitability parameters, using SuperPro Designer® simulator v. 10. Around 6,959.90 L/batch of treated water are generated, while a total capital investment of USD $3,549 million and a direct fixed capital of USD$ 3,222 million are required. The item that most influences the annual operating costs is the facility-dependent costs (USD $345,000/year) while the reagent that most influences the material consumption annual costs is ferric chloride (USD$ 56,805/year). It was obtained a unit processing cost of USD $0.22/kg, an annual net profit of USD$ 486,000 and a return on investment of 22.16%. The values ​​obtained for the indicators Net Present Value (USD $ 3,361,000), Internal Rate of Return (29.61%) and Payback Time (4.51 years) allow establishing that the proposal is profitable under the current economic conditions of Cuba

The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Negotiations and Issues for Congress

[Excerpt] The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a potential free trade agreement (FTA) among 11, and perhaps more, countries. The United States and 10 other countries of the Asia-Pacific region— Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam—are negotiating the text of the FTA. Canada and Mexico participated for the first time in the Auckland round of negotiations in December 2012, and Japan recently announced it would seek to participate in the negotiations. With 29 chapters under negotiation, the TPP partners envision the agreement to be “comprehensive and high-standard,” in that they seek to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade in goods, services, and agriculture, and to establish rules on a wide range of issues including foreign direct investment and other economic activities. They also strive to create a “21st-century agreement” that addresses new and cross-cutting issues presented by an increasingly globalized economy. The TPP draws congressional interest on a number of fronts. Congress would have to approve implementing legislation for U.S. commitments under the agreement to enter into force. In addition, under long-established executive-legislative practice, the Administration notifies and consults with congressional leaders, before, during, and after trade agreements have been negotiated. Furthermore, the TPP will likely affect a range of sectors and regions of the U.S. economy of direct interest to Members of Congress and could influence the shape and path of U.S. trade policy for the foreseeable future. This report examines the issues related to the proposed TPP, the state and substance of the negotiations (to the degree that the information is publically available), the specific areas under negotiation, the policy and economic contexts in which the TPP would fit, and the issues for Congress that the TPP presents. The report will be revised and updated as events warrant

Annual Report 2018.

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Increased Productivity through a Production Model Based on Lean Manufacturing and SLP Tools in Small Furniture Manufacturing Workshops

The furniture industry has developed globally with exponential growth in recent years. In Peru, it is one of the key sectors in the productive transformation chain that is growing the most. However, these companies are mostly microenterprises and present various challenges such as the lack of quality standards, the high need for labor, the lack of qualified workers, limitations in technology, among others, which leads to low productivity and performance. That said, the main objective of this research is to increase the productivity of a Peruvian SME workshop dedicated to the man- ufacture of melamine furniture on a small scale. For this purpose, a model composed of the tools Systematic Layout Planning (SLP), 5’S and Standard Work (SW) was proposed and executed through a pilot plan and simulation. As a result, there was an increase in productivity by 11.82%, an increase in production by 50% and a reduction in production time from 398 min to 330.67 min

Fleecing the Family Jewels

Crown jewel lock-up options, a common deal protection device employed during the 1980s’ mergers and acquisitions boom, are back. During their popularity in the 1980s, these options took the form of agreements between a target company and a buyer, pursuant to which the target granted the buyer the right to purchase certain valuable assets, or crown jewels, of the target corporate family in the event the merger did not close. After both state and federal courts questioned the validity of these lock-ups in the 1980s, lock-ups lost their luster and dealmakers stopped using them. But as the saying goes, “everything old becomes new again,” and crown jewel lock-ups have made a return in recent transactions. This time around, dealmakers have been quick to distinguish the modernized crown jewel lock-ups from their predecessors. Although there has been limited case law addressing the validity of these lock-ups, courts appear more likely to uphold the lock-up if the lock-up can be attributed to a business purpose other than the merger and if the lock-up could be a stand-alone agreement, separate and apart from the merger. This Article argues, however, that today’s lock-ups are not significantly different from their predecessors. Practitioners and courts should not lose sight of the 1980s jurisprudence that closely scrutinized the sale process preceding a lock-up as well as the deterrent effects of the lock-up on potential bidders. Failing to consider these factors and not giving these factors proper weight potentially results in companies and their shareholders being fleeced of their corporate family jewels and their value. At the same time, however, dealmakers should not be as quick to shy away from lock-ups as they have been in the past. As the 1980s jurisprudence made clear, lock-ups can be used to enhance shareholder value. In particular, this Article argues that dealmakers may use lock-ups after an extensive sale process to incentivize bidders and extract additional value for shareholders

Enhancing Export Potential for Northern Plains Mustard

International Relations/Trade,

The gut microbiota of chickens in a commercial farm treated with a Salmonella phage cocktail

The microbiota in broiler chicken intestines affects the animals\u27 health, metabolism, and immunity both positively and negatively. Accordingly, it has a significant impact on animal productivity. Phages, host-specific parasites of bacterial cells, are a promising antimicrobial alternative that selectively target pathogens without disturbing the microbiota. The purpose of this study is to further characterize the commensal microbial community at production scale in broiler chickens treated with a Salmonella phage treatment. We evaluated the cecal microbiota of broilers reared in a commercial farming system where a phage cocktail against Salmonella, SalmoFree was supplied to animals. To do so, two field trials were conducted, incorporating three doses of phages in the broilers\u27 drinking water. Our results showed that the core microbiome (taxa that were present in more than 50% of samples) contained species that are key to microbiota adaptation in the last stage of the production cycle. Among these, there are some important degraders of complex polysaccharides and producers of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) such as Eisenbergiella and Lachnoclostridium. The phage cocktail did not affect the normal development of the microbiota\u27s structure. The addition of the phage cocktail resulted in a significant reduction in Campylobacter and an increase in Butyricimonas, Helicobacter and Rikenellaceae, which are common inhabitants in chicken gut with known negative and positive effects on their health and metabolism. Altogether, we consider that these results contribute valuable information to the implementation of large-scale phage therapy technologies