Process modelling of a PVC production plant

This paper presents the modelling of a Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) resins manufacturing process with batch process simulator, SuperPro Designer V6.0. The simulation model has been developed based on the operating condition of a local PVC manufacturing plant. As the polymerisation process is carried out in batch operation mode, efforts have been made to document the scheduling details of each unit operation and results are presented in the Gantt chart. Cycle time for a complete polymerisation process is determined to be 14.28 hours. The model also reveals that approximately 17 batches of polymerisation reaction can be processed per day, which tallies the real operation of the PVC manufacturing plant

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

An integrated approach for water minimisation in a PVC manufacturing process

This paper presents a water minimisation study carried out for a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins manufacturing plant. Due to the complexity of the mixed batch and continuous polymerisation process, an integrated process integration approach, which consists of process synthesis, analysis and optimisation was used for this work. A simulation model was first developed in a batch process simulation software, SuperPro Designer V6.0, based on the operating condition of a PVC manufacturing process. The batch simulation model captured the essential information needed for a water minimisation study, e.g. process duration, water mass flow, etc. Data extracted from the simulation model was later used in the water minimisation study, utilising the widely established process synthesis technique of water pinch analysis. Two water saving scenarios were presented. Scenario 1 reports a fresh water and wastewater reduction of 28.5 and 90.1% respectively, for the maximum water recovery scheme without water storage system. In Scenario 2, higher fresh water and wastewater reduction are reported at 31.7 and 100% respectively, when water storage tank is installed in the water network