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

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Special Issue on “Process Design, Integration, and Intensification”

With the growing emphasis on enhancing the sustainability and efficiency of industrial plants, process integration and intensification are gaining additional interest throughout the chemical engineering community [...

Integrated multi-scale water management as a climate change adaptation strategy

Water management will become increasingly critical as the effects of climate change manifest. There are existing water management tools and concepts in current use for both policy and decision-making in industry, but these often look at water issues from the limited perspectives of specific decision-makers who see the problems only at particular scales. In this perspective paper, we argue for an integrated water management approach as an imperative climate change adaptation; there is an urgent need for research on the development of such a multi-scale framework to effectively manage water use in industrial systems. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Carbon emissions pinch analysis for sustainable energy planning

Carbon-constrained energy planning can be facilitated by the use of systematic tools such as carbon emissions pinch analysis (CEPA). This methodology is based on previously developed process integration approaches such as heat or mass pinch analysis. It can be used to determine optimal targets for systems comprised of energy sources and demands, given energy, and carbon balance considerations. Source-demand matches that satisfy the optimal targets can also be determined using CEPA. This article provides a brief review of the development of CEPA and outlines key steps for the graphical variant of this technique. A simple case study is also solved to illustrate the methodology. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Process integration and climate change: From carbon emissions pinch analysis to carbon management networks

Carbon Emissions Pinch Analysis (CEPA) is a branch of Process Integration (PI) that was developed as a systematic methodology for planning the optimal allocation of energy to various demands under carbon-constrained conditions. Since its inception in 2007, the body of CEPA literature has branched out into distinct areas. The first branch consists of direct applications of CEPA to specific geographic regions or nations, which includes early applications in Ireland and New Zealand, leading to more recent applications to parts of China and the United States. The second branch consists of methodological extensions of the original graphical CEPA procedure. These developments include algebraic and Mathematical Programming (MP) variants. The third branch of CEPA literature extends its principles to other measures of sustainability, such as various environmental footprints; recent attempts to allow the methodology to simultaneously handle multiple sustainability metrics have also been published. Finally, in the fourth branch, CEPA has also been extended to handle special problem structures such as segregated targeting for multiple geographic zones, or deployment of CO2 capture and storage (CCS). Also included here are CEPA variants for carbon-constrained planning at different levels, ranging from enterprise scale, to supply chains and sector level (e.g., transportation or waste disposal), and finally to economy-wide analysis when integrated with established tools such as Input-Output Analysis (IOA). This paper discusses key developments in CEPA literature, with emphasis on the most recent developments (2016 to the present), as well as further prospects for the development of this PI sub-area. Copyright © 2018, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l

Design and Optimisation of Wastewater Treatment Plant for the Poultry Industry

The objective of this study is to optimise the wastewater treatment plant of poultry industry. The optimisation of simulation model was done using the SuperPRO designer as simulator. The performance of the wastewater treatment plant for the poultry industry has improved significantly at the minimum cost. The COD value reduced from 133 mg/L to 0.05 mg/L at the discharge stream 1 and 73.7 mg/L for discharge stream 2. In addition, the BOD5 value reduced from 66.7 mg/L to 0.03 mg/L at the discharge stream 1 and 47.1 mg/L at the discharge stream 2. Further to this, the TTS reduced from 33.3 mg/L to 0.0 mg/L at the discharge stream 1 and 1.69 mg/L at the discharge stream 2. Oil and grease also reduced from 3.3 mg/L to 0.024 mg/L at the discharge stream 1 and 18.7 mg/L at the discharge stream 2. The existing model and system can improve the wastewater treatment plant of poultry industry