Fossils as Key Resources of Hydrocarbons for the Chemical Industry - The Burning Problem of Industrial Development

Intensive research is being pursued world-wide to establish a methodology for industrial development. Many types of changes play an important role in the dynamics of the industrial structure in both large and small economies. The global energy supply and future substitution of crude oil are among the most important and widely investigated constraints. With the existing patterns of production and development strongly determined by the specific conditions in a given region, the development of various raw materials for the chemical industry is of great importance. The impact of changing production methods in feedstock hydrocarbons on industrial development requires further intensive research. A non-uniform demand vector and a variety of possible production processes, with a constrained supply of resources in different economic regions and countries, open a number of possibilities for new and non-conventional solutions. Further, hydrocarbon synthesis for the chemical industry should be a high priority research goal, not only because of the scale of demand, but because of the properties of the substances themselves. Provided the problem of production of hydrocarbon feedstock for the chemical industry can be solved successfully, the same methodology could also be used for the analysis of synfuel production: It would contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of the industrial structure

Alternative Routes from Fossil Resources to Chemical Feedstocks

The chemical industry depends very heavily on hydrocarbon feedstocks, which are presently derived almost exclusively from crude oil. Although only about seven percent of the hydrocarbons suitable for chemical processing are actually used in this way, it is already clear that there is a potential conflict between the needs of the energy sector and those of the chemical industry: they are competing for increasingly scarce liquid hydrocarbon resources. The authors suggest that the supply of hydrocarbon feedstocks to the chemical industry could be protected against the effects of changing patterns of energy use by modifying the underlying industrial structure. They have developed an approach which takes a variety of production processes (either in use or under development), compares their efficiency their consumption of different resources, etc., and finds the combination of technologies that best satisfies a particular demand while staying within the limits imposed by resource availability. This approach uses the techniques of interactive decision analysis to incorporate the unquantifiable social and political factors that must influence any development decision. By way of illustration, the method is applied to one very small part of the problem area: the different routes to the production of methanol. This report does not attempt to provide any final answer to the problem of feedstock supply, but rather to explain one possible approach to the problem and discuss some intermediate results. It is addressed not only to researchers, but also, and in particular, to all decision makers and industrial consultants facing problems of this type

Generating Efficient Alternatives for Development in the Chemical Industry

Industrial development can be seen as the process of changing the production structure by means of investment over the course of time. To control this development to the benefit of society while maintaining the profitability of the industry, decision makers must learn how socioeconomic changes and market conditions affect the static and dynamic properties of the production structure. This paper reports on the progress of collaborative research into the design of tools which could help decision makers to control development in the chemical industry. The basic approach is to formulate a model of the equilibrium state of the industry or, in the case considered here, of a particular subsector of the industry. The development process is initially described by a static multiobjective optimization problem, from which a dynamic multiobjective optimization problem is then derived. An example illustrating the use of this method for the pesticide-producing sector is given. The optimization problem and method for controlling industrial development put forward in this paper were worked out as part of the research program on Growth Strategy Optimization Systems (GSOS), sponsored by the Ministry of the Chemical Industry in Poland. This program is actually carried out at the Institute for Control and Systems Engineering (ICSE), part of the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy (AMM) in Cracow. The multiobjective optimization method for generating efficient alternatives and the related software were developed by the System and Decision Sciences Area at IIASA. This collaborative research was carried out within the framework of the agreement on scientific cooperation cosigned by IIASA and the AMM in June 1980

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Zastosowanie metody regulującego trasera w badaniu chaotycznego mieszania w mieszalniku rurowym w formie giętych kolan przekręconych naprzemiennie względem siebie

The paper presents the results of experimental study of reactive laminar mixing in a tubular reactor made up of a succession of pipe bends, alternately rotated by 90° with respect to the preceding bend. A system of competitive parallel reactions: acid-base neutralization and ester hydrolysis were used in the experiments. It was found that selectivity of test reactions depends strongly on the Reynolds number in a range of 80 < Re < 1200. The Dean roll-cells, formed in consecutive pipe bends, periodically change their orientation resulting in chaotic advection and faster mixing. A material processed in this mixer is not exposed to high shear rate or fouling, and pressure drop is low. Such features of an on-line mixer are desirable in the polymer, cosmetic and food industry.Przedstawiono wyniki badań doświadczalnych mieszania laminarnego z reakcją chemiczną w reaktorze rurowym w formie giętych kolan, przekręconych naprzemiennie względem siebie o kąt 90°. W eksperymentach użyto reakcji konkurencyjnych i równoległych: neutralizacji kwasu zasadą i hydrolizy alkalicznej estru. Wykazano, że selektywność reakcji testowych silnie zależy od liczby Reynoldsa w przedziale 80 < Re <1200. Komórki Deana, powstałe w kolejnych wygiętych odcinkach rur, periodycznie zmieniają swoją orientację, co prowadzi do powstania chaotycznej adwekcji i przyspiesza mieszanie. Materiał nie podlega dużym szybkościom ścinania, nie osadza się na ściankach, a spadek ciśnienia jest niewielki. Takie cechy mieszalnika przepływowego są pożądane w przetwórstwie polimerów, przemyśle kosmetycznym i spożywczym

Energetic efficiency of mixing in a periodically reoriented Dean flow

The energetic efficiency of mixing is studied numerically in a continuous flow mixer constructed from a sequence of alternately twisted pipe bends. Counter-rotating vortices present in the curved channels and known as Dean vortices narrow the distribution of the residence time of fluid elements and accelerate the generation of a new material surface without obstructing the main flow and increasing the risk of fouling or flow stoppage. Cyclic twisting of the pipe curvature allows for quick reorientation of Dean vortices. The reorientation induces chaotic advection in a stable three-dimensional flow and speeds up mixing. The effect of computational domain discretisation for the low and medium Reynolds numbers (20 < Re < 2000º on the head loss, primary and secondary flow, residence time distribution, and the energetic efficiency of generation of the inter material surface is determined. The energetic efficiency is calculated in the time space, a standard approach in modelling reactive micromixing, and at the reactor exit. The maximum energetic efficiency is determined for Re = 600 : 700. It is also found that the initial orientation of the material surface to the pipe curvature has a significant impact on the energetic efficiency of mixing