141 research outputs found
Startup of new plants and process technology in the process industries:organizing for an extreme event
In the startup of new process plants or in the introduction of new process technology, even minor installation work can cause plant downtime. On the other hand, the increased income from compressing time schedules for the introduction of new process technology or launching of associated new products on the market surely offers an incentive for securing efficient startups, which is the purpose of this study. A review of publications in the area of startup of process plants shows that organizational issues are scarcely discussed. A new conceptual framework has therefore been developed for organizing startups and the modelling of alternative startup organization structures. Four types of organizational models have been depicted, derived from information from the literature survey and the author’s own first-hand experience of startups. They include a “fully integrated” type of organizational model for startups together with a profiling of startup contexts. How to organize a startup is, however, only one aspect that will determine the outcome of a project, and other influencing factors ought to be further explored. The framework must be tested and validated in real-life startup situations and in further empirical research. The information from the literature survey, the alternative types of startup organizational models and determinants can already be deployed by firms in the Process Industries, triggering discussion and providing guidelines in their selection of preferred startup organization.<br
From customer understanding to product understanding: Collaboration with industrial lead users in a B2B context
Product innovation will continue to play a strategic role for companies producing high-quality, functional products for customers in the process industries. In the future, creating improved or radically new products will necessitate not only the development of product concepts resting more on an applied research knowledge base but also collaboration with customers. LKAB is a world-leading producer of processed iron ore products for steelmaking. The development of next-generation pellet products in collaboration with lead users presented an opportunity for a single case study in a B2B context. Two customers for present products as well as a technology/equipment supplier were identified as lead users. Using a framework grounded in lead user development, the Quality Function Deployment methodology (adapted to process-industrial use) was used as the facilitating instrument. It is concluded that this modified system will constitute an improved integrated knowledge-based platform for the development of new product and process concepts. It isargued that this development approach could also be applied in other process-industrial sectors serving industrial customers in an open innovation perspective
Search for right-handed W bosons in top quark decay
We present a measurement of the fraction f+ of right-handed W bosons produced
in top quark decays, based on a candidate sample of events in the
lepton+jets decay mode. These data correspond to an integrated luminosity of
230pb^-1, collected by the DO detector at the Fermilab Tevatron
Collider at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV. We use a constrained fit to reconstruct the
kinematics of the and decay products, which allows for the
measurement of the leptonic decay angle for each event. By comparing
the distribution from the data with those for the expected
background and signal for various values of f+, we find
f+=0.00+-0.13(stat)+-0.07(syst). This measurement is consistent with the
standard model prediction of f+=3.6x10^-4.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review D Rapid Communications 7 pages, 3
figure
Measurement of the Lifetime Difference in the B_s^0 System
We present a study of the decay B_s^0 -> J/psi phi We obtain the CP-odd
fraction in the final state at time zero, R_perp = 0.16 +/- 0.10 (stat) +/-
0.02 (syst), the average lifetime of the (B_s, B_sbar) system, tau (B_s^0)
=1.39^{+0.13}_{-0.16} (stat) ^{+0.01}_{-0.02} (syst) ps, and the relative width
difference between the heavy and light mass eigenstates, Delta Gamma/Gamma =
(Gamma_L - Gamma_H)/Gamma =0.24^{+0.28}_{-0.38} (stat) ^{+0.03}_{-0.04} (syst).
With the additional constraint from the world average of the B_s^0$lifetime
measurements using semileptonic decays, we find tau (B_s^0)= 1.39 +/- 0.06 ~ps
and Delta Gamma/\Gamma = 0.25^{+0.14}_{-0.15}. For the ratio of the B_s^0 and
B^0 lifetimes we obtain tau(B_s^0)/tau(B^0)} = 0.91 +/- 0.09 (stat) +/- 0.003
(syst).Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. FERMILAB-PUB-05-324-
A search for W bb and W Higgs production in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV
We present a search for W b \bar{b} production in p \bar{p} collisions at
sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV in events containing one electron, an imbalance in transverse
momentum, and two b-tagged jets. Using 174 pb-1 of integrated luminosity
accumulated by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron collider, and the
standard-model description of such events, we set a 95% C.L. upper limit on W b
\bar{b}WH--$135
GeV.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Search for R-parity violating supersymmetry via the LLE couplings lambda_{121}, lambda_{122} or lambda_{133} in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV
A search for gaugino pair production with a trilepton signature in the
framework of R-parity violating supersymmetry via the couplings lambda_121,
lambda_122, or lambda_133 is presented. The data, corresponding to an
integrated luminosity of L~360/pb, were collected from April 2002 to August
2004 with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, at a
center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV. This analysis considers final states
with three charged leptons with the flavor combinations eel, mumul, and eetau
(l=e or mu). No evidence for supersymmetry is found and limits at the 95%
confidence level are set on the gaugino pair production cross section and lower
bounds on the masses of the lightest neutralino and chargino are derived in two
supersymmetric models.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures (fig2 includes 3 subfigures
Search for W' boson production in the W'->tb decay channel
We present a search for the production of a new heavy gauge boson W' that
decays to a top quark and a bottom quark. We have analyzed 230 pb^{-1} of data
collected with the Dzero detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider at a
center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. No significant excess of events above the
standard model expectation is found in any region of the final state invariant
mass distribution. We set upper limits on the production cross section of W'
bosons times branching ratio to top quarks at the 95% confidence level for
several different W' boson masses. We exclude masses between 200 GeV and 610
GeV for a W' boson with standard-model-like couplings, between 200 GeV and 630
GeV for a W' boson with right-handed couplings that is allowed to decay to both
leptons and quarks, and between 200 GeV and 670 GeV for a W' boson with
right-handed couplings that is only allowed to decay to quarks.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted by Phys. Lett.
Study of events and limits on anomalous and couplings in ppbar collisions at TeV
We present a measurement of the Z\gamma production cross section and limits
on anomalous ZZ\gamma and Z\gamma\gamma couplings for form-factor scales of
Lambda = 750 and 1000 GeV. The measurement is based on 138 (152) candidate
events in the ee\gamma (\mu\mu\gamma) final state using 320 (290) pb^{-1} of
ppbar collisions at \sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV. The 95% C.L. limits on real and
imaginary parts of individual anomalous couplings are |h_{10,30}^{Z}|<0.23,
|h_{20,40}^{Z}|<0.020, |h_{10,30}^{\gamma}|<0.23, and
|h_{20,40}^{\gamma}|<0.019 for Lambda = 1000 GeV.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
Measurement of the Ratio of B+ and B0 Meson Lifetimes
The ratio of B+ and B0 meson lifetimes was measured using data collected in
2002-2004 by the D0 experiment in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider.
These mesons were reconstructed in B -> mu+ nu D*- X decays, which are
dominated by B0, and B ->mu+ nu D0bar X decays, which are dominated by B+. The
ratio of lifetimes is measured to be t+/t0 = 1.080 +- 0.016(stat) +-
0.014(syst).Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX, to be submitted to Physical Review Letter
Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons Decaying to Tau Pairs in p-pbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV
A search for the production of neutral Higgs bosons Phi decaying into
tau^+tau^- final states in p-pbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96
TeV is presented. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to
348 pb^-1, were collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron
Collider. Since no excess compared to the expectation from standard model
processes is found, limits on the production cross section times branching
ratio are set. The results are combined with those obtained from the D0 search
for Phi b(b) to b-bbar-b(bbar) and are interpreted in the minimal
supersymmetric standard model.Comment: Version accpeted by Phys. Rev. Lett. (minor changes
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