Improvement of the Liquefied Natural Gas Vapor Utilization System Using a Gas Ejector

The production, transportation, and storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a promising area in the gas industry due to a number of the fuel’s advantages, such as its high energy intensity indicators, its reduced storage volume compared to natural gas in the gas-air state, and it ecological efficiency. However, LNG storage systems feature a number of disadvantages, among which is the boil-off gas (BOG) recovery from an LNG tank by flaring it or discharging it to the atmosphere. Previous attempts to boil-off gas recovery using compressors, in turn, feature such disadvantages as large capital investments and operating costs, as well as low reliability rates. The authors of this article suggest a technical solution to this problem that consists in using a gas ejector for boil-off gas recovery. Natural gas from a high-pressure gas pipeline is proposed as a working fluid entraining the boil-off gas. The implementation of this method was carried out according to the developed algorithm. The proposed technical solution reduced capital costs (by approximately 170 times), metal consumption (by approximately 100 times), and power consumption (by approximately 55 kW), and improved the reliability of the system compared to a compressor unit. The sample calculation of a gas ejector for the boil-off gas recovery from an LNG tank with a capacity of 300 m3 shows that the ejector makes it possible to increase the boil-off gas pressure in the system by up to 1.13 MPa, which makes it possible to not use the first-stage compressor unit for the compression of excess vapours.

ACCOUNTING PROVISION OF JUSTIFICATION OF COSTS OF HOP GROWING WITH ITS STATE SUPPORTING (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE CHUVASH REPUBLIC)

The modern hop-growing industry occupies a small share in the structure of domestic agricultural production. However, being the main supplier of hops, as the most important agricultural raw material for many sectors of the economy, it has been on the rise in recent years and is increasing production volumes every year. This is largely facilitated by financial government support in terms of reimbursement of current and capital costs associated with the establishment of hops and the cultivation of hops. The purpose of the study is to consider the main theoretical and methodological aspects of organizing production accounting, which will provide unified approaches to justifying costs for filing applications by hop farms for government subsidies. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that there is no updated regulatory framework for accounting for the reflection of costs in hop-growing farms, including the basic industry standard “Hop-growing. Terms and definitions ”, and in the very mechanism for issuing state subsidies, the question of the structure and content of the information carrier about the costs incurred has not been finally worked out. A small number of international and Russian studies to determine the essential characteristics of hops as a biological asset have a negative impact on the construction of the accounting process. Consideration of the theory and study of the practice of organizing the accounting of costs in hop farms made it possible to update the accounting procedures for the main agro-technological stages in accordance with the current regulatory documents in this area and to put forward the thesis on the need to use 1 ton of alpha-acid as a calculating unit and a universal meter when making calculations with counterparties

Improvement of oil and gas production infrastructure as an effective tool for maintaining basic oil and gas production

The modern world is a complex mechanism in which each process, direction, sphere of activity, despite visual differences, ultimately creates a single complex element aimed at ensuring human life. One of the key processes occurring on the planet is the extraction of hydrocarbons. The article proposes to consider a solution that will contribute to ensuring the efficiency of oil and gas production processes, will extend the life cycle of mature oil and gas production assets of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the RF) and extend their economic profitability. Economic and technological efficiency from infrastructure reengineering measures is individual for each region, and directly depends on the volume of oil, water production and the state of the ground infrastructure. The described areas of infrastructure reengineering, in aggregate, represent an effective tool for optimizing operating and capital costs, increasing the reliability of technological equipment, removing infrastructure restrictions, which will contribute to the achievement of the set task - maintaining oil production at mature assets. Keywords: facilities for oil treatment; gas compression; reservoir pressure maintenance; power supply; engineering networks; operating costs; reengineering.

A Decomposition Four-Component Model for Calculating Power Losses in Low-Voltage Power Supply Systems

A new model for decomposition of the total power losses, which includes four components is proposed. Each of the components of the proposed model has a certain physical meaning due to the nature of electromagnetic processes in a three-phase four-wire system. Definitions to describe each of the proposed components are formulated. It is shown that each of supplementary components of the total loss power is proportional to the minimum possible loss power and to the square of the RMS value of the power, which is caused by its occurrence in three-phase four-wire power supply system, and it is inversely proportional to the mean square of the net power loss. The synthesized Matlab-model for verification of the four-component structure of power losses showed a high degree of its adequacy. The proposed model allows us to rethink the description of power losses in three-phase AC circuits and can be used in specialized measuring instruments for electrical networks monitoring. Using the information obtained in the monitoring process, it is possible to plan technical measures to reduce losses of electrical energy in the power supply system, as well as to estimate the capital costs of these measures.

Implementation Of Docker Container On Local Network By Applying Reverse Proxy

Virtualization is an implementation of a software. Virtualization technology has changed the direction of the computer industrial revolution by reducing capital costs and operating costs. The availability of a virtualization will also increase the availability of higher services and data protection mechanisms. Docker is configured to create multiple containers on a network, each container containing one image. The three containers will be created in one compose where each container is connected to each other for WordPress configuration and two composers will be created. Furthermore, from each compose a reverse proxy configuration is carried out which aims to set a different domain address. Lighten computer performance and can reduce the required storage so as to make hosting more effective and efficient. Containers also provide a security advantage over complete control over management running on separate, isolated containers.

A microgrid for the secluded Paana Theertham Kani settlement in India

Recognizing the importance of electricity as a driver of rapid economic growth and poverty alleviation, India aims to provide access to all households by 2030. Despite the best efforts of state and federal governments to meet consumers’ electrical needs, budget constraints, inefficient operations and massive loan burdens have hampered their efforts. Aside from these concerns, rural India, which accounts for 65% of the population, is plagued by a slew of issues, including low electricity demand, a low load factor and the expectation of cheap electricity. These concerns bind the authorities’ hands, preventing them from moving forward. As a result, this project aims to model an autonomous microgrid system that integrates three potential renewable-energy systems, namely wind, sun and hydrokinetic, to provide electricity for a remote society. It starts with assessing the region’s electricity needs with its inhabitants. The HOMER Pro platform creates a cost-effective microgrid based on the demand estimate. The components of the microgrid include 6.4-kW small wind turbine (SWT) groups, 4.4-kW solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, a 5-kW hydrokinetic water turbine, battery storage and a converter. The project is unique in that it considers site-specific initial capital costs, replacement costs, and operation and maintenance costs of the renewable-energy systems, and it does not include any environmentally hazardous energy system. The successful optimization results in terms of levelized energy costs are $0.0538, $0.0614 and $0.0427/kWh for wind, solar and hydrokinetic components, respectively, without any environmental issues.

Light or Dark Greywater for Water Reuse? Economic Assessment of On-Site Greywater Treatment Systems in Rural Areas

Water scarcity is causing a great impact on the population. Rural areas are most affected by often lacking a stable water supply, being more susceptible to the impact of drought events, and with greater risk of contamination due to the lack of appropriate water treatment systems. Decentralized greywater treatment systems for water reuse in rural areas can be a powerful alternative to alleviate these impacts. However, the economic feasibility of these systems must be thoroughly evaluated. This study reports an economic analysis carried out on the viability of greywater reuse considering scenarios with light greywater or dark greywater to be treated. For this, data obtained from the assembly and monitoring of greywater treatment systems located in the north-central zone of Chile, supplemented with data obtained from the literature were used. The results showed that both scenarios are not economically viable, since the investment and operating costs are not amortized by the savings in water. In both evaluated cases (public schools), the economic indicators were less negative when treating light greywater compared with the sum of light greywater and dark greywater as the inlet water to be treated. The investment and operating costs restrict the implementation of these water reuse systems, since in the evaluation period (20 years) a return on the initial investment is not achieved. Even so, our results suggest that the best alternative to reuse greywater in small-scale decentralized systems is to treat light greywater, but it is necessary to consider a state subsidy that not only supports capital costs but also reduces operating and maintenance costs. These findings support the idea that the type of water to be treated is a factor to consider in the implementation of decentralized greywater treatment systems for the reuse of water in rural areas and can help decision-making on the design and configuration of these systems.

Methodology for calculating the criteria of economic efficiency of investments in nuclear icebreakers

An economic and analytical model for evaluating the criteria of efficiency (profitability) of investments in the projects of innovative nuclear icebreakers of the Northern Sea Route is suggested. The model is based on the new analytical representation of the methodology for forecasting the investment project efficiency that is widely used in international practice. The mathematical expression for the net discounted income provides convenient formulas for calculating several investment efficiency criteria for nuclear icebreakers: internal rate of return, minimum annual revenues from icebreaker convoys, discounted payback period, and the volume of delivered cargo. The paper gives estimates of the criteria for the efficiency of investments in “Leader” class icebreakers that depend on the discount rate of cash flows, capital, and operating costs. It is shown that at high capital costs, typical for construction of “Leader” class nuclear icebreakers, the minimum required revenue of an icebreaker, representing a financial burden for ships transporting cargo along the NSR, rapidly increases with the growth of discount rate and the reduction of investment payback period. This means that the profitability of such icebreakers is only possible at low discount rates of 2–3% per year, which is an extremely low-interest credit. Even with low interest and impressive technical characteristics of the icebreaker (high speed of navigation, large number of ships in the caravan and their maximum capacity) the payback period would exceed 25 years.

Predesign cost estimation of a potential wastewater treatment plant for Jordan petroleum refinery-Electrocoagulation

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether simulated Jordan refinery wastewater can be treated through electrocoagulation (EC) to conform to the most stringent Jordanian norms for reusing this wastewater for irrigation of cut flowers and to perform cost analysis for a treatment plant whose core are the EC reactors. The method used for estimating the fixed (capital) costs of the treatment plant is taken from literature and is based on a study estimate (factored estimate) that depends on the knowledge of major items of equipment. Most of the operating costs are estimated based on percentages which are also taken from literature. The best percentage removal of COD, BOD, TSS, fat, oil& grease (FOG), bicarbonate (HCO3 −), and phenol from simulated Jordan refinery wastewater so that it conforms to Jordanian norms were 84.4%, 82.1%, 27.3%, at least 98.8%, 94.9%, at least 96.7%, respectively, at a current of 10 A, treatment time of 5 minutes, Al/SS electrodes, and inter-electrode distance 10 mm. Overall treatment costs for the simulated wastewater was 10.75 $/m3 (27 $/kg CODremoved). It is concluded that simulated Jordan refinery wastewater cannot be treated so that it conforms to the most stringent norms for using the treated wastewater for cut flowers irrigation but could be treated enough to conform to the Jordanian norms for using the treated water for irrigation of cooked vegetables, parks, and playgrounds. Moreover, EC is a suitable technology for the treatment of Jordanian recalcitrant refinery wastewater and the cost for its treatment is affordable.

Challenges and Achievements of Drilling Record MRC Wells for Appraising and Developing an Offshore Tight Carbonate

This paper describes the field development planning strategy for appraising and developing an offshore reservoir area via extended reach extra-long maximum reservoir contact laterals drilled from an artificial island. These single production and injection laterals are completed in excess of 20,000 ft on top of tens of thousands feet of drilled well path to reach the drain landing point. These laterals have a dual purpose, as in addition to reservoir appraisal, is to maximize the productivity and injectivity in an on-going development of a tight carbonate reservoir. The well planning process starts from a careful selection of reservoir target coordinates to maximize the oil in place being developed from the artificial island and to enable reservoir testing and appraisal. From this data, initial 3D well designs are generated based on island location and rig capability to ensure ability to drill and run completion to total depth. The generated well tracks are used in a reservoir model to forecast production uplifts and inflow/outflow profiling along laterals. A strategic drilling step-out program has been implemented to extend drilling reach and completion deployment incrementally along with a reservoir surveillance program. The program was designed with built-in risk mitigations for any potential drilling and completion issues. The implemented program has enabled drilling into new areas and testing the reservoir properties at a small incremental cost of extending horizontal laterals. This has led to huge cost savings versus a very expensive appraisal program from a wellhead platform that included drilling a new well in addition to topside facility changes and pipelines conversions along with associated maintenance costs. The data gathered from these wells have enabled reduction of geologic uncertainty and de-risking of future developments. As a result, the field development footprint of developed oil resources was extended by additional 20% without the requirement of building additional drilling structures. Additionally, there is a well count reduction via lateral extension thus leading to capital costs saving. There were initial challenges encountered during lower completion deployment but they were resolved successfully in subsequent wells. An outcome of this strategy was the successful drilling of maximum reservoir contact wells with tens of thousands feet of drilled well path to reach the drain landing point and then with single horizontal drains exceeding 20,000 ft. The drilled wells resulted in unprecedented records in UAE and globally in terms of well total length, horizontal drain length and completion deployment.