Fitzgerald and Steinbeck: Depiction of a Shared Theme Essay

â€Å"Forgotten is Forgiven. † This quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the true reality of death, once death has taken you and you are forgotten, you are then forgiven. This reality is true in some literature of F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck. The Modern age (1915-1946) has covered some of America’s most important history. During this time period WWI occurred along with: the Roaring 20’s, The Great Depression, WWII and the H-bomb. These historical events gave modern literature characteristics that no other time period can replicate. The great writing movement of modernism came along with the disbelief in the American Dream. There was no longer a need to â€Å"capture the essence of modern life. † Many forms of the era were fragmented and not sequential. Many transitions, resolutions, interpretations, summaries and explanations were used that are common in traditional writings. Themes would relate to issues and events of the time, while having readers draw their own conclusions to these writings. Many techniques of writing were used as well, like stream of consciousness (recreation of the natural flow of thoughts), and the use of symbolism and allusions to suggest themes. Fitzgerald, author of â€Å"Winter Dreams† and The Great Gatsby, and Steinbeck, author of â€Å"Flight† used modernistic writing and their personal life encounters to illustrate their thoughts that â€Å"nature serves as an escape from reality†. Being the fore front of Modernism, F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck use similar settings, symbolism, and character development to depict a shared theme that nature can serve as an escape from reality.

Early Death Penalty Laws Essay

The death penalty laws were started way back in the eighteenth century B. C. under the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon which covered the death penalty for approximately 25 different offenses or crimes. In the Fourteenth Century B. C. of the Hittite Code, the Fifth Century B. C of Roman law of the Twelve Tablets and the Seventh Century B. C. of the Draconian Code of Athens used death penalty as a part of their laws and made capital punishment as the sole punishment for every crime committed. During those times, death penalties were executed through drowning, beating to death, crucifixion, burning alive and impalement. Moreover, during the Tenth Century A. D. in Britain, the common method of executing the accused was through hanging. A century later, William the Conqueror would not like to see and permit any convict to be hanged or else executed for any offense except during times of war. But this trend did not last because during the reign of Henry VIII in the Sixteenth Century, there were approximately 72,000 convicts that were executed. The methods used in the execution during his reign were burning at the stake, hanging, boiling, beheading, quartering and drowning. In addition, in the following two centuries, the rate of capital offenses continued to go up in Britain. During the 17th century, there were about 222 crimes were sentenced by death penalty in Britain which included cutting down a tree, stealing and stealing a rabbit warren. And due to drastic punishment of death, several juries would not easily convict a defendant if the case committed was not really serious. This action had brought changed in the death penalty of Britain. Since 1823 up to 1837, the capital punishment was abolished for over 100 of the 222 offenses sentenced to death. Furthermore, Britain had influenced the United States of America to practice death penalty compared to any other country. As the time European colonizers arrived in the new world, they brought with them the practice of death penalty. The first man ever recorded and received such punishment in 1603 under the new colonies was Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia. Captain George Kendall was sentenced to death because he was a spy of Spain. Four years later, Sir Thomas Dale (a governor from Virginia) decreed the Devine, Moral and Martial Laws which used death penalty even for minor crimes like killing chickens, trading with Indians and stealing grapes. Laws which regard to capital punishment depend from colony to colony. The first execution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony happened in 1630 although the Capital Laws of New York Colony instituted the Laws of Duke of 1665. In these laws mentioned, crimes like denying the â€Å"true God† and striking individual’s father or mother were sentenced to death (see â€Å"Early Death Penalty Laws†. History of the Death Penalty, p. 1). In addition, the chart below records the practice of death penalty in United States of America in the past four centuries. The chart emphasizes the gradual rate growth of death penalty during seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the middle of 1930s, there were approximately 200 executions happened every year and between 1967 and 1977, there was succeeding regression in practice and a suspension on executions. The statistics utilized in the chart were compiled from M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smylka’s database â€Å"Executions in the U. S. 1608-1987: The Espy File. † (See â€Å"Executions in the U. S. 1608-1978: The Espy File. DPIC, 2006). C. Different methods used to execute people There are many ways on how to execute death penalty as mentioned in the earlier discussion. But then again, there are seven principal methods of execution that are presently use globally and these are the hanging, firing squad, lethal injection, stoning, poison gas, guillotine, and electric chair. c. 1 Hanging If this method handled properly, this would be considered as humane method. The neck is intentionally broken and then, death quickly comes. Nonetheless, if the fall is insufficient, the convict will slowly choke to death. If it is excessively great, the rope has the tendency to slit the convict’s head (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 2 Firing Squad The convict is tied and shot in the heart using several marksmen. Death is expectedly to be fast and of all of the states in the United States of America, only the Utah practiced such method. In March 15, 2004, the method was abolished by other states and chose to have lethal injection instead, but with the exception of the four convicted murderers on death rows that were sentenced to death through firing squad (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 3 Lethal Injection This kind of method is the most â€Å"convenient† execution of death penalty. While the convict is lying on the table, the lethal drugs are injected to him/her. Normally, sodium pentothal is injected to cause unconsciousness to the convict. After that, pancuronium bromide is injected. This drug stops breathing and paralyzes the convict. Then lastly, potassium chloride is injected to end the circulation of the heart. If this method is properly performed, the convict easily becomes unconscious. But if the dosage is extremely slow, the person may possibly experience paralysis. This kind of method is practiced by most states in the United States of America (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 4 Stoning The convict is frequently buried up to his neck and bombarded with rocks till the convict will finally die. Rocks are used for this method because they are big enough to initiate fatal injury to the convict but even one rock can already cause death to the convict. This method is absolutely not practiced in all states of United States of America but is actually practiced in several Muslim countries as a punishment for adultery, murder, blasphemy and other offenses (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 5 Poison Gas Cyanide is dropped into acid which produce Hydrogen Cyanide. It is a deadly gas. It would take several minutes of anguish and pain before the convict dies (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 6 Guillotine This was recognized and eminent French invention and not practiced in North America. It cuts the neck and death comes very fast (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 7 Electric chair This is the only method of death execution that not a single person knows how fast the convict dies from the electric shock or what the individual is experiencing. The ACLU explains two incidents where convicts obviously lived for 4 up to 10 minutes before they will die (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org).

Emma Goldman Essay

In January 1886 a 16YOA Jewish girl- Emma Goldman arrived to in New York City from St. Petersburg, Russia, where her parents ran a grocery store. As soon as immigration officials had examined her and approved her entry into the US, she hurried to Rochester, New York, where her half-sister lived. Emma was extremely independent-minded. Her father had tried to force her to marry when she was 15, saying when she protested that â€Å"all Jewish daughter needs to know is how to prepare gefulte fish, cut noodles fine, and give man plenty of children† Defying her father, Emma had flatly refused to marry. â€Å"I wanted to study, to know life, travel,† she explained years later. She had also found the harsh government of Russia Czar unbearable. Like most immigrants she expected the United States â€Å"the land of opportunity,† to be a kind of paradise on earth. Moving in with her stepsister’s family, Emma got a job in a factory sewing coats and earning $2.50 a week. She paid her sister $1.50 for room and board and spent 60 cents a week on carfare to get to and from her job, leaving her only with 40 cents for all her other needs. But when she asked her employer for more money he simply told her to â€Å"look for work elsewhere.† This she did, finding a job at another factory that paid $4.00 a week. In 1887 she married Jacob Kirshnern, another Russian Immigrant, but they did not get along and soon divorced. She moved to new Haven, Connecticut, where she worked in a corset factory. In 1889 she moved to NYC. There she took up with a group of radicals most of them either socialists or anarchists. She herself was by this time an ardent anarchist, convinced by her experiences with all with the darker aspects of American Capitalism that all governments repressed individual freedom and should simply be abolished. In New York, Emma fell in love with another Russia-Born radical, Alexander Berkman. They started a kind of commune with another couple, sharing everything equally. Emma worked at home sewing shirts. Alexander found a job making cigars. They never married. Next, the couple moved back to New Haven, where Emma started a cooperative dressmaking shop. Then they moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where, with Berkman’s Cousin an artist, they opened a photography studio. When this business failed, they borrowed $150. And opened an ice-cream parlor. Nearly all immigrants of that period retained their faith in the promise of America life even after they discovered that the streets were not paved with gold and that the people and the government were not as perfect as they had expected. But Emma was so disappointed that she became even more radical. The harsh punishment meted out the anarchists who were accused of Haymarket bombing of 1886 shocked her deeply. In 1892, when she and Berkman learned of the bloody battle of Pinkertons and striker during the Homestead steel strikes, they closed the ice-cream parlor and went back to New York. They formed a plan to assassinate Henry Clay Frick, the arch villain of the Homestead Drama. First they tried to manufacture a bomb, but that proved to be beyond their powers. Berkman then went to Pittsburg, where, posing as a representative of an agency that provided strikebreakers, he got into Frick’s office. Pulling a pistol, Berkman aimed for Frick in the shoulder. Berkman then stabbed Frick, but still homestead boss survived. Convicted of the attempt on Frick’s life, Berkman was imprisoned for fourteen years. The next year Goldman was herself arrested and sentenced to a year in jail for making an â€Å"incendiary† speech urging unemployed workers to distrust politicians and demand government relief. Upon her release, she was taken up by leading native-born radicals. She got to know Lillian Wald and other New York settlement workers, but while she respected their motives, she disparaged their methods. It did little good to teach good table manners to people who had no food, she believed. Leaving the US, Goldman went to Vienna, where she was trained as a nurse. When she was returned to America, she worked as a mid-wife among the New York poor, an experienced that made her an outspoken advocate of birth control. She also helped organize a theatrical group, managed a touring group of Russian Actors, and lectured on theatrical topics. In 1901, Goldman was arrested on charges of inspiring Leon Czolgosz to assassinate President McKinley, Czolgosz had attended one of Goldman’s lectures, but there was no direct connection between the two, and the charges against her were dropped. In 1906, Goldman founded Mother Earth, an anarchist Journal. When Alexander Berkman was released from prison later that year, she made him it editor. Mother Earth denounced governments, organized religion, and private property. Goldman believed in primitive form of communism in which all would share equally and no one would have power over anyone else. By this time Goldman had become a celebrity. â€Å"Her name in those days was enough to produce a shudder,† recalled Margaret Anderson, editor of a literary magazine. â€Å"She was considered a monster, an exponent of free love and bombs.† During the next decade Goldman campaigned for freedom of speech all over the US and in Canada and lectured in support of Birth Control. She even developed a plan so that subscribers to Mother Earth could also get the American Journal of Eugenics, a Magazine that advocated contraception. In 1915, after Margaret Sanger was arrested for seminating information on birth control, Goldman did the same in public speeches. She was arrested and spent two weeks in jail. Goldman regarded the Great War- and Especially American entry in it- as a calamity beyond measure. When congress passed a conscription act, she Berkman, and a few other radicals organized the No-Conscription League, not so much to persuade men to resist the draft as to provide and and comfort to anyone who did so. In 1917, Goldman and Berkman were convicted of conspiring to persuade men not to register for the draft. They served two years in federal prison. In 1919, they were deported to Russia. Two years later, disillusioned with the Bolsheviks, she left the Soviet Union. â€Å"Red Emma† Goldman was not a typical American, but she was in many ways a typical immigrant. She held on to the culture of the old country; most of her close friends in the United States were Russians. But at the same time she learned English and quickly became familiar with American ways. She worked hard and developed valuable skills. Gradually moved up the economic ladder: from sweatshop laborer, to factory worker, to running a shop, to nursing, to lecturing, and editing magazine. And while she was critical of the government and economic system of the United States, she was a typical immigrant also in insisting that she was an American patriot. â€Å"The kind of Patriotism which loves American with open eyes.†

Analysing english one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysing english one - Essay Example The first cause, ‘on some roads’ denotes what is about to be talked about in the sentence. The second clause, ‘there are features’ emphasizes the fact that the roads are features. The third clause, ‘such as road humps, chicanes and narrowing’ elaborates on the features by providing examples. The final clause ‘which are intended to slow you down’ completes the sentence which then adds meaning to it. Another case in which an adjective is used is in describing speed when the text is read but looking at it in written context it presents itself as a noun. This is because the word speed is not proceeded by any word.in describing the word care, ‘extra’ has been written before care so that it shows how much care should be available. In the written text and spoken text they both convey the same message because it is a complete sentence in both cases. By using the adverb ‘partially’ before hidden describes the manner in which the bends could be hidden. Suppose hidden was not described then the presumption would be it is completely hidden which may not have been the case. Prepositions have also been employed in this text but however, due to the difference in written text and spoken text it may give a clause meaning or it may not. For instance,’ Maintain a reduced speed along the whole stretch of road within calming measures.’ Suppose it is to be spoken then the preposition ‘within’ will denote within what range of speed on should be driving on these roads. ‘The information is the same both in written and spoken form because it is a complete sentence made of two clauses. Conjunction has also been applied in the sentence. ‘Take extra care on country roads and reduce your speed at approaches to bends, which can be sharper than they appear. ‘And’ is the conjunction used to provide flow and connection of clauses in the sentence. Which

Questions and Answers - Questions on Measurement and Evaluation Essay

Questions and Answers - Questions on Measurement and Evaluation - Essay Example 7. Draft a set of questions for each part above, the answer to which would provide the information you need. Indicate whether your questions ask for factual or subjective information and whether the resulting data will have nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio properties. 9. What are the various levels of measurement? Why are the differences between the levels of measurement important? Give an example of data that can be transformed from one level to another and another example of data that cannot be so transformed. Levels of measurement are defined by the nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio properties. The various levels of measurement are the relationship among the values of data. These values or attributes characterize the variable. Understanding the difference among the levels of measurement is important because it allows the researcher to determine whether the data needs to be processed or transformed from one level to another. For example a data can be said to transform if it is ordinal or interval. Hence, income of individuals can be transformed into low, medium or high group. Alternatively, there are some data which cannot be transformed. Such data falls into the nominal category. Nominal data merely represents the alternate name or denomination of the said data and do not have statistical value even when calculated. For example quality health care cannot be measured. A good evaluation question implies that the levels of measurement are used to identify the significance of the data. Variables have values to be assigned. For example assumptions at nominal level cannot be used to generate meaningful data that would support analysis of the hypothesis. On the other hand, if levels of measurement are integrated within the evaluation question then it would enable the researcher to transform data to meaningful data that would provide meaningful results. Good evaluation questions also assign

What is a Mockingbird What makes Tom Robinson, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Essay

What is a Mockingbird What makes Tom Robinson, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley Mockingbirds - Essay Example e’s story, Atticus proves the black man is innocent of all charges while implicating that any damage done was actually caused by the girl’s abusive father, but the defendant, Tom Robinson, is found guilty anyway by the all-white jury. In the meantime, the children have made friends with their eccentric neighbor, Boo Radley. Boo has spent the majority of his life imprisoned by his parents in the house next door. Scout’s brother, Jem, has also spent several afternoons reading to a mean old lady of the neighborhood, Mrs. Dubose, on his father’s orders. In the context of the book, the mockingbird is used to symbolize something innocent and without a true voice of its own. In the real world, the mockingbird is quietly helpful as it feeds on the grubs and other harmful insects that often damage needed crops but has no true song of its own. Instead, the mockingbird sings a compilation of songs that it hears in its environment. â€Å"The literature contains countless stories of notable imitations. One New York City bird reproduced perfectly the beep-beep-beep of a backhoe in reverse, while another threw a high school football game into confusion by mimicking the referee’s whistle. Yet another ‘joined the National Symphony Orchestra during an outdoor concert in Washington D.C.’† (Tveten 292). This reveals it to be a bird capable of appreciating its environment as well as a bird without a true voice of its own. It is known only by its appearance and the way in which it is defined by others. Its borrowed voice, appreciation and participation in its environment and its changeable nature make this a bird that deserves recognition and respect. This concept is found in the book when Atticus tells Scout and Jem, â€Å"I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird† (Lee 69). As the following discussion will

Discussions Week 1-3 CIS462 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussions Week 1-3 CIS462 - Coursework Example Employees demonstrating the highest level of acceptance to policies get honorary or monetary compensations. Another method would involve provision of training programs that increase employees’ knowledge regarding the workplace policies. Lastly, acceptance can be improved through participative decision making. Managers should involve subordinate employees in formulation of policies (Lindsey, 2012). Potential challenges during implementation of these acceptance methods include but not limited to financial constrains and cultural barriers. Within an organization, security control measures are classified as technical measures, administrative measures or physical measures. Physical controls include things like door locks and fences for restricted access, while technical controls include authentication details like login information. These classifications contain control measures which are preventive, corrective or detective in nature. Within an organization, preventive controls like passwords deter unauthorized access of information. Detective measures like alarms notifies of security breaches while corrective controls like backup servers limit damages resulting from security breaches (Lindsey, 2012). Technical preventive measures feature as the most challenging control measures to implement. As mentioned earlier, preventive measures under the technical category include use of authentication details and antivirus software. Because of advancement in information technology, new programs and software that can bypass authentication barriers emerge regularly. In this case, redundancy of preventive controls undermines prolonged data security (Lindsey, 2012). One way of overcoming this redundancy challenge would involve regular updating of technical controls. The Children’s Internet protection Act, abbreviated as CIPA, protects minors from access to obscene online content. Technically, CIPA requires institutions like

Energy Medicine as the Medicine of Future Dissertation

Energy Medicine as the Medicine of Future - Dissertation Example Within energy healing, there are various fields like contact rejuvenation, spiritual rejuvenation, bio-field energy healing, Qigong, Reiki, distant healing, and therapeutic touch. Spiritual healing is primary non-denominational (that is, it is not controlled by any specific religious group or sect) and faith based on religious traditions are not mandatory for curing patients. On the other hand, it has been noted that faith healing is based on religious notions. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine or NCCAM (US), energy healing is one of five realms of "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) (NCCAM, What Is Complementary and Alternative Medicine? 2005). In their review, NCCAM classified the process of practicing energy healing into two basic categories, veritable and putative. Veritable – healing based on energy measurable energy fields, like sound or electromagnetism. Here there are use of measured and specific frequencies and wavelengths for healing patients (Vallbona and Richards, 1999). These therapies are based on the theory that energy flow and electrical impulses govern all human processes and the various processes used within the therapies tend to create low levels of energy at specific wavelengths and frequencies that aid in the healing process of a patient. Of the two forms (veritable and putative), it has been seen that science and technology of veritable form of energy medicines is developing at a fast rate with effective treatment results (Markov, 2007). In the veritable approach, Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy or PEMFT shows a great potential in treatment. This form of therapy uses non-invasive tools that produce electricity while channeling magnetic pulses, which initiate small amount of electrical charges to start the repair of body cells. PEMF is especially effective as it can pierce through body matter with loss of very low levels of energy (ibid). There are various studies that have shown the clinical effectiveness of PEMF in bone healing and growth, in repairing damages to soft tissues, restraining inflammation at the level of the cell membranes, and in controlling pain; and in 1979 after FDA approved PEMF it is now widely used within mainstream clinical treatment with high potential for future use (Simmons, Mooney, and Thacker, 2004). Putative  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ healing based on energy fields that are primarily at theory levels and remain unmeasured as in traditional Chinese medicines, Ayurveda, and homeopathy. In this approach, healers believe that a form of vital energy flows through the physical body of any human body, though it cannot be measured in an absolute form using customary techniques and measuring tools. However, the healers feel that they are capable of working with this form of hidden energy and can view it, which allows them to modify the physical body and bring in positive changes in the patient’s health condition. In these therapies the underlying vital energy force that forms the main element, is known as chi or qi in the traditional Chinese medicine while it is referred to as prana in the Indian form of Ayurveda. In an average person, his/her health is ascertained by the nature of the vital energy flow and its balance. The blocks or imbalances in the energy flow within the human body invariably lead to diseases. When such blocks or imbalances take place in the human body various energy medicine processes like acupressure or acupuncture, help the patient to regain health by correcting energy flow imbalances within the energy meridians. In energy medicinal therapies that include forms like the rejuvenating touch and Reiki, the

Family study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Family study - Assignment Example He does not follow the six steps at all. For this reason, when it comes to my dad I learned to avoid problems because I fear his communicate style and lack of using the six steps. My mom on the other hand, is very up front about acknowledging when an issue arises but has a hard time actually resolving them. She gets to step 2: finding what each person wants, and then just gives up. She usually doesn’t want to look at alternatives and doesn’t want to negotiate or solidify agreements. So this usually ends up with unresolved issues and hurt feelings. It leaves me feeling helpless because I want to resolve the issues but we usually just agree to disagree. Due to the way in which my parents deal with conflict, I have a hard time bringing up issues in my intimate relationships. I’m afraid to bring up issues because I feel like it is always bad. My boyfriend is very assertive and is not afraid of conflict. He moves through the 6 steps very easily and is great at resolving issues in a respectful manner. He always knows when I’m feeling upset even when I don’t want to bring it up so it has been hard for me to keep my bad habit of suppressing feelings and issues. He calls me out when I am holding back and since I have become aware of it, I have been able to acknowledge my fear of conflict and work past it to resolve issues. I think the 6 steps can be very useful with friends and co-workers as well as any relationship as long as communication is constructive and no steps are left out. Now that I am aware of the specifics of conflict resolution, I can better use it in my life to resolve conflict and become closer with those around me Conflict is part of the society that we live in, as hardly a week passes by without having a difference of opinion with our families, friends and workmates. Nonetheless, it is of great significance to note that

Expanding the methodology in the lit. review Essay

Expanding the methodology in the lit. review - Essay Example Many children suffered with defective communication because of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In this literature review researcher put forward some teaching methods and special strategies that are in favor of the teachers who worked in the field of educating children with special education needs. Qualitative research approaches help the learner to keep reliability and authenticity. As Deborah Padgett rightly comments; â€Å"For all their demands, qualitative methods can provide the most rewarding experience a researcher will have† (Padgett, 1998, p.1). The research makes use of secondary data which include various strategies and approaches on teaching autistic children with the help of diagrams, study reports tables, survey reports, and so on the qualitative approach for the reason for the study as it best ensembles for the aims and objectives of the research. 4.1 Literature Review Beginning session of the research (2, 3, 3.1, and 3.2) includes information on autism and an ov erview about the current education status which practiced in Saudi Arabia. Then it discuss about available interventions and form of inclusive education for children with autism. Dr. Julie A. Buckley made notable researches in the field of autism spectrum disorder and its treatments. According to her autism spectrum disorder is strictly psychological disease and it needs appropriate medical treatments and behaviorally based therapies. In their joint venture entitled; Healing Our Autistic Children: A Medical Plan for Restoring Your Child's Health, Julie A. Buckley and Jenny McCarthy remark; â€Å"As your child progresses through his treatment plan, make sure not to underestimate the skills he may will be acquiring and becoming able to use† (Buckley & McCarthy, 2010, p. 192). The study provides plenty of information about various behaviorally based therapies for autistic children to ensure structured development in learning. Researchers and social activists often identify the p roblem of misunderstanding in diagnosing and healing of children with autism. Social interactive approaches prove its effectiveness in promoting better education for children with special needs. Martyn Long et al have conducted the UK based study entitled The Psychology of Education: The Evidence Base for Teaching and Learning and the study gives variety of teaching methods and strategies for children with autism and other kinds of developmental disorders. The problem of lacking teaching methods and strategies creates obstacles in the way which providing better education facilities both Britain and Saudi Arabia. Studies prove that Britain current education system in Britain keeps better improvements in providing education for children with autism. Owners of the study remarks; â€Å"Another approach to teaching children with autism, particularly those with severe and profound learning difficulties has been through social interactive approaches† (Long, Wood, Littleton, Passenge r and Sheehy, 2010, p.306). Elaine Fletcher-Janzen’s study suggests variety of teaching strategies and techniques for autistic children to achieve knowledge acquisition. The study reveals that the absence of a well planned

Smart Phones by Conch Republic Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Smart Phones by Conch Republic - Case Study Example Currently the company has its smart phone model in the market which has already earned company a good chunk of revenues. However, with the passage of time, Conch Republic keeps on investing more money in its research and development activities so that its major products continue to exist in the market without getting obsolete. As a result, the company has developed a new model of the existing smart phone which has different new features but the most popular one is that of Wi-Fi tethering. The company has planned to terminate the production of the existing smart phones in next two years, but have made the financial viability of the introduction of new smart phones. The proposed smart phones are estimated to have the useful life of around five years. The company has already incurred around $750,000 and $200,000 on the development of the prototype and the marketing campaign of the new smart phones respectively. However, both of these costs are not included in the investment appraisal co mputation of the new smart phones because they are assumed to be the sunk cost. Sunk costs are those which do not matter whether a certain project is either accepted or rejected, in this way, these two costs would have no impact upon the decision to accept or reject the new smart phone. ... Therefore, in the computation of net cash flows, the impact of loss of contribution in the existing smart phone model due to introduction of new smart phones, are also included and they are considered as a cash outflows. Assumptions All the amounts included in the computation are US Dollars ($). Taxes are assumed to be paid to the authorities in the year in which the tax liability of Conch Republic arises. Impact of inflation is ignored. Discount factor for Conch Republic is estimated to be 12%. Depreciation rates are assumed to 5-years MACRS. Conch Republic is assumed to pay tax at the rate of 35%. Investment Appraisal The project of introduction of new smart phones by Conch Republic has been mainly appraised with the help of traditional investment appraisal techniques which are Discounted Payback Period, Profitability Index, Internal Rate of Return and lastly but the most famous one, Net Present Value. The most important factor which is common in all the above mentioned techniques is the use of discounted cash flows so that the impact of time value of money can managed appropriately (Brigham et al, 2008). The main stream presentation of the computation of the overall investment appraisal of the new smart phones is attached at the end of this discussion along with workings of changes in working capital and loss of contribution of the existing smart phones due to launch of new smart phones. 1. Discounted Payback Period (PBP) Discounted Payback Period mainly depicts the duration in which the initial investment of any project is likely to be recovered (Eckbo, 2008). For the proposed new smart phones, the discounted payback period is found to be 3.94 years which means that in around 3.94 years, there is likelihood that the initial investment of $38.5 million is

Scientific Management Essay Example for Free

Scientific Management Essay Representatives of capital supporter scientific management. It proposes to increase industrial output by managing labour scientifically. But organized labour does not want to be scientifically managed. It is not keen about being managed at all. It exists, in fact, to manage itself. Labour controversies, as carried on by the American Federation of Labour, are demands for a voice in the settlement of conditions of work. But this demand is not recognized by capital as a principle. It is only recognized as a necessity when labour, through superior strength, secures its demands in this trade and that. The concession to labour of a voice in determining conditions of work means by implication to capital that management as a whole is still in its own hands; it also means that its actual title to superior, or ownership rights, is not in question. The Industrial Workers of the World leaves no doubt in the mind of capital that it claims only a voice in the management of industry. It makes its fight on the grounds of labours sole ownership, as well as right, to sole management in all that labour produces. Every strike, every difference between organized labour and capital, is an attempt of the former to wrest management, or some degree of management, from the latter. Whether it is an A. F. of L. or an I. W. W. fights, there is in each and every one this issue of management. The question of management is, in fact, the labour movement. If production is to be scientifically managed, organized labour insists that it shall have a hand in the management, or it shall do the managing. It refuses to grow enthusiastic over propositions, which are worked out for it, or without its cooperation, by others who claim to know better than labour knows what is for its good. It was with something like pained surprise that the advocates of scientific management discovered that their propositions to manage labour more efficiently, and to lighten its burdens, met a cold reception at the hands of the conservative, as well as the radical, labour unions. It is conceivable that the efficiency systems of scientific management might admit the labour unions in conference in the settlement of conditions; but it is evident that nothing is further from the intention of the promoters of the science, and that such a proposition would quite seriously impair its purpose. Mr. Frederick W. Taylor, the leader of the movement, states: The greater advantage comes from the new and unheard-of burdens which are assumed by the men in the management, duties which have never been performed by the men or the management side.(1) These new duties Mr. Taylor divides into four large classes, calling them The Four Principles of Scientific Management, all of which, he says, are necessary to secure its object, which is the increased output per unit of human effort. The first of these four great duties (as he also names them), which are undertaken by the management, is to deliberately gather in all the rule of thumb knowledge, which is possessed, by all the twenty different kinds of tradesmen who are at work in the establishment. Knowledge, which has never been recorded, is in the heads, hands and bodies, in the knack, skill and dexterity, which these men possess. The second of the new duties assumed by the management is the scientific selection and then the progressive development of the workmen. The workmen are studied; it may seem preposterous, but they are studied just as machines have been studied. The third duty is to bring the scientifically selected workmen and the science together. They must be brought together; they will not come together without it. I do not wish for an instant to have any one think I have a poor opinion of a workman; far from it. I merely state a fact when I say that you may put your scientific methods before a workman all you are a mind to, and nine times out of ten he will do the same old way when I say, make the workman do his work in accordance with the laws of science I do not say make in an arbitrary sense I want to qualify the word make, it has rather a hard sound. Some one must inspire the man to make the change. The fourth principle is a deliberate division of the work, which was formerly done by the workman into two sections, one of which is handed over to the management. An immense mass of new duties is thrown on the management, which formerly belonged to the workmen requiring cooperation between the management and the workmen, which accounts more than anything else for the fact that there has never been a strike under scientific management. In one of our machine shops, for instance, where we do miscellaneous work there will be at least one man on the management side for every three workmen.(2) Each one of these scientific propositions is perfectly familiar to the workman in spite of the rather naive assurance of the efficiency engineers that they are new. He has known them in slightly different guise for a century past. The new thing is the proposition to develop what has been in the past the tricks of the trade into a principle of production. Scientific management logically follows and completes the factory process. The first and fourth of Mr. Taylors great duties or principles is to deliberately gather in all the rule of thumb knowledge of all workmen, and transfer this knowledge to the management. That is exactly what machinery did and is still doing to craft workers. It usurped the knowledge of the worker and transferred that knowledge to the management. The great discovery of scientific management is that machinery is not absorbing completely, or as completely as it should, a workmans trade knowledge. Mr. Taylor says: This knowledge is the greatest asset that a workman possesses. It is his capital.(3) The task, which efficiency engineers have set, themselves is to gather up the last vestiges of capital possessed by the workingman, and place it for safe keeping and efficiency under The Management. There is an impression that all efficiency methods originate in the brains of efficiency engineers, or with the management. Mr. Taylor is not alone in assuring us that the methods are discovered in the heads and in the hands of the workers, that they are the result of the workers experience in very great degree. A manufacturer as an illustration told the following story: A shoe manufacturer told one girl that he wanted to see how much she could do. She said: Well, there is a certain kind of a filler that I used in another factory. If you will use that kind of filler I can do my work so much more quickly. Another thing, the paper you are using on that tip is too coarse. If you will use a finer paper I wont have to use so much filler. The story concluded: So that girl and this manufacturer worked out a condition that made it easier for her to perform more work.(4) Scientific management is a good scavenger. It is out for every scrap of trade knowledge. Following the machine, it proposes to clean up the last vestige of craftsmanship and to put the shipshape touches to modern industry. There are to be no chance bits of capital lying around loose in the hands of this man and that when the efficiency engineers have finished their job. The second and third of the Four Principles show how this is done. Mr. Taylor says: The workmen are studied just as machines have been studied. And, finally, it is necessary to bring the scientifically selected workman and the science together by inspiring the workman. The workman is to be scientifically selected by a teacher instead of by a foreman; he is to be studied by this teacher, as well as taught, and the unit of human effort is to be squeezed out of him by observing the law of rest and fatigue. He is to be inspired by the same old bonus of the same old task system in which he has served his time. But the bonus or rate, according to efficiency engineers, is never to be cut, as employers who speeded up their workers have cut it in the past. If the old-time employer ever made so gentlemanly a promise regarding the continuous payment of a bonus, he knew he could not keep it. He knew that even out of the goodness of his heart he could not indefinitely continue a bonus or a rate, which his competitors did not pay. But apparently scientific management requires of industry certain ethical standards. Mr. Taylor says that scientific management involves a complete revolution, both on the part of the management and of the men; a complete change in the mental attitude on both sides. Labour would agree with Mr. Taylor, and add that it would require as well a mental revolution in Wall Street. Apparently this is what the New Capitalism, of which scientific management is a part, does require. New Capitalism proposes to disregard the law of wages, and to substitute a beneficent law, which pays better wages, also better profits. But the results have not as yet justified the workers in surrendering their own agencies for self-protection. As yet labour is unconscious of any sloughing off in hardships under the law of supply and demand. It is not conscious that the introduction of methods, which have, for their object the increased output of human effort has had any appreciable connection with wages or wage rates. Union men cite numberless cases where efficiency methods have been introduced, like the task and bonus systems, the stop watch, the observation of the laws of rest and fatigue, and yet wage rates were not increased, but were, in the course of time, reduced. The efficiency engineer answers: Ah, then that is not scientific management! But he will state in conventions to other efficiency engineers that he has great trouble in getting the management to carry out the end of their program, which will insure the worker, the receipt of his bonus. An efficiency promoter observed on one of these occasions: I have had so many letters from people who look on scientific management as a new instrument by which they could squeeze a little more out of the workman and give him no return. I do not want to have anything to do with them. We must share what we get.(5) Organized labour appreciates the wish, but recognizes the difficulty for an efficiency engineer to be an engineer and a financier in action at one and the same time. It is not the efficiency engineer who can fulfil his own promise. He must leave it to the capitalists to share what they get of the new capital which the engineer has collected out of the hands or brains of the workers. In scientifically managed plants there is no change whatever in the status of capital and labour, except the extended enslavement of the latter. Efficiency engineers might successfully promote scientific management by advertising their hope that the management will share what it gets if the factory system had been a less efficient teacher. But the factory system has taught the workers by a series of object lessons. Labour unions represent those workers who have learned that they must rely on schemes for relief, which they themselves initiate, or control. The rest and fatigue schemes of scientific management are especially worthy of suspicion. These schemes propose to finish the job of reducing the labour to a machine attachment, to rob him of what little initiative may be left him in a certain freedom of motion. Mr. Taylor defines his idea of initiative. He says: The manufacturer who has any intelligence must realize that his first duty should be to obtain the initiative of all these tradesmen who are working under him; to obtain their hard work, their good will, their ingenuity, their determination to treat the employers business as if it were their own. And in this connection I wish to strain the meaning of the word initiative to indicate all of these good qualities.(6) All propositions to increase wealth make an appeal to imagination. No one, certainly not organized labour, doubts the ability of American capitalists to discover new schemes neither for increasing the output, nor of the American workman to produce it. It has been reported that the labour cost of production in England, with its lower wage rates, is higher than the cost in America, because the American workmen, through the pressure of management, yield an amount per worker unknown to English labour. Scientific management proposes to increase this yield by several hundred percent. Workers looking back a generation or two may admit that with the introduction of machine processes they have here and there reaped a harvest of several cotton shirts instead of one woollen, a standing lamp instead of the ancestral candlestick, and, as clear gain, a Victor talking machine. But no one is ever jubilant over luxuries, which they have bought with their lives. It is organized labour alone that remembers the ghastly price paid for increased consumption; the generations of men, women, and children who have been maimed and murdered in the process. Greed and desire, not the well being of labour, are still the motive forces back of increased wealth production. If we are about to enter upon an era of a New Capitalism which recognizes that it will pay to increase the number of cotton shirts without exacting so heavy a toll as has been exacted in the past, organized labour still demands that it shall determine, or have a voice in determining, what that toll shall be and what shall be the reward. Scientific management, the promoters say, recognizes no difference in determining standards of efficiency between management, capital goods and labour. Well and good; labour does. Organized labours observations of a worker do not end with the days work. They extend over the wear and tear of a lifetime. They take into consideration a workers ability to react after work, mentally as well as physically. They take into consideration the workers ability to realize his maximum in his non-labouring hours. And they would also consider his ability to realize his maximum in his labouring hours if labour had an opportunity to fix a maximum consistent with the life interests of labour as a whole. The difference between scientific management and organized labour is that the aim of the latter is to make men, the aim of the former is to make goods.

Managing stress caused by Diabetes Mellitus

Managing stress caused by Diabetes Mellitus When being diagnosed with a chronic disease, it is not like catching the flu or breaking a bone, where one knows that sooner or later he/she will be feeling better. A person having a chronic disease is not sure of when he/she might feel better, as a matter of fact the disease may never go away, and actually it could get worse. These patients, most of the time feels tired and in pain however, it might affect the persons physical appearance and competence. At certain stages, a chronic disease might prevent the person from working thus, causing financial problems and stress. A sense of angriness is also common, while asking oneself, why this happened to me? On the other hand, the family and friends of the patients diagnosed with a chronic disease are also affected, especially due to on-going changes in their health status. The level of stress could easily increase therefore, becoming a prolonged subject thus, leading to frustration, anger, hopelessness, and in certain circumstances it c ould lead to depression and suicidal thoughts. Diabetes Mellitus, usually known as diabetes, is a long term condition where there is a large amount of sugar in the persons blood system and the body is incapable to use it accordingly. Diabetes can be diagnosed at any age and it develops when the pancreas is not able to produce enough insulin or when the body cells are unable to react to the insulin being produced. There are three types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes is when the pancreas is not able to produce insulin. This, happens when the cells which produce insulin in ones body are destroyed. It is most common in children and adolescents though, could develop in adults. In type 1 diabetes the patient needs to inject insulin on daily basis. Type 2 diabetes is when the pancreas is producing insulin but it is not enough for the needs of ones body. It could also be that the insulin being produced is not being used correctly by the body. These patients are not dependant on insulin though, they still might be needing insulin if it is not well controlled or if the body does not respond to oral treatment. Gestational diabetes is when women have high blood glucose during pregnancy, even if they never had diabetes before. However, this could lead to type 2 diabetes after pregnancy. The impact of Diabetes Mellitus in patient and carers The persons impact when diagnosed with diabetes varies on different aspects including, psychologically, socially, economically, emotionally, and spiritually. There is a sense of shock, since the day before he/she was feeling all well and after blood tests he/she was told to have diabetes. Such patients dont want to believe what they are hearing and end up in denial, were one keeps on saying that he/she is feeling well. These patients dont come into terms that the condition is so serious. Anger is another element that they could develop, which sometimes these patients dont even realize due to the amount of frustration, and one keeps on saying this is not fair and why me?. A person with diabetes might even feel guilty, thinking that he/she had brought the condition, by eating a lot of chocolate since he/she was a child. Moreover, they could also blame Jesus for such a disease, especially if they suffer from other chronic diseases. As well known, living with diabetes could be very difficult to cope with thus, causing an enormous impact on the persons quality of life. Socially, their life changes as they will feel a loss of freedom to eat, since the person needs to change his/her diet, even though they have the best diet, which is even good for healthy persons, in order to live a healthy life. They dont accept the fact that they have to limit the amount of food intake so that there wont be any consequences. This is more difficult for the elderly to absorb, especially when it comes to bread. They wont accept the fact that they could only eat one slice of bread, if it is not brown. Moreover, most of our elderly people work on their fields, and yet again it is hard for them to limit the amount of fruit and cut down certain fruits. Furthermore, the elderly might end up depending even more on their family, since they might be suffering from other chronic conditions therefore; they might need transport to attend hospi tal appointments, as well as might have certain limitations in doing certain tasks, like having a bath, eating or getting dressed. Due to this, their carers might be frustrated and difficult to cope with them. Luckily enough, the health system in our country is free of charge so these patients wont go through a lot of economic problems, since their treatment and hospital appointments are offered free of charge. However, they might still be suffering economically, as they start missing a day from work due to hospital follow-ups, admissions to hospital or not feeling fit to go to work. Men do tend to suffer from high level of stress when diagnosed; this is due to the fact that they think that, as the disease progresses they have to stop working and will be worried who will be taking care of his family. They dont understand that by controlling their daily lifestyle, one could live a normal life. It has been shown that diabetes implements psychological burden both on the patient and family. This is well argued by Egede, Zheng Simpson, (2002) were they clearly stated that, considering the fact that psychological functioning would be poor, it might easily contribute suffering which might prevent the patient from successful self-management of their diabetes and this could be amalgamated with costs and poor medical outcomes. Therefore, health professionals need to keep an eye on the patients psychological well-being, as by treating and talking certain issues could easily improve their overall clinical outcomes. Moreover, diabetic patients who are less likely to control their glucose level are more prone to psychiatric illnesses, including depression, eating disorders and sometimes even suicidal thoughts. This is mostly due to the significant changes one needs to do in their lifestyle, together with prolonged poor management of treatment. Furthermore, the use of internet has become quite common among the patients therefore, having a good knowledge about possible long term complications, though it is good to know, could terrify the patient. At times, even minor injuries could implement a sense of discouragement and angriness as one would know that their body would take long to heal while, being more prone for infections. However, the sense of angriness could also be a call for help, were one is revealing his/her own fears of long term problems, deep emotions and even a sense of guilt about not being enough manageable with treatment and/or diet. Once again, health professionals need to be aware of such attitudes, as by listening, explaining and asking about the patients worries might relieve certain concerns regarding any underlying fears. Another psychological problem that is not usually brought up easily by the patient thus, need to be carefully tackled is, sexual dysfunction. A study conducted by De Berardis et al. ( 2002) resulted that, 45.6% of patients with frequent erectile dysfunction reported severe depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, sexual function is to be acknowledged as an essential part when one is dealing with a diabetic patients health. Patients suffering from type 2 diabetes can be initiated on insulin therapy, mostly due to uncontrolled glucose level. Again, emotionally they feel devastating, thinking that their condition is going to get worst, and further complications that they hear from other persons like going blind, amputation of limb, kidney failure, etc. going to develop soon. Nonetheless, Taylor et al. (2002) found out that at certain times, the health professionals were afraid to introduce insulin therapy to the elderly even though, the elderly were found to cope really well with glucose testing and self-administration of insulin. Insulin does tend to stabilise their blood glucose levels within few days thus, helps in allowing them to feel better and improving their cognitive function. On the other hand, to a certain point it is a whole different world when either children or adolescents are diagnosed with diabetes. In young children it is the parents who take control of the disease, and yet again their life changes since they need to adapt their lifestyle with that of their child. Parents might go into emotional problems, when they know that they have to explain their young child about the disease. Moreover, realising that their child will be on insulin and having their blood glucose level monitored on daily basis can be quite overwhelming for the parents. Therefore, parents could experience bereavement which is associated with reactions of grief (Lowes et al., 2004,2005). However, the parents without knowing might end up getting hold of their childs life a bit too much because of the possible complications that might arise. Another psychological problem that influences the parents is insulin, as it could be hard on them to inject it on their own child. Of course no parent wants to hurt their child apart from being difficult to explain to their child, that it is for their own good. Even though as times goes by it becomes part of their normal life. Furthermore, parents might find it difficult to control their childs dietary intake, since it is not easy to find a balance between their carbohydrate intake, insulin, and exercise which easily cause changes in the blood glucose level. Since hypoglycaemia can happen easily in children, sometimes with no particular reason, parents might find it difficult to allow a level of independence to their child. Therefore, this could result in emotional changes in the child such as, fear, angriness, sadness, and anxiety. Parents of children suffering from diabetes might go into economic problems, since a child depends on their parents. Therefore, a parent needs to miss a day from work to attend a hospital appointment or even one of the parents might need to reduce the working hours so as to have more time with their child. It was shown from studies that, when the parents are an essential part in the childs management of diabetes care, there is better adherence to treatment thus, reducing the possibility of hospitalization (Hanson et al., 1987; La Greca et al., 1995; Wysochi et al., 1995). Nevertheless, the impact of diabetes in children starts when they start attending school, as other children could bully or tease them by offering them food which they arent allowed to eat. Therefore, this could lead to a loss of confidence in social interaction, and they might feel that they are not accepted in society due to their condition thus, resulting in feelings of angriness, frustration, and distress. This i s well backed up by Kovacs et al. (1985) were they stated that, due to mood changes, sense of guilt, feeling sad about what their future will be like, missing school and even insulin shots, are common problems encountered within the young children. Moreover, when they reach their teens, they might ignore everything so as to appear normal in front of their peers, this is to try and achieve a state of normality. For this reason, it could lead to uncontrolled diet and even missing insulin shots so that their friends wont judge or bully them. At times, they even dont to go out with their friends as they might be afraid of having an episode of hypoglycaemia. On the other side, adolescents would be feeling distressed when their parents are over protective towards them, and wont let them go anywhere without them. However, this could also lead to some sort of depression, as they start thinking that they could never live a normal life like their friends. Unfortunately, evidence has shown that at certain times in adolescents, suicidal thoughts were noted thus, hindering the adolescent quality of life and self-management (Debono Cachia, 2007). Thus, health professionals do need to provide adequate education and support to the parents sin ce the day of diagnosis, as well as when the child grows up, so as to assure them that their child could still live a normal life and clear up any psychological problems. As Schur et al. (1999) stated, parents who are knowledgeable and capable of understanding what diabetes is all about to their child are more competent to provide their child with the appropriate care. However, understanding the child and having an element of knowledge are not the only answers in providing better care to their child, as parents do need also to know the ways how to support their child (Kyngas Hentinen, 1995). Therefore, parents need to trust their child and of being capable to take care of themselves, since this will allow self-motivation and wont feel different from the rest of the family and friends. Thus, decreasing the level of psychological problems these children and adolescents go through. Empowering the patients and carers Patient empowerment is a means of helping patients to be able to make his/her own decisions together with, being active in their own self-care. However, meaning also, that the patient is getting well educated in how to manage and implement new tasks in his/her daily living, managing the effected roles in their life, as well as controlling the emotional impact of the illness. There are various ways how health professionals could help patients to cope with diabetes. The common sense model of self-regulation plays a good role in aiding patients to reduce obstacles and achieving identified goals. The common sense model, guides the chronic ill patients to come into terms with their disease, understand better what its complications could be thus, they will be capable to evaluate the effects of acting on this understanding (Leventhal, Meyer, Nerenz, 1980). Leventhal, Nerenz, Steele, (1984) described five components of illness representations in order to help patients make sense of their symptoms and monitoring any coping actions. These include identity, cause, time-line, consequences, and controllability. Identity is the name that patients and other people give to the condition, together with all the symptoms that go with it. Unfortunately, people do tend to label these patients, even though sometimes it is with no heart feelings, but for the patient being diagnosed might mean a lot. Therefore, through the health professionals knowledge and experience, it is their role to aid patients in identifying behaviours, personal goals and motivating them to acquire self-determined goals. However, it is quite vital to help diabetes patients to come into terms from the beginning that they are the only ones who can manage efficiently their disease. Cause is another disease representation. This representation might be established from further information gathered through the patients own experience from family members suffering from diabetes, and could also be gathered from other lay persons, media, and health professionals, reflecting certain issues of unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, stress, and other pathogens. As mentioned above, patients do feel guilty, thinking they brought the disease on themselves by not eating healthy. Holman Lorig, (2000) noted that when health professionals engage the patients as their partners in their on-going care, without any doubts they do intend to commit themselves better in managing their chronic disease. However, patient education is quite vital as it aids them to understand better their disease, improving their knowledge, and increasing skills and knowledge thus, allowing the patients to take over on their condition. Cause could easily prolong depression that is why it is essential to empo wer these patients to take into account physiological and personal psychosocial factors. At the end, helping patients to discover and develop the fundamental capacity in order to be responsible for their own life is the health professionals aim. This is patient empowerment (Funnell Anderson, 2004). As health professionals, one does need to educate the patient regarding the benefits of a well-balanced diet and performing regular exercise. Evidence have shown that, eating a healthy diet and undergoing regular exercise benefits in decreasing the risks of further complications associated with diabetes (Clark, 2004). After undergoing blood tests and other tests, to evaluate if the patient is diabetic, the first target in controlling the blood glucose level is diet, exercise, and self-monitoring of blood sugar level. Again it is the health professionals role to enhance motivation and providing them with diet counselling and leaflets. Furthermore, within the primary setting, weight reducing sessions are provided thus, empowering the patient to take control over his/her dietary habits. Time-line is the prognostic belief regarding for how long the disease might last. Patients diagnosed with diabetes at times they dont come into terms that they need to be on medications, diet and/or insulin for life. Therefore, when hemoglucose test or blood test results within normal ranges, patient might stop his/her medications without consulting. Both nurses and medical practitioners need to leave behind the approach of trying to get patients to adhere and comply better with their condition. The health care provider is usually seen as the person who is the expert on the disease, and knows what the best is for the patient, while providing an advising system to treat patients. Therefore, this kind of approach might cause resistance and could easily neglect what is the most vital to patients. However, due to this, patients might be in denial and dont be able to move on thus, not being able to control their glucose levels. On the other hand, Funnell Weiss (2008) argued that, as time goes by, it is the patients him/herself who suffers from diabetes that will eventually become an expert about his/her own diabetes, how it does effect him/her physically, practically and emotionally. Additionally, to establish an effective behavioural intervention, health professionals need to first evaluate what are the basic problems for poor diabetes control; these also include psychological and social problems together with lack of knowledge. Nevertheless, an interpersonal relationship needs to be formulated, so both the patient and health professional could listen to each others opinions, while setting up a sense of trust in each other therefore, when the patient is ready to listen and learn more about the condition, one could provide directives (Delamater, 2006). Consequences, is another disease representation within the common sense model. The patient will be in a terrifying state because of the consequences that could develop due to uncontrolled diabetes. However, the health care provider needs to reassure, that he/she could still live a normal live even though there is the need to change their daily life style. An active listening strategy could be used, were the nurse will help the patients to set up a plan that accords their lives, rather than requiring patients to adjust their lives to become suitable for their diabetes. Moreover, to prevent any consequences it is of vital importance to empower patients to recognize their sources of practical and emotional support. Family members are usually the primary support team for these patients. Thus, others could inquire support from friends, health care providers, and other people suffering from diabetes. Nevertheless, the most important is that they have someone with whom to share their concer ns. Luckily enough, around Malta one might find various diabetes support groups, were one could seek for help and support. Hearing and speaking to someone who suffers from same condition, allows them to understand better their condition and could easily pick up certain tips how to deal with any kind of symptom, rather than providing them with informative leaflets. Since when giving them leaflets, most of the time they do read them out but eventually they tend to leave them there and forget about them. Support groups are also established for the patients family and carers as without any doubts, their carers life changes too in order to support them with their condition. At the end, both the support and health care teams need to evaluate what the patient wants and demands from them, so as to abate any misunderstanding and frustration. In return nurses and the support team leaders have to assist the patients in figuring out what they could faithfully offer. Controllability is the belief regarding whether the disease could be kept under control together with the degree to which the patient plays an important role in acquiring it. Here the health care providers need to help patients and their carers to develop a health care plan. Both the patient and health professional need to work hand in hand and sometimes patients do accept the practitioners recommendations regarding certain treatment but then prefers to make their own physical and meal plan. However, nurses do need to aid patients to acknowledge how much flexibility they need in their life. Since certain patients are capable to follow a strict meal plan while others prefer to change their daily lifestyle to accord with their commitments. Moreover, certain patients prefer to have their blood glucose level checked daily to plan their activity and dietary intake. Furthermore, establishing targets could also aid in controlling their diabetes, for example, controlling their weight, blood pressure, and their HbA1c level. Thus, when having positive results, patients tend to be more motivated. However a self-management plan includes exercise, meal plan, medications, insulin, blood sugar monitoring, stress management, problem solving, and emotional support. This plan needs to compromise the patients and carers ability to involve these strategies in their daily routine. Teaching both the patient and family how to check their own blood glucose level and how to self-inject their insulin provides an element of independency thus, reducing stress levels of having to take time off from work to attend the clinic. Empowering the children and their family might be complex and energetic. Health professionals need to be quite skilled, having good communication relationship, a sense of humour, compassion and possesses a good knowledge in paediatric diabetes. Psychological interventions are vital for the child and adolescent suffering from diabetes especially if their parents are involved. Through research it has been noticed that, when having their parents part of their behavioural procedures, like self-monitoring, planning a goal, good communication and support, being positive towards them, and sharing responsibility in their diabetes management has improved their adherence in medications, diet, and glucose levels (Debono Cachia, 2007). Moreover, being part of a support group where the participants are all youths, might help them to feel better within themselves and come into terms that they are not the only ones suffering from diabetes. Thus, making friends with each other could help them to ma ture and help each other in difficult moments. Daisy that is part of the Maltese diabetes association, does provides support groups for the parents and mostly support groups for the children and youths, live-inns, summer camps, and various activities to help them understand more about their condition and how to live with it. Mostly, they help them to be in control of their diabetes and not the other way round. Like adults, both children and youths need to have a healthy diet plan since as well known it is the first step in controlling blood glucose levels. However, youths need to be educated to be strong and not neglect their diet so as to look cool in front of their friends, and afterwards end up injecting extra units of insulin from their normal dose. Here family does play a fundamental role, since if the family is obese and might be suffering also from diabetes and have poor control, without any doubts they are being a column of unhealthy behaviours. Nevertheless, when the parents are implementing healthy behaviours, they are sharing positive influence towards their diabetic child. Moreover, the health care provider still needs to help the parents of young children and youths to sort out a self-management plan. Young children needs to be thought the signs and symptoms of hypoglycaemia and when they feel the symptoms to eat some carbohydrates, since eating sweets it will only increase their blood glucose level temporarily. However, youths do need to explain to their friends regarding their disease in order to be able to help them if an episode of hypoglycaemia occurs. Conclusion Many different interventions has been established throughout the years in order to empower patients who suffer from diabetes, these include complex educational programmes, which are an important role in empowering these patients to achieve in managing their diabetes. Through evidence, it have been shown that both the patients and their carers are acquiring good approaches and contacts to services required to empower them in managing their lifestyle and health (Begum Por, 2010). However, Begum Por (2010) argued that certain patients with diabetes are still unconcerned that support groups or educational programmes are available thus, meaning that these interventions are not well publicized. Therefore, health professionals do have an important role in instructing the patients and their carers about these services. Moreover, in order to be able to assess the common sense model, there is the need of describing how to implement these interventions and protocols need to be established and published. This will help both the health professionals and lay persons to get a better understanding how these interventions are implemented and through this one could build-up a body of practical and theoretical knowledge. Health psychologists do have a fundamental role in helping the patients and their carers to implement the common sense model into their daily living. Furthermore, health professionals need to come into terms that it is essential to involve the parents when caring for children with diabetes, so as to help them managing and controlling their condition. One needs to keep in mind that young children are not capable of caring for their diabetes on the other hand; youths cannot be counted on being able to implement all of their diabetes management care on their own. Therefore, educational programmes need to be provided to the childs whole family. To conclude, it is essential that health care providers teach these patients that they are the leaders for their diabetes, how to control and that self-management care is not an easy task if they are not motivated. However, by aiding them and keep following them on regular basis on could help these patients and their carers to successfully live a healthy lifestyle while becoming their own doctors in self-managing their condition.

A Study On Cumene Plant Engineering Essay

A Study On Cumene Plant Engineering Essay The system considered for study, simulation and optimization is a cumene production plant. The process described by Peterson and Schmidt is taken as base for simulating the system. The process description of Turton et al. (2003) provides relevant and valuable data required for the simulation of the process. Raw materials fed to the plant are benzene and propylene (may contain propane as an impurity) in which benzene is in excess. Various unit operations and processes are required to be taken care of which are described in some detail below. The major units in the process plant are the reactor section and the separator section. 1.2 RELEVANCE Isopropyl benzene popularly known as cumene is the principal chemical used in the production of phenol and its co-product acetone on an industrial scale. It is also the starting material in the production of acetophenone, methyl styrene, diisopropyl benzene and dicumyl peroxide. Minor uses of cumene include as a thinner for paints, enamels, and lacquers; as a constituent of some petroleum-based solvents, such as naphtha; in gasoline blending diesel fuel, and high-octane aviation fuel. It is also a good solvent for fats and resins and has been suggested as a replacement for benzene in many of its industrial applications. Around 98% of cumene is used to produce phenol and its co-product acetone. However, the requirement of cumene is largely dependent on the use of phenol’s derivatives which have resulted in increasing requirement rates for cumene. The largest phenol derivative is bisphenol-A (BPA) which supplies the polycarbonate (PC) sector. PC resins are consumed in automotive applications in place of traditional materials such as glass and metals. Glazing and sheet uses, such as architectural, security and glazing outlets, are also important PC applications. The third largest use for PC is optical media such as compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs). Another phenol derivative is caprolactam which is used mainly to make nylon 6. It is mainly the resin sector of the nylon market that is seeing growth. [Schmidt, 2005] Cumene is produced by the alkylation of benzene with propylene over an acid catalyst like aluminium chloride, boron trifluoride, phosphoric acid, hydrogen fluoride, supported phosphoric acid (SPA) etc. The usage of the above catalysts poses a lot of problems like product quality, lower catalyst activity, environmental hazard, catalyst non-regenerability etc and has been replaced by zeolites in most of the processes. In the present work the cumene production plant is simulated using ASPEN PLUS  ® and the sizes, the temperature and other relevant parameters are obtained by optimization. MATLAB ®, MS Excel and Origin Pro 8.0 are used to plot graphs in the following simulation from which an optimum value is estimated. The optimized values obtained can provide a lot of insight before actual plant commissioning is done. 1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT Considering the importance of the present process, work was undertaken to design and simulate the cumene production process using ASPEN PLUS  ® software. The objectives of the present project are following. To design a zeolite catalyst based cumene production process and study the sensitivity analysis. To optimize the contents of the flow sheet for minimization of loss of material along with a greater production of cumene and low requirement of energy. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 CONVENTIONAL PROCESS Cumene is produced by the alkylation of benzene with propylene over an acid catalyst. Catalysts like aluminium chloride, boron trifluoride, hydrogen fluoride and solid phosphoric acid (SPA) are normally used. Over the years these catalysts have given way to zeolite based catalysts. There are some inherent problems associated with the conventional acid catalysts. Disadvantages of using solid phosphoric acid (SPA) Process Lower activity Catalyst non-regenerability Unloading of spent catalyst from reactor difficult Relative high selectivity to hexyl benzene Significant yield of DIPB Disadvantages of using Aluminium chloride as catalyst High corrosion Environmental hazard Washing step for catalyst removal. 2.2 CURRENT INDUSTRIAL PROCESS Cumene is an important chemical in the present industrial world and its uses are steadily increasing. The process followed for the production of cumene is the catalytic alkylation of benzene with propylene and now a days zeolite based catalysts are used in place of the normal acid based catalysts due to added advantages. Cumene production process has been greatly studied and the reaction mechanism and the reaction kinetics have been specified by many researchers. Both experimental as well as computer based simulation and optimization studies have been carried out by various researchers. The significant works of various researchers which have been helpful in my project are described in brief below. The Q-Max â„ ¢ process converts a mixture of benzene and propylene to high quality cumene using a regenerable zeolite catalyst. The Q-Max â„ ¢ process is characterized by a exceptionally high yield, better product quality, less solid waste, decrease in investment and operating costs and a corrosion free environment. The Q-Max â„ ¢ process developed by UOP uses QZ-2000/ QZ-2001 catalyst which is a variant of ß zeolite. [Schmidt, 2005] 2.2.1 PROCESS DESCRIPTION The Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process provides a very good cumene yield and quality. The QZ-2000 zeolite based catalyst used in the Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process operates with a low flow rate of benzene and hence investment and utility costs are reduced greatly. QZ-2000 is non-corrosive and regenerable, avoiding the significant maintenance and catalyst disposal problems associated with SPA and AlCl3 systems. Compared to other zeolite based cumene technologies, the Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process provides better tolerance of feedstock impurities, the highest cumene product quality and excellent stability. The Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process flow scheme is shown in fig 2.1 above. The alkylation reactor is divided into four catalytic beds present in a single reactor shell. The fresh benzene feed is passed through the upper-mid section of the depropanizer column to remove excess water and then sent to the alkylation reactor. The recycle benzene to the alkylation and transalkylation reactors is a drawn from the benzene column. This mixture of fresh and recycle benzene is charged through the alkylation reactor. The fresh propylene feed is split between the catalyst beds and is fully consumed in each bed. An excess of benzene helps in avoiding poly alkylation and minimizing olefin oligomerization. Because the reaction is exothermic in nature, the temperature rise in the alkylation reactor is controlled by recycling a portion of the reactor effluent to the reactor inlet to act as a heat sink. The inlet temperature of each downstream bed is further reduced to the same temperature as the first bed inlet by injecting a portion of cooled reactor effluent between the beds. Effluent from the alkylation reactor flows to the depropanizer column which removes the propane that entered with the propylene feed along with excess water. The bottoms stream of the depropanizer column goes to the benzene column where excess benzene is collected overhead and recycled. The benzene column bottoms stream goes to the cumene column where the cumene product is recovered overhead. The cumene column bottoms stream, predominantly diisopropylbenzene (DIPB), goes to the DIPB column. If the propylene feed contains excessive butylenes, or if the benzene feed contains excessive toluene, butylbenzenes and/or cumene are distilled out and purged from the overhead section of the DIPB column. The DIPB stream leaves the column by way of the side draw and is recycled back to the transalkylation reactor. The DIPB column bottoms consist of heavy aromatic by-products, which are normally blended into fuel oil. Steam or ho t oil provides the heat for the product fractionation section. The recycle DIPB from the overhead of the DIPB column combines with a portion of the recycle benzene and is charged downflow through the transalkylation reactor. In the transalkylation reactor, DIPB and benzene are converted to more cumene. The effluent from the transalkylation reactor is then sent to the benzene column. The new QZ-2001 catalyst is utilized in the alkylation reactor while the original QZ-2000 catalyst remains in the transalkylation reactor. Expected catalyst cycle length is 2–4 years, and the catalyst should last for at least three cycles with proper care. At the end of each cycle, the catalyst is typically regenerated ex situ via a simple carbon burn by a certified regeneration contractor. However, the unit can also be designed for in situ regeneration. The Q-Maxâ„ ¢ process typically produces near equilibrium levels of cumene (between 85 and 95 mol %) and DIPB (between 5 and 15 mol %). The DI PB is separated from the cumene and is reacted with recycle benzene at optimal conditions for transalkylation to produce additional cumene. [Schmidt, 2005], [Peterson and Schmidt, 2002] 2.2.2 REACTION MECHANISM AND KINETICS The following reaction mechanisms are proposed for the alkylation of benzene to cumene process. The major reactions taking place are alkylation and trans-alkylation. The other reactions involved include isomerisation and dis-proportionation. The reaction mechanism as well as the reaction kinetics may vary depending on the catalyst used. The reaction can proceed by with or without carbonium ion intermediate. [Ding and Fu, 2005] The rates of reaction data was obtained for different catalysts from the work done by various researchers. The kinetic data and the reaction conditions specified by Turton et al (2003) for a particular catalyst have been used in the present work. The reaction kinetic data is shown below Propylene + benzene à   cumene K = 2.8 Ãâ€" 107 E (kJ/kmol) 104174 Rate=kcpcb Propylene + cumene à   p-diisoproyl benzene K = 2.32 Ãâ€" 109 E (kJ/kmol) 146742 Rate=kcpcc (The unit for rates is kmol s-1 m-3) [Turton et al, 2003] Trans-alkylation reaction K= 6.52 Ãâ€" 10-3 exp (27240/RT) The equilibrium data for trans-alkylation reaction is obtained for modified zeolite beta catalyst, YSBH-01. [Lei et al, 2007] From various works on cumene production mechanism the overall reaction can be assumed to consist of the following stages. Alkylation Isomerisation Transalkylation Dis-proportionation 2.3 PROPERTIES OF CUMENE Description: Colorless liquid with a sharp, penetrating aromatic or gas-like odour [Budavari, 1989; Cavender, 1994] Boiling Point: 152.4 °C [Lide, 1995] Melting Point: -96.0 °C [Lide, 1995] Density: 0.8618 g/cm3 at 20 °C [Lide, 1995] Refractive Index: 1.4915 at 20 °C [Schulz et al., 1993]; 1.489 at 25 °C [Lewis, 1993] Solubility: Insoluble in water; miscible in acetone, benzene, and ethanol [Lide, 1995] Flash Point: 39 °C, closed cup [Budavari, 1989] Reactivity: Combustible [Lewis, 1993], not compatible with oxidizers, nitric acid and sulphuric acid. 2.4 PROCESS DESIGN BASICS Process design is a very important aspect before any project implementation as a proper design during the initial stages can save costs to a great extent. The cost involved in designing a project is very less compared to the construction cost and it can be greatly helpful in maximizing profits of the plant as well as providing a safe environment. The plot shown in Fig. 2.2 gives a brief idea of how proper plant design can cut costs to a great extent. The following points need to be taken care for a proper process design. Raw material cost reduction. Selectivity of reaction is increased by proper use of catalysts. Increasing selectivity can reduce separation and recycle costs. Capital-cost reduction. Better flow sheeting can reduce capital costs effectively Energy use reduction. Pinch point analysis is used for energy saving. Increased process flexibility. Process plant should be able to handle a range of feed compositions. Increased process safety. Nonlinear analysis can be done to make the process safer. Increased attention to quality. Reduction of by products and the effective use of process control equipment can lead to process safety. Better environmental performance. Minimization of harmful wastes to the environment. The order in which designing should be done follows a systematic procedure as shown in Fig 2.4. A process simulation diagram is drawn from the process flow diagram. The chemical components are specified. The chemical component properties are generally available in a standard data base. The input streams are specified. Thermodynamic modelling is done. Series of simulations are run for convergence of a particular variable. Sensitivity analysis which consists of varying the sampled variables as a function of the manipulated variables is normally done. The major parts of a cumene production plant are reactor system, separation system and they are optimized. CHAPTER 3 DESIGN: PROCEDURE, RESULT DISCUSSION This chapter is divided into two main parts as (i) Reactor and (ii) Separator. The reactor design involves design of equilibrium based reactor as well as kinetic based reactor. The separator system involves the design of flash tank and distillation column. As the product purity is increased by increasing the working cost of the reactor, the separation cost decreases and vice versa. The sequence of computation followed is shown in Fig. 3.1. 3.1 REACTOR DESIGN Reactor is the heart of a chemical process plant. Design of a reactor requires data from thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer and economics. A properly designed reactor can minimize the production of unwanted products and hence reduce the purification costs. The alkylation and trans-alkylation reactors are the main reactors in a cumene production plant and they need to be designed for optimum use of material and energy. In all the optimization work done Douglas Doctrine (the costs of raw materials and products are usually much larger than the costs of energy or capital in a typical chemical process. Therefore the process must be designed (investing capital and paying for energy) so as to not waste feed stocks or lose products (particularly in the form of undesirable products) is followed. [Luyben, 2010] Kinetic model can be considered if accurate kinetic data is available. But a plant involves industrial reactors that are very complex and hence a proper combination of stoichiometric and kinetic reactor needs to be used. Kinetic model can determine the production rate where as stoichiometric model can describe the formation of by products and impurities necessary for the design of separators. Equilbrium based reactors like RGIBBS in ASPEN PLUS ® can give a realistic idea about the maximum achievable performance. They work accurately for fast reactions. The RGIBBS reactor predicts the equilibrium concentration by Gibbs free energy minimization. [Dimian, 2003] Generally in reactor design an equilibrium model is prepared and then the kinetic model. The following reaction mechanism was proposed by various researchers for alkylation of benzene by cumene. 3.1.1 REACTIONS CONSIDERED FOR MODELING Alkylation propylene + benzene à   cumene (1) propylene + cumene à   p-diisoproyl benzene (2) Isomerisation p-diisopropyl benzene à   m-diisopropyl benzene (3) Trans-alkylation p-diisopropyl benzene + benzene à   2 cumene (4) m-diisopropyl benzene + benzene à   2 cumene (5) Disproportination 2 cumene à   p-diisopropyl benzene + benzene (6) 2 cumene à   m-diisopropyl benzene + benzene (7) 3.1.2 REACTOR DESIGN PROCEDURE IN ASPEN PLUS The feed is a mixture of benzene and propylene such that benzene is in excess. In general propylene is not available in the pure form and has some amount of propane as inert. The separation cost of propane is high and hence normally propane is not removed from the propylene feed into the reactor. A high conversion of propylene is desired and the unreacted propylene can be flashed off along with the inert propane. RGIBBS reactor works by Gibbs free energy minimization. Alkylation and trans-alkylation reactors need not be modelled separately as they can be combined into one equilibrium reactor. The reactant, products as well as the intermediates as seen from the reaction mechanisms are specified into the component list. SYSOP0 or Ideal property table is used. A temperature range of 300 to 400 degree Celsius is specified and a proper temperature chosen. Pressure of 25 atm is chosen from previous industrial research work. [Luyben, 2010] 3.1.3 EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES The equilibrium is affected by the temperature as well as the benzene/propylene mole ratio. The alkylation and transalkylation reaction is usually carried out at atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the effect of pressure on the equilibrium was not considered in the present study. Seven reactor models are available in ASPEN PLUS. The equilibrium based RGIBBS reactor is used to find the product composition at which the Gibbs free energy of the product is minimum. The restricted chemical equilibrium approach is used and the reactions mentioned above are specified. The temperature approach for an individual reaction is used. The feed stream mole flow is set as 1 kmol / hr and the feed stream consists of benzene, propylene and propane (inert mixed with the propylene stream). Amount of inert in feed is kept fixed. The reactor temperature is set to 3500C and the reactor pressure is set to 25 atm. (a) The selectivity of cumene and conversion of propylene (limiting reagent) is studied by varying the benzene/propylene mole ratio in the feed keeping the amount of inert fixed. The effect of temperature variation (300–4000C) on the selectivity and the conversion is also studied. (b) Again, the variation in the selectivity of m-DIPB and p-DIPB with temperature and b enzene/propylene mole ratio in the feed is studied. The conversion and selectivity were calculated using equations 8 to 11. %Selectivity of cumene = Fcumeneproduct /(Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod) ´100% (8) %Conversion of propylene = (Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod)/Fpropylenefeed  ´ 100 % (9) %Selectivity of m-DIPB = Fmdipbproduct/(Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod)  ´100% (10) %Selectivity of p-DIPB = Fpdipbproduct/(Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod)  ´ 100% (11) Where Fcumeneproduct = molar flow rate of cumene in product Fpropylenefeed = molar flow rate of propylene in feed Fpropyleneprod = molar flow rate of propylene in product Fmdipbproduct = molar flow rate of m-DIPB in product Fpdipbproduct = molar flow rate of p-DIPB in product RSTOIC reactor model was used to find the standard heat of reaction for different reactions 1 to 6 mentioned above. The standard heats of reaction have been tabulated in Table 3.1.1. The heat of reaction for isomerisation was found to be zero as expected. The all other reactions were found to be exothermic except trans-alkylation reactions as observed from the table. Table 3.1.1 Standard Heats of Reaction Reaction Number Standard Heat of Reaction (Kcal/Kg mol) 1 -23.670 2 -24.321 3 0 4 0.649 5 0.649 6 -0.325 7 -0.324 Effect of temperature and benzene/propylene mole ratio. The effect of temperature and benzene/propylene mole ratio on equilibrium conversion of propylene and selectivity of products, cumene, m-DIPB, and p-DIPB is shown in Fig. 3.1.1. The conversion of propylene was found to increase with increase in benzene/propylene mole ratio for a fixed temperature as observed from the Fig. 3.1.1(a). This is because of reduced proportion of propylene in feed. However, variation of conversion of propylene was found to be negligibly small above the benzene/propylene mole ratio in feed of 3. The conversion of propylene was found to decrease with increase in temperature for a fixed benzene/propylene mole ratio as observed from the Fig. 3.1.1(a). This is because of the fact that overall heat of reactions is exothermic as shown in Table 3.1.1. The selectivity of cumene was found to increase with increase in benzene/propylene mole ratio at a fixed temperature as the polyalkylation reactions are reduced because of excess amount of benzene present in the feed (Fig. 3.1.1(b)). Again, with increase in temperature, the selectivity of cumene increases for a fixed benzene/propylene mole ratio as transalkylation reactions (endothermic, Table 3.1.1) are dominant at high temperature. The distribution of m-DIPB and p-DIPB is shown in Fig. 3.1.1 (c). From the figure it was observed that selectivity of m-DIPB is significantly higher than p-DIPB. This is because of the fact that m-DIPB is thermally more stable compared to p-DIPB. Therefore, p-DIPB formed in alkylation reaction isomerises to more stable meta isomer. Effect of inert on equilibrium. The propylene stream used in alkylation process is usually obtained by pyrolysis of petroleum fractions that contains small amount of propane as impurity. Propane need not be removed from the propylene stream as it acts as an inert and does not take part in the reaction. Presence of inert has very slight effect on the conversion as well as selectivity as shown in Fig.3.1.2. The conversion of propylene decreases slightly with higher volume percent of inert in feed and increases slightly with the same. 3.1.4 KINETICS BASED REACTOR MODEL Kinetics based rate data was obtained from the work of various researches and is mentioned above. A RPLUG model is used in ASPEN PLUS to model the reactor. The design model specified in the book by Turton et al (2003) is used. The reactions occur in the vapour phase in the presence of a solid catalyst (assumed to have 0.5 void fraction and a 2000 kg/m3 solid density). The reactor is run at high pressure (25 bar) since the moles of reactants are more than the moles of product (Le Chatelier’s principle). A temperature of 360 degree C and a benzene/Propylene mole ratio of 6 is used. A flow rate of 330 kmol/hr is used for the simulation. The kinetic model generated few errors such as RPLUG exited because integration failed. index = (-1) probable cause is incorrect kinetics. check rate-constant parameters and molar volume calculations. 3.1.5 PRODUCT OUTPUT FROM REACTOR Assuming the RGIBBS model for the initial calculations for distillation columns can give a good idea about the distillation process in a cumene plant. RGIBBS model with an input feed rate of 100 kmol/hr and benzene: propylene feed ratio of 6:1 with an inert concentration of 5% in propylene stream, temp. of 360 degree C and a pressure of 25 bar is used. The flow rates obtained at the product side are noted.The non condensable components in the product side i.e. propylene and propane are removed in flash tank. These components have fuel value only as they cannot be completely purified. So the reaction conditions should be so adjusted that the propylene in feed is totally converted to the product. The concentration of non-condensable components from reactor is given in Table 3.1.2. This data is used for further designing. Table 3.1.2 Mole flow rate of components from reactor Component Mole Flow kmol/hr Benzene 72.85 Cumene 10.31 m-DIPB 1.77 p-DIPB 0.47 TOTAL 85.4 3.2 PREDICTING VLE CHARACTERISTICS Reactors and separators can be considered as the back bone of any chemical process plant. The cost optimization of any plant depends largely on the reactors and the distillation columns. The basis of distillation is phase equilibrium that may be VLE (Vapour liquid equilibrium) and LLE (Liquid liquid equilibrium). Before designing any distillation equipment the VLE characteristics need to be studied as they give a fair amount of idea about the ease of distillation. The Txy diagram or temperature versus liquid composition (x) and vapour composition (y) are plotted. A fat curve generally shows that the liquids in a mixture can be easily separated. The boiling point data of the three major components in the distillation column is shown in Fig. 3.2.1 below. Table 3.2.1 Boiling point of components Component Boiling point in degree Celsius Benzene 80.2 Cumene 152.4 DIPB 209.8 The product stream from a condenser tank is sent to a distillation column. RADFRAC model is used. In the industrial process three distillation columns are used i.e benzene column, followed by cumene column and DIPB column.The RADFRAC model is a rigorous model for various multistage liquid vapour fractionation operations and hence is used for the simulation Before going in for the design of the distillation column the VLE diagrams need to be considered. The industrial processes currently followed show that in the 1st column benzene and cumene need to be primarily separated and in the 2nd column cumene and DIPB need to be separated. The NRTL (non random two liquid) physical property package is used used to plot the vapour liquid equilibrium T-XY for Benzene-cumene and Cumene-DIPB systems. The VLE plots are shown in Fig 3.2.1 to 3.2.3 for different systems. It can be inferred from plots Fig. 3.2.1 to 3.2.3 that separation would be easy and a distillation column with fewer trays and a smaller reflux ratio can be used. Azeotrope is not formed. Flash distillation should be tried as separation is easier. 3.3 FLASH DISTILLATION TANK DESIGN Distillation is tried using flash tank as the cost of operation is very low. FLASH2 model is selected. SYSOP0 property method is selected, which works by ideal or Roult’s law. Pressure of the flash tank is set as 1 bar. The input flow rate is same as mentioned in Table 3.1.2. The minimum boiling point in the mixture is that of benzene at 80.2 degree C at 1 atm and hence a temperature of 85 to 97.5 is considered for flashing. The mole fractions of benzene and cumene in the bottom and top products are found out at various flashing temperatures and plotted in Fig. 3.3.1. Assuming a product purity of 95% benzene in the top product the flashing temperature is identified to be 92.5 degree C. The flow rates from the flashing tank is shown in Table 3.3.1. Table 3.3.1 Concentration of products from the flash tank 92.5 degree C Benzene Cumene m-DIPB p-DIPB BOTTOM Product 18.951865 7.89384963 1.68473832 0.45287993 TOP product 5.39E+01 2.41615031 0.08526167 0.01712006 The flow rates of Table 3.3.1 act as a feed to the benzene column. 3.4 BENZENE DISTILLATION COLUMN DESIGN 3.4.1 DESIGN PROCEDURE RADFRAC-1 is selected for designing the Benzene distillation column. SYSOP0 property method is selected and the flow rates from Table 3.3.1 are used. The pressure is kept fixed at 1.75 bar and the temperature is kept fixed at 90 degree Celsius. These two variables are obtained from the experimental data specified by Turton et al (2003). These temperature and pressure data have been used in the work by Luyben (2010). The variables that can be optimized are reflux ratio, number of feed trays, feed tray location and distillate rate. In the initial assumption the distillate rate is kept at half the value of the feed rate. A total condenser is used in the process and an equilibrium based approach is used. 3.4.2 REFLUX RATIO OPTIMIZATION The number of trays (including boiler and condenser as a tray) is kept fixed at any value say 15. The feed tray is varied keeping the number of trays fixed. Now for each different ratio of number of trays to feed tray a series of reflux ratio starting from 0.1 is considered. The process is run and the mole fraction of benzene in the top product as well as the reboiler heat load data are used and a graph is plotted as shown in Fig 3.4.1. Reflux ratio is optimized by the variable mole fraction of benzene in the top product. An optimum reflux ratio value of about 0.5 is identified from Fig 3.4.1. At higher values of feed tray location (close to reboiler) lesser reflux ratio is required. Note that condenser is considered as the first stage and the rebolier as the last. 3.4.3 FEED TRAY LOCATION OPTIMIZATION The reflux ratio is kept fixed at 0.5 and the number of trays is kept fixed at 15. The position of the feed tray is varied and its affect on the reboiler heat load and the mole fraction of benze