Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Case study - Essay Example Also, the tradition associated with a wine being a family wine with 238 years of history and being the third oldest wine maker in Germany brings charm to the product which could be its advantage over its competitors in the market. Johann is capitalizing on this by holding events in their estate to ensure customer retention. b. Weakness – expensive. Quality comes at a price and this makes the company hesitate to expand its reach in the market because of the cost associated not only in producing the wine, but also in marketing it (a tour in US costs EUR 5,000). c. Opportunities – the liberalization of the wine market provides an opportunity for Fitz-Ritter to expand to other markets abroad that would widen its market and customer base. d. Threat – new entrants in the market from the New World offering comparable taste at a lower price serves as a very potent threat to Fitz-Ritter. PESTEL a. Political – EU is protective of the German wine manufacturer where i t subsidizes the industry. The residue of the George Marshall fund serves as financing assistance to wine manufacturers such as Fitz-Ritter which could help ease the financing of its expansion should the company decide to expand its operation. b. Economic – competitors are flooding the EU market with comparable wines at a lower price which is devastating to the industry. c. Social – there is growing market for the Fitz-Ritter’s wines especially for middle class who would like to partake the wine to have the feeling of being in the upper class. d. Technological – Johann is embarking on the training of his employees to upgrade their technological capability to further improve their wine making. e. Environmental – acreage for growing grapes in Germany has already been allocated. Its implication makes the wine industry less competitive because it meant they have to squeeze more wine from the grape to lower the price which has a devastating effect on qu ality. f. Legal – EU government is on Germany’s wine makers side being protective of the industry from the foreign competition. Fitz-Ritter’s strategy is basically to promote the quality of the product by stressing its history and tradition; that it is a product of craftsmanship not by industrial process. This way, Johann is able to have a niche in the market. 2) What is Fitz- Ritter’s competitive advantage? How did the company manage to survive in a highly competitive wine business? To better determine Fitz-Ritter’s competitive advantage, it would be helpful to consider Porter’s Five Forces of competition to see how it fared in the highly competitive wine business. a. Threat of New Entrants – players from the New World are indeed a threat. They have comparable wines with lower prices. b. Determinants of Supplier Power – Fitz-Ritter grows their own grape and makes their own wine and such, suppliers has very little leverage on t he company. c. Rivalry Among Existing Firms – there may be rivalry among the old wine makers in Germany and EU but the rivalry is not considered to be disastrous to the industry. The threat of rivalry is being brought by new players from the New World instead of the old wine makers. d. Determinants of Buyer Power – Fitz-Ritter use exclusive distributor in the United States whom they can trust and Johann’s mother help in the promotional aspect of the product by giving the product’s comparative advantage which is tradition, quality and history a face whom the customers can

The Play Medea Case Essay Example for Free

The Play Medea Case Essay In the play Medea, Euripides recognises the lack of gender equality of his time and comments on the patrichial nature of ancient Greek society. A feminist theme resonates in the play and has been developed through the characterisation of Medea and Jason. Medea, the female protagonist, is portrayed as powerful figure. Medea is spurned and aggrieved by a man but instead of accepting the situation submissively as she would have been expected to do, she asserts her own power. Furthermore, when King Creon decides to banish her, she doesnt hesitate to argue persuasively on her own behalf despite his position of power. She naturally assumes that she has the right to speak as a man might do. Medea recognizes the oppression of women in her society when she declares we women are the sorriest lot: first we must at great expenditure of money but a husband and even take on a master of our body. However, Medea herself denounces women by admitting that they were born useless for honest purposes suggesting that womans skills lie solely in the ability to exert their will by deceit and manipulation. Her deceptive nature is evident in the nature of the murder of Glauce by giving gifts laced with poison. Medea argues that although women have a deserved reputation for treachery, they only do so as the patriarchal society to which they belong deprives them of any other avenues of power. Yet Medeas response to masculine exploitation surpasses any reasonable measures by her horrific murder of her children. The audience is positioned to be shocked and unsympathetic towards her actions. Medeas actions are portrayed as hers alone not indicative of the natural behavior of women and Euripide s acknowledges that the social injustice experienced by Medea cannot absolve her personal accountability for her actions. In the play through his characterisation of Jason, Euripides mocks the mens supposed entitlement to authority and supremacy over women. Jason, the key male figure, from the onset of the play reveals himself to the audience to be a weak character, at odds with his reputation as a hero. His abandonment of his obedient wife, Medea, his greed-driven re-marriage and his inability to admit his own culpability in the drama that ensued, portrays him to the audience as vapid, vacuous man whose actions are fuelled almost entirely by self-interest. His constant emasculation of Jason by his depiction as a weak and flawed character makes him appear unsympathetic to the audience. Medea is a strong-willed and powerful individual whose personality traits would be stereotypically attributed to a male character whilst Jasons self-obsessed and treacherous ways would more often be linked to a female character. Through the depiction of Medea and Jason, Euripides makes the conjecture their characters are both highly flawed and so they should be condemned for their deeds rather than for the gender.

Facebook User Consent for Experiments

Facebook User Consent for Experiments Facebook Research is for the Betterment of Human Kind and as a Business they should be Free to Undertake Large Scale Online Experiments without the need to Contact their Users. Facebook and many other network platforms have used large scale online experiments, often without the consent and awareness of their users. These experiments are usually to better understand their users, in attempts to better their business and provide reasons for human actions and responses relevant to them and that industry. However, the question remains should businesses like Facebook be allowed to conduct such experimental research without receiving consent from their users? To answer this first we must understand what this research is and what are the implications of it to the users. The ‘experiment evidence of massive-scale emotion contagion through social network’ (Kramer et al. 2014, p. 8788) article explores how the emotional state of one can be transferred to another through emotional contagion. This notion is taken a step further by transferring this positive or negative emotion via networks, such as Facebook. This method faces many criticisms; one being that the experiment itself does not take into consideration the experience where a person’s positive or negative emotion is the result of an incident or an interaction rather than the exposure to another’s emotion. This criticism is more from a technical point of view. From an ethical stand point (Reid 2017) the issue is that mass research was conducted on people without their consent regarding a matter which would otherwise be considered private (their emotional response) by many. This issue will be further explored from an ethical (Reid 2017) and legal perspective, an in relevant contexts.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In 2014 Facebook was in the medias eye for experimenting on its 1.3 billion users. Facebook researchers altered the newsfeed of about 700,000 of its users without informing them (Wholsen 2014). When this became public there was an outrage by many users while some other people (mainly businesses) argued that there is nothing wrong with what Facebook did or the way they went about doing it. The argument for research was supported by claims that Facebook conducts many forms of research in a variety of fields to enhance the â€Å"Facebook experience† (Wholsen 2014) for users and better the advertising and promotions Facebook offers to its business clients. Additionally, if they had asked for consent from each user it would be a lengthy, time consuming and difficult process as there are 1.3 billion users. After commencement of the emotion contagion research experiment Facebooks reported revenue and profits increased, the research being one of the contributing factors (Wholsen 2014). It is therefore evident that this research is for the betterment of businesses. However, can that be said about the betterment of mankind? The sensitivity to context ‘privacy in public’ notion focuses on users perceived online environment. Many users may believe that the research Facebook conduct was a breach of their private discussions and postings whereas others may think that it was a public act. The mix of these perceptions only aid in the difficultly of knowing what can be collected and distributed. There are three ethical concepts derived from what the basic human rights to privacy are. These are; confidentiality, anonymity, and informed consent (Eynon et al. 2009, p.188). For there to be full disclosure, consent and to be considered as an ethical means of obtaining data users, would need to know what they are consenting to and to what extent they are able to give this consent (Eynon et al. 2009, p.189) Based on this it is apparent that Facebook did not implement the informed consent aspect of this concept during their research. Additionally, Facebook didn’t submit a proposal to Institutional Review Board for pre-approval of the study. From a legal perspective Facebook asks for consent from users in their Data Usage Policy agreement during sing up. This agreement addresses that user’s information can be used for testing and research purposes (Kramer et al. 2014, p. 8789). However, this is a very weak form of consent and does not address the forms of research which can take place. This is a very broad statement and can include a lot or very little depending on interpretation. This agreement is compulsory to abide with no opt out options, if users are to use the social media program. This issue raises puts all Facebooks practices into question by its users and media including what this means for Facebook advertisements in terms of how honest they must be with what they are advertising based on the data collected. Although the Code of Practice acts as a guide to prevent many misleading advertisements including the requirement that advertisers are not to be deceptive or misleading in their advertisements and have evidence to support their advertised claims, there are still loop holes (Reid 2017). Facebook is available in more than 130 countries and not all of these countries have a Code of Practice and some have varying rules and guideline in theirs. Those countries not covered by the Code of Practice put their users at risk from misleading and deceptive advertisement, from Facebook and other businesses. There is a lack of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Facebook. CRS addresses many factors including quality of environment, employment practice, diversity, benefits and relationship for employees and consumer protection (Reid 2017). The policy is flexible enough to be applicable across all industries and in a range of situations. In this case, specifically addressing the negligence of the consumer protection factor. There are many benefits to complying with CSR for businesses and their customers including increase in profits in the long run, improved public image and the evasion of government interface. However, the downfall of not complying are reduction in profits and creates bad image for the businesses reducing benefits to owners/stakeholders. This is evident for many companies who have adapted this method of research and avoided transparency by not contacting their consumers. Mass scale research provides great data but brings the high risk that the data collect can be tracked back to the participant/user because the data itself is so complete (Eynon et al. 2009, p.191) Through there are billions of Facebook users the contagion research conduct is so complete that the through the likes (clicks) and their user references can allow for back tracking. Even if the information collect is anonymous there is still room for some access back to users (Eynon et al. 2009, p.192), particularly for infamous hackers. Using this situation in any other context, for example Dungons and Dragons. This online game allows it’s users to have conversations with other users during the game. This conversation can be tracked back by linking their text snippet to context of the conversation even when encrypted (Eynon et al. 2009, p.192) and like so the virtual game has had issues with piracy where they conduct research on users without consent, later exposed through a hacking incident. This is just one of the many examples where mass scale research has gone wrong because the company had failed to contact their users. Exposing users to something that causes physiological status changes is experimentation is the kind of thing that requires user consent. Informed consent is the most essential part of research ethics. It creates a trusting bond between a participant and a researcher which allows for accurate and true data to be collected without the objection from the participant or in this case the users. As a bare minimum, all businesses should disclose on their website to their users that their formation or data is being tracked anonymously. Lack of doing so a breach of a person’s privacy, at least from an ethical perspective. Therefore, this in no way will better mankind only create trust issues due to lack of transparency. In ability to trust a business is bad for the business itself and its customers, long term. If customers no longer trust a business they will slowly separate themselves from them looking for alternatives. Additionally, it creates a bad reputation for the business, as it did for Facebook who is still in the medias eye for it in a negative light despite their public apology. This negative back lash is one that will associate with the business in the long term and gradually it will (and has) caused many issue to conduct other forms of research, including Facebook having to review their privacy policy as a result of the uprise negative response from their unconsented research. To conclude, there are many benefits for undertaking large scale online experiments without user/participant consent in the sort run however long term it does not benefit anyone let alone better mankind. References Eynon, R, Schroeder, R & Fry, J 2009, ‘new techniques in online research: challenges for research ethics’, Twenty- First Century Society, vol.4, no.2, pp.187-199 Kramer, A, Guillory, J & Handcock, J 2014, ‘Experiment evidence of massive-scale emotion contagion through social network’, PNAS, vol. 111, no. 24, pp. 8788-8790. Reid, D 2017, ‘Lecture 1’, ADV20001, Advertising Issues: Regulation, Ethics & Cultural Considerations, Learning material on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, May 29, viewed 9 July 2017. Reid, D 2017, ‘Lecture 2’, ADV20001, Advertising Issues: Regulation, Ethics & Cultural Considerations, Learning material on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, June 5, viewed 9 July 2017. Reid, D 2017, ‘Lecture 17’, ADV20001, Advertising Issues: Regulation, Ethics & Cultural Considerations, Learning material on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, July 10, viewed 9 July 2017. Wholsen, M 2014, ‘Facebook won’t stop experimenting on you, it’s just too lucrative’, Wired, 10 March, viewed 10 July 2017, .

Virginia Woolfs To The Lighthouse Essay -- To The Lighthouse Essays

     Ã‚  Ã‚   She was not inventing; she was only trying to smooth out something she had been given years ago folded up; something she had seen. For   in the rough and tumble of daily life, with all those children about, all those visitors, one had constantly a sense of repetition-of one thing falling where another had fallen, and so setting up an echo which chimed in the air and made it full of vibrations. (199)    What causes that crumpling? What makes the accumulated images fold up over the years? How can one smooth out the folds? These are the pivotal questions raised in the above passage, which captures the central exploration in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.   Change and chaos create folds in Lily's life. She clings to images of Mrs. Ramsay as an iron. "For there are moments when one can neither think nor feel," (Woolf 193), but even in the agony of intense change, one can always see. Like a muse, Mrs. Ramsay's lasting presence inspires Lily to create a painting that irons out the folds.   Lily eventually accepts some distance from Mrs. Ramsay, as well, which becomes another liberating step in the process of smoothing out her jagged soul. When those images are rediscovered, and sometimes re-invented, change is produced. Ultimately, Lily is released from the past, while smoothing out the creases.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lily's ambivalent feelings toward Mrs. Ramsay make her life creased and conflicted: "Lily feels forced to choose between rejecting the beloved mothering figure or becoming again a panicky, dependent child whose poor self-image undermines her ability to have a vision of her own" (Caramagno 253).   She tends toward the position as dependent child because it brings permanence, but she vacillat... ...in To the Lighthouse."   Philological Quarterly. 14 April 2002 <http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/>. Lilienfeld, Jane. "Where the Spear Plants Grew."   New Feminist Essays on Virginia Woolf.   Ed. Jane Marcus. London: Macmillan Press, 1981. Mepham, John. Criticism in Focus. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Minogue, Sally. "Was it a vision? Structuring emptiness in To the Lighthouse." Journal of Modern Literature. 12 April 2002 <http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/>. Rosenman, Ellen Bayuk. The Invisible Presence: Virginia Woolf and the Mother-Daughter Relationship. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1986. Stewart, Jack. "A 'Need of Distance and Blue': Space, Color, and Creativity in To the  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lighthouse." Twentieth Century Literature 12 April 2002 <http://web6infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/>.   

Equality, diversity and inclusion in work with children and young people Essay

1. Understand the importance of promoting equality and diversity in work with children and young people. 1.1.Identify the current legislation and codes of practice relevant to the promotion of equality and valuing of diversity Each school must have set polices which is formed of guidance and procedures these don’t just mean that there for our teaching and learning that’s happening in the classrooms but all around the school and the school grounds. We must take in account of everyone’s individuality and as group. Before learning the policies of the school you work at it is handy that you recognise the purpose and legislation. This may help you with your role in the school and your own responsibility to policies and legislation. The children and young people’s rights are stated in the united nation’s convention on the right of child (1989) the uk government must make sure the children are protected trough law, the uk government say that the children have a right to education and the right for their own views to be respected. The special education needs code of practise 2001 This shows the outlines of statutory guidance and the procedures for the policy of children with special needs, this is likely to be changed by the children and young family’s bill 2013. Code of practice on the duty to promote race equality (2002) This code supports schools and the public services so that they can meet the duty that is set out for race relations act. All schools are required to write a written race equality policy. The school policies should demonstrate that there working towards the following outcomes:- †¢Reducing the space of educational achievement between the different ethnic groups †¢Improving the relationships between all different racial groups †¢Improving the behaviour of the pupils †¢Promoting more involvement of the parents and our local community †¢Ensuring that the staff working in the schools show social diversity of society †¢An admissions policy that does not discriminate Removing barriers to achievement: the government’s strategy foe SEN (2004) This shows a form of structure for schools to show achievement of children with special needs and disabilities. The documents show the governments expression for the education of children with special education needs or disabilities. These principles include the need for: †¢Early intervention †¢Removal of barriers †¢The delivery of improvements through partnerships across services †¢Raising achievement Disability equality scheme and access plan The disability discrimination act 2005 is an improvement on the 1995 act by require the schools to make a disability equality scheme (DES) this shows the way the schools to show positive attitudes to the pupils, staff and others with disabilities. There must also be an action plan, this plan should show the discriminatory barriers are removed for example: †¢An improvement to the physical environment, like ramps, lifts, lighting and the way the room is laid out †¢providing information in different ways for children with disabilities, such as audio, pictorial and larger print School policies Most schools has a mission statement that sets out the commitment of the schools to the inclusion and equality of opportunity. Each school must have written policies to the reflect of the rights and responsibilities of those in the school. Policies should show guidance for the staff and visitors to the schools. There is a number of different policies or they can be combined but must include the ways that the school should work in relation to: †¢Cultural diversity/ race †¢Inclusive practise/ equality of opportunity †¢Bullying/safeguarding †¢Gifted and talented pupils †¢Special educational needs †¢Disability and access There are different ways the schools promote the rights of equality and opportunity for the children and young people should be included in the policy. There is now a huge focus on the outcomes that is difference the legislations have made to the individuals and groups within the schools. Ofsted make judgement about the schools inclusiveness. It is important that you are up to date with the polices because they change every so often due to the outcomes. 1.2 Describe the importance of supporting the rights of all children and young people to participation and equality of access. Each pupil has every right to a widely diverse and equally balanced curriculum. Teaching and learning must be of very high quality. Each student should have an equal curriculum regardless of their race, background, gender and disabilities. So that your or aware of the importance of supporting the rights of children and young people, it is best if you look into more detail at the outcomes of legislation, codes of practise and policies. On inclusion children and young people can raise achievement and promote self-identity and also great relationships through the participation of policies. Raising achievement Improving access to the curriculum will make a huge difference to the personal achievements set by children and young people. Studies have shown that some children and young people have not met the levels they were expected to. The children that have the most concerns are children and young people from black and minority ethnic cultures they are vulnerable due to their economic and physical circumstances. This is sometimes known as an attainment gap. Equal opportunity does not mean that it’s just treating them  the same but also their curriculum. This includes the understanding of barriers. Before children fall behind its usually best for intervention strategies to be put in place like additional support at an early stage. High expiations of all pupils are important to raise their achievement. Improving participation Participation means that everyone within the school is involved. There are things like parents evening and student councils, these are opportunities to talk to pupils and their parents to talk to them about things like curriculum and things that are happening around the school and development. These can happen in classrooms, school halls and the pupils are usually asked how they learn their best, what could they improve and how they learn. Developing a sense of identity The schools should recognise and support the pupils and have access to everything that is happening in school. This should raise their self-esteem and give them the feeling that they belong there. When the children fully participate they usually feel valued for who they are and what they have done. And what they have achieved by acknowledging them and reflecting what they done was fantastic. Children and young people should have the opportunity to do independent learning. Children are more likely to be motivated and achieve full potential when they are making choices. Improving relationships between individuals and groups Your actions and attitude towards the children is important for e.g. fairness in what you do as they see you as a role model, the respect can be improved by your everyday contact with them. Children’s rights should be protected but they should know their responsibilities towards others. Opportunities are provided for all children to experience each other’s cultures and ethnic backgrounds, this is to ensure that they understand and value the social and cultural diversity in their own community as well as  around the world, culture can cut across nationalities and faiths and by recognizing and promoting cultural diversity and the differences of individuals and groups within school will enhance a child’s learning and promote knowledge and understanding of all pupils. Diverse cultures in schools should be acknowledged and reflected throughout the curriculum, by incorporating music, food and stories from a range a of cultures will not only contribute to a rich and more exciting curriculum but will demonstrate that the school not only values the culture of groups but also supports all their pupils to explore and understand cultures that are not their own. By supporting and encouraging children to understand and accept cultural diversity will also prevent stereotyping and decrease prejudice and discrimination within schools. Most importantly, it will prepare children and young people for numerous changes that will happen in their lives as adults where they will inevitably be involved in mixing with adults of different cultures and backgrounds. You could also add a reflective account of some event in your school for e.g. Chinese New Year.

Mass and Energy Balance Essay

Abstract The objective is to produce a proposal for a chemical process plant which will be able to produce 550,000 tonne/year ammonia using LPG as the raw material. Different processes where researched and then finally one was picked, steam reforming. This was decided to be the most viable and cost effective process using the raw materials we had available. The report explains in detail how the process works and all aspects of how the plant will work including the mass and energy balance across the plant. What is Ammonia Ammonia (NH3) is a stable compound and is used as a starting material for the manufacture of many important nitrogen compounds and can also be directly used as fertilisers. It is produced by reacting hydrogen and nitrogen. It is a colourless gas with a sharp odour. The boiling point is -33.35oC and its freezing point is -77.7oC.1 Care must be taken when handling ammonia as can cause deep burns in the skin; irritation in the eyes and nose and when inhaled can cause coughing, sore throat and headache.2 There are different methods for the manufacture of ammonia. The three main methods are steam reforming, partial oxidation and electrolysis. Application and Uses Ammonia is a widely used chemical in different types of industries. One of the main user of ammonia is the agricultural industries for fertilisers. Around 80% of ammonia produced is for fertilisers such as urea, ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate.3 It is also used as a building block for nitrogen containing compounds like nitric acid (HNO3). It is also used in the fibres and plastics industry for the production of acrylonitrile, melamine etc., and manufacture of explosives. Ammonia is also used in water treatment such as pH control and also in combination with chlorine to purify industrial and municipal water supplies. Less commonly uses include as a refrigerant in compression and absorption systems, manufacture of household ammonia, in the food and beverage industry 4. Figure 1: Pie chart showing the uses of Ammonia. Market Trends Globally ammonia prices have been headed up due the large demand of fertilisers that are needed in the crop production to obtain high yield6. The current selling price of ammonia in Europe goes up to $600 per tonne7. Figure 2: Shows the global demand for Ammonia (D.a.NH3- Direct application of Ammonia) As we can see from the chart the trend of ammonia demand globally is upward. It is said that the global ammonia market is to generate revenues of approx. US$102 billion in 2019. As there is continous growth in population in the developing countries the likely to cause demand for foodstuffs are to increase even further. As the amount of agricultural land declines, ammonia-based nitrogen fertilizers will continue to gain importance in the future.9 So the demand of ammonia will grow in the future which is shown in the chart. Processes There are many different processes involved in the ammonia production. The most common processes for ammonia are partial oxidation, steam reforming and electrolysis. From these 3 processes the best process route is then selected and that process would be most economical and that meetes the design brief. Partial Oxidation Partial oxidation involves the reaction of oxygen with fuel to produce hydrogen. The following equations represent the partial oxidation of ethane, propane, butane and pentane. 10 C2H6 + O2 2CO + 3H2, C3H8 + 1.5O2 3CO + 4H2, C4H10 + 2O2 4CO + 5H2, C5H12 + 2.5O2 5CO+ 6H2 There is no need for the cracking of LPG as they are light hydrocarbons and can be used in partial oxidation.11 See Partial Oxidation flow sheet (Reference 1: Partial Oxidation Flow Sheet) Hazards and Environmental Impact The main emission is carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas and Partial Oxidation process emits more carbon dioxide compared to Steam Methane Reforming. Carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by recycling it and selling it to urea and nitro-phosphate plants.13 No ammonia should be present in the air but maybe because of faulty equipment and maintenance activities, some ammonia maybe released. Ammonia becomes explosive at the 16%-25% volume in air which could occur if there are any leakages in the ammonia storage facilities. It is also toxic by inhalation and pulmonary oedema can occur up to 48 hours after exposure and could be fatal.12 Nitrogen dioxide that is released is a toxic gas can be harmful when inhaled but can be avoided as can be detected because of the smell. The large amount of waste water from this process is another problem but there is a river near the Milford Haven site. Also water pollution is a concern which may occur because of the suspended and dissolved impurities. It could also affect the aquatic life. Therefore the water must be treated in a full three stage water treatment plant before disposing it. 13 The disadvantage of partial oxidation is that the capital costs are higher for partial oxidation compared to any other process. It is estimated to be  £100-120 million for an annual production of 7.7 million GJ while for SR it will only be  £70 million. 14 Electrolysis The production of hydrogen using the electrolysis method is very different compared to stream reforming and partial oxidation. Electrolysis produces hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using volts of current to separate the hydrogen to one electrode and oxygen at the other in a cell. Oxygen is the by-product in the process of producing ammonia which is valuable because it can be used in other chemical processes or sold to other companies for profit. In electrolysis there is no CO2 produced therefore there is no pollution. Standard electrolytic ammonia production energy consumption historically has been about 12 megawatt-hour. The fuel cost alone of making ammonia is $600 metric ton, and including capital and operating expenses that metric ton of ammonia cost about $800 to make. Compare electrolytic and using uses of natural gas as raw material the economically, for the past 100 years the cost of natural gas has not been higher than $1 and the fuel cost for a metric ton of ammonia from natural gas has been $30-$40. Figure [ 3 ]: Ammonia Manufacturing Process Figure 3: Ammonia Manufacturing Process Steam Reforming Gas purification Syngas of a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water can be broken down in to individual components and further cleansed through purification. The syngas will enter a shift reformer, which breaks down the carbon monoxide in to hydrogen and carbon dioxide using steam (H2O). Carbon dioxide is much more environmentally friendly than CO and can either be released in to the atmosphere or used in other steam reforming processes in the future. Desulphurisation Sulphur is a problem when carrying out steam reforming as it acts as a poison for the catalysts involved. It is important that this is removed prior to the syngas entering the system. The process is carried out in the presence of a catalyst, which is usually nickel. This nickel acts as an absorber for the sulphur, and so several catalyst-filled tubes within the system with a large internal surface area will allow the sulphur to collect to be disposed of suitably. The Process Hydrocarbons usually contain sulphur which needs to be removed. The purification section is the first bed of the whole steam reforming process. Feed is passed through tubes containing zinc oxide. The sulphur in the feed reacts with the zinc oxide to produce zinc sulphide. This is to ensure that the feed travelling to the steam reformer does not poison the catalysts in this section in any way. The catalysts used in the steam reforming process are nickel-based. These are easily poisoned by sulphur species. The purified feed is mixed with steam and then is passed to the primary reformer, which involves a nickel-based catalyst where the steam reforming process is carried out. Once the hydrocarbon is cleansed of sulphur, the reforming process can begin. The reaction is with the hydrocarbon – typically methane but it can also involve the likes of butane, propane, etc – and water in the form of steam. The reaction for methane (CH4) is shown below. CH4 + H2O 3H2 + COΔH = +251kJmol-1 C3H8 + 6H2O 3CO2 + 10H2 C2H6 + 4H2O 2CO2 + 7H2 C4H10 + 8H2O 4CO2 + 7H2 C5H12 + 10H2O 5CO2 + 16H2 Reactions for other hydrocarbons, such as ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10) and pentane (C5H12) are also shown, with their respective steam amounts required and the products gained. Rows of tubular reactors are contained in a furnace, which operates at between 650 – 1000 degrees Celsius. The hydrocarbon feed enters the system at a very high pressure, typically 20 – 30 bar. The process is carried out in the presence of a nickel-based catalyst which is packed into cylindrical tubes through which the steam/hydrocarbon gas mixture is passed. The catalysts act as surface for which the hydrocarbon will absorb and the steam. (Reference 2: Steam Reforming Flow Sheet) Justification Steam reforming is the most viable proposition as we have all of the raw materials available within easy access, whereas if we were to use other processes, then we would have to source other materials e.g. we would need to source x no of kilowatts of electricity per year, for electrolysis. Mass Balance Cp Values Energy Balance Material Costs Simple Plant Cost Using a base of around  £410 per ton of ammonia, and output at 550,000 tonnes, it would be assumed that the plant would produce  £225,500,000 a year of ammonia. The Burrup plant in Australia was built at a cost of  £457 million and produces roughly 800,000 tonnes a year of ammonia. Using the 2/3 power rule, as follows, will allow the costs of the new 550k p/a plant to be shown. C = Cref(S/Sref)2/3 C = 457000000 * (550,000/800,000)2/3 C =  £355,984,702 The output of the new plant is  £225,500,000, but the plant costs  £355,984,702 to build, so it would take around a year and seven months for the plant to be profitable, based on an estimation without including the costs of the raw materials. Taylor Method Pay Back Time Sustainability The environment is constantly changing, whether by nature or by human led processes. Sustainability is about trying to manage this change through balancing social, economic and environmental needs, both locally and globally for present and future generations. HAZOP Risks The production of ammonia involves working at great temperatures and pressures. As such, it is vital that the equipment used in the plant is designed to withstand these conditions to function properly. The high temperatures and pressures involved in the production of ammonia can potentially put tremendous amounts of strain on the pipes and vessels used. The risks associated with this are: * Explosions from sudden release of pressurised gases from ruptured vessels * Fragmentation from rupture of the pipes * Fire * Poisoning from exposure to leaked materials * Chemical or thermal burns, again from exposure to leaked materials Not only are these hazards life-threatening, they would also be very expensive to put right for the production company. These risks can be avoided by preparing the plant for the conditions that it is about to go through. It is more economically viable to run the steam reformer at as high a temperature and pressure as possible. Magnesium oxide-lined furnaces, MgO, has a melting point of around 2800 degrees Fahrenheit, making it ideal for lining the furnaces used in the production of hydrogen. Hydrogen itself will cause some materials to become brittle and eventually break. Hydrogen features an active electron and thus will behave like a halogen, causing erosion in the metals that it comes into contact with. This can be avoided by using high-purity stainless steel in the sections of the plant which will come into contact with the hydrogen. This steel must have a maximum hardness of 80 HRB on the Rockwell Scale. Ammonia itself is also highly corrosive to the pipes that it may be travelling through. For this reason, it is recommended that stainless steel is also used here, at a similar hardness of that shown above. Most ammonia plants use centrifugally cast high-alloy tubing to hold the nickel-base catalyst in the primary reformer furnace. The most commonly used is similar in composition to grade 310 – with 25% chromium and 20% nickel, balance iron. This has a carbon content in the range of 0.35 – 0.45% for improved high-temperature creep and rupture stress. Thermal protection of piping involves fire brick owing to the high temperatures involved.