Monday, January 27, 2020

Petrochemical Industry Introduction To Chemical Engineering Assignment Engineering Essay

Petrochemical Industry Introduction To Chemical Engineering Assignment Engineering Essay Introduction Petrochemical industry is being chosen as our main topic for the introduction to Chemical Engineering assignment. Petrochemical is the second level products being derived from crude oil after several refining processes. These chemicals are typically extracted during the refining process as  crude oil  and gas are distilled or cracked, and they can be utilized in a wide variety of ways. Petrochemical can be used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is one of the oldest synthetic materials with the longest history in industrial production.  Ã‚  Its early history is of multiple and accidental discovery in different places at different times as well as unsuccessful quests for commercial application. During the 1950s many more companies started to produce PVC and volumes increased dramatically around the world. PVC products rapidly became essential to the construction industry; the plastics resistance to light, chemicals and corrosion made it the best option for building applications. Improvement made to the materials resistance to extreme temperatures, allowed for PVC to be transporting water to thousands of homes and industries.  PVCs low cost, excellent durability and process ability make it the material of choice for dozens of industries such as health care, IT, transport, textiles and construction. The chemical process for making PVC involves taking the simplest unit, called the monomer, and linking these monomer molecules together in the polymerization process. Various additives including stabilizers and plasticizers need to be added to PVC resin to create a compound that meets the requirement of the end product and of the processing technology to be used.   Importance of Petrochemical Industry in Our Society The petrochemical industry is a complex industry that affects all spheres of life. Most items used in everyday life such as plastic products and soaps owe their existence to petrochemicals. The petrochemical industry connects downstream sectors such as pharmaceuticals with the upstream oil and gas industry.   The petrochemical industry converts feed stocks such as naphtha and natural gas components such as butane, ethane and propane through steam cracking or catalytic cracking into petrochemical building blocks such as olefins and aromatics. While olefins include ethylene, propylene, methanol and C4 stream such as butadiene, aromatics include benzene, toluene and xylene. The petrochemicals of commercial importance in the petrochemical industry include ethylene, propylene, benzene and xylene. These petrochemical building blocks are further processed to yield final products such as paints, polyester and plastics. Take ethylene for instance. It is processed into ethyl benzene, ethylen e oxide, ethylene dichloride, ethyl alcohol, acetaldehyde and polyethylene. These undergo further transformation to yield a wide range of products such as tyres, detergents, agrochemicals and plastic products. Originally, most plastics were made from the resins of plant matter. But it wasnt long before plastics were developed from petrochemicals. The packaging industry, the leading user of plastics, accounts for about one-third of total U.S. production. The building industry ranks second, which uses plastic to make  insulation, moulding, pipes, roofing, siding, and frames for doors and windows. Other industries, including automobile and truck manufacturing, also rely heavily on plastics. The United States was hardly alone in its rising use of petroleum products. Throughout the world, increased industrialization and rapid population growth created new and greater demands for oil. By the late 1950s, petrochemicals became one of the largest industries, and control over the sources and transportation of oil became a major national and international political issue. The Supply and Demand The raw material used for the production Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) is Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM). Naphtha, which refers to a several different liquid mixtures of hydrocarbon, is the major feed stock used for the production of VCM. The global VCM supply capacity in the year 2009 was 40.0 million tons which 50.8 % of it is based on Naphtha as feedstock. 27.2 % of the global capacity was based on Natural gas for feedstock followed by 17.2% by coal while only 4.7 % of the global capacity was based on other feed stocks. In terms of region oriented, Asia- Pacific had the largest production capacity in 2009 with 18.1 million tons of production which stands 45.1% of the market share followed by Europe with a production capacity of 10.4 million tons and a share of 25.8%. The Middle East had the capacity of 2.0 million tons and a share of 5.2% while South and Central America were closely behind with 1.6 million tons of production capacity with a share of 3.9%. Based on the report Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) Global Dynamics to 2020, global VCM demand in the year 2000 was 20.7 million tons and it grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8% from the year 2000 to 2009 in which the demand in the latter year had reached 29 million tons. The report has also indicates that there will be increase in demand of VCM with growth of are a CAGR of 5.4% from 2009 to 2020. This means if the reports expectation is correct, the demand of VCM this year will be 32 million tones and by the year 2020, the demand will be reaching 50 million tones. Out of the 29 million tons of VCM demand in the year 2009, Asia-Pacific has the highest demand in the industry with 16.4 million tons with a major share of 56.4%. The North America had a demand of 5.9 million tons and its share was 20.3% while Europe had a VCM demand of 4.8 million tons, followed by South and Central America with demand of 1.2 million tons. The demand share owned by Europe was 16.5% while 4.1% of demand market share is occupied by South and Central America. The Middle East had a demand of only mere 0.8 million tons along with demand share of only 2.7%. In conclusion, we can see that the major demand of VCM is in Asia Pacific and this is also where the production capacity of VCM is highest in a region around the world. Hence, we can conclude that the production capacity is usually closely related to the demand of the region. Prospect of the industry The production of PVC is a chemical industry. To be more specific, it is a synthetic material industry. It is considered a segment of overall chemical industry with manufacturers representing 20% of chemical industry. The plastic industry, which manufacturing of PVC is, stands around 70% of the whole synthetic material industry which also includes rubber and manmade fibres. The production of PVC requires a lot of process which in turn will require a big plant for the manufacturing as well as storing. The manufacturing process is complex which requires an expertise in the field. Hence, the industry requires the skill and knowledge of a chemical engineer to maintain the plant as well as solving problem that exists within the manufacturing process. Besides, transportation of raw materials is also needed to be coordinated by the manufacturer to lower to cost to yield more profit. From the supply and demand perspectives, both of it is growing from year to year basis which is thoroughly discussed at Supply and Demand section. The reason to the increase in demand is due to the usage of this PVC material, mainly in piping but also diversify to other utilities like plastic for manufacturing of table lamp. On the other hand , the supply of raw material increases due to the demand. The industry plays an important role to the consumer in providing them the product as well as to the economy in making profit and providing jobs opportunity. Impact on the Environment During the manufacturing of PVC process, wastes such as production residue sand installation waste which give impact on the environment will be released out. vinyl chloride monomer is used to produce the  polymer  polyvinyl chloride  (PVC). VCM can be a carcinogen, can cause a rare form of cancer which known as angiosarcoma. Excluding its flammability potential at release, VCM quickly dissipates posing slight threat to human health in form of diluted form and quickly degenerates when exposed to normal daylight as in the open atmosphere. During the polymerization process, basically all of the VCM is changed into the inert polymer chains that form the PVC plastic. The possibility of residual unpolymerised VCM to stay on in the polymer and eventually transfer into food from PVC packaging is high. Some of the liquid  petroleum  hydrocarbon  will be released into the environment like the  ocean  or  coastal waters due to human activity, and is a form of  pollution. In case the balance of ecosystem will be affected. In the process, the combustion of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases and other air pollutants as by-products. In Addition, oil spill is a release of a petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to manufacturing PVC process. In other to reduce the impact on the environment, an capable waste management system will reduce the not being re-used and make the most of the use of economically and environmentally rational recovery schemes. Step of Incineration with Energy Recovery can be taken. Oil that used in PVC production can be utilised as a minimum twice, Incorporating PVC consumer products can be under controlled and reduces the amount of PVC going to landfill and reduces the pollutions. The modern incinerators are equipped with pollution control equipment and run to the highest standards therefore it can help to minimise the release of emissions to the environment. In addition,  mechanical and feedstock recycling can implemented Moreover, anything of the PVC recovery process, residual fraction of waste is contained which not recyclable. Controlled landfill still remains a disposal option in the limited fraction. The consumer product which containing PVC presence in landfill does not constitute a major risk to the environment is confirmed by finding of independent studies. .   Processes how PVC is manufactured (Electrolysis, Chlorination VCM Cracker) 1 Electrolysis: Electrolysis, is a method of using electric current to drive a non-spontaneous chemical reaction. In the production of the PVC, chlorine is produced by separating the chlorine and sodium ions of a salt brine using the method of electrolysis. The electrolysis of salt brine will produce hydrogen gas and chlorine gas. 2 Chlorination: Chlorination is the process of adding chlorine into ethene to produce ethylene chloride also commonly known as vinyl chloride. The chlorine is from the process of electrolysis of brine salt from previous process. In chlorination , chlorine is added to ethene to replace two H atom from the molecule without breaking the double bond in ethene to produce 1,2-dichloroethane. Iron (III) is used as catalyst in the process .   CH2=CH2 + Cl2 > ClCH2CH2Cl   3 Thermal cracking(VCM Cracker): The main purpose of this process is to obtain the chloroethene also known as VCM. This is done because VCM couldnt be obtained by simple chlorination of ethene. Hence, this process is carried out to removed one atom of chlorine from 1,2-dichloroethane as well as recovering the carbon-carbon double bond to obtain VCM. Basically the process is being carried out with condition of 500  °C with pressure ranging from 15 atm to 30 atm. Under that condition, 1,2-dichloroethane decomposes to produce chloroethene (VCM) and hydrogen chloride.   ClCH2CH2Clà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢CH2=CHCl+HCl (Prepared by Lim Chung Kin, 0902959) (4 Quenching,5 cooling water ,6 purification) Cracking furnace effluent must be quenched, or cooled rapidly, to keep coking at a minimum. Therefore, the hot effluent gases are typically quenched and partially condensed by direct contact with cold EDC in a quench tower. Alternatively, the hot effluent can first be cooled by heat exchange with cold liquid EDC furnace feed or by vaporizing boiler feed water (BFW) to produce high pressure steam in a transfer line exchanger (TLX) prior to entering the quench tower. This arrangement saves energy by decreasing the amount of fuel needed to fire the cracking furnace and/or steam needed to vaporize the feed. Then it will undergo the Purification process. Water elimination in a VCM purification system is achieved through on condition that a separation of a liquid mixture which consist of water, hydrogen chloride, and vinyl chloride into a hydrogen chloride distillate stream and an essentially pure vinyl chloride product stream in distillation column; and a drying system is placed in fluid communication with the distillation column midsection at a connection point where the water reached sufficient concentration so that a water functional mass transfer flux from a withdrawn midsection stream into a drying agent is provided. The temperature control in this column achieves EDC-water separation control. The VCM produced in the pyrolysis section is separated in the VCM purification section. In the HCL column, temperature control is used to distil HCL off the top of the mixed feed containing mainly EDC, VCM and HCL. The bottom product is fed to the VCM column, where the temperature is controlled to purify VCM as overhead product and the recovered EDC is recycled back to the EDC purification section After the VCM purification process, it is ends up in the feed to the oxychlorination process. If acetylene is allowed to enter the oxychlorination reactor, the acetylene would be readily converted to perchloroethylene and other heavily chlorinated by-products, resulting in a significant HCL efficiency loss. Consequently, the HCL recycle stream is usually passed through a hydrogenation reactor to selectively convert the acetylene to ethylene, which makes more EDC downstream. Hydrogenation is generally carried out in a fixed bed reactor packed with catalyst made from a precious metal on an inert support. Hydrogen is added to the feed in stoichiometric excess to ensure conversion of acetylene to ethylene. The reaction is temperature dependant, with lower temperatures being preferable to maximize conversion to ethylene. If the temperature is too high, a fraction of the acetylene may be further hydrogenated to ethane. (Prepared by Hew She Luan, 0905291) (Stripping, Centrifuging, Drying and Sieving Process) 7 Stripping: In all of the processes used to produce PVC, unreacted VCM is present at the end of the reaction. VCM is a carcinogenic substance and its removal from PVC is very important for both avoiding downstream emission and for recycle purpose. Superheated steam is injected into the polymerization product in the reactor. The steam causes unreacted VCM to vaporize making it easy to remove. The temperature of the steam injected into the polymerization product should be 180 while the pressure should be 10 bar. 8. Centrifuging: During this step, PVC is separated from VCM. The water to the inlet of the centrifuge is filtered to prevent PVC from being contaminated by impurities in the water. Nexis T filters rated at 10m are recommended to filter the water. 9. Drying: Most of the water is removed when the slurry passes through the centrifuge. A damp cake of polymer leaves the centrifuge and is conveyed into the fluid bed dryer. Here, the remaining water contained in the porous grains evaporates as a stream of heated air bubbles through the polymer powder. In order to minimize the emissions, the moist air is wet-scrubbed before discharge into the atmosphere.    10. Sieving: After the drying process, the PVC will go through sieving process where the PVC is separate into different sizes for further processing. (Prepared by Cody Yip Jun Kit, 10UEB00894) (Storage and Handling, Control Room and Polymerization) 11. Storage and Handling VCM must be stored in a tightly closed container in a cool, well ventilated area, away from direct sunlight, heat and incompatible materials .VCM can be stored in steel tanks at ambient temperature. The drums must be equipped with self closing valves, flame arresters and pressure vacuum. Consider installation of leak detection and alarm for storage and use area. VCM should not be stored below ground level. 12. Control Room A Control Room is the room where pumps, fans, blowers, mixers, mills and centrifuges are controlled by variable speed drives and soft starters. Minicomputers are used to control chemical reactors in the PVC production process. Computer control can bring advantages to a batch process, closer control of the process, major gains in safety and the opportunity to use larger, more efficient processing equipment. Under manual control, a polymerization cycle might take about 14 hours but computer control can cut this time to about 8 hours. Computer control also offers substantial gains in accuracy and safety. A typical computer controlled reactor stands about six stories tall and hold 30,000 to 50,000 gallons. While in manually controlled plants, each reactors capacity is between 2,000 and 7,000 gallons. Computer control enables PVC plants to meet new OSHA standards, effective April 1, 1976, that will limit the exposure of workers to VCM vapors. VCM vapor is a known human carcinogen. If inhaled or absorbed through the skin, it may be harmful. VCM vapors may be a reproductive hazard. 13. Polymerization The process of polymerization links together the vinyl chloride molecules to form chains of PVC. The PVC produced in this way is in the form of a white powder. This is not used alone, but blended with other ingredients to give formulations for a wide range of products.   In the polymerization process practically all of the VCM is processed into the inert polymer chains that make up the PVC plastic. It is possible for extremely low levels of any residual depolymerised VCM to remain in the polymer and eventually migrate into food from PVC packaging, but only at levels. Polymerization of PVC is divided into 2 types which is emulsion polymerization and suspension polymerization. Emulsion polymerization involves the polymerization of monomers in an aqueous medium containing surfactant and a water soluble initiator, producing PVC lattices. PVC lattices are colloidal dispersions of spherical particles, ranging in size between 0.1 and 3.0 ÃŽÂ ¼m. Most PVC lattices are spray dried and then milled to obtain fine powders, made up of agglomerates of latex particles. When mixed with plasticizers they disperse readily to form stable suspensions. During mixing most of the agglomerates are broken down into the original latex particles. Such dispersion of fine particles in plasticizers are known as plastisols or pastes, and the powder is called dispersion or paste polymer. The surfactant layer around the particle surface prevents their adsorbing the plasticizer at room temperature so they can be used as liquids and may then be spread on to fabric or other subs trates, poured on molds, or deposited on formers to produce flooring, wall covering, artificial leather, balls, toys, or protective gloves. There are other grades of PVC polymers, produced by emulsion polymerization, that do not form plastisols and that are used as blends with suspension PVC grades for extrusion application or in the manufacture of battery separator plates. These so-called emulsion polymers are of only minor economic interest. Sales in latex form are very limited; lattices are used in water-based paints, printing inks, and impregnated fabrics. (Prepared by A. Srinyanavel 0904742) (Packing and dispatch, compounding, converting and recycling) 14. Packing dispatch: In this process, soft PVC is packed on a semi-automatic snaking machine or manually, depending on the size, shape, and length and intended use of final product. The length of the roll cut on a stumble varies for fix packages form 10m to 100 m. However, other lengths are also obtainable upon appeal. Rolls are provided with 3 binding strips and marked with markets badges. Some soft PVC sizes are packed into polyethylene foil to provide appropriate security against incidental scratch or corrosion of their functionality. 15. Compounding: This process involves storage, conveying, metering, mixing, and cooling. All these operations occur prior to the actual melt compounding. The distribution becomes harder because the filler loading level is increased and the surface area of the mineral filler increases. The surface area increases rapidly due to the particle size decreases. These are important steps in the process that can affect the quality of PVC. If these requirements are not met completely, the final products physical properties will be affected. 16. Converting: This process is either makes final PVC products for sale or makes components for further uses. Different additives like stabilisers and plasticisers need to be added to PVC resin to create a compound that meets the requirement of the final product and of the processing technology to be used. Compounding may be carried out by the converters or by separate compounders who supply ready-made blends prepared for processing. The PVC compound is then converted by processes such as extrusion, moulding and calendaring. 17.Recycling: Polyvinyl Chloride can be reused; however the purity of the material tends to degrade with each time of reuse cycle. In addition, the separation of the different additives and compounds forming the plastic makes recycle a difficult process. The biggest problem with PVC recycling is that it is difficult to automate the sorting of plastic waste, and so it is labor-intensive. There are three ways of PVC recycling: mechanical recycling, mechanical recycling for mixed plastics and feedstock recycling. (Prepared by Cheah Kai Mun, 0904128) Role of chemical engineer in petrochemical industry Beneath all of the general responsibilities listed above, a petrochemical engineer must engage in numerous specific duties on a daily basis. The first duty which the petrochemical engineer is responsible for completing is research. The petrochemical engineer must take careful steps to ensure that what they are looking to manufacture and how they are looking to manufacture a product is the right avenue to pursue. The way to resolve this issue is by doing a lot of research on a variety of topics relating to petrochemical engineering. The petrochemical engineer is also responsible for designing a variety of items and this is a very important duty which they must complete. A petrochemical engineer must design various items such as measurement and control systems, petrochemical manufacturing equipment and petrochemical manufacturing processes. This is a major duty on the part of the petrochemical engineer and one which must be carried out with preciseness at all levels and stages.   A petrochemical engineer must also engage in a wide array of analyses. The things which the petrochemical engineer must analyze include test data, engineering design, design problems and research findings. The petrochemical engineer must take painstaking measures to adequately analyze these items as the outcome of the project could very well depend on the analysis which is undertaken by the petrochemical engineer.   One who is an engineer must develop certain procedures and policies as well so that there will be smooth operations all the way around the board. Various procedures and policies such as safety procedures, data tables and employment policies may all be in the hands of the petrochemical engineer. A senior level petrochemical engineer will have more to do with regard to developing policies and procedures within the company orcorporation.   The preparation of multiple reports is also in the hands of the petrochemical engineer. The petrochemical engineer must prepare data which specifically details the findings of certain tests and evaluations. These reports can be text or tables depending on the type of report which is needed.   A petrochemical engineer will also deal with other individuals a great deal. The reason for doing so is to relay the results and findings as well as oversee other petrochemical engineers and related workers in their field. From time to time, petrochemical engineers must lecture to their peers and the general public regarding their job and role in society. The Skills/Knowledge required by the engineer In the oil and natural gas industry such as PVC manufacturing industry, the Petrochemical Engineer is playing a important role. With all the products derived from crude oil it is practically impossible to imagine a world without them.   Act as a petrochemical engineer, several skills and knowledge are needed. Petrochemical engineers should be expert in analytical things. They need constantly putting their creativity to work, efficiently and on a large scale, transforming combinations of elements of matter, synthesizing new materials.  Besides, it is important to determine the most effective processes for normal production. For example, Design and develop newest and enhanced processes and equipment for converting the raw materials into products by using computers to simulate and control such processes. Other than that, creative and innovative thinking with excellent problem solving skills is important to a petrochemical engineer. In order to have an organized and high quality products being designed, engineers should always troubleshoot environmental problems in industrial processing and manufacturing plants. Just in the same way, efficient, safe and environmentally responsible plant operations needed to be ensured. Moreover, planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks skills across multiple projects are needed by an engineer. They acquire excellent both spoken and written, communication skills, and cooperate well in teams with people from different backgrounds and disciplines. Engineers, technicians, supervise technologists, and other involved in related activities. Additionally, participates aggressively in new product introduction are motivated, including influencing the design of the product to ensure manufacturability and quality conformance, testing the dependability of prototypes and managing the alteration into production.   Applying mathematical and scientific principles are needed too. Some of the processes such as catalytic cracking is developed by Petrochemical engineers to break down the complex organic molecules found in crude oil into much simpler molecules. Conclusion In a nutshell, chemical engineers need to possess skills, knowledge and experience in order to make the conversion of raw materials that enter the reactor into a useful product that leaves the reactor a success as well as minimizing the damage done to the environment. PVC production is still in demand worldwide even though everyone realizes that PVC takes a long time to decompose. However, the production of PVC will not be stopped as other industries still rely on plastics to manufacture or to pack their products. The industrial method to produce PVC involves 17 processes according to our group research and among the 17 processes some actually emit harmful materials or gases as a byproduct that causes damage to the environment. However, these processes must be made as environmentally friendly as possible to produce PVC without damaging the environment.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

History of Child Labour Essay

Children are the gifts; they are the precious gifts presented by Almighty God to human life for filling the world with smile, happiness, and hope. Children are the future citizens; it is childhood which determines a child’s future, his/her life and their worthy contributions to the world. Thus it becomes an important aspect for us, for everyone in the society, and for the Government to protect, nourish and work for the overall welfare of children of a particular Nation and the children of the World as a whole. When we discuss about child labour, we know that it is a curse upon the God gifted little ones on Earth. Child Labour, in general, means the employment of children in any work with or without payment. Every child out of school in the age group of 5 to 14 years, children who are paid in work, children who work outside the homes or children who in hazardous industries can be said to be child labourers. According to Stein and Davies, child labour means any work by children that interferes with their full physical development, the opportunities for a desirable minimum education and for their needed recreation. Origin History of child labour can be traced to some dark realms of industrialisation. But a more detailed study of this heinous, shameful practice can reveal that child labour was there much before industrialisation in various forms like in child slavery. If we turn the pages of History we see that there was a custom for youths from the Mediterranean basin to serve as aides, charioteers and armed bearers to their adult counterparts. A few of such examples can be found in Bibles when David serves his King Soul; we find the examples of Hercules and Hylash in Greek Mythology as well. In Greece this practice was considered to be an educational tradition and boys were considered to be an efficient fighting force. Hitler Youth was an official organisation in the Nazi Army. During the battle of Berlin, this youth force was a major part of the German Defences. In India, children used to help and accompany their parents in agricultural and other household activities in ancient times. Thus we see that child labour is not quite a new thing to the world. But during 1780 and 1840s, there was a massive increase in child exploitation. During the industrial revolution, it was very common to find children working in factories. In 1788, more than 60% of workers in textile mills of England and Scotland were children. Since industrialisation, children have been seen working in factories, mines, some having their own small business like selling food, flowers, polishing shoes, serving as waiters in restaurants and as domestic servants as well. The most controversial and worst forms of child labour and exploitation included military use of children, child trafficking, organised begging and child prostitution etc. So these are the various forms of child labour that are being present in today’s societies over the world. Causes of Child Labour  India accounts for the second highest number where child labour of the world is concerned. Africa accounts for the highest number of children employed and exploited. Over population, poverty, parental illiteracy, lack of proper education, urbanisation, availability of cheap child labour are some common causes of wide-spread child labour. Parental ignorance regarding the bad effects of child labour, the ineffectiveness of child labour laws in terms of implementation, non-availability and non-accessibility to schools are some of the other factors which encourages the phenomenon of child labour. It is also very difficult to immature minds and undeveloped bodies to understand and organise themselves against exploitation in the absence of adult guidance. Statistics show that in India, between 2007 and 2009, 5,392 instances of violations of the child labour prohibition laws were detected. Prosecution was launched only in six cases. The period saw only three convictions. In 2006-07, 2,363 child labour employment instances were found, but violators were booked only in one case which resulted in conviction(published in The Times of India, Kolkata edition, Monday, January 25, 2010). Moreover, illiterate and ignorant parents do not understand the need for wholesome physical, cognitive and emotional development of their child. They are themselves uneducated and unexposed, so they do not understand the importance of education for their children. The industrial revolution has also had a negative effect by giving rise to circumstances which encourages child labour. Sometimes multi-nationals prefer to employ child labourers in developing countries especially in garment industries only because they can be recruited for less pay and more work can be extracted from them and there is no problem of union with them. This attitude also makes it difficult for adults to find job in factories, forcing them to drive their little ones to work in factories. Orphanage is an another reason of child labour. Children born out of wed-lock, children with no parents and relatives, often do not find anyone to support which forces them to work for their own survival. Moreover, willingness to exploit children is the most responsible cause for child labour. This is the root of the problem. Even if a family is very poor, the incidence of child labour will be very low unless there are people willing to exploit these children. Possible Solutions  Elimination of poverty, free and compulsory education, proper and strict implementation of the labour laws, abolishment of child trafficking can go a long way in solving the problem of child labour. The World Band, International Monetary Fund can help in eradicating poverty by providing loan to the developing countries. Various poverty elimination programmes have been introduced by our Government as well for the cause. After the 86th Amendment of the Constitution in the year 2002, the provision for free and compulsory education between the age group of 6 to 14 years has been included as fundamental right under Article 21A. Children irrespective of their race, caste, sex, economic condition, religion, place of birth, and parents to whom they born of need to how to read and write. They need social and professional skills that only a school and nurturing environment can provide. The most essential part in this regard is the effective implementation of the policies and strict enforcement of the labour laws. The Government must take strict measures against those employing child labourers in hazardous works and other industries. The NGOs also have a big role to play in this regard. Various NGOs are working for the cause of child labour. MVF in Andhra Pradesh is a striking example. They have been working for the welfare of children in various respects. Compulsory education can help eradicating the problem of child labour up to a large extent. Statistics also show that education has helped in reducing child labour in Western Countries up to a large extent. Most importantly the incidence of child labour would diminish considerably even in the force of poverty, if there are no parties willing to exploit them. Strict implementation of child labour laws and practical and healthy authorities to replace this evil can a go long way to solve this problem of child labour. Along with this, participation of the common educated citizens in the process of eliminating child labour can help out a lot. As common people also, we can help the poor uneducated children in getting at least some idea about the alphabets also! In the words of Bill Gates, we can say that â€Å"Until we’re educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do. † Inclusion of Child Labour Laws in Legal Education and other branches of education can also be regarded as effective steps as it creates awareness among the student communities. As a student of law, we can at least make the downtrodden aware of the needs of formal education system and the cause of elimination of child labour so as to provide those helpless children a chance to enhance their capacities to the fullest extent possible and enable them to contribute their best for making this world a better place to live in. What is child labour? Among adults the term â€Å"child labour† conjures up a particular image: children chained to looms in dark mills and sweatshops, as if in a long nightmarish line running from Lancashire in the 1830s right through to the South Asia of today. In reality, children do a variety of work in widely divergent conditions. This work takes place along a continuum, from work that is beneficial, promoting or enhancing a child’s development without interfering with schooling, recreation and rest to work that is simply destructive or exploitative. There are vast areas of activity between these two poles. It is at the most destructive end, where children are used as prostitutes or virtual slaves to repay debts incurred by their parents or grandparents or as workers in particularly hazardous conditions, that efforts are focused to stop such abuse.

Friday, January 10, 2020

The U.S. Cities in the Late 1800’s: Major Problems and Their Solving

The cities have played an important role in the development of the United States since the founding of the nation. Many historians agree that the Revolution itself and the rise of the Confederation of 13 independent states were nurtured exactly in the cities of America (Green, 1957, p. 2). Urban life in the late 19th century, perhaps more largely than today, when rural isolation has been broken down by the modern miracles of transportation and communication, formed the substance of American civilization (Light, 1983, p. 96).City enterprise, backed by city money, looking for new products to sell and new markets to sell to, was a powerful force in peopling the country (Jackson & Schultz, 1972a, p. 6). The purpose of this study is to explore the major problems which the American cities faced in the late nineteenth century and how their dwellers resolved them. Toward this end we will discuss the tendency of fast cities’ growing in late 1800s and in what way it conditioned the urba n problems, analyze the economical and social factors contributing to emergence of such problems, and consider the successful examples of their solving.The city is justly regarded as the handmaiden of industrialization. By 1890, a century after the first national census, the number of city dwellers was 139 times larger than the 1790 figure, although the American population as a whole had multiplied only sixteen fold (Jackson & Schultz, 1972a, p. 1). The influence of cities on American life had been mounting steadily throughout the 19th century. With land everywhere available and transport the chief problem to consider, commercial centers had arisen where good harbors provided safe anchorage for ocean-going ships.Due to this tendency, in 1980s the cities scattered along the coast were necessarily the focus of national economic life (Green, 1957, p. 242). In 1890 the nation's population was already 1/3 urban and the population in the Northeast was well over 1/2 urban. With 2 million i nhabitants New York was the 2nd largest city in the world, and Chicago and Philadelphia each contained about a million inhabitants. Places like Minneapolis, Denver, and Seattle, which hardly existed in 1840, had become major regional metropolises (Goodall & Sprengel, 1975, p. 2).The enormous growth of American cities at that time is attributed largely to the quickening pace of the industrial revolution which harnessed technological innovation and scientific inquiry to more productive uses of energy and new uses of materials, but also to the political revolution which enshrined individual rights and democratic process in law, and the demographic revolution which increased the size of the population.Organized means of production led to larger factory complexes and to larger urban centers; in turn, the building of homes and offices and streets and sewers in those centers fueled the industrialization trend (Jackson & Schultz, 1972b, p. 177). Such rash economic development and fast growi ng of urban population stipulated emergence of many serious problems in urban communities not known earlier. Poverty of the city-dwellers, overcrowding of housing, transportation and environmental pollution were among the most critical problems (Light, 1983).Rising crime rates, increasing pauperism, and spiraling juvenile delinquency signaled a moral dislocation in cities undergoing commercial and industrial transformation. Swarms of foreign immigrants challenged their capacity to accommodate and assimilate newcomers, as did the influx of white and black native migrants from the countryside and small towns. Everywhere the orderly patterns of existence appeared interrupted; the cities seemed to be overwhelmed by the rush of social change (Ward, 1972, p. 164).Cities lacking institutionalized systems of orderly government (police departments, fire departments, centralized governmental bureaucracies) had to forge new tools to hammer out an urban discipline (Schultz, 1972, p. 308). A gro wing and ever more diverse population; new industrial demands on the time and energy of citizens; cities bursting at the seams of their former boundaries; and social institutions like the family and the church dissolving in the heat of economic progress – all these disparate elements of urban life had to be adjusted and accommodated to each other.Of the various disorders in urban life, the most evident was poverty. To resolve this problem many city leaders championed education to secure social order in a disorderly age. While American cities always had known the poor, urban leaders of the past had believed in the transience of poverty. But in the late 19th century, these attitudes shifted dramatically. City officials began to suspect, that urban poverty was not a passing phenomenon but a permanent condition.A growing number of urban paupers presaged a day when cities might be divided sharply along class lines; when foreign indigents might threaten the hegemony of native Ameri cans; and when public financial resources might be devoted more to charitable relief, to workhouses, and to prisons than to other needed public services. Many urban leaders saw in public education a form of social insurance against a possible tomorrow when the poor might dominate city life (Schultz, 1972).The problems of poor city-dwellers were intensified by lack of sufficient habitation. During the three generations of sustained and heavy European immigration into the United States, which preceded the immigration restriction legislation of the early 1920s, congested ghettoes of foreign immigrants assumed substantial dimensions within the residential structures of American cities. Most immigrants settled near the sources of unskilled employment, and the majority of newcomers concentrated on the margins of the emerging central business districts. To solve this problem vacated houses were converted into tenements and rooming houses, while vacant lots and rear yards were filled with c heap new structures (Ward, 1972, p. 164).One more solution for this housing problem was found in so called filter process that is creation of vacancies in standard housing for families of lower incomes. Filter process describes the way in which the normal housing market should work. As new housing is built, families who can afford to pay more vacate older units which then become available to families of a somewhat lower income who are on their way up the economic ladder and who in turn move out of still less desirable quarters (Green, 1957, p. 138).Another vital problem was transportation. Associated with urban population rise was a nascent suburban movement; many wealthy families gave up residential locations close to the noisy and crowded marketplaces, opting instead for houses in smaller peripheral towns. These suburbanites maintained their connection with the larger population center by water ferry and steam railroad, or they assumed the expense of providing their own carriages to conduct business and friendships in the city. Thus the residential movement away from the city center and into suburban areas predates the development of mass transit (Green, 1957).Out of the period of dynamic urban growth between 1820 and 1860 came the development of the omnibus, the first mass-transit innovation used in the U. S. At first, the conveyance was merely a long-distance stagecoach used within the city or an enlarged version of a hackney coach. Within a decade, though, it had taken a fairly standard form: a rectangular box on wheels containing two lengthwise seats for from twelve to twenty passengers (Jackson & Schultz, 1972b, p. 180).The conducted study proved that whether a given city grew and prospered or stagnated depended on its locational advantages and on the foresight of its civic and business leaders. The speed growth of the U. S. cities was stipulated by the industrial revolution which encouraged cities’ prosperity, but at the same time conditioned th e problems they faced such as overcrowding, poverty and lack of local transportation facilities. Anyway, technological innovations and wise ruling of municipal authorities allowed solving these problems and achieve sufficient balance in the cities’ development.ReferencesGoodall, L. E. , & Sprengel, D. P. (1975). The American Metropolis. Columbus, OH: Merrill. Green, C. M. (1957).American Cities in the Growth of the Nation. New York: John De Graff. Jackson, K. T. , & Schultz, S. K. (1972a).The City in American History: Introduction. In K. T. Jackson & S. K. Schultz (Eds. ), Cities in American History (pp. 1-8). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Jackson, K. T. , & Schultz, S. K. (1972b).Immigration, Migration, and Mobility, 1865-1920. In K. T. Jackson & S. K. Schultz (Eds.), Cities in American History (pp. 177-184).New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Light, I. (1983). Cities in World Perspective. New York: Macmillan. Schultz, S. K. (1972).Breaking the Chains of Poverty: Public Education in Bos ton, 1800-1860. In K. T. Jackson & S. K. Schultz (Eds. ), Cities in American History (pp. 306-323).New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Ward, D. (1972). The Emergence of Central Immigrant Ghettoes in American Cities, 1840-1920. In K. T. Jackson & S. K. Schultz (Eds. ), Cities in American History (pp. 164-176). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Cost Effectively Retrofitting Multifamily Housing

Running head: COST EFFECTIVELY RETROFITTING MULTIFAMILY HOUSING 1 Cost Effectively Retrofitting Multifamily Housing Kym Boyce Marylhurst University August 26, 2016 ? Copyright Information The author hereby grants to Marylhurst University permission to reproduce either electronically or in print format this document in whole or in part for library archival purposes only. The author hereby does ___ does not _X_ grant to Marylhurst University permission to electronically reproduce and transmit this document to students, alumni, staff, and faculty of the Marylhurst University community. Author?s Signature ______ ________Kym Boyce________________________________ ? Table of Contents 4Abstract ? 5Introduction and Background ? 6Literature Review ? 6Abstract ? 7What are the demographics of the green multifamily market? ? 8What are the desirable green qualities for multifamily housing? ? 9How cost effective is it to implement the green developments/renovations? ? 10What are the benefits of retrofitting existing multifamily property with green amenities? ? 10RQ1: What are the demographics of the green consumer? ? 12Description of Research ? 12Green Housing Consumers ? 13Green Multifamily Housing Amenities ? 14Cost Effectiveness and Benefits ? 16Retrofit Methods and Implementation Processes ? 18Case Studies ? 18ECO Modern Flats ? 20Woodhole Duplex ? 22Briarcliff Summit Apartments ? 24Analysis Limitations ? 26Conclusion ? 27References ? ? Table of Figures