Renovation Of Units Research Articles

The impact of environmental regulation on green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises in China-based on a three-stage exogenous variable model

Due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events and the implementation of the China’s dual-carbon target, thermal power companies have been under pressure to construct green infrastructure and to actively pursue low-carbon transformation in response to stricter environmental regulations. This research thus selects 30 listed thermal power enterprises in China as study objects and assesses their green investment efficiency in the low-carbon transition process using three-stage DEA evaluation model with environmental regulation as an exogenous variable. Based on this, a benchmark regression model is used to corroborate the relationship between environmental regulation and green investment. Simultaneously, we carry out analysis to compare the correlation between thermal power firms’ green investment efficiency and their focus on green investments. The results show in terms of total efficiency that environmental regulation significantly improves the total efficiency of 80% of thermal power enterprises compared to the absence of this exogenous variable. With the addition of environmental regulation, firms’ total efficiency declines gradually in general from 2018 to 2022, with the mean value of efficiency falling by 0.068. In terms of stage-specific efficiency, the efficiency of the green investment stage of the majority of firms is between 0.3 and 0.6, which is much lower than that of the operational stage and the market performance stage. In terms of sub-indicator efficiency, both green investment efficiency and social donation efficiency among thermal power enterprises show obvious polarization, with 30% of them having an efficiency of 1 and 30% less than 0.1. In terms of green investment focus, thermal power unit renovation has a more obvious role in boosting the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises than do wind power and photovoltaic projects. Therefore, both governmental departments and thermal power enterprises need to take active measures in order to achieve green transformation from the perspective of green investment efficiency. Through the segmentation of important projects of green investment, this paper provides a reasonable investment direction reference for the sustainable transformation of China’s thermal power industry. It also provides a rich and novel theoretical basis for the Chinese government to further improve the relevant environmental protection laws and regulations of thermal power industry.

Research on methods and scale of deeply exploitable hydropower resources

Deep development of hydropower is an important measure to optimize the structure of clean energy, meet the peak shaving and backup needs of the power system, and achieve the national dual carbon goals. This article conducts a systematic analysis of the development potential of developed and undeveloped hydraulic resources, including unplanned river sections, undeveloped planned power stations, unit renovation and capacity expansion, and the expansion of existing/ongoing power stations. We focused on studying the factors that affect the deep development of hydropower, including the reasonable operation mode of hydropower with different regulation performance in the power grid, the energy structure characteristics of the power system, and the comprehensive water use requirements. A calculation method for the reasonable installation and utilization hours and deep development resources of hydropower stations with different regulation performance after deep development has been proposed. According to calculations, Zhejiang Province can increase its scale by 3331MW, with great potential for deep development.

Optimal Planning of Renovation Work in Leased Buildings under Integrated Project Delivery Method

This paper presents the development of a novel model for optimizing the planning of renovation work in leased buildings that utilize the integrated project delivery (IPD) method to maximize the income of leased units during renovation work. The present model is developed in two main phases: optimization and renovation planning. The model integrates a novel methodology that enables decision makers to select optimal crew deployment data and number of assigned crews for all renovation activities, identify an optimal unit renovation order of all leased units, generate feasible renovation schedules, and quantify and minimize total net renovation cost. A real-life case study of three renovation projects was analyzed to illustrate the use of the model and demonstrate its capabilities. The results of this analysis clearly illustrate the original contributions of the model to the body of knowledge and its novel capability in generating optimal renovation schedules for leased buildings that enable contractors to maximize their share of rewards under IPD projects while minimizing their total renovation cost.

Decreasing emission factor of pollutants in an oil refinery by renovating the furnace design

The significant consumption of gas in the World results in the emission of greenhouse gases into atmosphere. Abadan refinery has always been the biggest and oldest oil refinery in the Middle East and has a variety of refined products. After six months of collecting data about pollutant concentration emitted from a stack of old furnaces of units 75 and new unit 200, the emission factor of the pollutant was calculated. The result showed that the emission factor of some hazardous pollutants emitted from old unit 75 was tremendously higher than that of unit 200. This study suggests the installation of a forced fan to provide the excess air and a feed temperature controlling system to control fuel gas consumption. These would make the fuel combustion complete and decrease its consumption. Meanwhile, further results showed that the renovation of unit 75 could lead to a significant annual reduction of some pollutants such as CO, H 2 S, and C x H x to 66 ton, 3 ton, and 800 kg, respectively; this would increase the emission rate of pollutant SO 2 up to 150 ton annually. Finally, the new data of pollution coming from unit 75 were compared to pollution standard at American refineries. Results showed that the emission factor of most pollutants were below the American standard limits. However, the emission factor of sulfur dioxide emitted from upgraded furnace of unit 75 surpassed the American standard values. Fuel gas needs to be free of hydrogen sulfide in order to decrease SO 2 emission in unit 75. It is predicted that the renovation of other 11 old furnaces belonging to Abadan refinery will result in significant decrease of pollutants CO, C x H x and H 2 S up to 320, 94 and 76 ton annually.

Unit redesign to improve safety, quality, and patient and nurse satisfaction.

179 Background: Increased emphases have been placed on hospital safety, and patient and nurse satisfaction in the competitive cancer care arena. The current climate demands critical attention to stakeholder input in cancer care delivery. Methods: Stakeholder (patients, families, nurses, physicians, and other members of the multidisciplinary care team) input directed efforts in an adult/pediatric oncology/hematology unit renovation. A true focus on stakeholder involvement was evident by uniting the patient advisory council from the cancer care service line, multidisciplinary staff, and unit-based shared governance structures to form the design team. Uniting multiple perspectives and eliciting design team ideas and recommendations ensured renovation plans remained focused on improved care delivery and processes. The design team discussed all aspects of renovation, including work flow, equipment/technology needs, safety and security, and family/child friendly spaces. A key feature of the renovation was the universal room concept, which meant that rooms needed to be adaptable to a cancer patient’s changing needs: from standard care to critical care. Stakeholder input was sought on as all aspects progressed as final decisions were made on aesthetics, family-focused amenities, work flow structures such as location of equipment and supplies, and patient safety features (especially in bathroom spaces). Results: Total falls decreased from 6.17 to 3.1 per 1,000/pt days and falls with injury decreased from 2.9 to 1.8 per 1,000/pt days. Improvements in patient satisfaction scores were seen in “overall room” scores increasing from 79.9 to 90.5 and “visitor /family” satisfaction increased from 87.9 to 92.1. Overall nursing satisfaction improved from 56.68 to 64.58 and job plans to remain on unit rose from 63-89. Conclusions: Avoiding a top-down, hierarchical decision-making process from conceptualization to realization resulted in measurable changes in patient safety and patient and staff satisfaction from pre- to post-renovation. This process can utilized to address the changing needs in cancer care.

Cost Savings Associated with Prohibiting Smoking in U.S. Subsidized Housing

Tobacco smoking in multiunit housing can lead to secondhand-smoke (SHS) exposure among nonsmokers, increased maintenance costs for units where smoking is permitted, and fire risks. During 2009-2010, approximately 7.1 million individuals lived in subsidized housing in the U.S., a large proportion of which were children, elderly, or disabled. This study calculated the annual economic costs to society that could be averted by prohibiting smoking in all U.S. subsidized housing. Estimated annual cost savings associated with SHS-related health care, renovation of units that permit smoking, and smoking-attributable fires in U.S. subsidized housing were calculated using residency estimates from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and previously reported national and state cost estimates for these indicators. When state estimates were used, a price deflator was applied to account for differential costs of living or pricing across states. Estimates were calculated overall and by cost type for all U.S. subsidized housing, as well as for public housing only. Data were obtained and analyzed between January and March 2011. Prohibiting smoking in all U.S. subsidized housing would yield cost savings of approximately $521 million per year, including $341 million in SHS-related healthcare expenditures, $108 million in renovation expenses, and $72 million in smoking-attributable fire losses. Prohibiting smoking in U.S. public housing alone would yield cost savings of approximately $154 million per year. Efforts to prohibit smoking in all U.S. subsidized housing would protect health and generate substantial cost savings to society.

Fungal infections after haematology unit renovation: evidence of clinical, environmental and economical impact

The Haemato-Oncology Unit, Hospital S. Joao, suffered extensive refurbishing intervention in order to adapt for autotransplant patients. Eight new individual rooms with central HEPA filtration system were built. All patients admitted in the department during 14 months prior to and 14 months after renovation works were enrolled. A total of 403 admissions were considered and a detailed analysis of all patients with fungal infections, air quality and antifungal consumption were evaluated in order to study clinical, environmental and economical impact after unit renovation. Patients with acute myeloid leukaemia submitted to induction treatment were the most susceptible to acquisition of fungal infections. Fungal infections were reduced after installation of HEPA filters in individual rooms, particularly proven and probable fungal infections. No patients were diagnosed with proven or probable mould infection in the period after the unit renovation and no deaths were registered among patients with the diagnosis of possible fungal infection. Considering the group of patients diagnosed with fungal infection, the average of hospitalization was reduced 3 d in the latter period. The new high-protected rooms showed a reduction of 50% and 95% of airborne fungi, respectively in the first week and after the second week. The consumption of voriconazole and caspofungin was reduced, respectively, 66% and 59% and the final cost with antifungal therapy was reduced by 17.4%. Autotransplant patients may be under higher risk of infection, however, the installation of high-protective measures may efficiently prevent fungal infections in these patients. Renovation of haematology unit resulted in major clinical, environmental and economical improvements. The definition of reference values for airborne agents in hospital facilities remains urgent.

Studies on optimum preventive maintenance policies for general repair result

Abstract In this paper we consider that a unit is repaired preventively after it has operated for time T . After repair, the unit is not as good as a new one, but is equivalent to one which has been used for a period of time. If we let Y indicate such a period of time, then Y is a random variable related to the time for which the unit has already operated. Hence, under the same repair condition as above, we obtain the unit's renovation degree distribution of Y after the unit is repaired preventively at time kT ( k = 2, 3, … ). Further, using the method of leading variables, we obtain the mean number of times the unit has broken down from time ( k − 1)T to time kT ( k = 1, 2, … ). Finally, considering an objective function with a bound condition and using the Lagrange multipliers method, we obtain an optimal preventive maintenance time T , for which the minimum total repair cost is achieved.

Epidemiology and prevention of Clostridium difficile infections in a leukemia unit.

A 29-month prospective study was carried out in a leukemia unit with the aim of investigating the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infections and limiting their spread. Systematic cultures of stools and assays for cytotoxin were performed on patient admission and at weekly intervals, yielding 1,355 cultures and assays. The study period was divided in period A, before total unit renovation, and period B, afterwards. During period B all patient carriers of Clostridium difficile received vancomycin. A comparison of the two periods showed that the percentage of positive cultures fell from 16.6% to 3.6% and the positive toxin assays from 9.9% to 1.2%. It was concluded that colonization by Clostridium difficile can be prevented in hospital wards with generally high rates of infection by a combination of decontamination of the environment, introduction of preventive measures and treatment of Clostridium difficile carriage with vancomycin.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Renovation: The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center 1975-1976

The renovation of the neonatal intensive care unit at The New York Hospital has served to test several new ideas about the design of intensive care facilities for infants. Our experience has supported our original feelings that smaller rooms rather than large open spaces offer significant advantages to both staff and families of patients. The radial arrangement of beds around a central supply module has concentrated our available floor space immediately around the patient's bed while providing convenient access to virtually all supplies used in infant care with a minimum of labor devoted to stock maintenance. The anticipation of our relationships with supportive services such as radiology and biochemistry has allowed us to integrate these functions smoothly into the design of the unit in such a way that service and patient care are generally improved as a result of this advance planning. In short, the design has proved conceptually sound but shares flaws that many units before ours have recognized. You cannot have too much storage space or too much floor space. In general, this design has vindicated our original concept that facility design should offer unique solutions to individual problems. It is difficult to generalize about what will and what will not work in a particular setting. But, in general, careful consideration and good planning are excellent investments in the future success of a design for a new ICU or a facility renovation.