INDUSTRIAL PLANTS

The course presents production systems from a technical, economic and managerial perspective and provides the basic tools for the sizing, assessment and management of production plants and general plant services.

By the end of the course, students will be able to formulate and solve preliminary design and management problems concerning industrial plants, assessing alternative solutions from technical and economic perspectives and in terms of reliability, availability and maintenance. Numerical exercises and the use of spreadsheets will allow students to apply the models to representative cases and critically interpret the results.

Dublin Descriptors

Knowledge and understanding

Passing the examination implies that the student has acquired:

• knowledge of the theoretical and applied aspects and of the main methods for the design and management of industrial plants and plant services;
• knowledge of engineering economics principles applied to plant-related decisions, with particular reference to costs, revenues, depreciation and investment appraisal;
• knowledge of the general criteria for sizing plant services under constant, periodic or stochastic demand conditions;
• knowledge of the fundamental concepts of reliability, availability, redundancy and continuity of operation;
• knowledge of the essential operating principles and sizing criteria of the main services covered in the course: electrical distribution, power factor correction, hydraulic networks, compressed air and air-conditioning systems;
• knowledge of the terminology, policies and basic strategies of industrial maintenance;
• knowledge of the general principles of risk analysis and of the FMEA and FMECA methods.

Applying knowledge and understanding

Passing the examination implies that the student has acquired the ability to:

• read and interpret data, diagrams and information relating to simple production systems and plant services;
• formulate and solve technical-economic problems related to the preliminary design and management of industrial plants;
• develop and use cost, revenue and profit models to assess break-even and economic convenience conditions;
• apply the main criteria for industrial investment appraisal;
• calculate and interpret the reliability and availability of components and simple series-parallel configurations;
• size plant services and storage systems under different demand profiles;
• compare alternative plant solutions according to technical, economic and operational-continuity criteria;
• use spreadsheets to organise data, implement calculation models and graphically present results.

Course delivery methods

Lectures and numerical exercises are held in the classroom with the support of a projector, blackboard and teaching materials made available to students on the Studium platform.

Expository teaching includes lectures devoted to the presentation of principles, models and methods for the design and management of industrial plants.

Interactive teaching includes collective and guided numerical problem solving, discussion of results, comparison of alternative solutions and the use of spreadsheets for data processing and graphical representation. A short simulation of the written examination is also planned.

Lectures mainly support the acquisition of knowledge and understanding; exercises are intended to develop the ability to apply methods, check the plausibility of results and justify the choices made.

If the course is delivered in blended or remote mode, appropriate adjustments may be made to the above in order to ensure consistency with the syllabus.

Lectures on theoretical topics carried out by a video projector or overhead projector. Exercises carried out in the classroom using a video projector and the electronic spreadsheet. Collective development of numerical exercises. Short simulation of the exam (numerical exercise).

Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it.

• Knowledge of units of measurement, dimensional equations and basic algebraic and differential calculus is essential.

• Knowledge of the fundamental principles of mechanics, thermodynamics and electrical engineering is important, with particular reference to power and energy quantities, energy balances and elementary electrical circuits.
• Basic knowledge of probability and descriptive statistics and elementary operational skills in the use of spreadsheets are useful.
• Formal prerequisite: Applied Thermodynamics.

Course contents

1. Review topics: Main principles of mechanics, thermodynamics and electrical engineering relevant to the course. Use of units of measurement and dimensional equations. Economic compounding and discounting. Elements of probability, random sampling and Monte Carlo simulation.

2. Introduction: The industrial enterprise, the industrial plant and general plant services. Classification of industrial plants. Flexibility, elasticity and productivity.

3. Engineering economics principles and plant-related decisions: Production function; fixed and variable costs; total, average and marginal costs; revenues and profits; profitability diagram and break-even point; costs relevant to decisions; contribution margin; obsolescence and wear; residual value of plants; capital and operating costs; cost of inefficiency; economic depreciation; industrial investment appraisal criteria.

4. General methods for sizing plant services: Continuity of operation and probability of failure of components and series-parallel systems; reliability and availability; cost of standby capacity; centralisation and decentralisation of services; sizing under stochastic and periodic demand conditions; economies of scale; criteria for sizing buffer storage systems.

5. Plant services and related sizing: Electrical power distribution; technical-economic sizing of electrical lines; power factor correction; economic design criteria for hydraulic networks; compressed-air generation and distribution; preliminary sizing of air-conditioning systems.

6. Maintenance: Regulatory references; terminology and basic concepts; the maintenance function within the company; corrective, preventive, condition-based and predictive maintenance policies and strategies.

7. Occupational safety: General principles of Legislative Decree No. 81/2008; risk analysis; FMEA and FMECA methods.

Contribution of the course to the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda

SDG 7 – Affordable and clean energy: Target 7.3. Technical-economic sizing of energy-related plant services, assessment of losses and plant efficiency.

SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth: Targets 8.2 and 8.8. Productivity, maintenance, operational continuity and principles of occupational safety.

SDG 9 – Industry, innovation and infrastructure: Targets 9.4 and 9.5. Design and management of reliable industrial infrastructure, investment appraisal and use of quantitative and digital tools.

SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production: Targets 12.2 and 12.6. Efficient use of resources, comparison of alternative plant solutions and reduction of inefficiencies.

SDG 13 – Climate action: Target 13.2. Technical-economic assessment of investments and plant solutions connected with energy efficiency and the energy transition.

The contribution is developed through lectures, numerical exercises and application cases carried out with the support of spreadsheets.

Books

1. Turco F., "Principi generali di progettazione degli Impianti Industriali", CLUP, Milano, 1990.

2. Calabrese A., “Gestione degli impianti industriali” - Voll. I e II, CUSL, 2004.

 Lecture Notes

D.1 Richiami

D.2 Principi di Manutenzione 

D.3 Sicurezza sul lavoro: il D.lgs. 9 aprile 28 n. 81

Exercise sheets, spreadsheets, worked examples and further teaching materials are made available on the Studium platform.

Assessment methods

The examination consists of:

a.1) Optional mid-course written tests. Students are admitted to the oral examination after passing the written test with a mark of at least 18/30. Students who obtain a mark between 15/30 and 17/30 may also take the oral examination, although this is not recommended.

a.2) Final written test, for students who do not take the mid-course tests or do not achieve the minimum required mark. Students are admitted to the oral examination after passing the written test with a mark of at least 18/30. Students who obtain a mark between 15/30 and 17/30 may also take the oral examination, although this is not recommended.

The written tests include numerical exercises and application questions covering the main topics of the course. Assessment takes into account the correctness of the model formulation, the accuracy of calculations, the consistent use of units of measurement, the quality of tables and graphs, and the ability to interpret the results.

b) Oral examination. The oral examination assesses knowledge and understanding of the topics included in the syllabus and of the exercises carried out on the basis of the material provided. The relevance of the answers, the ability to connect different topics, the appropriate use of technical language, the ability to provide examples and to justify methodological choices are taken into account.

The written and oral examinations have equal weight in determining the final mark. Operational arrangements and the validity period, if any, of the mid-course tests are communicated during classes and published on Studium.

Learning assessment may also be carried out online, should the conditions require it.

To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures based on educational objectives and specific needs. Students can also contact the CInAP referring teacher within the Department.

Examples of frequently asked questions and/or exercises

• Determine the break-even point or points of a production system from the cost and revenue functions and draw the profitability diagram.
• Assess the economic convenience of an industrial investment by means of net present value and payback period.
• Calculate the reliability and availability of a system consisting of components in series and in parallel and compare alternative configurations.
• Size a plant service under periodic or stochastic demand conditions and determine the required storage capacity, where applicable.
• Compare a centralised and a decentralised solution by considering investment, operating and unavailability costs.
• Carry out the economic sizing of an electrical line, a hydraulic network or a compressed-air distribution network.
• Describe and compare corrective, preventive, condition-based and predictive maintenance policies.
• Explain the main stages of an FMEA or FMECA applied to a component or a simple industrial system.

Further worked numerical exercises and representative examination papers are available on the Studium platform.

Exercises can be downloaded on STUDIUM