The physicochemical characteristics of Bonga crude oil.
\r\n\tGlobalization does not represent a pure and generous process for humanity or other species, but rather it implies social exclusion and also provokes situations of vulnerability in groups of people, forced exclusion, and apartheid: poor job opportunities, lack of access to education, worse socio-sanitary conditions. Specifically, it can be said that social segregation entails the apartheid of social groups of different ages, genders, and ethnicities; these groups live a reality manifested through the deepening of poverty, in terms of increased vulnerability of the poor and groups with little economic, social, cultural, labor and health stability.
\r\n\r\n\tThis book aims to talk about some topics that are neglected in the discourses of academic communities and political elites. The inequality process is deeply rooted among humans and is part of many people's lives in the form of modern apartheid, gender segregation, lack of health access, and cultural gap. All those structural inequality processes are the product of the biopower perpetuated and produced in the macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem, and microsystem. For many people from the academy, the information-consuming public, and the society in general, it is a problem to talk about these processes, since they have either lost interest or have normalized the structural and social inequity. For this reason, we see it as transcendental to explain how this situation occurs from the most internal fibers to the most evident processes, intending to make it more visible and thus expose the situation for possible solutions.
",isbn:"978-1-83768-406-9",printIsbn:"978-1-83768-405-2",pdfIsbn:"978-1-83768-407-6",doi:null,price:0,priceEur:0,priceUsd:0,slug:null,numberOfPages:0,isOpenForSubmission:!0,isSalesforceBook:!1,isNomenclature:!1,hash:"cefab077e403fd1695fb2946e7914942",bookSignature:"Ph.D. Yaroslava Robles-Bykbaev",publishedDate:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11473.jpg",keywords:"Wage Gap, Gender Segregation, Fundamental Human Rights, Health Access, Social Inequity Processes, Modern Apartheid, Resilience, Cultural Gaps, Globalization, Geopolitics of Social Inequality, Public Policies, Social Vulnerability",numberOfDownloads:null,numberOfWosCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitations:null,numberOfDimensionsCitations:null,numberOfTotalCitations:null,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"June 15th 2022",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"July 13th 2022",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"September 11th 2022",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"November 30th 2022",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"January 29th 2023",dateConfirmationOfParticipation:null,remainingDaysToSecondStep:"13 days",secondStepPassed:!1,areRegistrationsClosed:!1,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:2,editedByType:null,kuFlag:!1,biosketch:"Dr. Bykbaev is a member of the UNESCO Chair of Politecnica Salesiana University. She has contributed as co-author and author to approximately thirty scientific publications in the field of statistics, inclusive education, and social and cultural anthropology. These publications focus on the visibility of problems in the field of public health and focus on the creation of proposals to improve community health. Dr. Bykbaev is an active member of the NODO Ecuadorian Network of Women Scientists (REMCI).",coeditorOneBiosketch:null,coeditorTwoBiosketch:null,coeditorThreeBiosketch:null,coeditorFourBiosketch:null,coeditorFiveBiosketch:null,editors:[{id:"313341",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Yaroslava",middleName:null,surname:"Robles-Bykbaev",slug:"yaroslava-robles-bykbaev",fullName:"Yaroslava Robles-Bykbaev",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/313341/images/system/313341.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:"Politecnica Salesiana University",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"0",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"Politecnica Salesiana University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Ecuador"}}}],coeditorOne:null,coeditorTwo:null,coeditorThree:null,coeditorFour:null,coeditorFive:null,topics:[{id:"23",title:"Social Sciences",slug:"social-sciences"}],chapters:null,productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"},personalPublishingAssistant:{id:"444316",firstName:"Blanka",lastName:"Gugic",middleName:null,title:"Mrs.",imageUrl:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/444316/images/20016_n.jpg",email:"blanka@intechopen.com",biography:"As an Author Service Manager, my responsibilities include monitoring and facilitating all publishing activities for authors and editors. From chapter submission and review to approval and revision, copyediting and design, until final publication, I work closely with authors and editors to ensure a simple and easy publishing process. I maintain constant and effective communication with authors, editors and reviewers, which allows for a level of personal support that enables contributors to fully commit and concentrate on the chapters they are writing, editing, or reviewing. I assist authors in the preparation of their full chapter submissions and track important deadlines and ensure they are met. I help to coordinate internal processes such as linguistic review, and monitor the technical aspects of the process. As an ASM I am also involved in the acquisition of editors. 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Venkateswarlu",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/371.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"58592",title:"Dr.",name:"Arun",surname:"Shanker",slug:"arun-shanker",fullName:"Arun Shanker"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"72",title:"Ionic Liquids",subtitle:"Theory, Properties, New Approaches",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d94ffa3cfa10505e3b1d676d46fcd3f5",slug:"ionic-liquids-theory-properties-new-approaches",bookSignature:"Alexander Kokorin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/72.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"19816",title:"Prof.",name:"Alexander",surname:"Kokorin",slug:"alexander-kokorin",fullName:"Alexander Kokorin"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"314",title:"Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering",subtitle:"Cells and Biomaterials",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"bb67e80e480c86bb8315458012d65686",slug:"regenerative-medicine-and-tissue-engineering-cells-and-biomaterials",bookSignature:"Daniel Eberli",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/314.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"6495",title:"Dr.",name:"Daniel",surname:"Eberli",slug:"daniel-eberli",fullName:"Daniel Eberli"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"57",title:"Physics and Applications of Graphene",subtitle:"Experiments",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"0e6622a71cf4f02f45bfdd5691e1189a",slug:"physics-and-applications-of-graphene-experiments",bookSignature:"Sergey Mikhailov",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/57.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"16042",title:"Dr.",name:"Sergey",surname:"Mikhailov",slug:"sergey-mikhailov",fullName:"Sergey Mikhailov"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"1373",title:"Ionic Liquids",subtitle:"Applications and Perspectives",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5e9ae5ae9167cde4b344e499a792c41c",slug:"ionic-liquids-applications-and-perspectives",bookSignature:"Alexander Kokorin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/1373.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"19816",title:"Prof.",name:"Alexander",surname:"Kokorin",slug:"alexander-kokorin",fullName:"Alexander Kokorin"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},chapter:{item:{type:"chapter",id:"72948",title:"Crude Distillation Unit (CDU)",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.90394",slug:"crude-distillation-unit-cdu-",body:'Many crude oils usually contain besides the basic elements of its chemical composition hydrocarbons such as sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and mechanical impurities [1]. Oil also contains the gaseous phase as methane, ethane, and liquid phase. Gas typically dissolves in the liquid, whereas in the balance’s case remains strong. It is noticed with the experience that natural gas fields are close to oil fields [2]. In general, there are four or three oil: aromatic, paraffin, naphthenic. But there is also a mixed type [1]. The classification of crude oil is carried out for various reasons. The criteria for classifying crude oil refer more or less to its quality [3]. For a better understanding of classificatory at the quality (quality/price), the Petroleum world has adopted a benchmark called stallion as Brent Blend produced in the North Sea, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) from the USA, Dubai Crude from Dubai... However, there are other possibilities to classify oil by density, sulfur content, and viscosity. Crude oil supplied to refineries must meet requirements [4]. The pre-treatment of oil from harmful impurities occupies an important place among the main processes associated with the production, collection, and transportation of oil to refineries or export [5]. The harmful impurities of oil can be divided into two groups: hydrophilic (lipophobic) and hydrophobic (lipophilic). The hydrophobic impurities are soluble in oil. These hydrophobic impurities are organometallic compounds (metalloporphyrin complexes), organic acids, among which the most undesirable organochlorine compounds. The Hydrophilic impurities include impurities that are inherently insoluble in oil, these impurities are water and inorganic salts dissolved in it, as well as solid salts, mechanical impurities (sand, clay), hydrogen sulphide, etc. These hydrophilic impurities are in another phase (water), which are dispersed in the oil in the form of drops of water [6, 7]. Therefore, the degree of pre-treatment oil in production areas is an imperative and significantly affects the efficiency and reliability of transportation by pipeline, tanker, rail, and even road transportation [2]. These requirements should facilitate the transportation and future processing of Petroleum. The requirements are summarized as follows: water content, the content of mechanical impurities, saturated steam pressure, the content of chloride salts, and organochlorine compounds [5]. Usually, the degree of pre-treatment of oil for transportation does not consider the content of chloride salts and the content of organochlorine compounds [8], literally because all salts are large in water and not in oil [9], in connection with the decision of the Russian Federation to join the world trade organization (WTO), the requirements for oil are unified following the requirements for prepared oil according to ASTM D1250-97 [4] and EN 224 [3]. However, countries such as Russia use the GOST R 51858-2002 standard for oil, established by oil and gas companies for transportation by oil pipeline [5] for delivery to oil refining plants in the Russian Federation and export. In Russia, the pipeline transport takes into account the above-mentioned points [3, 10]: salt content (100–900 mg/l), water content from 0.5 to 1.0% of mass, impurity content (not over 0.05% of mass).
The crude distillation unit is the first phase of oil refining. That’s what we usually hear. However, if we are very careful, we can notice that oil refining began at the level of oil wells with its pre-treatment; the first pre-treatment of crude oil. However, additional pre-treatment is essential before the first separation (fractions our cups) are obtained. This additional pre-treatment and the manufacturing of these first fractions are carried out at the crude distillation unit as shown in Figure 1. As well, in our humble opinion for a better understanding of this unit, before getting into the thick of the topic, it is important to make the list of the main devices that make up it: The desalination plant, furnaces, distillation columns (atmospheric and under vacuum). Furthermore, in this process, there are also auxiliary equipment that is also very important, such as pumps, valves, heat exchangers, coolers, automatic process control systems, etc. The Russian Federation, as a major participant in the world oil industry alongside the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Argentina, and other countries, has developed its own standards incorporating international standards. In a similar approach, ordinarily, in Russia, they appoint the distillation unit: Atmospheric-vacuum distillation unit (AVDU). AVDU is itself subdivided into two other units which are: Atmospheric distillations unit (ADU) and vacuum distillation unit (VDU). As a result, in this chapter, we tried to explain the operation of the atmospheric distillation crude, to model it, and to compare the usual model of the crude distillation unit with the model of the Russian Federation.
P& ID diagram flow process of crude distillation unit without vacuum distillation. We would like to emphasize that reboilers were used in this scheme in this way, just for esthetics. Less flow to the reboilers is done differently.
An emulsion is a suspension of small droplets of a liquid (water) in a second liquid (oil crude) [11]. The liquids, in a stable emulsion, can only be separated by a treatment process which calls the desalting process [10]. The electrical conductivity of oil emulsions in the literature note that it has an ionic nature. A detailed theory of ionic conductivity of liquid dielectrics. Despite the low dielectric constant, the polar components of crude oil dissociate into ions and create a fairly significant amount of electrical conductivity. The reason of this manifestation is asphalt-resinous substances in oil [12]. Oil emulsion is illustrated in Figure 2.
Oil emulsion.
The demulsifier is a chemical additive to break the crude oil emulsion. The emulsifier destroys the emulsion by reducing the mechanical resistance of the protective shells formed on the surface of the water droplets. By maintaining a strict hydrophilic-lipophilic balance [6]. These emulsions are destroyed using synthetic surfactants (demulsifiers) added to the oil emulsion [13]. The criteria for selecting and evaluating the demulsifier in terms of technology, that is, yield, are as follows [8, 12, 14]:
The velocity of separation of water from oil;
Quality of destruction of emulsions (fullness of water separation);
Reliability in changing production conditions;
The demulsifier must have a good quality/price or cost/efficiency ratio.
The process of dewatering of crude oil enters the oil production process. At the initial production period of a fresh field, wells often produce either anhydrous or low-water oil. However, over time, the water content of the oil produced increases at different rates and sometimes reaches 80–90% in old fields [1, 14]. The desalting (dewatering) processes depend on the type of oils and its content, any of the following typical processes of desalting of crude oil are combined a lot of methods like thermal, chemical, electrical and mechanical Often, a combination of Thermal and chemical methods with the mechanical or the electrical method is used to achieve effective Dehydration of crude oil [11]. The chemical treatment presents itself as a good option. It consists to use a demulsifier. The demulsifier must be introduced as early as possible (at the bottom of the well). This is an increased contact time and the interaction capacity of the demulsifier with emulsion for maximum destruction of the system [15, 16]. The injection of the demulsifying agent before the pump ensures proper contact with the crude oil and minimizes the formation of an emulsion [15]. The Industrial application of demulsifiers is not based on non-electrolytes, as their use is associated with excessive consumption or high price, as well as complex separation from oil after the deposition of the water layer. Preference is given to colloidal surface-active substances, among which are anionic, cationic, and nonionic types [13]. The number of steps (one, two or three) during oil desalination is determined by the characteristics of the initial oil emulsion and the salts contained therein For the desalination of oil emulsion independently of the stage: At the well or the refinery, the main types of equipment used for oil dewatering are electrostatics disasters, sumps, and separators [7], and they are detailed in Figure 3 [7, 17]:
thermo-chemical dehydrator;
sump;
ultrasonic;
centrifugal;
electrostatic desalter.
Some examples of devices for crude oil dewatering, degassing, and desalting. (a) Sump. (b) Separator. (c) Three-phases separator. (d) Hydrodynamic phase separator.
Each of the above-mentioned apparatus has its own peculiarities and its own derivatives, according to the precise tasks to be accomplished:
Advanced separators-vertical flow, horizontal unit with advanced electrostatic oil dehydration capabilities.
Desalting device-vertical flow, horizontal device with improved capabilities of electrostatic dehydration and desalting of oil. The process can occur in one or two stages.
Field separator-electrostatic coagulator, horizontal apparatus of electrostatic coagulator. It contains the initial section of the chimney of the heating section for preheating.
Electromechanical separators-a horizontal device that is characterized by a combination of electrostatic grids, coalescing blocks, and the initial section of the chimney heating section for preheating.
The selection criterion of devices, it is recommended to consider the following parameters when choosing the equipment [8, 12, 18]:
properties of formation fluid and its quantity;
stream type;
the resistance of emulsion;
pressure into the device;
temperature regime.
In the separators, they usually separate gas is usually from the oil in two or three steps under slight pressure or dilution. The separators of the first stage simultaneously play the role of buffer reservoirs and are usually located on the deposit. The separators of the second and third stages are mostly on the territory of central collection and distribution points (the sites of pre-treatment and pumping of oil) [7, 17]. The vertical separators are more productive in comparison with horizontal ones, but also the vertical separators have a higher price. They are suitable for enterprises with high production capacities, as well as if the emulsion contains many solid particles [18]. The horizontal separators are the best option for processing small volumes of material, as well as liquids with a high content of dissolved gas. They are in the greatest demand, as they are quite productive and affordable. To achieve maximum efficiency when using horizontal oil and gas separators, the oil is mixed in the separation process; the temperature is increased, and the pressure is reduced. To increase the depth and improve the quality of separation in Russia, introducing hot drainage water before separation with a three-phase separator is often used. Thus, they use heat, which increases the selection of gas, intensifies the process of demulsification of oil, improves the quality of spilled formation water, reduces investments, energy costs of processes, and significantly improves the conditions of Environmental protection. The three-phase separator can split oil, gas, and water at once. However, separators have limits. Even with a three-stage separation, complete separation of gas from oil is not achieved [8]. Besides, it should be noted that, despite the improvement in oil and gas separation techniques and technologies, field separators remain cumbersome and expensive devices [19]. Their operation is based on an inefficient gravitational principle and they are unproductive; the separators cease to function when the oil and gas mixture forms foam. The loss of energy contained in the flow of oil and gas, with a decrease in the pressure in the degassing in stages, leads to the need to use more pumping and compressor units for the collection and transportation of oil and gas through the pipeline [7, 8].
The final processes of dewatering and desalting are carried out at oil refineries with electrostatic desalter [20]. At the refinery, three types of electrostatic desalter are mainly operated as oil pre-treatment equipment: vertical, horizontal, and ball electrostatic desalter [1].
The salts and minerals often present in the oil are mainly magnesium, calcium, and sodium chlorides with sodium chloride being the abundant type. These salts cause corrosion of equipment. For example, hydrogen chloride (HCl). Hydrogen chloride dissolves in the emulsion’s water producing hydrochloric acid, an extremely corrosive acid. However, NaCl = Na+ + Cl−. Water, though slight, but dissociates into ions, and the equilibrium is established: H2O=H++OH−, thus, in the salt solution, there is a mixture of Na+ cations and OH−, Cl−anions. Ions in the solution move randomly and constantly collide with each other [21]. But these collisions of Na+ and OH− ions, H+ and Cl− ions do not lead to the formation of compounds, since NaOH is a strong base, and HCl is a strong acid. Since weak electrolytes are not formed when sodium chloride is dissolved in water, sodium chloride is not hydrolyzed. The concentration of H+ ions is equal to the concentration of OH− ions, so the color of the indicators does not change [13, 20]. All chemical compounds based on chlorine hydrolyze, except for NaCl, hydrolyze at high temperature to hydrogen chloride:
Any remaining salts are neutralized by the injection of sodium hydroxide which reacts with the calcium and magnesium chloride to produce sodium chloride because NaCl does not hydrolyze to the corrosive hydrogen chloride.
The electrical conductivity of oil emulsions is due to the ionic conductivity of oil, the conductivity of dispersed water droplets in oil. Under certain conditions, droplets of emulsified water in oil form conductive structures in the form of “chains”, located along the field lines [12, 22]. The electrical conductivity of the system in such cases increases sharply (hundreds and thousands of times) in comparison with the electrical conductivity of anhydrous oil. Electrical Conductivity of hydrocarbons (oil), the hydrocarbons have three types of conductivity regimes in general [23]:
The stable insulating regime, this regime is characterized by very high resistance. In this state, conduction is related to traces of dissolved water in the hydrocarbon.
The semiconductor, this regime is independent of the presence of water in the hydrocarbon.
Conductor, relatively stable. The regime, however, it disappears by sufficient removal or reduction of the applied electric field and reappears when it is restored to its initial value.
The modern desalting units are designed with electric dehydrators only horizontal execution and are part of the equipment for preparing oil: both atmospheric and atmospheric-vacuum installations. The horizontal design of electrostatic desalter has several advantages, such as a large area of the electrodes and, accordingly, a greater amount of oil per unit of section of the device, a lower vertical speed of the moving flow of oil, which provides favorable conditions for settling water, as well as implementing processes with higher pressure and temperature [22, 24]. The dominant types of electrostatic desalter are shown in Figure 4. The increases of the electrical conductivity are related to traces of dissolved water in the oil; it has the effect of slowly eliminating this water, correlative elimination of an indefinite increase in resistivity. The work and efficiency of the electrostatic desalter are based on the Stokes formula [25] for the time of deposition of water droplets and the specific electrical conductivity (γ, Om m−1) is the electrical conductivity of a substance measured between flat electrodes of the same area, located at a distance (L) in meter, and divided by the electrode area [12]. The principle of operation of the electrostatic desalter is quite simple. We have one inside two electrodes that have two opposite charges. The oil is supplied to the lower stage of the device, which provides its additional washing and passing through two (2) electric fields: weak and strong as shown in Figure 5. The charges of these electrodes change alternately, resulting in a separation of the different phases: oil, water, and gas [11, 26]. The water has a higher density than the oil and by the gravitational force, so the water is concentrated at the bottom of the electrostatic desalter. The oil and the gas without water, so without salts, come out from the upper part of the electrostatic desalter by manifold as shown in Figure 6 [20]. In the literature, there are indications that the electrical conductivity of oil and petroleum products is largely determined by the content of polar surfactants (asphalt-resins) in them [25].
The major types of electrostatic desalter.
Technical schema of electrostatic desalter design.
The simplified work description of electrostatic desalter.
They can be one and two-stage (respectively, with one or two electrostatics desalters) [20]. To increase the efficiency of the operation, the demulsifiers are added to the crude oil. Two-stage installations are used to reduce the flow of freshwater when washing crude oil [13]. The desalter of this design achieves 90% salt removal. However, 99% salt removal is possible with two-stage desalters [7, 20] as shown in Figure 7. A second stage is also essential since desalter maintenance requires a lengthy amount of time to remove the dirt and sediment which settle at the bottom. Therefore, the crude unit can be operated with a one stage desalter while the other is cleaned.
Two-stage desalting flow processing of crude oil.
The electrostatic desalter volume 96 m3, which length-10 m, diameter –3 m. U (voltage of the electrodes) = 22000 v. Maximum emulsion pre-treatment capacity is 140 tons/h. The program used in our modeling is Mathcad, to calculate the material balance and mechanical calculations of electrostatic desalter. The characteristics of the feedstock are presented in Table 1 [27, 28].
Indicators | Methods | Units of measure | Values |
---|---|---|---|
Density at 15°C | NF EN 12185 | kg/m3 | 884 |
Water content | NF EN 9029 | % mass | 1 |
Total acid number | ASTM D 664 | mg KOH/g | 0.619 |
Sulfur content | NF EN 8754 | % m/m | 0.254 |
API | ASTM D1298 | — | 29 |
Kinematic viscosity at 100°C | ASTM D445 | cSt | 1.9 |
Freezing point | NF EN ISO 3016 | °C | −17 |
The physicochemical characteristics of Bonga crude oil.
The establishment of a material balance is necessary for modeling [7, 25, 29]. The material balance material allows us to have an idea of the results we need to get and correct some errors during the project in order to have a satisfactory performance of our facilities. To calculate the material balance of electrostatic desalter, it is necessary to know the data:
the temperature at the entrance of feedstocks into the electrostatic desalter, t1 = 90°C;
the temperature at the outlet of feedstocks in the electrostatic desalter, t2 = 145°C.
The descriptive diagram of the desalting process.
The quantity of oil emulsion chosen is 140 t/h. the water Content of the initial emulsion is 1% of the total mass. The consumption of the demulsifier (surfactant) is 30 g/t. Our work in this part is to make material balances of the pre-treatment of the oil at the refinery. Electrostatic desalter performs two procedures at the same time which are: dehydration and desalination. The descriptive diagram e of the desalting process is presented in Figure 8. The amount of freshwater or water processing supplied at the desalting stage is 10% of the mass. The reagent is fed only at the dehydration stage. We consider the reagent water-soluble. First, the status of “ incoming “is drawn up. The status “ Expense “ is similar to the desalting- dewatering process. 140 t of emulsion − 1.4 t of water in emulsion = 138.6 t of oil. The status “Expense “is similar to the desalting-dewatering process. Loss is equal:
The amount of water X is 0.0691 t.
The water content-X is 0.0691 t in the desalted oil. The total water content phase in the “incoming” status is 14 t + 0.14 t = 14.14 t.
Based on the previous results and by the possibility that we can really have more losses. We arbitrarily decide to multiply our losses by 2; the total loss is: 0.4191 t + 0.4191 t = 0.8383 t. Consequently, the summary material balance of the installation is made. The total amount of drainage water is equal to the drainage water by oil treatment stage: 0.9332 t + 14.07 t = 15.0032 t. The material balance of the electrostatic desalter installation is presented in Table 2.
The exercise of modeling is a variant very often useful and used in the modeling of units and devices [7, 14, 19]. This task is interesting in case we do not have a simulator or simulation and modeling program like Hysys Aspen to solve this operation. In the framework of modeling the desalination unit, we use the ASTM D 341-2003 standard is based on Walter’s equation and proposes the dependence of the kinematic viscosity of crude oil (hydrocarbon):
where ν – viscosity, cSt, T is the absolute temperature, K; a and b are the constants determined by two known values of viscosity ν1 and ν2 at temperatures, respectively, T1 and T2. The empirical formula of formula Filonov – Reynolds is more convenient for analytical solutions:
where.
νt, νo – Dynamic viscosity of the oil at temperatures t and to, respectively, mPa·s;
ν=
In modeling of electrostatic desalter to determine his maximum performance and the required number of devices for desalting crude oil.
The interaction between water droplets can be increased by increasing the electric field strength, Е.
For to determine the
where
where
The linear velocity of the oil in the electrostatic desalter must be at least 2 times less than the calculated rate of water droplet deposition. The deposition rate is calculated using the Stokes formula [7, 25]:
where
Uwater = 0.0021 m/s.
It is necessary to check the Reynolds number (Re) by the formula:
The condition must be met:
where h1 the distance from the bottom of the electric Hydrator to the oil-water interface. We choose
Knowing the Uw, determine the Uwo and the required cross-section of the electric dehydrator (S). The actual deposition rate of water droplets in the rising oil stream will be:
The performance of the desalter:
The number of devices (N):
where
The required number of parallel running for the electrostatic desalter:
This task is as interesting as the one already solved. In case we do not have a simulator or simulation and modeling program like Ansys to solve this vital operation [1, 18, 29, 30]. The calculation of the strength of a cylindrical shell under internal pressure. The wall thickness is determined by the formula (25).
Permissible internal overpressure.
P is the pressure in the device, mPa; SR – the calculated value of wall thickness, mm; D- intern diameter of the shell, mm;
The steel grade is chosen depending on the properties of the processed medium. For butt and t-shaped double-sided seams performed by automatic welding, the coefficient of the strength of the weld
V is the rate of corrosion (usually take 0.1–0.2 mm/year); T – the service life of the device (usually take 10–12 years). For materials resistant to the processed medium, in the absence of data on permeability, it is recommended to take C = 2 mm. Condition for reliable operation
The choice of corrosion resistance of materials is made concerning this environment is resistant to corrosion.
The wall thickness calculated using this formula is rounded up to the nearest standard sheet thickness (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20 mm). The calculation of shells loaded with external over-pressure consists in determining the permissible external pressure since the wall thickness of the shell was determined earlier. Permissible external pressure:
Condition for reliable operation
P – pressure in the device, mPa = 1.1; D-inner diameter of the shell, mm = 3000. The increase in corrosion C is determined by the formula (27).
V is the rate of corrosion (usually take 0.1–0.2 mm/year); T – the service life of the device (usually take 10–12 years), but we take 20 years. For materials resistant to the processed medium, in the absence of data on permeability, it is recommended to take C = 2 mm. According to the table of corrosion resistance of materials, we choose the steel grade 316Ti, S31635-USA (ASTM/AISI), or 1.4571, X6CrNiMoTi17-12-2-Germany (DIN/WNr).
SR=
The wall thickness calculated using this formula is rounded up to the nearest standard sheet thickness (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20 mm). We assume S = 14 mm.
Condition for reliable operation
The calculation of shells loaded with external over-pressure consists in determining the permissible external pressure since the wall thickness of the shell was determined earlier.
Allowable pressure of conditions of stability within the limits of elastic deformation:
Permissible external pressure:
Condition for reliable operation
The desalting and dewatering of crude oil take begins on the oil fields. This operation is part of the processing of crude oil, and a good pre-treatment of crude oil implies:
degassing – removal of gases from crude oil;
dewatering – removal of water from crude oil.
If the desalting of crude oil is carried out qualitatively, the oil has almost no harmful effect on the equipment. Most of the impurities that cause corrosion of the metal are in the remains of formation water. Therefore, the fundamental task of desalting is to remove water drops from the oil. This is a fairly complex process, because the water in crude oil is in the form of droplets with a size quantity often. The improvement and appreciation of the oil pretreatment process level are characterized by:
providing effective sludge at high viscosity and density of oil through the use of a sump with intermediate partitions of variable height;
increasing the degree of dehydration and desalination of oil due to effective washing with water from salts;
improving the efficiency of the sump and improving the quality of the prepared oil due to more complete and qualitative removal of the intermediate layer from it, as well as due to a more uniform distribution of fluid flow rates when entering the sump and its cross-section;
ensuring uniform receipt of production of wells for the installation of oil treatment and prevention of failures of its work through the use of the reservoir;
improving the performance of the electrostatic desalter, that is, expanding the range of workloads, improving the efficiency of desalination and dehydration, as well as reducing the cost of oil pre-treatment.
The poor pre-treatment (desalting process) of crude oil can lead to considerable extra costs. We are talking about the high cost of transportation if the product is not cleared of unnecessary substances that give it extra volume and weight as well as financial investments in equipment. After all, oil, which is not derived from salt, can very quickly damage the pipeline. The requirements for the oil content of the water and especially for chlorides more stringent on the refineries. The oil content of water before processing must be no more than 0.1% of the mass and for salts-no more than 5 mg/l [3, 31]. These related requirements using much more expensive equipment (columns, heat exchangers, reboilers, etc.). Also, these the requirements induce to reduce the energy consumption, to reduce the corrosion of the equipment, to increase the life of the catalysts, improves the quality of the petroleum products. If these requirements not performed, the oil is necessarily subjected to desalting and dehydration at the electric desalting plant (electrostatic desalter). The surfactants are added if the crude oil contains a lot of suspended solids. The crude oil is heated usually to a temperature of 50 to 90°C to reduce viscosity and surface tension for easier mixing and separation of water.
The distillation is heating a liquid solution or mixture of liquid stream to produce steam, and then collecting and condensing that steam. In the simplest case, the products of the distillation process are limited to the upper distillate and the bottom, the composition of which differs from the feed. Thus, the major purpose of distillation is the separation or splitting into two or more products from a feed [32]. The distillation or rectification is one of the oldest and most common methods of chemical separation [33]. Historically, one of the most famous uses is the production of spirits from wine. More simply, in other words, the target of distillation is usually to remove the light component from the heavy component mixture, or vice-versa, to separate the heavy product from the light component mixture [32]. One of the components of crude oil refining is distillation, therefore a stage of refining. Oil refining is a rather complex technological process that begins with the transportation of oil from the field to refineries. The fractionation or distillation column exists in practically all oil refining technologies through reforming, thermal cracking, hydrocracking, etc. [20]. Before receiving the petroleum products common to users, the oil goes through several stages before becoming a finished product. Some of these stages are [1, 9, 20, 21]:
pre-treatment of crude oil;
distillation atmospheric and vacuum;
catalytic reforming, isomerization;
alkylation, visbreaking, coking;
catalytic cracking, hydrocracking;
treatment of petroleum products (hydrotreatment, desulphurization, etc.)
The oil emulsion is a complex mixture of naphthenic, paraffin, aromatic carbohydrates, which have different molecular weight and boiling point, and sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen organic compounds. At distillation receive a big range of oil products and semi-products. The principle of the process is based on the difference between the initial boiling point of the components. As a result, the oil is divided into fractions up to fuel oil and tar and even base oil. The distillation of oil can be carried out [34]:
Single evaporation or flash vaporization
Multiple evaporations
Gradual evaporation
The single evaporation of oil is a one-step separation technique. The single evaporation process involves heating the oil to increase the temperature and enthalpy to the true boiling point (TBP) of the vapor-liquid mixture. The process of multiple evaporations is a sequence of single evaporation with a gradual increase in the heating temperature. Distillation by gradual evaporation is a slight change in the oil’s state with every single evaporation. The main devices in which the distillation of oil are distillation columns, reboilers, furnaces, etc. [1].
The difficulty of separating crude oils is mainly determined by the volatility of the key components or by the difference in the boiling point of the key components [34]. The closer the relative volatility is to one per mole, the more plates or plates are needed and more irrigation is needed to achieve the same purity of distillate and residue. For key components, two adjacent components are taken for key components, one belonging to the distillate, the other to the residual product. The relative volatility of these adjacent components and their proportion in crude oil are the main criterion determining the difficulty of sufficiently clear separation from crude oil [34]. More the tangent of the angle of inclination of the TBP increase, the easier the separation conditions are. The wider the crude oil TBP intervals, more the distillate and the residue obtained during the process are clean. As we all know, crude oil from the bowels of the Earth contains salt as dissolved salt in a tiny drop of water that forms water into an emulsion [1, 9]. This water cannot be completely separated by gravity or mechanical means. The deep separation of water from the emulsion occurs with electrostatic at the plant, before the distillation process [20].
After desalting process, the crude oil is heated in heat exchangers or reboilers (preheating of crude oil). Of course, preheating is not sufficient, since the oil must be partially evaporated to the extent that all products except atmospheric residues must be in the vapor phase when the oil enters the atmospheric column. Thus, the furnace is required to raise the temperature between 330 and 385°C depending on the components of oil [35]. The partially evaporated crude oil is transferred to the flash zone column located at a point below the distillation column and above what is called the stripping section. The main distillation column is generally up to 50 m with a 30–50 valve [34]. The size of the column is determined by the number of plates and the amount of steam. Besides, the amount of steam is determined by the content of crude oil in volatile elements or compounds. As a result, the rising steam in huge amounts and at top flow rates, requires a large diameter column above the flash zone [1, 34]. At the bottom of the section, water vapor is injected into the column to remove the atmospheric residue of any light hydrocarbon and reduce the partial pressure of hydrocarbon vapors in the flash zone [20]. This causes the true boiling point of hydrocarbons to decrease and causing more hydrocarbons to boil and raise the column to eventually thicken and removed as lateral flows. As hot vapors grow from the flash zone, they ascend into the column through the plates to the upper zone of the column [36]. A portion part of the light fraction of naphtha or gasoline returns to the column in the form of reflux. This reflux allows controlling the quality of the distillate and the pressure in the column. The main products of atmospheric petroleum distillation are [33]:
Gas
Gasoline (35–200°C)
Kerosene (220–275°C)
Diesel or gas oil (200–400°C)
Atmosphere residue (above 350°C).
The distillation process is carried out in columns with plates inside and it is as follows: hot vapors, rising on the column, in contact with the cooler liquid (reflux) flowing down. There is a cooling of the vapors, hence condensation; a transition from vapors to liquid. This is the process of mass transfer and heat exchange; the contact efficiency is provided by the plates. Most of the side currents (light fractions) pass through the striping section, where they are again dispersed to control their starting and ending boiling point, while the liquid is heated, the low boiling components evaporate [36]. The temperature and pressure have a great influence on the processes (movement of fluids) due to the plates inside the column [32]. The distillation plates are designed to create close contact between Steam and liquid during the grinding process. Mainly apply grid, groove, cap, s-shape, valve, and other types of plates. The design of the plates, besides the close contact between steam, and liquid must ensure sufficient performance of the column, have a low hydraulic resistance to the flow of steam. For example, the movement of vapors in distillation columns depends on the types of plates shown in Figures 9 and 10 [32]. The materials used in the design are also of great importance because they influence the metal capacity of structures, ease of assembly, and cleaning.
The types of plate in the column: (a) cap, (b) grid, (C) valve.
The movement of steam and liquid flows on the cap plates.
The distillation is designed to separate gas and liquid mixtures comprising two or more components or fractions. We can classify distillation columns according to various characteristics [32, 34]:
by technological application;
by an internal device (plates) ensuring contact between the steam and the liquid;
columns of atmospheric vacuum.
The quality of distillation depends on the number of plates in the column and the amount of irrigation. The speed of movement of vapors in the column and the distance between the plates is great significance. The design of distillation plates is important in the column’s performance. Thus, under practical conditions, the heat exchange between steam and liquid on the plate does not reach the equilibrium state, so the concept of plate efficiency (energy conversion efficiency) was introduced. It depends on the design and operating conditions and usually varies between 0.4 and 0.8 [32]. The distillation column comprises three (3) zones: the separation zone, the crude supply (feeding zone), and the heating zone. The feeding zone is generally below the separation zone. However, in some columns like the stripping columns, the feeding zone is located in the upper area of the column. Also, we can say that the separation zone in this type of column is non-existent. In short, this type of column is a column stabilization.
In oil refining, the first oil separation process is very often operated with complex columns or main columns [20]. The oil is sent to the atmospheric distillation column and after the desalination process. The oil is supplied to the feeding area in the form of steam, liquid, or vapor-liquid mixture. This area is called evaporative. Above the entrance (feeding zone) to the oil is the separation zone of the column, and below-the heating zone. In the evaporation zone of the column, there is single evaporation of the oil heated long before in the furnace or the heat exchanger. The purpose of atmospheric distillation is the primary separation of various “Fractions” of hydrocarbons: fuel gases, liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, kerosene, diesel fuel, and from the bottom of the distillation; the atmospheric residue (heavy hydrocarbon residue). The residues from the atmospheric distillation column or atmospheric residues are sent to the vacuum distillation column. The atmospheric residues in the vacuum column (under the vacuum condition) and temperatures above 400°C give new fractions (heavy gasoil) [1, 32].
In oil refining, a fairly large number of plate types are widespread; new types are being developed. This situation is explained by the desire to develop more productive and economic plates than those used previously. The choice of the types of plate depends on a load of steam and liquid, the physical properties of steam and liquid [34]. In order to ensure optimal conditions for the operation of columns in various technological processes, it is necessary to use plates of different designs [32]. In atmospheric columns, steam and liquid charges are moderate. While in vacuum columns, large vapor loads and small liquid loads are observed, that is low volumetric expenditures of liquid and high linear velocities of vapors. Thus, for some varieties of columns, several types of plates are recommended, depending on the particular conditions of operation and use of these columns. These operating conditions of the column provide a comparative assessment of the different types of plates under these operating conditions as shown in Table 3. The comparison is carried out on the following characteristics and indicators [34]:
efficiency;
operating stability range;
hydraulic resistance;
ability to work on contaminated raw materials;
cost (or weight) of the column.
Feedstocks | ton/h | % mass | Products | ton/h | % mass |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Oil emulsion, including: • Oil • Water 2. Surfactants (Demulsifiers) 3. Water processing (freshwater) | 140.0000 138.6000 1.4000 0.0004 14.0000 | 100.0000 99.0000 1 0.0003 10 | 1. Stable oil, including: • Desalted oil • Water 2. Drainage water 3. Loss | 138.1589 138.0897 0.06916 15.0032 0.8383 | 98.6849 98.6355 0.0495 10.7191 0.5988 |
Total | 154.0004 | 110.0003 | Total: | 154.0004 | 110.0003 |
The material balance of electrostatic desalter.
Types columns or application | Plates types | Restrictions on column diameter |
---|---|---|
AVDU units or CDU | C or S-shaped plates | No |
Atmospheric distillation of CDU or ADU, with including stripping | C or S-shaped plates | No |
Valve plates | No less 3 m | |
Jet plates | Not over 3.2 m | |
Vacuum distillation of CDU or VDU | Jet plates with bumpers | No |
Any installation, especially if there is no reliable design data | Cap plates | No |
Types of plates common in refining oil plants.
As already noted above, there is a multitude of types of plates. Then we will talk about the most frequent plates in oil plants.
The plates with holes, usually have holes on 3/16 inch to 1 inch. Pairs come out of the holes to get a multi-hole effect. The Steam or vapor velocity prevents liquid from passing through the holes. The number and size of the hole are based on the fall of steam in the column. The fluid flow is transported down the tower using triggers, a dam, and a bypass device on the side of the plate. The Minimum capacity sieve tray capacity is about 70% [30].
The cap plate is a “classic” plate, although it is still very widespread nowadays, it is gradually replaced by plates of other, more effective types. The dominant part of the cover plate is a steel disc (or cover plate) with holes for steam pipes. Usually provided with slots for passing steam, the steam will be in contact with the liquid bubble formed on the next tray. It can operate at low steam and liquid velocities [36] (less than 2 gallons per minute per foot of average flow width). The fittings are welded to the disc. Above the nozzles, caps with a diameter of 60 or 80 mm are installed. Caps have slots with a height of 15; 20 or 30 mm.
The valve plates are mainly used in CDU or AVDU and gas plants. The dominant element of the plate is a valve of round or rectangular shape that closes the holes at the base of the plate of appropriate shape. Structurally, the valve is made so that it cannot be raised to a certain height. The arrangement of the valves of round shape on the plane of the plate is the same as the plugs on the cap plate. The valve plate is used that rises with increasing steam velocity and then decreases as the stream velocity decreases, which stops the liquid from flowing. The valve can be round or rectangular, with or without a frame. The disk rises with an increase in the velocity of steam [30, 36].
The jet plate consists of a flat sheet, on which there are offset slots made in the form of a tongue with the cut-out part bent upwards. All slots are bent at a side angle. The plate has a drainage device of the usual design, but does not have a drain bar at the outlet of the liquid from the plate [32].
The role of the furnace is to heat the oil to a temperature in the range of 330–385°C in order to achieve a vapor-liquid balance before the distillation column [1, 7, 25, 29]. The most popular furnace in the Russian Federation is the tube furnace, as shown in Figure 11. The tube furnace is a unit designed to heat and force chemical processes inside the chamber, which are achieved by using the heat generated when fuel is burned. To calculate the heat balance of the atmospheric column, it is necessary to determine the heat of the furnace by the vapor phase and the liquid phase, therefore determine the material balance of the furnace. For example, the furnace material balance we used Bonga crude and the following data [25]:
the temperature at the entrance of raw materials into the convection chamber t1 = 250°C;
the temperature at the outlet of raw materials in the convection chamber t2 = 380°C;
the pressure at the exit of the furnace, p = 2 bars;
the data of the molar and mass composition of desalted crude are presented in Table 4.
Cross-sectional with heat exchange chamber of a tube furnace.
Components | kg/kmol | kg/h | % mass | Mole fraction | Steam |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
C2H6 | 30 | 22.11 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 1028.85 |
C3H8 | 33 | 388.23 | 0.28 | 0.01 | 404.90 |
Iso-C4H10 | 58 | 563.69 | 0.41 | 0.01 | 135.04 |
N-C4H10 | 58 | 886.98 | 0.64 | 0.02 | 126.43 |
Iso-C5H12 | 72 | 124.34 | 0.09 | 0.00 | 85.12 |
N-C5H12 | 72 | 31.78 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 84.19 |
75–105 | 95.1 | 4863.19 | 3.52 | 0.08 | 103.15 |
105–125 | 107.72 | 3550.68 | 2.57 | 0.05 | 25.25 |
125–145 | 118.72 | 4738.85 | 3.43 | 0.06 | 19.53 |
145–165 | 130.52 | 9035.59 | 6.54 | 0.10 | 15.72 |
165–185 | 143.12 | 2528.31 | 1.83 | 0.03 | 12.51 |
185–205 | 156.52 | 5526.36 | 4.00 | 0.05 | 9.84 |
205–225 | 170.72 | 5567.80 | 4.03 | 0.05 | 7.66 |
225–245 | 185.72 | 7046.10 | 5.10 | 0.06 | 5.88 |
245–265 | 201.52 | 4324.37 | 3.13 | 0.03 | 4.47 |
265–285 | 218.12 | 6769.79 | 4.90 | 0.05 | 3.35 |
285–305 | 235.52 | 7046.10 | 5.10 | 0.04 | 2.47 |
305–325 | 253.72 | 8469.14 | 6.13 | 0.05 | 1.80 |
325–345 | 272.72 | 15017.87 | 10.87 | 0.08 | 1.30 |
345–375 | 297.6 | 21456.08 | 15.53 | 0.11 | 0.92 |
>375 | 443.91 | 30132.46 | 21.81 | 0.10 | 0.58 |
H2O | 18 | 69.08 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.05 |
Data of the molar and mass composition of desalted crude.
We use the method of gradual approximation to calculate the percentage of the top product’s distillate, with the Eq. (35).
Where, Cmol-molar composition of the upper product (distillate); emol- the mole fraction of the distillate; Ki-phase equilibrium constant of components
Graph of the vapor-liquid state isotherm.
From the graph (Figure 12) we determine that the molar fraction of distillation is emol = 0.855. The molar composition of the liquid is also found by the formula (36).
The mass fraction of distillation is calculated by the formula (37):
where MsrP is average molecular weight of the vapor phase; MsgC is average molecular weight of feedstocks.
Molecular masses are calculated according to the rule of additivity (38):
Accordingly, MsrР = 180.54; MsrC = 206.77. emas = 0.747.
The amount of steam and liquid mG phases is determined by the formulas (39), (40):
where F (feedstock) is the exiting flow from the electrostatic desalter, and entering the tube furnace.
The mass of the vapor phase = 103,104 kg/h, the mass of liquid phase = 35054.88 kg/h. The mass composition of crude oil, vapor, and liquid phase after furnace are presented in Table 5.
Components | Feedstock | Products | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crude oil composition | Vapor phase composition | Liquid phase composition | ||||
kg/h | % mass | kg/h | % mass | kg/h | % mass | |
C2H6 | 22.11 | 0.02 | 22.10 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.00 |
C3H8 | 388.23 | 0.28 | 388.05 | 0.38 | 1.47 | 0.00 |
Iso-C4H10 | 563.69 | 0.41 | 562.91 | 0.55 | 4.85 | 0.00 |
N-C4H10 | 886.98 | 0.64 | 885.67 | 0.86 | 8.16 | 0.00 |
Iso-C5H12 | 124.34 | 0.09 | 124.07 | 0.12 | 1.37 | 0.00 |
N-C5H12 | 31.78 | 0.02 | 31.71 | 0.03 | 0.35 | 0.00 |
75–105 | 4863.19 | 3.52 | 4827.44 | 4.68 | 135.74 | 0.00 |
105–125 | 3550.68 | 2.57 | 3517.01 | 3.41 | 112.85 | 0.00 |
125–145 | 4738.85 | 3.43 | 4683.13 | 4.54 | 169.45 | 0.00 |
145–165 | 9035.59 | 6.54 | 8902.49 | 8.63 | 368.15 | 0.01 |
165–185 | 2528.31 | 1.83 | 2481.17 | 2.41 | 118.91 | 0.00 |
185–205 | 5526.36 | 4.00 | 5394.59 | 5.23 | 303.92 | 0.01 |
205–225 | 5567.80 | 4.03 | 5396.30 | 5.23 | 362.68 | 0.01 |
225–245 | 7046.10 | 5.10 | 6762.91 | 6.56 | 550.50 | 0.02 |
245–265 | 4324.37 | 3.13 | 4095.48 | 3.97 | 410.07 | 0.01 |
265–285 | 6769.79 | 4.90 | 6293.92 | 6.10 | 787.63 | 0.02 |
285–305 | 7046.10 | 5.10 | 6384.01 | 6.19 | 1014.91 | 0.03 |
305–325 | 8469.14 | 6.13 | 7401.03 | 7.18 | 1519.84 | 0.04 |
325–345 | 15017.87 | 10.87 | 12475.46 | 12.10 | 3365.64 | 0.10 |
345–375 | 21456.08 | 15.53 | 16251.21 | 15.76 | 6314.27 | 0.18 |
>375 | 30132.46 | 21.81 | 6154.41 | 5.97 | 19501.56 | 0.56 |
H2O | 69.08 | 0.05 | 68.95 | 0.07 | 2.51 | 0.00 |
Total | 138158.9 | 100 | 103,104 | 100 | 35054.88 | 100 |
The material balance of tube furnace.
The production capacity of the atmospheric distillation unit for processing crude oils is 1,159,200 tons/year, with an initial load of 140 kg/h. This material balance as shown in Table 6 was made based on the physicochemical characteristics of Bonga crude oil and the typical CDU model without the K-1 oil topping column.
Feedstocks | ton/year | % mass | Products | ton/year | % mass |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Oil emulsion 2. Chemical agent (demulsifiers) 3. Water processing (freshwater) 4. Water vapor | 1,159,200 3.48 115.92 4968 | 99.56 0.00 0.01 0.43 | 1. Gases (LPG) 2. Fractions 35–145 3. Fractions 145–230 4. Fractions 230–320 5. Fractions 320–350 The target products. (sum. fractions) 6. Associated product (Atmospheric residues) 7. Drainage water | 4938.72 69109.88 125052.05 201243.36 231212.84 631556.87 413475.76 119254.770 | 0.42 5.93 10.74 17.28 19.86 54.25 35.51 10.24 |
Total | 1164287.39 | 100 | Total | 1164287.39 | 100 |
The material balance of atmospheric distillation unit with operating time 340 days by year (365 days −20 days)
Based on the evaluation of the concept of the technological scheme for the construction of a technological scheme of crude distillation unit at refineries in Russia. The topping column K-1 in most cases is a simple design as shown in Figure 13 [28], although it fractionates the crude oil into the many components like ethane, light gasoline, etc.. There are schemes in which light gasoline is displayed under the distillate in the top of the column, and heavy gasoline on the side flanks of the column. The topping column K-1 collects 50–60% of the potential of light gasoline. The residues of column K-1 are therefore the raw material of the main atmospheric column. The composition of this raw material is weighted in such a way that an excessively high feed temperature is required, permissible temperature (380°C). The singularities of the topping column K-1 operation are as follows [1, 28]:
The low yield of rectified gasoline (5–15% of the mass of the column load) makes it difficult to collect the gasoline fraction from the oil;
Extremely high liquid loading in the heating zone of the pre-evaporation column due to the low steam load worsens the conditions for steaming light fractions from the residue under the action of hot jet reflux;
The relatively small enthalpy of crude oil (220°C) introduced into the column does not create sufficient heat flow for distillation, therefore, it is necessary to introduce additional heat in the form of hot jet reflux;
Maintaining high pressure in the column to ensure air and water condensation of light gasoline fractions in condensers-refrigerators (separators).
Possible schemes of operation with oil topping column K-1. (a) Column K-1 with back topped crude. (b) Column K-1 with heavy gasoline and back topped crude. (c) Column K-1 without back topped crude.
The purpose of this column is to extract from the oil the remains of dissolved gas (if the oil has not been stabilized) and a light gasoline fraction with a boiling point of 85°C. After atmospheric residue of K-2 shipped to the vacuum column K-5 for to obtain vacuum distillates (heavy gasoil) and tar. In order to illustrate our argument, a typical P&ID flow diagram process of the atmospheric distillation unit in Russian refineries is presented in Figure 14.
The typical P&ID flow diagram process of atmospheric distillation unit at refineries in Russian Federation.
A general technological approach to the atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) can be described as below [28].
The oil topping column K-1:
Top temperature, °С – no higher than 245;
Low temperature, °С – no higher than 150;
Pressure, bar – no more than 3.0.
The typical products of K-1 are;
Gases
Light straight run naphtha (light gasoline or light naphtha)
Heavy gasoline (or military jet fuel)
Topped crude
The main atmospheric column K-2:
Top temperature, °С – no higher than 350;
Low temperature, °С – no higher than 150;
Pressure, bar – no more than 1.4.
The typical products of K-2 are:
Heavy gasoline (or military jet fuel)
Kerosene (light distillate or jet fuel)
Middle distillates or light gas oil (LGO) – Diesel
Heavy distillates – atmospheric gas oil (AGO) or heavy gas oil (HGO)
Crude column bottoms -atmospheric residue or topped crude
The distillation processes are the processes of oil separation into more or less homogeneous fractions without chemical conversion of its constituent substances. The process of separation of liquid substances by their boiling temperatures is atmospheric and vacuum. The atmospheric distillation can be carried out in the following ways:
With a single separation – furnaces and separation of distillate in one (main) distillation column k-2;
Double separation in two distillation columns- in the pre-evaporation column k-1 with separation of light gasoline fractions and the main column-2;
Gradual separation.
The oil topping column K-1, in atmospheric distillation, collects 50–60% of the potential of light gasoline from oil [28]. Otherwise, the composition of oil for the atmospheric column K2 is so weighted that an excessively high supply temperature is required, permissible temperature (380°C). The oil topping column K-1 is especially important in the general crude distillation unit technology in Russia. We know that the choice of flow process technology is dictated by the physicochemical properties of the oils and their compounds. Indeed, the choice of structure of atmospheric vacuum distillation units or atmospheric distillation units is determined by the characteristics of crude oil. Finally, according to our studies, the distillation unit with the oil topping column K-1, is more flexible and versatile, which on the whole allows processing any feedstock. Table 7 shows the conclusions on the different types of atmospheric distillation [28].
Types of CDU | Crude distillation unit with K-1 | Crude distillation unit without K-1 |
---|---|---|
Advantages |
|
|
Disadvantages |
|
|
Summary of advantages and disadvantages of different types of technology.
The crude oil is a complex mixture of paraffin, naphthenic, aromatic, and other hydrocarbons with different molecular masses and boiling temperatures. Also, the oil contains sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen-containing organic compounds. Therefore, to obtain from oil commodity products for various purposes, apply methods of separation of oil into fractions or groups of hydrocarbons. The modern dewatering-desalting processes are designed with electrostatic desalter only by horizontal geometry design: Atmospheric and atmospheric-vacuum. The horizontal design of electrostatic desalter has a lot of advantages, such as a large area of electrodes and, accordingly, a larger amount of oil per unit section of the device, a lower vertical speed of the moving oil flow, which provides favorable conditions for water sedimentation, as well as implementing processes with higher pressure and temperature. The electrostatics desalters are characterized by:
More favorable conditions for the deposition of water drops;
Specific performance, 3 times higher than vertical and ball structures in the presence of low specific gravity and lower cost of the device;
Simplicity of design, a small amount of electrical equipment, ease of installation, availability of maintenance and maintainability;
Ability to work with high pressure and temperature parameters.
However, the pretreatment of crude oil is not only concerned with its desalting and dewatering, but also with its degasification and packaging into a semi-product under the standard like ASTM D 1250-97, API Petroleum Measurement and GOST R 51858.
The distillation processes are the processes of oil separation into more or less homogeneous fractions (cups) without chemical conversion of its constituent substances. The process of separation of liquid substances by their boiling temperatures is atmospheric and vacuum. The oil distillation via single and multiple evaporations. In industrial conditions, the processes are carried out on the equipment of continuous action. During the single-evaporation distillation, the oil is heated to a certain temperature and all fractions that have passed into the vapor phase are collected. The distillation of the oil by multiple evaporations consists in that the oil is first heated to a temperature allowing to separate the light gasoline fraction. Then the crude without the fraction of light gasoline is heated to a higher temperature, and fractions that boil at about 375°C (that is, fractions of heavy gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel fuel) are also collected. In the residue from distillation, atmospheric residues are obtained. The atmospheric residues are distilled under vacuum, from which the lubricating oil fractions are obtained. Finally, the tar is obtained as residues from vacuum distillation. In other words, oil is consistently heated three times, each time separating the vapor phase from the liquids. The resulting steam and liquid phases are subjected to rectification in columns. Thus, industrial processes of oil distillation are based on a combination of distillation with single and multiple evaporations and subsequent rectification of the steam and liquid phases. We want to emphasize that this is the case, we use the K-1 oil topping column. However, if the process is executed without column k1, the same process is shorter and with the results already mentioned above. In the distillation column, there are distillation plates on which the vapors rising along the column are in contact with the flowing liquid (reflux). Reflux is created due to the fact that part of the upper product returns to the liquid state to the upper plate and flows down, enriching the rising vapors with low-boiling components. One of the ways to increase the concentration of high-boiling components in the residue from oil distillation is to introduce an evaporator into the lower part of the distillation column. As such, you can use water vapor, inert gas (nitrogen, carbon dioxide, petroleum gas), gasoline vapor or kerosene. The water vapor is most widely used as an evaporator for oil refining. Its presence in the distillation column reduces the partial pressure of hydrocarbons, and therefore their boiling point. As a result, the lowest-boiling hydrocarbons in the liquid phase, after single evaporation, pass into a vaporous state and, together with water vapor, rise up the column. In many literatures, it is recommended to use super-heated water vapor and enter it into the column with a temperature equal to the temperature of the feedstock or slightly higher. Usually, the water vapor used after steam pumps and turbines at a pressure of 2–3 bar is superheated in a tube furnace and introduced into a column with a temperature of 350–450°C. The use of wet vapor steam is not practiced, since its temperature and pressure are interrelated, for example, when introducing a column of 350°C, its pressure is equal to 170 bar. Besides, with increasing pressure, the cost of saturated water vapor increases sharply, so it is not economical to use it. If the wet vapor steam enters a column of low-pressure saturated water vapor, for example, 10 bar and, accordingly, with a temperature of 180°C, then part of the heat will go to heat it.
GOST | Russian Interstate-standard |
ASTM | American Society for Testing and Materials |
NF EN ISO | French Norms European Norms International Organization for Standardization |
ρ90 | density at 90°С |
μoil crude | kinematic viscosity of crude oil |
AVDU | atmospheric-vacuum distillation unit |
ADU | atmospheric distillations unit |
CDU | crude distillation unit |
Refinery | petroleum refinery plant |
VDU | vacuum distillation unit |
K1 | oil topping atmospheric column |
K2 | main atmospheric column |
TBP | true boiling point |
t/h | ton/hour |
kg/h | kilogram/hour |
WV | water Vapor |
P&ID | piping and instrumentation diagram |
Amongst all the mental health disorders, anxiety, depression and stress appear to be the most common ones inflicting the human society. These diseases are disorders of the biochemical and neurophysiological systems which have an impact on not only the release of mood-regulating chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline, but also on the cortisol and gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA) levels [1]. More than 264 million of people regardless of age, gender or creed suffer from depression [2]. Compared to men, women are more prone to this disorder, but the worrying trend is that depression leads to suicide. Evidence shows that approximately 700,000 people worldwide take their own lives annually, and what is more shocking is that suicide is deemed the fourth cause of death amongst 15 to 19-year-olds [3].
Not only depression, but also anxiety and stress are interrelated with physical well-being. For instance, cardiovascular diseases can lead to depression and vice versa. On a same note, the deadly Covid-19 pandemic which took the entire world by a storm in 2020 has had a significant undesirable impact on mental health. As the pandemic continues to ravage lives of innocent people in every nook and corner of the globe, a wide range of psychological outcomes have been observed at different layers of the society – individual, community, national and international levels. At the individual level, people are still apprehensive of falling ill or experiencing a painful death due the virus or being stigmatized by the society [4]. Health care workers and families with infected patients are completely fatigued. School and college-going students are not only totally demotivated, but also displeased as they have had to switch to virtual learning which in turn has impacted not only their eyesight, but also their physical health due to prolonged hours of being glued to the computer screen, and their social life. Family bread winners in various sectors who have lost jobs, and those in dire need of financial aid are totally dejected and devastated. Findings also reveal that those who have been quarantined or isolated, experienced quite a significant amount of stress, anxiety, mood swings, depression, and insomnia [5, 6, 7]. Frequent exposure to media appears to be another detrimental contributing factor to stress and anxiety [8]. It appears that patients with depression more often than not show symptoms of anxiety disorders, while those with anxiety disorders exhibit signs of depression [9]. Nonetheless, it is evident that both disorders tend to co-exist [10]. There are still so many people out there who are anxious and stressed out that they or their loved ones may contract the disease and not survive.
As anxiety and depression are affiliated with morbidity and mortality, it is imperative that these illnesses be identified and treated. Common treatments for these mental health disorders are available. Besides psychosocial treatments, psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are usually used as the first line of treatment in moderate to severely depressed individuals [11]. Antidepressants augmented with antipsychotics have shown positive results in treating anxiety. It is noteworthy that some of the drug-based treatments for anxiety have been reported to produce a sharp decline in depressive symptoms [12, 13]; however, the strategy involved in preventing depression by treating anxiety successfully warrants further clinical investigation. Benzodiazepine, a common drug-based medication that enhances the effects of GABA at its receptor, on the other hand, is only effective in treating anxiety and not depression [9].
While treatments are readily available, some of the victims do not seek help because of financial issues, fear of being stigmatized for visiting a mental health counsellor, ignorance or for no rationale at all. Furthermore, there could be concerns about the adverse outcomes and compliance of these drugs [14].
In many parts of the world today, complementary and alternative medicine treatments are gaining popularity by all and sundry. Mindfulness-based interventions such as meditation and yoga are widely used in the therapy of both psychological and also physical ailments as research has shown a link between these practices, and physical and psychological health changes [15]. Findings seem to reveal that the practice of yoga can positively affect the biochemical and neurophysiological systems by regulating the autonomic nervous system and stress response, hence lowering the stress, anxiety and depression levels [16]. There is evidence that patients favour these conventional methods of treatment compared to mainstream approaches such as psychotherapy or psychotropic medications [17].
This chapter will look at the philosophy and benefits of yoga, review some recent research that have been done on the intervention of yoga as an adjunct or stand-alone therapy for stress, anxiety and depression, the effectiveness of this mind-body regime and its implications for the sufferers of the current society.
Yoga, an ancient mind-body movement practice, originated in India more than five millenniums ago. Also commonly referred to as a meditative movement practice, it involves movement, a meditative state of mind, breath focus and deep relaxation for purposes of enhancing or healing the physical, mental and emotional well-being [18].
Yoga appears to be a form of alternative medicine [19], and its philosophy is based on the eight limbs schematised by Maharishi Patanjali, one of the main pillars of classical yoga. These eight limbs comprise yama (universal moral ethics), niyama (internal attitudes for personal discipline), asana (yoga posture), pranayama (expansion of life force), prathyahara (withdrawal of senses), dharana (contemplation of one’s true nature), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (liberation) [20].
The first three limbs or stages – yama, niyama and asana, are considered the outward quests (bahiranga sadhana). With the practice of yama and niyama, the practitioner works towards keeping his passions and emotions under control, while the asana component, if practised diligently, keeps the body strong and healthy, and in harmony with nature. Breath regulation and mind control take place in the next two stages, that is, pranayama and prathyahara. Since these stages work at the inner level, they are known as inner quests or antaranga sadhana in Sanskrit. The last three stages – dharana, dhyana and samadhi, elevate the practitioner into the deeper recesses of the soul [21].
As yoga is not a religion or a cult, anyone regardless of age, creed or gender can learn and practise it. For the genuine seeker, whose desire is to experience the universal self within, the practice of yoga is an unbroken journey. Nevertheless, this ancient practice can be simplified and performed in a number of ways to suit the practitioner [22].
The practice of yoga is so flexible that the practitioner can simply utilize some, if not all, of the limbs to their own comfort. In a conventional 1 h yoga session, it is not uncommon to have the asanas integrated with practices of pranayama, prathyahara, dharana and dhyana. Having said that, there are many styles of yoga; precision and alignment, asthanga yoga, flow yoga, asana yoga, gentle yoga and hot yoga are some of the common styles [23].
The practice of yoga brings about tremendous benefits to the body and mind. In the past nine decades, empirical research has been carried out on the techniques of yoga to test its credibility. Pioneer experiments conducted by Swami Kuvalayananda in 1924 focused on parameters like heart rate, blood pressure fluctuations, and intra-esophageal air pressure during the performance and also after the practice of asanas and pranayama [24].
Due to promising results, yoga has since been classified by the National Institute of Health as a form of complementary and alternative medicine, and people from all walks of life have incorporated this scientific practice into their lifestyles [25].
Unlike other forms of exercise, yoga focuses on being present in the moment. Hence, the practitioner needs to be mindful regardless of whether they have assumed a static position while holding an asana for a couple of breaths, or in motion especially during the performance of an asana. Preliminary research has advocated that yoga may increase levels of mindfulness in the practitioner [26, 27]. The asanas when performed steadily and joyfully, are useful in preventing and correcting structural imbalances in the body [28].
As this ancient science also appears to be a form of moving meditation, there have been suggestions that practitioners are more likely to be engaged in the movement aspect of yoga as it stimulates the cognitive processes related to mindfulness [29]. In addition, the meditative movement, which coordinates each movement with the breath systematically, increases physical endurance in the practitioner over time. As the muscles recurrently contract with more force while performing a particular movement, their strength eventually increases. An example would be in the classical cobra pose (bhujangasana). In this pose, the practitioner starts of by lying flat facing downward on the mat. As the upper torso and head are lifted of the mat upon inhalation, the back extensors are engaged and contracted strongly. Hence, if the position is held long enough (while breathing normally), and if the movement is repeated a couple of times in each practice, the back muscles will be strengthened [30].
Muscles and connective tissues are stretched in asanas to increase flexibility. Regardless of whether the stretch is with or against gravity, the body will experience a stretch, thus increasing flexibility [30]. Unfortunately, in the current situation today where many, who work from home, pay little attention to their sitting position, the structural alignment is greatly compromised. Certain sporting activities like tennis and football, which require strenuous use of one side of the body, are equally to be blamed too. Asanas taught in yoga have been known to prevent and correct structural misalignments in the body.
Having said that, existing research unveils that the benefits of yoga are not limited to only correcting structural misalignments, enhancing stretching and improving flexibility; yoga also enhances emotional and psychosocial health and brings about an increase in proprioceptive and interoceptive awareness [31, 32]. There have been propositions that if yoga is practised consistently, it has the ability to induce neuroplasticity i.e., changes in the neural pathways of the brain, thus improving psychological skills [33]. This augurs well for the yoga practitioner as it suggests that the brain can be rewired just like a muscle in the physical body.
Yoga as therapy or therapeutic yoga has been defined as application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions [34]. Evidence from a growing body of research supports the notion that yoga may bring about positive effects not only in one’s physical but also mental health through the downregulation of the hypothalamo–pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) [35].
Since the aim of this review is to look into the impact of yoga specifically on stress, anxiety and depression in this contemporary society, only findings from articles that were published from 2014 to 2021 were reviewed and included. A combination of databases including PubMed, MEDLINE and PsychInfo were used to identify these articles with the help of keywords and phrases such as “intervention of yoga,” “anxiety,” “stress,” and “depression.” The search was streamlined to include only studies that were conducted with adults as participants, irrespective of gender or creed. Those that were conducted with children or teenagers below the age of 18 were excluded completely. In addition, studies that included adults suffering from multiple diseases and/or mental health issues, such as psychosis, obsessive – compulsive disorder and health-related aspects of physical fitness were not included in the discussion here. Studies that included pregnant and post-partum participants were also omitted as it is not unusual for this category of participants to undergo depression and anxiety during that period. In terms of the intervention, only studies that integrated classical yoga were included. Hence, the discussion is substantiated with findings from nine studies conducted between 2014 and 2021.
The design of all the studies varied considerably from pre-test/post-test to quasi-experimental and randomised controlled trials (RCTs). One of the RCTs was a stratified-randomised controlled with repeated measures [36]. The sample size incorporated in all these studies was relatively small, ranging from 18 [37] to a maximum of 226 [38]. While this review is not limited to qualitative and quantitative studies, the instruments used in each study varied rather significantly. In all these studies, the intervention of yoga was heterogeneous. Studies that had incorporated transcendental meditation or mindfulness meditation (or any other forms of meditation) or pranayama as stand-alone practices are not included in this discussion.
Only studies that assimilated aspects of classical hatha yoga specifically asana, pranayama, prathyahara, dharana and dhyana were included, though the duration of each class and frequency of sessions varied considerably. One study had administered Kundalini yoga; however, it had incorporated all the aspects of classical hatha yoga, hence the findings of that study were included in this review [38]. It is interesting to note that another study had incorporated chanting as part of the intervention [39].
On a positive note, most of the studies reviewed (2014–2021), if not all, exhibited appreciable outcomes; intervention of yoga, with or without pharmacotherapy, appeared to be effectual in reducing the symptoms of these mental health disorders [36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44]. A summary of the intervention and findings is provided in Table 1. Even though the duration of each and every study reviewed in this chapter varied considerably, that is, from 4 weeks to 6 months, there are implications that the practice of yoga advocates changes in the neural pathways of the human brain, resulting in favorable effects to the brain activity. Evidence has shown that, when compared to controls, there is less activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of yoga practitioners [45]. It appears that if there is consistency in the practice of yoga, the alpha, beta and theta brainwaves are activated; these have been linked to improvement in not only memory, but also mood and anxiety.
Authors | Description of Intervention | Findings |
Kinser et al. [40] | RCT; YG: 75 min of hatha yoga (asanas, breathing techniques, relaxation, guided meditation) per week over 8 weeks; CG: health education activities (lectures, videos, discussions) Both groups continued with prescribed medication and maintained their lifestyle activities. | YG experienced multiple benefits of yoga including a boost of confidence; Gained new skills to be used in daily life to manage depression and stress; |
Doria et al. [39] | Pre-test post-test; Grp 1: medication+SKY+self-help group weekly; Grp 2: SKY+self-help group weekly but no medication 6 months prior to study Intervention: 10 sessions of 2 h SKY in 2 weeks followed by weekly SKY for 6 months (asanas, pranayama, chanting, prathyhara, dharana) | A reduction in anxiety and depression levels in both groups No significant differences in scores between both groups |
Falsafi and Leopard [37] | Quasi-experimental (repeated measures with one group); Intervention: 90 min yoga per week for 8 weeks (asanas, pranayama and mindfulness practice) | Significant decrease ( |
De Manincor et al. [41] | RCT; YG: A 6 week yoga program; 30 min of vini yoga practice (asanas, pranayama, relaxation, mindfulness, meditation) for 4.8 days per week + TAU; CG: TAU – yoga was given after waitlist period. | A significant reduction in depression and anxiety scores; YG showed greater reduction compared to CG. |
Falsafi [36] | RCT (stratified- randomised controlled repeated measures); YG: 8 weeks hatha yoga; 75 min session once a week; 20 min daily home practice. CG: absence of yoga MIG: mindfulness practice | YG and MIG showed significant reduction in depression, stress and anxiety compared to CG; no significant change in CG; No difference between YG and MIG, but self-compassion scores significant in MIG. |
Prathikanti et al. [42] | RCT (stratified-randomised controlled); YG: A 8 week yoga program (asana, pranayama, dharana, prathyahara); 90 min per session, two sessions a week; props used; TAU. CG: 90 min of Yoga history workshop twice a week for 8 weeks, TAU. No medication for both groups. | YG showed a significant decrease in depression compared to CG ( YG more likely to achieve remission. YG requested for more sessions per week and also permission to attend yoga history workshop. |
Uebelacker et al. [44] | RCT (stratified-randomised controlled); YG: A 10 week yoga program (asana, pranayama, dharana, dhyana, prathyahara); 80 min per session; one or two sessions per week; TAU. CG: A 10 week healthy-living workshop; 60 min per session; one or two sessions per week; TAU. | Insignificant difference between YG and CG; YG demonstrated lower levels of depressive symptoms, better social and role functioning, and general health perceptions when compared to CG. |
Shohani et al. [43] | Quasi-experimental (pre/post -test); YG: 60–70 min hatha yoga, three times a week for 4 weeks | A significant, decrease in depression, stress and anxiety in the YG ( |
Simon et al. [38] | RCT (three-arm controlled single blind); YG: A 12 week program (asana, pranayama, dharana, prathyahara dharana, dhyana) 120 min per session CBT: evidence-based GAD protocol CG: stress education | YG and CBT showed efficacy for treatment of GAD; CBT remains first-line treatment. |
Summary of the intervention and findings of the selected studies.
CG: control group; CBT: cognitive behavioral therapy; GAD: generalized anxiety disorder; MIG: mindfulness intervention group; RCT: randomized controlled trial; TAU: treatment as usual; and YG: yoga group.
All the studies reviewed in this chapter incorporated the fundamental limbs of Patanjali yoga, that is, asanas, pranayama, prathyahara, dharana and dhyana. The first two limbs in yoga, that is, yama and niyama, are therapeutic in nature as both entail code of ethics that work at not only intrapersonal (yama), but also interpersonal (niyama) levels [46]. Yama includes practices such as ahimsa (non-violence), satya (non-stealing), asteya (non-lying), brahmacharya (non-excessiveness) and aparigraha (non-greediness). Niyama, on the other hand, encompasses traits such as saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (sacrifice), swadyaya (self-study) and Ishwara pranidana (surrendering to the higher power). It is imperative to note that while none of these studies reported the inclusion of yamas and niyamas as part of the intervention, it is believed that these two limbs may have been interleaved into the yoga sessions in an informal manner [47].
It is common to prompt students in a timely manner specifically during the asana session to practise ahimsa, for example. While mindfully challenging oneself to perform a strenuous or a dynamic pose is encouraged, using unwarranted force recklessly to get into the pose is not. For obvious reasons, just like in any sporting activities, adding excessive pressure at certain joints in the body can and will bring about unforeseen injury to the practitioner. More importantly, while the pose is being held (being in the pose), students are persistently reminded to bring their awareness to the deep joy and pleasurable feelings that they are experiencing at that moment regardless of whether they are in the full pose or in a modified version. This act of experiencing joy while being in a particular position brings us to one of the niyamas, that is santosha. Hence, in this manner, the other yamas and niyamas are introduced and expounded during a yoga session at the academy where classes are conducted.
In the studies that have been reviewed in this chapter, the instructors assigned to the yoga sessions may have implicitly incorporated the yamas and niyamas but may have inadvertently failed to report the minutiae and hence, the details of the latter were not highlighted in the papers published. Just like in any study, implicit details are imperative for informed choices to be made. If the specifics of the yoga intervention for each study had been reported, it would have been instrumental not only to the researcher and the reader, but also to the participant who may be keen on exploring the philosophical roots of the yogic practice [47].
It is noteworthy that despite the insignificant sample size, heterogeneity in the sample population, varied duration of the intervention and wide-ranging styles of yoga taught, all studies reviewed demonstrated positive results in reducing the scores in depression, anxiety, and also stress.
In one study, where both the yoga group (YG) and the control group (CG) underwent pharmacotherapy during the intervention, the YG not only experienced a significant decrease in ruminations, but also found solace in the practice; participants used yoga as a strategy to help cope with ill-thoughts and other symptoms of depression in daily life [40]. This could be due to the impact of one of the components in the yoga practice, i.e., yoga nidra (guided meditation) that may have enhanced the self-regulatory capacities in the participants. On the hindsight, participants of this study acknowledged that the practice of yoga had intensified their confidence and that the practice had become an internal motivator for continued participation.
Similar results were seen in another study that engaged sudharshan kriya yoga (SKY) [39]. There was hardly any difference in the scores between the two groups (one group did SKY with pharmacotherapy, while the other group did SKY sans pharmacotherapy), purely suggesting that SKY may be effective not only as a stand-alone therapy, but also as an adjunct therapy for patients undergoing medical treatment. This study was exceptional as it had incorporated chanting in the yoga session. Chanting appears to have a healing effect not only on the physical and emotional, but also on the mental and spiritual body. It provides the drifting mind with a focal point. Though the chanting aspect was brief in this study, previous research has revealed that chanting has the potential to bring about deactivation in the amygdala, parahippocampal and hippocampal brain regions [46]. By stimulating the auricular branches of the vagal nerves, chanting creates vibrations at the cellular level. It is these vibrations that create neuro-linguistic effects which induce tranquility in the body and mind. Those suffering from depression tend to have a noisy mind – one that is cluttered with heaps of unnecessary thoughts. It is believed that the sounds of the mantra have the ability to mask the negative voices in the brain. Only when these ruinous thoughts are eradicated, can the mind have room for positive contemplations.
Similarly, the eight-week yoga intervention study which was conducted on 18 patients diagnosed with anxiety in the US showed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms (
In a study conducted amongst a subsyndromal population in Australia, a six-week yoga intervention was found to be effective in reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms in both groups of participants, the YG and the CG [41]. There was reduction in psychological stress and rumination, an increase in resilience, and an improvement in mental well-being. It is interesting to note that findings of this study revealed that the yoga participants, on their own accord, had reduced medication dosage and frequency of visiting the counsellor. Though the reasons for these actions are indistinct and warrants deeper investigation, the yoga intervention mode appeared effective in managing the issue at hand of these participants. Pharmacological interventions for depression and anxiety usually produce a delay of approximately 4 weeks before exerting significant mood effects over placebo; it may take up to 12 weeks to achieve full anti-depression effects with medication [48]. Hence, time is definitely a parameter for consideration in yoga intervention. However, in this Australian study, it was suggested that a 30 min yoga practice over 5 days per week should suffice for all and sundry.
Similar positive outcomes of practicing yoga were observed in a depressive and withdrawn community who participated in a randomized controlled trial in San Francisco [42]. Unlike other studies, participants in the YG in this study not only asked for more yoga sessions, but also sought permission to attend the theoretical sessions on yoga history that were specifically held for the CG. It appears that these participants were definitely eager to do yoga for the benefit of their own mind-body health, but at the same time, interested in understanding the physiology behind this ancient science. Specific asanas such as dhanurasana (bow pose), ardhakati chakrasana (half waist wheel pose), ardha chakrasana (half wheel pose), Bhujangasana (cobra pose), setu bandhasana (bridge pose), sarvangasana (shoulder stand) and matsyasana (fish pose) employed in this study were found to be effectual in helping the participants manage their depressive moods and anxiety. It is interesting to note that most of these asanas are heart/chest openers. It appears that in the process of expanding the chest and rib cage to oxygenate the lungs efficiently, these asanas have helped in managing symptoms of depression such as grief, anger and frustration.
The findings from an Iranian study which was carried amongst 52 women suffering from some form of mental health disorders albeit free from pharmacotherapy, was equally positive; the intervention of yoga as a stand-alone therapy brought upon a reduction in anxiety, depression and also stress levels (p = 0.001) in the participants who did 12 sessions of yoga over a four-week period [43].
While most studies showed promising outcomes, one study hardly showed any significant statistical difference between the YG and the CG even though there was evidence of a reduction in depressive symptoms and better social functioning in the YG [44]. These positive effects could have been merely an after effect due to the relaxation techniques included in the yogic regime. Relaxation techniques in yoga are known to downplay the sympathetic activity and balance the autonomic nervous system responses.
Finally, in one recent three-arm controlled single blind clinical trial, where participants were randomized over a period of 12 weeks to either the kundalini yoga (KY) or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) while the CG was subjected to stress education, it was found that the KY group and the CBT group had shown significant reduction in generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. That said, the findings also revealed that CBT appears to be more effective than yoga, and it was concluded that the former shall remain the first line of treatment for anxiety disorders [38].
However, in most, if not all, of the studies reviewed in this chapter, they were subjected to limitations. For example, a few of the studies were predominantly a female sample [40, 43]. While there is a greater tendency for women to suffer from depression compared to men [49], the sample size in these studies was disproportionately represented. Also, most of the studies were limited by the insignificant sample population and heterogeneity. Due to the absence of controls in certain studies, it was challenging to establish whether the results obtained were due intervention of yoga or another factor. RCTs are known to be intervention research of high standards, but most of the studies reviewed here were challenged due to several reasons. Either the randomization was inappropriate, yoga styles in terms of postures, breathing and meditative techniques were too varied and/or incongruence in teaching methods.
Despite the limitations, it appears that participants who have benefitted from these yoga sessions may now have an extra tool at hand to help them manage stress, anxiety and depression. Since there were no adverse effects reported in any of the studies, yoga appears to be a safe practice.
All studies that have been reviewed in this chapter incorporated the fundamental limbs of Patanjali yoga that is, asanas, pranayama, prathyahara, dharana and dhyana. Despite the limitations such as heterogeneity in the sample population, insignificant sample size, varied durations of intervention and styles of yoga taught, most studies, if not all, demonstrated substantial positive outcomes in reducing the scores in depression, anxiety and stress. Previous studies have shown that the practice of asana, pranayama, dharana and dhyana have the ability to still not only the mind, but also the body, thus lowering anxiety levels, and these effects were seen in the studies reviewed in this chapter.
Having said that, another factor to delve into is the time (duration) required for participants to master the yoga asanas, especially for those whose flexibility is compromised, and the breathing techniques. The duration for the psycho-physiological factors mediating specific mood benefits of yoga to develop and exert a quantifiable effect in the participant is equally important. While factors such as duration of a yoga session, frequency and duration of each limb in a yoga session warrant further investigation, selection of asanas in a yoga intervention should not be neglected.
At the Malaysian Yoga Academy, students, regardless of their mental or physical health conditions, are encouraged to practise yoga daily for at least 45 min. This is not only to ensure there is sufficient time to practise most, if not all the limbs, but also to sustain a healthy mind and body, and keep diseases at bay; this step is crucial as studies have indicated that many people suffer from some form of anxiety and/or mood disorder at some point in their life.
Here are some simple postures (asanas) and breathing practices one can do two to three times daily. All practices should be done on an empty stomach. A suggestion would be to practice before sunrise, and/or at sunset and/or before bedtime. If food has been consumed, allow 2 h for digestion before the practice. It is imperative to note that these practices do not replace any form of prescribed medication. They are merely suggested complementary practices towards better mental and physical health, and tools that can be used to manage a sudden onslaught of stress, anxiety and/or a depressive mood.
All these postures and breathing techniques induce relaxation for the body and mind. One may practice all the postures and breathing techniques given here at any one sitting; alternatively, one may practice a few.
The author is grateful to Malaysian Association of Yoga Instructors (MAYI) Yoga Academy and the Malaysian Yoga Society for all the trainings and certifications she has received over the years.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
As a yoga instructor and therapist, the author has shared lots of personal experiences and provided home practice for the benefit of those who need it. Thank you.
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\\n\\n“Party”, “Parties”, or “Us”, refers to both the Client and ourselves, or either the Client or ourselves.
\\n\\nAll Terms refer to the offer, acceptance, and consideration of payment necessary to provide assistance to the Client in the most appropriate manner, whether by formal meetings of a fixed duration, or by any other agreed means, for the express purpose of meeting the Client’s needs in respect of provision of the Company’s stated services/products, and in accordance with, and subject to, the prevailing laws of the United Kingdom.
\\n\\nAny use of the above terminology, or other words in the singular, plural, capitalization and/or he/she or they, are taken as interchangeable.
\\n\\nUnless otherwise stated, IntechOpen and/or its licensors own the intellectual property rights for all materials on www.intechopen.com. All intellectual property rights are reserved. You may view, download, share, link and print pages from www.intechopen.com for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out in these Terms and Conditions.
\\n\\nWe employ the use of cookies. By using the IntechOpen website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with IntechOpen’s Privacy Policy. Most modern day interactive websites use cookies to enable the retrieval of user details for each visit. On our site, cookies are predominantly used to enable functionality and ease of use for those visiting the site.
\\n\\nIn no circumstances shall IntechOpen or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use, or inability to use, the materials on IntechOpen's websites, even if IntechOpen or an IntechOpen authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages; consequently, these limitations may not apply to you.
\\n\\nIntechopen.com website content and services are provided on an "AS IS" and an "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Material appearing on www.intechopen.com could include minor technical, typographical, or photographic errors. IntechOpen may make changes to any material contained on its website at any time without notice.
\\n\\nIntechOpen has no formal affiliation to any external sites that link to www.intechopen.com, unless otherwise specifically stated. As such, it is not responsible for content that appears on any such sites. The inclusion of any link to IntechOpen does not imply endorsement by IntechOpen. Use of any such linked website is done solely at the user's own discretion.
\\n\\nWe reserve the right of ownership over our entire website www.intechopen.com, and all contents. By using our services, you agree to remove all links to our website immediately upon request. We also reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions and our linking policy at any time. By continuing to link to our website, you agree to be bound to, and abide by, these linking Terms and Conditions.
\\n\\nIf you find any link on our website, or any linked website, objectionable for any reason, please Contact Us. We will consider all requests to remove links but will have no obligation to do so.
\\n\\nWithout prior approval and express written permission, you may not create frames around our web pages or use other techniques that alter in any way the visual presentation or appearance of our website.
\\n\\nIntechOpen may revise its Terms of Service for its website at any time without notice. By using this website, you are agreeing to be bound by the current version of all Terms at the time of use.
\\n\\nThese Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in London, United Kingdom.
\\n\\nCroatian version of Terms and Conditions available here
\\n"}]'},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'By accessing the website at www.intechopen.com you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms of Service, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. Use and/or access to this site is based on full agreement and compliance of these Terms. All materials contained on this website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark laws.
\n\nThe following terminology applies to these Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement, Disclaimer Notice, and any or all Agreements:
\n\n“Client”, “Customer”, “You” and “Your” refers to you, the person accessing this website and accepting the Company’s Terms and Conditions;
\n\n“The Company”, “Ourselves”, “We”, “Our” and “Us”, refers to our Company, IntechOpen;
\n\n“Party”, “Parties”, or “Us”, refers to both the Client and ourselves, or either the Client or ourselves.
\n\nAll Terms refer to the offer, acceptance, and consideration of payment necessary to provide assistance to the Client in the most appropriate manner, whether by formal meetings of a fixed duration, or by any other agreed means, for the express purpose of meeting the Client’s needs in respect of provision of the Company’s stated services/products, and in accordance with, and subject to, the prevailing laws of the United Kingdom.
\n\nAny use of the above terminology, or other words in the singular, plural, capitalization and/or he/she or they, are taken as interchangeable.
\n\nUnless otherwise stated, IntechOpen and/or its licensors own the intellectual property rights for all materials on www.intechopen.com. All intellectual property rights are reserved. You may view, download, share, link and print pages from www.intechopen.com for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out in these Terms and Conditions.
\n\nWe employ the use of cookies. By using the IntechOpen website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with IntechOpen’s Privacy Policy. Most modern day interactive websites use cookies to enable the retrieval of user details for each visit. On our site, cookies are predominantly used to enable functionality and ease of use for those visiting the site.
\n\nIn no circumstances shall IntechOpen or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use, or inability to use, the materials on IntechOpen's websites, even if IntechOpen or an IntechOpen authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages; consequently, these limitations may not apply to you.
\n\nIntechopen.com website content and services are provided on an "AS IS" and an "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Material appearing on www.intechopen.com could include minor technical, typographical, or photographic errors. IntechOpen may make changes to any material contained on its website at any time without notice.
\n\nIntechOpen has no formal affiliation to any external sites that link to www.intechopen.com, unless otherwise specifically stated. As such, it is not responsible for content that appears on any such sites. The inclusion of any link to IntechOpen does not imply endorsement by IntechOpen. Use of any such linked website is done solely at the user's own discretion.
\n\nWe reserve the right of ownership over our entire website www.intechopen.com, and all contents. By using our services, you agree to remove all links to our website immediately upon request. We also reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions and our linking policy at any time. By continuing to link to our website, you agree to be bound to, and abide by, these linking Terms and Conditions.
\n\nIf you find any link on our website, or any linked website, objectionable for any reason, please Contact Us. We will consider all requests to remove links but will have no obligation to do so.
\n\nWithout prior approval and express written permission, you may not create frames around our web pages or use other techniques that alter in any way the visual presentation or appearance of our website.
\n\nIntechOpen may revise its Terms of Service for its website at any time without notice. By using this website, you are agreeing to be bound by the current version of all Terms at the time of use.
\n\nThese Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in London, United Kingdom.
\n\nCroatian version of Terms and Conditions available here
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This chapter tries to answer at least a few questions about corruption and the causes for it, its consequences and how to deal with it successfully.",book:{id:"6487",slug:"trade-and-global-market",title:"Trade and Global Market",fullTitle:"Trade and Global Market"},signatures:"Štefan Šumah",authors:[{id:"228073",title:"Mr.",name:"Stefan",middleName:null,surname:"Sumah",slug:"stefan-sumah",fullName:"Stefan Sumah"}]},{id:"55499",title:"Human Resources Management in Nonprofit Organizations: A Case Study of Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts",slug:"human-resources-management-in-nonprofit-organizations-a-case-study-of-istanbul-foundation-for-cultur",totalDownloads:2294,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,abstract:"The aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency and importance of human resources management in nonprofit organizations. The understanding was included to the literature as personnel management at the beginning of the twentieth century and it turned into an approach as human resources management in the 1980s. It could be observed that many organizations, which deem the human as the most critical stakeholder, adopt a traditional way of personnel management in operating human resources. The employees play a key role in the success of an organization. For this reason, subjects such as recruitment, training, development, career management, performance appraisal, occupational health, and safety are the fundamental functions of human resources management. The study examines to what extent these roles are evaluated through a case study. The subject matter of the study is the most powerful culture and art foundation in Turkey. Compared to many other nonprofit organizations, the foundation actively performs a variety of services within a year worldwide. The fact that the total number of employees might rise up to 800, including the field personnel, indicates the need of a good functioning human resources management. The human resources practices of the foundation are examined and evaluated within that scope.",book:{id:"5826",slug:"issues-of-human-resource-management",title:"Issues of Human Resource Management",fullTitle:"Issues of Human Resource Management"},signatures:"Beste Gökçe Parsehyan",authors:[{id:"189113",title:"Dr.",name:"Beste",middleName:null,surname:"Gokce Parsehyan",slug:"beste-gokce-parsehyan",fullName:"Beste Gokce Parsehyan"}]},{id:"59152",title:"Marketing Strategies for the Social Good",slug:"marketing-strategies-for-the-social-good",totalDownloads:1594,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:1,abstract:"Social network sites (SNS) have proven to be a good environment to promote and sell goods and services, but marketing is more than creating commercial strategies. Social marketing strategies can also be used to promote behavioral change and help individuals transform their lives, achieve well-being, and adopt prosocial behaviors. In this chapter, we seek to analyze with a netnographic study, how SNS are being employed by nonprofits and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to enable citizens and consumers to participate in different programs and activities that promote social transformation and well-being. A particular interest is to identify how organizations are using behavioral economic tactics to nudge individuals and motivate them to engage in prosocial actions. 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This study uses a case study approach, financial data, and website methodologies to collect and analyze the research data. The case study is Tesla, Inc., which is a US electric vehicle and clean energy company based in Austin, Texas. Tesla is a green technology company that produces and designs electric cars, battery energy storage from home to grid-scale, solar roof tiles and solar panels, and related products and services. Tesla is growing fastly by introducing new green products, and it is now one of the world’s most valuable enterprises. It has a high market capitalization of almost US$1 trillion to become the world’s most valuable automaker. This study concludes that Tesla has changed their strategy to become the most worldwide sales of purely battery electric vehicles, capturing 23% of the market and 16% of the plug-in electric battery in the market for 2020. It has also developed a significant installer of photovoltaic systems through its subsidiary Tesla Energy in the United States. One of the largest global battery energy-storage systems suppliers is Tesla Energy, with 3.99 gigawatt-hours installed in 2021.",book:{id:"11251",title:"Banking and Accounting",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11251.jpg"},signatures:"Nizar Mohammad Alsharari"},{id:"82427",title:"Our Globalization Era among Success, Obstacles and Doubts",slug:"our-globalization-era-among-success-obstacles-and-doubts",totalDownloads:5,totalDimensionsCites:0,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105545",abstract:"In the last decades, the never-ending and unlimited expanding of both international economies and operations became globalization. Among its main features, one could recall the enormous increase of world macro-economic quantities (Gross World Product, Inter-continental Trade, FDI), as well as financial values (public debts and currency printing). The chapter tries to quantify them, by a statistical analysis of historical data (Section 1). Section 2 is dedicated to the strategic problems of firms, in particular the threats and opportunities for (inter) national firms willing to become global, and obstacles are included in Section 3. This given, it deals with the behavior of countries from the political and juridical points of view, and those ones passed form initial perplexities, distaste, or even hostility to a favorable behavior. Conclusions (Section 4) recall both the problematic alternative for globalized companies between “the world as our next door” and their social responsibilities and the similar problem for host countries, between socioeconomic advantages and protection of local workers, resources, and environment.",book:{id:"11476",title:"Globalization and Sustainability - Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Emerging Issues",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11476.jpg"},signatures:"Arnaldo Canziani, Annalisa Baldissera and Ahmad Kahwaji"},{id:"82289",title:"Consumer Culture and Abundance of Choices: Having More, Feeling Blue",slug:"consumer-culture-and-abundance-of-choices-having-more-feeling-blue",totalDownloads:1,totalDimensionsCites:0,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105607",abstract:"The defining feature of contemporary consumer culture is the escalation of consumption opportunities and the expanding space for choice. An unbridled and unrestricted range of products is part of material prosperity, rising living standards, and emancipation of human freedoms. The growing demands for constant consumer decision-making in an increasingly opaque environment of potential targets of choice exposes consumers to the risk of procrastination, passivity, and resignation, as well as psychological discomfort. The goal here is to contribute to theories of consumer behavior in the context of the psychological experience of choice under the conditions of the accelerated quantity of consumption volumes against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. While conventional offline shopping was drastically curtailed during the coronavirus crisis, freedom of consumer choice was maintained despite many proclamations to the contrary. I seek to provide support to the claim that freedom of consumer choice was maintained and often amplified during the pandemic in the online virtual environment of digital commerce formats. Freedom of consumer choice has merely been transformed into a horizontal level of application by the relatively rapid and fluid conversion of market activities into the cyberspace of a growing number of e-stores and online supermarkets, unconstrained by the physical space of shelves and counters.",book:{id:"11581",title:"A New Era of Consumer Behavior - Beyond the Pandemic",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11581.jpg"},signatures:"Ondřej Roubal"},{id:"82405",title:"Does Board Structure Matter in CSR Spending of Commercial Banks? Empirical Evidence from an Emerging Economy",slug:"does-board-structure-matter-in-csr-spending-of-commercial-banks-empirical-evidence-from-an-emerging-",totalDownloads:6,totalDimensionsCites:0,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105589",abstract:"This chapter examines the impact of board elements on CSR spending by private commercial banks in an emerging economy, considering Bangladesh as a case. In doing so, we collected necessary data from the annual reports of 30 commercial banks listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange, covering the period 2007–2020. In addition, we reviewed the patterns of CSR spending by commercial banks to understand the CSR universe in Bangladesh. We adopted the OLS model with two-way clustering to measure the effects of board elements on CSR spending. Our results confirm that factors, such as independent directors and board size, have a significant and positive relationship with CSR expenditures, while board gender deters the same. Also, board meetings do not have any significant connection with CSR spending. For control variables, factors, such as firm size and leverage, tend to promote the CSR spending of commercial banks, while profitability has no such relationship. As for the sectoral distribution of CSR funds, we found that although the absolute amount of CSR expenditures by banks has increased substantially over the years, they are primarily limited to health, education, natural disasters, and humanitarian activities. These findings are expected to have significant policy implications.",book:{id:"11602",title:"Corporate Social Responsibility",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11602.jpg"},signatures:"Bishnu Kumar Adhikary and Ranjan Kumar Mitra"},{id:"82395",title:"Toward a Better Understanding of Green Human Resource Management’s Impact on Green Competitive Advantage: A Conceptual Model",slug:"toward-a-better-understanding-of-green-human-resource-management-s-impact-on-green-competitive-advan",totalDownloads:9,totalDimensionsCites:0,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105528",abstract:"Today, green human resource management (GHRM) has become a key business strategy where HRM plays an active role in the ongoing green movement. Thus, the topic of GHRM is of growing interest among management scholars. However, despite the theoretically important role of GHRM, relatively small number of research has been discovered so far about how GHRM, in companies striving to achieve environmental sustainability, could help them gain a green competitive advantage (GCA). Thus, based on the resource-based view (RBV) arguments, the main objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between GHRM and green competitive advantage through green knowledge, green values, and green commitment. This model is expected to provide a strategic map that could be utilized by the practitioners and managers so that GHRM implementation can be more effective in contributing to green competitive advantage. Overall, the present article extends knowledge on the resource-based view by contributing to the literature on GHRM and its interactions with the main assets that lead to green competitive advantage.",book:{id:"11602",title:"Corporate Social Responsibility",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11602.jpg"},signatures:"Hosna Hossari and Kaoutar Elfahli"},{id:"82248",title:"Sustainability and Excellence: Pillars for Business Survival",slug:"sustainability-and-excellence-pillars-for-business-survival",totalDownloads:5,totalDimensionsCites:0,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105420",abstract:"The chapter presents an overview of management models starting with self-assessment (ISO 9004) and continuing with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. Stakeholders’ analysis and their needs and expectations diagnostic are the baseline for building sustainable businesses. Sustainability and excellence are connected, and particular details of these approaches’ implementation are presented. Partnership development appears a key principle in the EFQM model. Based on companies’ strategies analysis, a simplified model may be proposed in order to support business survival in changing environments. Some guidelines to allow assessment of excellence fundamentals implementation are given. Based on experience and without seeing as exhaustive, a summary sheet of possible approaches and deployments is given. This may be used as a practical tool to connect actions implemented in organizations with the excellence model enablers, so as to facilitate assessment to explore the performance maturity level. The same sequence of Plan-Do-Check-Act relates approaches stated by ISO 26000 and sustainability initiatives. Embedding excellence and sustainability into business strategic objectives allows the management to define the framework for competitive continuous improvement.",book:{id:"11476",title:"Globalization and Sustainability - Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Emerging Issues",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11476.jpg"},signatures:"Irina Severin, Maria Cristina Dijmarescu and Mihai Caramihai"}],onlineFirstChaptersTotal:75},preDownload:{success:null,errors:{}},subscriptionForm:{success:null,errors:{}},aboutIntechopen:{},privacyPolicy:{},peerReviewing:{},howOpenAccessPublishingWithIntechopenWorks:{},sponsorshipBooks:{sponsorshipBooks:[],offset:8,limit:8,total:0},allSeries:{pteSeriesList:[{id:"14",title:"Artificial Intelligence",numberOfPublishedBooks:9,numberOfPublishedChapters:89,numberOfOpenTopics:6,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2633-1403",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.79920",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"7",title:"Biomedical Engineering",numberOfPublishedBooks:12,numberOfPublishedChapters:104,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-5343",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71985",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],lsSeriesList:[{id:"11",title:"Biochemistry",numberOfPublishedBooks:32,numberOfPublishedChapters:318,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2632-0983",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.72877",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"25",title:"Environmental Sciences",numberOfPublishedBooks:1,numberOfPublishedChapters:12,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2754-6713",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100362",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"10",title:"Physiology",numberOfPublishedBooks:11,numberOfPublishedChapters:141,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-8261",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.72796",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],hsSeriesList:[{id:"3",title:"Dentistry",numberOfPublishedBooks:8,numberOfPublishedChapters:129,numberOfOpenTopics:2,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-6218",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71199",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"6",title:"Infectious Diseases",numberOfPublishedBooks:13,numberOfPublishedChapters:113,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:"2631-6188",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71852",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"13",title:"Veterinary Medicine and Science",numberOfPublishedBooks:11,numberOfPublishedChapters:105,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2632-0517",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.73681",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],sshSeriesList:[{id:"22",title:"Business, Management and Economics",numberOfPublishedBooks:1,numberOfPublishedChapters:19,numberOfOpenTopics:2,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:"2753-894X",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100359",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"23",title:"Education and Human Development",numberOfPublishedBooks:0,numberOfPublishedChapters:5,numberOfOpenTopics:1,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:null,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100360",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"24",title:"Sustainable Development",numberOfPublishedBooks:0,numberOfPublishedChapters:15,numberOfOpenTopics:5,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:null,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100361",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],testimonialsList:[{id:"6",text:"It is great to work with the IntechOpen to produce a worthwhile collection of research that also becomes a great educational resource and guide for future research endeavors.",author:{id:"259298",name:"Edward",surname:"Narayan",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/259298/images/system/259298.jpeg",slug:"edward-narayan",institution:{id:"3",name:"University of Queensland",country:{id:null,name:"Australia"}}}},{id:"13",text:"The collaboration with and support of the technical staff of IntechOpen is fantastic. 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