In a chemical blanking operation, the stock thickness of an aluminum sheet is 0.015 in. The pattern to be cut out of the sheet is a hole pattern, consisting of a matrix of 0.100 in diameter holes. If photochemical machining is used to cut these holes, and contact printing is used to make the resist (maskant) pattern, determine the diameter of the holes that should be used in the pattern.

An external consultant recommends that a plant installs a bank of capacitors for power factor correction. this will reduce the peak electrical demand charges by an average of 93 kw every month. the plant current pays $13 per kw in peak demand charges. the capacitor bank will include 223 kw of fixed capacitors, and 183 of variable capacitors. the fixed capacitors cost $59 per kw, and the variable capacitors will cost $65 per kw. the consultant charges 21% of the equipment costs to install the capacitors. because this project will reduce the demand for the electric utility, they are prepared to provide a one-time rebate of $42 per kw of reduced demand. what is the simple payback period for this project (in years)?