A prospective homeowner wants to determine how much she can borrow in the form of a fixed-rate 20-year mortgage. Mortgages of that maturity carry a fixed interest rate of 9.00%. She estimates that she can afford annual, pre-tax payments (interest plus principal) on her mortgage of $25,000 (for simplicity, assume that mortgage payments are made once a year at the end of the year).

You are the manager of a large crude-oil refinery. as part of the refining process, a certain heat exchanger (operated at high temperatures and with abrasive material flowing through it) must be replaced every year. the replacement and downtime cost in the first year is $165 comma 000. this cost is expected to increase due to inflation at a rate of 7% per year for six years (i.e. until the eoy 7), at which time this particular heat exchanger will no longer be needed. if the company's cost of capital is 15% per year, how much could you afford to spend for a higher quality heat exchanger so that these annual replacement and downtime costs could be eliminated?