Optimal Design and Planning of Glycerol-Based Biorefinery Supply Chains under Uncertainty

Abstract

The optimal design and planning of glycerol-based biorefinery supply chains is critical for the development and implementation of this concept in a sustainable manner. To achieve this, a decision-making framework is proposed in this work, to holistically optimize the design and planning of the glycerol-based biorefinery supply chains under uncertainties. This framework presents a multi-layered strategy composed of different steps, and it is strongly based on optimization techniques, detailed economic and environmental assessment, and multi-objective optimization under a stochastic environment. To maximize the business value, the economic objective is measured by the Net Present Value (NPV), whereas the environmental performance is measured by the estimation of a Single Indicator (SI) through the application of LCA methods. As part of the framework, a stochastic multi-period, multi-product and multi-echelon mixed integer linear programming problem is proposed based upon a previous model, GlyThink. In the new formulation, market uncertainties are taken into account at the strategic planning level. The robustness of the supply chain structures is analyzed based on statistical data provided by the implementation of the Monte Carlo method, where a deterministic optimization problem is solved for each scenario. Furthermore, the solution of the stochastic multi-objective optimization model, points to the Pareto set of trade-off solutions obtained when maximizing the NPV and minimizing environmental consequences. Therefore, the proposed framework ultimately leads to the identification of the optimal design and planning decisions for the development of environmentally conscious biorefinery supply chains. The effectiveness of the presented approach is demonstrated through its application to the realistic case study of the glycerol-based biorefinery in Europe, where the results showed that the optimal solution under market uncertainties is obtained by establishing a multiplant supply chain for the glycerol-based integrated biorefinery, built upon two plant site locations (Germany, France) based on the production of succinic acid and lactic acid.

Integration of techno-economic and life cycle assessment: Defining and applying integration types for chemical technology development

“…As methodology choice remains a difficult task for the practitioner, frameworks have been suggested to assist selection, for example, Guitouni and Martel (1998) and Wątróbski et al (2019). A small number of papers present examples for applying a specific MCDA approach within a larger framework to support decision-makers (Gargalo et al, 2017;Halog and Manik, 2011;Zhang et al, 2016). Some papers employ a combination of combined indicators and MCDA methods; for example Gargalo et al (2017), Reich (2005), and Bernier et al (2010).…”

Eco-design of microbial electrochemical technologies for the production of waste-based succinic acid thanks to a life cycle assessment

“…By studying the environmental profile of a process prior to implementation, eco-design strategies can be applied at an early stage in order to limit the potential environmental burdens of a badly configured process (Azapagic et al, 2006). However it is difficult to select test values for such parameters and uncertainties come along this process (Gargalo et al, 2017). At this point, the opinion of reliable experts is necessary to define an appropriate range of values for all sensitive parameters.…”

“…Depending on the electrochemical conditions of the BES, several biomolecules can be produced (Rabaey and Rozendal, 2010). Because the stock of organic is deterministic (Gargalo et al, 2017) and would be moderate for mass production, it is necessary to identify the production of the biomolecule which is part of the proper market along with good environmental performances. In order to go towards the proper market, the production of succinic acid is compared to the production of bioethanol because the latter is part of an important energy market whereas succinic acid is considered an intermediate commodity.…”

Optimizing Resource Utilization in Biomass Supply Chains by Creating Integrated Biomass Logistics Centers

“…Such evaluation requires advanced decision support models. Even though there have been many models developed to optimize decisions of the biomass supply chain (e.g., [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]), hardly any looked into the optimal use of the equipment and available resources in an existing similar to an IBLC.…”