Synthesis of Sustainable Energy Supply Chain by the P-graph Framework

Vance, Leisha; Cabezas, Heriberto; Heckl, István; Bertok, Botond; Friedler, Ferenc

doi:10.1021/ie3013264

Cited by 22 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…solar thermal energy supply, shows that energy use can be reduced significantly [6]. One method that has in particular proven its worth in such processes is Process Network Synthesis (PNS) [7]. This method has been developed in the framework of process technology [8].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal renewable energy systems for industries in rural regions

Maier

Gemenetzi

2014

Energ Sustain Soc

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Background: Energy systems for smart regions will require on the one hand a much higher share of renewable energy sources for heat and electricity and on the other hand a high standard integration of industry and utilities supplying households and businesses. As energy options become more diverse, integration of industry into the energy provision for settlements and vice versa become important from an economic and ecological point of view. A particular problem is the supply of bio-energy to large industrial complexes as this requires considerable efforts to manage resource provision as well as constructing smart systems to utilise available resources without posing direct competition to the supply of food and feed. Methods: This paper will discuss the application of Process Network Synthesis (PNS) using the P-Graph method as a tool to generate optimal energy systems supplying industry with energy based on bio-resources in the context of a rural region and small urban centre. Application of these methods to a real life case study in an industrial city in rural context (Weiz in Austria) will be discussed from the viewpoint of general lessons to be learned from the design of complex energy systems linking different energy provision sources to supply industry and residential areas in a systemic way with energy. Results: The synthesis resulted in a basic optimal solution containing the economically most feasible regional energy-technology network. Scenarios show differences in resource use and the creation of revenue. Anaerobic digestion, CHP and wood gasification appear for most of the scenarios.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal renewable energy systems for industries in rural regions

Maier

Gemenetzi

2014

Energ Sustain Soc

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“…A first attempt to develop EF method into a set of LCIA characterization factors was done by Huijbregts and colleagues [9] for the EcoInvent LCA database. More recently, EF was applied to the design of regional energy grid [74] and to assessment of transportation fuels [47]. Forms of GNVA have been incorporated into life cycle approaches to value environmental, economic, and social costs and benefits of products [75,76].…”

Section: Other Integrated Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Metrics for Improving the Life Cycle Approach to Assessing Product System Sustainability

et al. 2014

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Life cycle approaches are critical for identifying and reducing environmental burdens of products. While these methods can indicate potential environmental impacts of a product, current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods fail to integrate the multiple impacts of a system into unified measures of social, economic or environmental performance related to sustainability. Integrated metrics that combine multiple aspects of system performance based on a common scientific or economic principle have proven to be valuable for sustainability evaluation. In this work, we propose methods of adapting four integrated metrics for use with LCAs of product systems: ecological footprint, emergy, green net value added, and Fisher information. These metrics provide information on the full product system in land, energy, monetary equivalents, and as a unitless information index; each bundled with one or more indicators for reporting. When used together and for relative comparison, integrated metrics provide a broader coverage of sustainability aspects from multiple theoretical perspectives that is more likely to illuminate potential issues than individual impact indicators. These integrated metrics are recommended for use in combination with traditional indicators used in LCA. Future work will test and demonstrate the value of using these integrated metrics and combinations to assess product system sustainability.

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“…For instance, studies concerning the optimization of supply-chain networks subject to additional sustainability constraints can be found in several papers. In detail, Giarola et al (2014) and Ng and Lam (2013) study the problem limited to the field of bio-refineries while Vance et al (2013) focus on a specific problem implementation based on graph theory. Also, a strategy for the sustainable scheduling of batch productions is described in (Yue and You, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A robust sustainable optimization & control strategy (RSOCS) for (fed-)batch processes towards the low-cost reduction of utilities consumption

Rossi

Manenti

Pirola

et al. 2016

Journal of Cleaner Production

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The need for the development of clean but still profitable processes and the study of low environmental impact and economically convenient management policies for them are two challenges for the years to come. This paper tries to give a first answer to the second of these needs, limited to the area of discontinuous productions. It deals with the development of a robust methodology for the profitable and clean management of (fed-)batch units under uncertainty, which can be referred to as a robust sustainability-oriented model-based optimization & control strategy. This procedure is specifically designed to ensure elevated process performances along with low-cost utilities usage reduction in realtime, simultaneously allowing for the effect of any external perturbation. In this way, conventional offline methods for process sustainable optimization can be easily overcome since the most suitable management policy, aimed at process sustainability, can be dynamically determined and applied in any operating condition. This leads to a significant step forward with respect to the nowadays options in terms of sustainable process management, that drives towards a cleaner and more energy-efficient future. The proposed theoretical framework is validated and tested on a case study based on the well-known fed-batch version of the Williams-Otto process to demonstrate its tangible benefits. The results achieved in this case study are promising and show that the framework is very effective in case of typical process operation while it is partially effective in case of unusual/unlikely critical process disturbances. Future works will go towards the removal of this weakness and further improvement in the algorithm robustness. KeywordsDynamic optimization, non-linear model-predictive control, scenario-based programming, (fed-)batch processes sustainable management, low-cost utilities usage reduction. IntroductionRecently, the social claim for the reduction in the pollution/environmental impact, originating from industrial activities, has paved the way to new research studies in the area of sustainable process design, optimization and real-time operation along with sustainable corporate-scale management. The primary aims of these new research areas consist of: the development of new process configurations and the revamping of the existing ones towards improved sustainability;  the online or offline search for sustainable operating conditions, limited to the single plant or extended to the whole corporate scale. Many authors have been testing problems belonging to these research fields. Their efforts have produced a huge number of contributions concerning sustainable process design, offline optimization and corporate-scale management. For instance, studies concerning the optimization of supply-chain networks subject to additional sustainability constraints can be found in several papers. In detail, Giarola et al. (2014) and Ng and Lam (2013) study the problem limited to the field of bio-refineries while Vance et al. (2013) fo...

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Synthesis of Sustainable Energy Supply Chain by the P-graph Framework

Cited by 22 publications

References 23 publications

Optimal renewable energy systems for industries in rural regions

Optimal renewable energy systems for industries in rural regions

Integrated Metrics for Improving the Life Cycle Approach to Assessing Product System Sustainability

A robust sustainable optimization & control strategy (RSOCS) for (fed-)batch processes towards the low-cost reduction of utilities consumption

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