TY - JOUR
T1 - An integrated methodology for the economic and environmental assessment of a biorefinery supply chain
AU - Galanopoulos, Christos
AU - Giuliano, Aristide
AU - Barletta, Diego
AU - Zondervan, Edwin
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - A supply chain network MILP model, developed by means of AIMMS software, and a process plant simulation model, developed by means of Aspen Plus®, are combined for the optimization of a biorefinery network. Optimization of the supply chain network is initially addressed using literature process and economic data. The results are used as input in the Aspen Plus® model where the technical and economic performance of the biorefineries is calculated rigorously. The two computational tools are iteratively executed until convergence on number, locations and size of the biorefineries and on process yield to products and total costs is achieved. The final results are used to perform the Economic Value and Environmental Impact (EVEI) analysis of the overall biorefinery network. The methodology is applied to a case study concerning the deployment of cereal straw in Germany to produce ethanol, ethyl levulinate and electricity. Optimization results reveal that the wheat straw supply network with four biorefineries is economically feasible and determines an environmental margin in terms of equivalent emissions savings of about 4 Mt of CO2 per year.
AB - A supply chain network MILP model, developed by means of AIMMS software, and a process plant simulation model, developed by means of Aspen Plus®, are combined for the optimization of a biorefinery network. Optimization of the supply chain network is initially addressed using literature process and economic data. The results are used as input in the Aspen Plus® model where the technical and economic performance of the biorefineries is calculated rigorously. The two computational tools are iteratively executed until convergence on number, locations and size of the biorefineries and on process yield to products and total costs is achieved. The final results are used to perform the Economic Value and Environmental Impact (EVEI) analysis of the overall biorefinery network. The methodology is applied to a case study concerning the deployment of cereal straw in Germany to produce ethanol, ethyl levulinate and electricity. Optimization results reveal that the wheat straw supply network with four biorefineries is economically feasible and determines an environmental margin in terms of equivalent emissions savings of about 4 Mt of CO2 per year.
KW - Ethanol
KW - Ethyl levulinate
KW - EVEI
KW - Lignocellulosic biorefinery
KW - Optimization
KW - Process simulation
KW - Supply chain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086444628&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cherd.2020.05.016
DO - 10.1016/j.cherd.2020.05.016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85086444628
VL - 160
SP - 199
EP - 215
JO - Chemical engineering research and design (Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, part A)
JF - Chemical engineering research and design (Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, part A)
SN - 0263-8762
ER -