Mathematical optimization of a supply chain for the production of fuel pellets from residual biomass |
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Authors: | Manuel Alejandro Méndez-Vázquez Fernando Israel Gómez-Castro José María Ponce-Ortega Alma Hortensia Serafín-Muñoz José Ezequiel Santibañez-Aguilar Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi |
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Affiliation: | 1.Campus Guanajuato, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Departamento de Ingeniería Química,Universidad de Guanajuato,Guanajuato,Mexico;2.División de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Ingeniería Química,Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo,Morelia,Mexico;3.Campus Guanajuato, División de Ingenierías, Departamento de Ingeniería Civil,Universidad de Guanajuato,Guanajuato,Mexico;4.The Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering,Texas A&M University,College Station,USA |
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Abstract: | One of the main concerns of humankind in the last years is the availability of energy sources. Research has been focused on finding clean and renewable ways to satisfy the energy demand worldwide. In the particular case of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, clay industry burns each year about 15,000 m3 of fuel oil and residual oils, and 96,000 t of wood derivatives. As a way to reduce the environmental impact of clay industry, the use of solid fuel pellets, obtained from vegetable residual material, is proposed. The raw material for the pellets is obtained from agribusiness and from the cities of the state. The solid biofuel has high density, low content of humidity, a homogeneous shape and high energy density. Nevertheless, special care must be taken about the location of the production facility and hubs, in order to make the production of the biofuel economically feasible. Furthermore, to have an environmentally friendly fuel, the supply chain and the production process must minimize the global environmental impact. In this work, a mathematical programming model is proposed to determinate the optimal location of the production facilities, the hubs, and the best distribution logistics. The problem is modelled using a general disjunctive programming approach, and then relaxed into a mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problem. It has been determined that the main plant should be located in the city of Irapuato, while secondary plants must be established in the cities of León, Irapuato, Abasolo and Salamanca. Moreover, it has been estimated that, when the residual biomass is converted into pellets, about 72,548 t/year of equivalent CO2 are avoided in the main plant, together with 24,182 of equivalent CO2 avoided per secondary facility. |
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