Importance of the use of Multi-Criteria Analysis tools to make decisions in biorefinery

A. COZ, C. ROJAS, C. RUEDA, R. LEONARDI, J. KHAWAM, R.N. COMELLI, T. LLANO

Creta

Conferencia; 1st International Conference on Sustainable Chemical and Environmental Engineer-ing; 2022

Technical University of Crete, Greece

Biorefinery has been defined by the International Energy Agency as the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable products and energy (IEA, 2019). Lignocellulosic materials represent one of the most promising sources of renewable raw material under the bioeconomy, giving useful biobased chemicals and fuels, due to their low economic value and high availability (Coz et al., 2016). Lignocellulosic biomass has a complex structure consisting of three major fractions: cellulose (35%–50% dry weight), hemicelluloses (15%–35%), and lignin (10%–25%) (Huang et al., 2008); and all of them can be used in different applications. Depending on the final product, the conversion of lignocellulosic materials requires the separation or not of the material into its components. In addition, different processes as physico-chemical and biological methods can be used to produce the final products and to purify them.Due to the different alternatives, scales, products and so on, different tools for making decisions about the best options need to be studied. In this sense, Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) tools can be a good option in order to take into account not only the technical and economic aspects but also the environmental and social issues. MCA is a decision-making tool applied to a wide range of environmental management problems, including renewable energy planning and management (Vassoney et al., 2017). In addition, these tools can be used in all steps of the process in biorefinery applications. In this work, MCA has been used in different cases within the biorefinery concept.The MCA analysis has been performed using the DEFINITE 3.1 software which includes a weighted summation MCA algorithm to obtain the results. The weighted summation can be used to address problems that involve a finite and discrete set of alternatives that must be evaluated based on conflicting objectives (Beinat and Nijkamp, 2007).The process to be followed to carry out weighted summation is further detailed: (1) alternatives definition that will be compared against each other; (2) selection and definition of criteria identifying the most relevant indicators for the decision; (3) assessment of scores for each alternative by assigning values to each indicator for all the alternatives; (4) standardisation of the scores to make the criteria comparable with each other; (5) weighting of criteria to assign priorities to them; and (6) ranking of the alternatives. Finally, a sensitivity analysis needs to be done.Multi-Criteria Analysis are good alternatives for making decisions about the best biorefinery options because of the diversity of waste materials, processes, and products, and not only in large biorefineries but also for small areas.