Optimal design for sustainable bioethanol supply chain considering detailed plant performance model

GABRIELA CORSANO; A. R. VECCHIETTI; J. M . MONTAGNA

COMPUTERS AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2011 vol. 35 p. 1384 - 1398

0098-1354

The always increasing energy demand combined with the declining availability of fossil fuels is driving forces for the investigation of renewable energy sources. In this context, bioethanol is considered as one of the most appropriate solutions for short term gasoline substitution. Then, the motivation of this work is to propose a MINLP optimization model for a sustainable design and behavior analysis of sugar/ethanol supply chain (SC). The model considers four echelons: sugar plants that supply raw materials, plants that produce ethanol, warehouses, and customer zones. Facilities installation, production and distribution among the different echelons are problem decisions. A detailed model for ethanol plant design is embedded in the SC model in such way that plant and SC designs are simultaneously obtained. Yeast production and residue recycles are taken into account in order to assess the environmental impact caused by their disposals. The inclusion of sustainability issues in the model produces both economic and operative changes in SC and plant designs. The simultaneous optimization of these elements allows the evaluation of several compromises among design and process variables in order to achieve a more sustainable SC. These issues are highlighted in this paper throughout the evaluated studied cases.