Optimal Production Scheduling for Energy Efficiency Improvement in Biofuel Feedstock Preprocessing Considering Work-In-Process Particle Separation

Abstract

Biofuel is considered a promising alternative to traditional liquid transportation fuels. The large-scale substitution of biofuel can greatly enhance global energy security and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. One major concern of the broad adoption of biofuel is the intensive energy consumption in biofuel manufacturing. This paper focuses on the energy efficiency improvement of biofuel feedstock preprocessing, a major process of cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. An improved scheme of the feedstock preprocessing considering work-in-process particle separation is introduced to reduce energy waste and improve energy efficiency. A scheduling model based on the improved scheme is also developed to identify an optimal production schedule that can minimize the energy consumption of the feedstock preprocessing under production target constraint. A numerical case study is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The research outcome is expected to improve the energy efficiency and enhance the environmental sustainability of biomass feedstock preprocessing.

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Research Center/Lab(s)

Intelligent Systems Center

Sponsor(s)

National Science Foundation (U.S.)

Comments

This work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant number 1434392 .

Keywords and Phrases

Biofuel Manufacturing; Feedstock Preprocessing; Optimal Production Scheduling; Particle Separation

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0360-5442

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2016 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Feb 2016

Link to Full Text

Share

 
COinS