Abstract

Biofuel, an efficient alternative to fossil fuels, has gained considerable attention as a potential source to satisfy energy demands. Biomass collection and distribution typically incur a significant portion of the biofuel production cost. Thus, it is imperative to design a biofuel supply chain network that not only aims to minimize the delivery cost, but also incorporates biomass quality properties that make this raw material so unique yet challenging. This article proposes a novel two-stage stochastic programming model that captures different time- and weather-dependent biomass quality parameters (e.g., the moisture content, ash content, and dry matter loss) and their impact on the overall supply chain design. To efficiently solve this optimization model, we propose a parallelized hybrid decomposition algorithm that combines the sample average approximation with an enhanced progressive hedging algorithm. The proposed mathematical model and solutions are validated with a real-life case study. The numerical experiments reveal that the biomass quality variability impacts the supply chain design by requiring additional depots, and therefore, it increases the capital investment. The storage of unprocessed biomass at depots and biorefineries decreased by 88.5% and 97.9%, respectively, and the densified biomass inventory at biorefineries increased 17-fold when baseline quality considerations were taken into account.

摘要

作为化石燃料的有效替代品，生物燃料作为满足能源需求的潜在来源已引起了广泛关注。生物质的收集和分配通常会产生很大一部分生物燃料生产成本。因此，迫切需要设计一种生物燃料供应链网络，该网络不仅旨在最大程度地降低运输成本，而且还融合了生物质质量特性，这使得这种原料如此独特而又具有挑战性。本文提出了一种新颖的两阶段随机规划模型，该模型捕获了与时间和天气相关的不同生物质质量参数（例如，水分含量，灰分含量和干物质损失）及其对整个供应链设计的影响。为了有效地解决此优化模型，我们提出了一种并行混合混合分解算法，该算法将样本平均逼近与增强的渐进式套期保值算法结合在一起。所提出的数学模型和解决方案已通过实际案例研究得到验证。数值实验表明，生物质质量变异性通过需要额外的仓库来影响供应链设计，因此，它增加了资本投资。考虑基线质量时，未处理的生物质在仓库和生物精炼厂的存储量分别减少了88.5％和97.9％，并且在生物精炼厂中的致密化生物质库存增加了17倍。数值实验表明，生物质质量变异性通过需要额外的仓库来影响供应链设计，因此，它增加了资本投资。考虑基线质量时，未处理的生物质在仓库和生物精炼厂的存储量分别减少了88.5％和97.9％，并且在生物精炼厂中的致密化生物质库存增加了17倍。数值实验表明，生物质质量变异性通过需要额外的仓库来影响供应链设计，因此，它增加了资本投资。考虑基线质量时，未处理的生物质在仓库和生物精炼厂的存储量分别减少了88.5％和97.9％，并且在生物精炼厂中的致密化生物质库存增加了17倍。