Synthesis of utility supply chain network and industrial symbioses for heat integration

This paper presents a method for integrating the periodic heat demand of sets of co-located process plants with a biomass-based utility supply chain network. The methodology adopted involves generating a composite super-structure, which combines the supply chain model and the multi-period interplant stage-wise superstructure model. Supply nodes in the supply chain are linked to the central utility hub through a set of transportation/ energy transmission options, while the utility hub is linked to a set of co-located process plants through fluid transmission pipelines. The developed model was applied to a hypothetical case study involving three co-located process plants. The solution generated involves the use of biomass, transported by truck. For hot utility gener-ation at the utility hub, corn stover is used in all seasons (63.4% of the total feedstock), glycerol in seasons 1 and 3 (27.1% of the total feedstock) and wood only in season 1 (9.5% of the total feedstock). In terms of hot utilities generated from the selected feedstocks, only high-and low-pressure steam were selected. Of the 14 heat ex-changers selected, 3 involve interplant heat exchange at the utility hub, 2 are hot utility heat exchangers, 1 is cold utility exchanger and 8 are intra-plant heat exchangers. The developed method illustrates how seasonality in availability of bio-based renewable energy sources and the periodicity of process plants operating parameters influence the heat demand of co-located process plants.

Automated summary

This paper presents a method for integrating the periodic heat demand of co-located process plants with a biomass-based utility supply chain network. The developed model takes into account the seasonality of bio-based renewable energy sources and the operating parameters of process plants, illustrating how they influence the heat demand. The solution generated involves the use of biomass for hot utility generation at the utility hub, with different feedstocks used in different seasons.