Product Selection and Supply Chain Optimization for Fast Pyrolysis and Biorefinery System

This study determines the optimal plant sizes, locations, and product distributions for an integrated fast pyrolysis biorefinery supply chain using a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model. Hydrogen, liquid fuels, commodity chemicals, and lignin are considered as the potential biorefinery products. The proposed approach is illustrated through a case study of Minnesota, where forest residue is selected as the biomass feedstock. The decisions about biomass supply (roadside chipped forest residue and raw forest residue), facility selection, and product distribution are explored in this case study. The total converted bio-oil is 1.1 million metric tons per year and the total cost is $330 million for the base case. Impacts of marketing prices on product selections are investigated. Compared to upgrading of phase separated bio-oil, whole bio-oil upgrading is preferable in terms of economics. Hydrogen and liquid fuel prices have greater influence on the annualized profit than the commodity chemical price.