Finding an optimum location for biogas plant: a case study for Duzce, Turkey

This study is a case study for modelling and solving a real-life problem. In this study, a practical approximation for finding an optimum location of a foundation was realized with k-means clustering and optimization. Duzce, in the northwest of Turkey, has been researched for the biogas potential to found biogas plant. With this aim, the number of poultry in Duzce has been determined and presented their potential of biogas. Since the number of poultry is quite enough to found a biogas plant, later the location of the poultry farms and their potentials has been determined. Since there are more than 400 poultry farms in Duzce, firstly locations are clustered with classical k-means algorithm. k is specified as 6-8 with an expert knowledge. Later, the nearest location for each cluster center has been attained with simulated annealing with the objective of minimizing the transportation cost. As a result, it has been determined an optimum location for probable biogas plant for Duzce.