Date/Time
Date(s) - September 06, 2019
11:45 am - 12:35 pm
Location
FLG 0245
Categories
Sandra D. Eksioglu, Ph.D.
Hefley Professor in Logistics and Entrepreneurship, Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Arkansas
Abstract: Optimization Models for Biopower System Optimization
Environmental regulations and economic benefits are the two main drivers to adopting technologies which result in reductions of Greenhouse Gas emissions in power plants. This presentation focuses on co-firing of biomass to generate biopower. Biopower generation comes with financial and technical challenges, and the extent to which biopower impacts the environment is not well understood. We present three mathematical models to evaluate whether biopower is a viable renewable energy option. The first is an integrated production and transportation planning model which captures the trade-offs between process inefficiencies, costs and benefits from biomass cofiring. The second is a resource allocation model which we use to examine the impact of governmental incentives in generating biopower. The third is a stochastic, bi-objective optimization model which we use to analyze the trade-offs between costs and environmental impacts of biopower. We demonstrate the validity of the models via case studies built using data from southeast USA.