Title:
Design of highly distributed biofuel production systems

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dc.contributor.advisor Thomas, Valerie M.
dc.contributor.advisor Deng, Shijie
dc.contributor.author Luo, Dexin en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Chance, Ronald
dc.contributor.committeeMember Goldsman, David
dc.contributor.committeeMember Zhou, Chen
dc.contributor.department Industrial and Systems Engineering en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2013-01-17T21:52:16Z
dc.date.available 2013-01-17T21:52:16Z
dc.date.issued 2011-11-01 en_US
dc.description.abstract This thesis develops quantitative methods for evaluation and design of large-scale biofuel production systems with a particular focus on bioreactor-based fuel systems. In Chapter 2, a lifecycle assessment (LCA) method is integrated with chemical process modeling to select from different process designs the one that maximizes the energy efficiency and minimizes the environmental impact of a production system. An algae-based ethanol production technology, which is in the process of commercialization, is used as a case study. Motivated by this case study, Chapter 3 studies the selection of process designs and production capacity of highly distributed bioreactor-based fuel system from an economic perspective. Nonlinear optimization models based on net present value maximization are developed that aim at selecting the optimal capacities of production equipment for both integrated and distributed-centralized process designs on symmetric production layouts. Global sensitivity analysis based on Monte Carlo estimates is performed to show the impact of different parameters on the optimal capacity decision and the corresponding net present value. Conditional Value at Risk optimization is used to compare the optimal capacity for a risk-neutral planner versus a risk-averse decision maker. Chapter 4 studies mobile distributed processing in biofuel industry as vehicle routing problem and production equipment location with an underlying pipeline network as facility location problem with a focus on general production costs. Formulations and algorithms are developed to explore how fixed cost and concavity in the production cost increases the theoretical complexity of these problems. en_US
dc.description.degree PhD en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/45878
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject Global sensitivity analysis en_US
dc.subject Mobile processing en_US
dc.subject Production capacity en_US
dc.subject Optimization en_US
dc.subject Lifecycle assessment en_US
dc.subject Algae en_US
dc.subject Biofuel en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Biomass energy
dc.subject.lcsh Ethanol fuel industry
dc.subject.lcsh Biomass energy industries
dc.subject.lcsh Cost effectiveness
dc.title Design of highly distributed biofuel production systems en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Thomas, Valerie M.
local.contributor.advisor Deng, Shijie
local.contributor.corporatename H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename College of Engineering
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