Modeling Woody Biomass Procurement for Bioenergy Production at the Atikokan Generating Station in Northwestern Ontario, Canada

Energies

Md. Bedarul Alam¹  Reino Pulkki¹  Chander Shahi¹ 

[1] Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1, Canada; E-Mails:

关键词: forest cells;    logistics cost;    optimization;    road network;    supply chain management;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en5125065

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Efficient procurement and utilization of woody biomass for bioenergy production requires a good understanding of biomass supply chains. In this paper, a dynamic optimization model has been developed and applied to estimate monthly supply and procurement costs of woody biomass required for the Atikokan Generating Station (AGS) in northwestern Ontario, based on its monthly electricity production schedule. The decision variables in the model are monthly harvest levels of two types of woody biomass, forest harvest residues and unutilized biomass, from 19,315 forest depletion cells (each 1 km²) for a one year planning horizon. Sixteen scenarios are tested to examine the sensitivity of the cost minimization model to changing economic and technological parameters. Reduction in moisture content and improvement of conversion efficiency showed relatively higher reductions in monthly and total costs of woody biomass feedstock for the AGS. The results of this study help in understanding and designing decision support systems for optimal biomass supply chains under dynamic operational frameworks.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.