Analysing Shale Gas Energy Systems using Dynamic Material Flow Analysis

Abstract

This work develops a novel dynamic material flow analysis (MFA)-based optimisation modelling framework for sustainable design of shale gas energy systems. This dynamic MFA-based framework provides high-fidelity modelling of complex material flow networks with recycling options, and it enables detailed accounting of time-dependent life cycle material flow profiles. Moreover, by incorporating a dimension of resource sustainability, the proposed modelling framework facilitates the sustainable supply chain design and operations with a more comprehensive perspective. The resulting optimisation problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear fractional program and solved by an efficient parametric algorithm. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed modelling framework and solution algorithm, a case study of Marcellus shale gas supply chain is presented. The optimisation results help to identify clear trade-offs among economic, environmental, and resource performances in the shale gas energy system, and the MFA-based framework offers an effective way to find an optimal solution with well-balanced sustainability perfor