Application of Flexible Tools in Magnesia Sector: The Case of Grecian Magnesite

Abstract

In this paper, two flexible model tools (CO2 emissions/cost tool and CFD tool) that simulate the production process of Grecian Magnesite (GM) and extract economic and technical conclusions regarding the substitution of fossil fuels with various types of biomass are presented and analyzed. According to the analysis, the higher the substitution, the higher the profit in both CO2 emissions and cost reduction. The reduction in CO2 emissions that can be achieved through biomass fuel substitution ranges from 15% for a 30% substitution to 35% for a 70% substitution. Accordingly, production costs are also reduced with the use of biomass. The initial results of this decision-making cost tool showed that the most profitable solution is a 70% substitution, for which production costs can be reduced by up to 38.7%, while the most beneficial type of biomass proved to be the olive kernel. A proposed and feasible solution is the substitution of 50% sunflower husk pellets, which will result in a reduction of 25% in CO2 emissions and almost 10% in production cost. From CFD simulation, a reduced order model (ROM) has been developed that allows the running of scenarios in real time, instead of the usual long times required by complex simulations. Comparative studies of fuel blend and biomass type can be carried out easily and rapidly, allowing one to choose the most suitable substitution.