Abstract
The biomass is regarded as a part of renewable energy sources (RES), which can satisfy energy demands. Biomass obtained from plantations is characterized by low bulk density, which increases transport and storage costs. Briquetting is a technology that relies on pressing biomass with the aim of obtaining a denser product (briquettes). In the production of solid biofuels, the technological as well as material variables significantly influence the densification process, and as a result influence the end quality of briquette. This process progresses differently for different materials. Therefore, the optimal selection of process’ parameters is very difficult. It is necessary to use a decision support tool—decision support system (DSS). The purpose of the work was to develop a decision support system that would indicate the optimal parameters for conducting the process of producing Miscanthus and willow briquettes (pre-comminution, milling and briquetting), briquette parameters (durability and specific density) and total energy consumption based on process simulation. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used to describe the relationship between individual parameters of the briquette production process. DSS has the form of a web application and is opened from a web browser (it is possible to open it on various types of devices). The modular design allows the modification and expansion the application in the future.
Highlights
The usage of energy around the world is constantly rising
Sensitivity analyses were performed for the created models in order to reject input variables that did not improve the accuracy of individual artificial neural networks (ANNs)
As part of this work, a decision support system (DSS) (Figure 6), which is designed to assist the user in the selection of process parameters for a given line producing briquettes from energy plants based on input parameters process parameters for a given line producing briquettes from energy plants based on input based on data from simulations has been designed and made
Summary
The usage of energy around the world is constantly rising. This is due to the increase in population and increasing demands of society [1,2]. The major part of energy today energy is obtained from burning fossil fuels. This is detrimental to the environment mainly because of greenhouse gas emissions [3]. The need for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, and restricting the usage of fossil fuels with simultaneous increase in energy demand caused an increase in the amount of research regarding renewable energy sources (RES) [4,5]. Biomass can be a raw material for the production of liquid and gaseous solid biofuels [11,12,13]
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