Effect of spatial distribution and number of raw material collection locations on the transportation costs of biomass thermal power plants

Abstract

Biomass is disadvantageous as it has low energy density and poor fluidity. High transportation costs lead to bottlenecks in the development of biomass. This paper aims to find a spatial distribution model of biomass collection points to effectively control the transportation cost of raw materials. Considering a variety of influencing factors to assess the potential of forestry, agricultural biomass, and domestic waste; and to establish transport cost models with the help of ArcGIS software, the most economical location of biomass thermal power plant is determined and the shortest path and transportation cost from resource point to biomass thermal power plant are obtained. The analysis results show that the transportation cost for a single vehicle has a positive linear relationship with the transportation distance. The transportation cost rapidly increases when the transportation distance reaches 90 km. The total transportation cost and transportation distance within the distance range are positively correlated and follow an S curve. Setting a transportation distance of 22 km as the threshold for the first level raw material collection locations and 63 km as the second level for raw material collection locations. effectively lowered the transportation costs for biomass.