Optimal Design and Planning of Glycerol-Based Biorefinery Supply Chains under Uncertainty

Abstract

The optimal design and planning of glycerol-based biorefinery supply chains is critical for the development and implementation of this concept in a sustainable manner. To achieve this, a decision-making framework is proposed in this work, to holistically optimize the design and planning of the glycerol-based biorefinery supply chains under uncertainties. This framework presents a multilayered strategy composed of different steps, and it is strongly based on optimization techniques, detailed economic and environmental assessment, and multiobjective optimization under a stochastic environment. To maximize the business value, the economic objective is measured by the Net Present Value (NPV), whereas the environmental performance is measured by the estimation of a Single Indicator (SI) through the application of LCA methods. As part of the framework, a stochastic multiperiod, multiproduct, and multiechelon mixed integer linear programming problem is proposed based upon a previous model, GlyThink. In the new f...