Synthesis of Combined Heat Exchange Network and Utility Supply Chain

Abstract

This paper involves the development of an integrated supply chain superstructure that describes the holistic synthesis of the heat demand of multiple co-located process plants within a geographical area and their associated utility supply chains. The integrated superstructure comprises a set of feedstock supply nodes which connects a set of utility demand nodes through a set of feedstock/utility transportation modes. Different kinds of biomass and waste-based feedstocks, including seasonality associated with their availabilities, from which hot utilities can be generated, and different modes of transportation, are considered. The model also takes into consideration periodic variations in heat demand of the plants. The proposed integrated model is demonstrated on a preliminary hypothetical case study and the solution obtained shows that supply locations with relatively higher capacity were selected in the optimal supply chain network, despite having relatively higher unit cost and located furthest from the demand locations. In terms of transport mode, only road truck haulage was selected due to its relatively lower investment cost.