Abstract
This paper presents an integrated system-design approach to carry out technical and economical assessments of biomass utilization solutions that include raw-material transportation, conversion and delivery. A two-layer methodology is proposed in which the original problem is broken down in two parts. Namely, plant location-routing and process synthesis. The objective of process synthesis is to generate the best combination of technologies that convert biomass into specific products. The task for plant location and routing is responsible for deciding the best biomass transportation route, the amount of biomass to be transported to the conversion facility, location of the conversion facility, the product transportation routes and the individual amounts of product that is delivered to each market location. Firstly, the models and algorithms of each of the layers are explained. Finally, a case study is presented to evaluate the proposed methodology.
