Analysis and optimization of biomass logistics

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Nexterra Systems Corp. designs and develops gasification systems that convert waste biomass into heat andpower. One of their projects was in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC), where abiomass gasification system with 6 MW thermal energy capacity was installed. In order to achieve its GHGreduction objectives by 2020, UBC is considering adding a new bioenergy system to expand the heatproduction on campus by about 3 times. The installation of the new system would require more biomass, whilebiomass storage capacity would be reduced. Reliability of biomass supply is a key issue to provide heat oncampus. While the total annual biomass may be sufficient for bioenergy production, the variability in supplychain may bring shortage in daily, weekly or monthly delivery of biomass. In order to ensure the smoothoperation of the new biomass system, the right quantity of wood biomass with the desired quality at theminimum cost must be delivered to UBC every day. Therefore, it is essential to perform supply chain riskassessment of the gasification and new systems at UBC and optimize the supply chain to minimize thedelivered cost. The objective of this collaborative project with Nexterra is to analyze and perform a riskassessment of the supply chain of wood biomass at UBC while considering the quality, quantity and cost ofdelivered biomass. Based on this information, the minimum storage volume required for the new system willbe assessed. Then, a mathematical programming model will be developed to determine the optimum storagesize on campus and flow of biomass from the supplier while minimizing the total cost of the supply chain. Inaddition to helping Nexterra, the proposed project will present a new insight to UBC which will help them intheir deliberation concerning their high capital investment. The results of this project will be useful inachieving UBC's ambitious GHG emission reduction targets. Emission reduction will benefit UBC, BritishColumbia and Canada to move towards sustainable communities and their plans to mitigate climate change.