Development of a supply chain model for the production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil for sustainable development

The increasing demand for energy and the severe environmental and economic repercussions have contributed to the development of renewables options. The scarcity of fossil fuels and their negative effect on the environment have sparked an alarming situation for alternative energy sources that are cleaner and more sustainable. Waste cooking oil is a valuable feedstock for biodiesel production, but it is often disposed of improperly, causing environmental pollution and health hazards. The current waste cooking oil supply chain in Pakistan and other countries is fragmented, inefficient, and often unregulated, leading to a lack of standardization and quality control. The study aims to develop a comprehensive supply chain model that integrates waste cooking oil collection, transportation, processing, and biodiesel production to create a sustainable value chain that benefits the environment, the economy, and society as a whole. The proposed optimization approach reduces the total expenses associated with the activities of the biodiesel supply chain. Modified possibilistic chance constrained programming (MPCCP) is used as a solution technique to represent this uncertainty. The MPCCP model is solved with the assistance of Lingo 18.0, while fuzzy logic demand forecasting was done using MATLAB. Accordingly, the fuzzy logic designer (FLD) simulation was conducted to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of FLD simulation for the particular kind of issue being considered. The research, not only focuses on mitigating environmental and health risks associated with improper waste cooking oil disposal, resulting in reduced pollution and a cleaner environment but it also advocates for the efficient utilization of waste cooking oil as a valuable feedstock for biodiesel production, thereby promoting a more sustainable and renewable energy source. By optimizing supply chain activities and minimizing costs, the research contributes to enhancing economic growth and efficiency within the biodiesel industry. This research encourages further exploration and collaboration among researchers and stakeholders to expand the applications of the proposed model in waste management, renewable energy, and supply chain optimization

Location optimization of biodiesel processing plant based on rough set and clustering algorithm - a case study in China

Biofuel has an important role in alleviating the environmental pollution problem. More attention has been paid to optimization of biofuel supply chain in recent years. In this paper, a scientific, rational and practical biodiesel processing plant location with waste oil as the raw material was proposed in order to provide a theoretical basis for guiding the planning and management of restaurants, waste oil collection points, and processing plants. Considering the merits and demerits of the subjective and objective weighting methods, this paper proposes a new weighting method which is namely the combination of rough set theory and clustering algorithm. It then verifies the location results with a plant carbon emission. At last, this paper analyzes the location of biodiesel processing plant in the Yangtze River Delta of China and finds that the precision has been greatly improved with the new method comparing the RMSE and the R2 of the Delphi method with the improved rough set theory. By using this method, the weights of the influencing factors of biodiesel processing plants are the following: Waste oil supply 0.143, Fixed construction cost factor 0.343, Biodiesel demand 0.143 and Location convenience 0.371. In the comparison between the robust optimization method and the improved rough set theory, it was found that the final location results are the same, all being Jiaxing City. However, the improved rough set theory is much simpler than the robust optimization algorithm in the calculation process

Underutilised Resources in Urban Environments

This book is the result of a Special Issue of the journal Resources. The Special Issue was initiated to identify promising solutions and specific challenges in the context of underused resources in urban environments. Authors focus on two main areas: the establishment of circular economy schemes based on valorizing wastes that occur in urban areas and the exploitation of renewable energies. The circular economy and renewable resources hold key potential for increasing the sustainability of cities, and the presented studies enhance our understanding of how to unlock this potential. Effective regulatory frameworks and policymaking processes that balance the power between stakeholders are required to successfully manage energy transition and the transition to more circular economies. The positive role of community engagement merits high attention. To recover valuable resources from household waste, a focus on technology and infrastructure is required but is insufficient; motivational factors and knowledge of citizens are the most essential elements. The need to more reliably quantify and better characterize recyclable material streams also evidently remains, especially where population numbers are further growing. This book provides a rich source to explore promising solutions, challenges, and research needed for the sound management of resources in urban settings

Opportunities for the digital transformation of the banana sector supply chain based on software with artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence offers great opportunities for the supply chain, being this a competitive advantage for today’s changing market. This article aims to identify the impacts and opportunities that artificial intelligence software can offer to facilitate the operation and improve the performance of the supply chain in the banana sector in Colombia. The work methodology consists of six steps in which a total of 72 investigations were obtained. The sources of information were four databases. As a main conclusion, the supply chain of the banana sector has everything necessary for intelligent software based solutions to be implemented in order to achieve adaptation, flexibility and sensitivity to the context and domain of execution

Biorefinery Pathways for Institutional Food Waste

Every day, enormous quantities of nutritious food are wasted in landfills across the globe. Agriculture and food production use intensive amounts of water, chemicals, and land, rendering food waste as a major environmental and economic concern. New York State is currently considering legislation that would ban landfill disposal of food waste produced by large institutional generators, such as universities, hospitals, sports venues, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. Institutions have concentrated populations which generate predictable volumes of food waste and waste cooking oil. At the same time, these populations need heat, electricity, vehicle fuel, and soap. Developing a biorefinery system offers great potential to institutions and provides viable and sustainable utilization of various waste streams to generate energy via anaerobic digestion and biodiesel production process while simultaneously solving a waste disposal issue. However, the implementation of biorefinery systems at institutional food waste generators is just beginning, and data required to design the system and relevant case studies are very limited. Recognizing the urgent need to find alternatives for the diversion of food waste from landfills, this dissertation has provided the technical and economic viability of decentralized, onsite biorefinery systems at institutional generators with a specific focus on large institutions generating, on average, more than 1.8 metric tons of food waste per week (~91 t/year, equivalent to 100 short tons/year). The challenges and opportunities of these alternatives have also been considered in this dissertation. First, development of sustainable food waste management requires an integrated, interdisciplinary management structure which includes a good understanding of regional variations in food waste resources, waste treatment facilities and processing capacity in a specific geographic region. Currently, poor quality and unreliable data on food waste prohibits proceeding to efficient waste management. These scarcities of data have led to a call for further research. To identify the research gaps, Chapter 2 begins with an assessment of reliable data on the quantity and types of food waste produced, transport of waste to treatment facilities, location of existing waste treatment facilities, and the amount of wastes that could potentially be treated at these facilities. Regions 3 and 8, as defined by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), were chosen as case studies to the underlying challenges and potential opportunities. The information provided in this chapter can be an important resource for implementing future waste diversion strategies, and further indicate which policy attributes should be considered. In Chapter 3, an assessment was conducted of the technical challenges, economic feasibility and policy opportunities to adopt low-volume anaerobic digester (LVAD) systems, designated for deployment at the scale of an individual food waste generation site. Food waste generators often have much lower volumes of organic material available for conversion than dairy farms or public-owned treatment works (POTW). Small anaerobic digestion systems are not a new technology but have historically been implemented primarily in treating animal waste in developing countries. In the U.S., anaerobic digestion of food waste is usually achieved by co-digestion with dairy manure in centralized facilities, while food waste-only anaerobic digestion is still emerging and public data or case studies necessary to establish this as a potential food waste management pathway are lacking. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) was chosen as a case study to assess the viability of implementing an LVAD system utilizing campus organic waste. It was demonstrated that the LVAD approach is economically feasible only if several conditions are met: biogas is utilized directly for thermal energy applications, thereby eliminating the capital/operation/maintenance costs associated with electricity production; system capital cost is reduced to $500,000 or less; and available feedstock is increased to at least 900 t/year by importing food waste from neighboring generators and collecting associated tipping fees. Chapter 4 documents an investigation of various solution pathways available to utilize another important institutional food waste material: waste cooking oil (WCO). Institutions such as universities usually generate large amounts of waste cooking oil that can be suitable for production of biodiesel via the process of transesterification. The free fatty acid (FFA) content of waste cooking oil from institutional cafeterias is often lower than many other establishments (i.e., fast food restaurants), and thus has a greater value as a biodiesel feedstock, because the cooking oil replacement rate is often higher. The development of a closed-loop biodiesel production system, including utilization of crude glycerol as an ingredient for soap production, is compelling especially in a constrained system because the locations of WCO feedstock supply and biodiesel demand are in close proximity and controlled by a single entity. Biodiesel can be utilized by the RIT community in vehicles and other applications. Crude glycerol can be refined and used to produce soap of varying quality and has potential as a value-added product. Potentially, the soap could be used in cafeterias and bathrooms across campus and dining services. This study indicated that using waste cooking oil for biodiesel production at the institutional scale could only be viable by generating the revenue from the sale of biodiesel and offsetting the cost of high quality liquid soap at retail price. In Chapter 5, it was demonstrated that black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) could potentially reduce the amount of food waste needing to be landfilled in areas of concentrated generation, such as urban areas and institutions like universities and hospitals. BSFL have previously been used by home gardeners and large agricultural enterprises to transform food wastes and animal manures into feed for chickens or fish, while significantly reducing waste volumes. Bioconversion of food waste biomass with BSFL results in useful products such as protein rich insect biomass. This study demonstrated that bio-methane potentials (BMP) of BSFL were higher than the potential of food waste and manures and 1.5 to 2 times higher than other representative feedstocks, including energy crops and algae. In addition, the yield of biomass per hectare of land used is much higher. BSFL could therefore be a viable feedstock for biogas production or as part of an integrated biorefinery system, and as an effective bioresource solution for the global problem of food waste management. Finally, it is uncertain that an on-site low volume anaerobic digestion system at institutional generators is most economically and environmentally beneficial. Therefore, a model was developed to compare different potential food waste treatment scenarios: centralized anaerobic digestors (AD) at large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), centralized AD at landfills, centralized AD at waste water treatments plants, and low volume anaerobic digesters (LVADs) at individual food waste generation sites. Chapter 6 presents an assessment of the optimal food waste conversion options for particular spatial distributions of food waste materials in two geographical regions of New York State. The assessment was based on three economic indicators, including net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period (PP), to enable food system stakeholders to determine the most cost-effective food waste utilization strategy. The decision process considered was based on the availability of existing facilities (e.g., stand-alone AD, wastewater treatment plants with AD, and composting), available capacity of selected facilities, and available quantity of animal waste in each region. This assessment demonstrated that capital cost plays a significant role in achieving economic viability, and tipping fees are often the major sources of revenues for these treatment facilities. Without offset of the capital investment from government entities in the form of grants, the economic viability of new facilities is challenging. Therefore, diverting food waste to WWTPs with excess capacity was identified as an important option that showed the most profitable scenario without considering environmental incentives and renewable energy credits. This dissertation focused on economic implications of alternative food waste conversion options for institutional generators, through the integration of conversion technologies using different waste feedstocks in a decentralized, on-site biorefinery architecture. In this sense, the biorefinery model was presented as a potential alternative to centralized large scale-systems that utilize wastes from multiple sources, often including transport of waste over large distances. This concept aimed at maximizing the utilization of food waste in a manner that enables institutional generators to benefit from organic material they generate during normal operation. The findings from this dissertation provide valuable information to small-scale food processors and institutions that currently send their solid waste to landfills or incinerators, paying disposal charges or sending it to anaerobic digestion, usually involving transport costs and tipping fees. The method developed in this dissertation can be readily adapted by other institutions, and the information provided would assist entrepreneurs in achieving successful commercialization of small-scale food waste utilization systems

Techno-economic optimization and environmental life cycle assessment of microgrids using genetic algorithm and artificial neural networks

This dissertation focuses primarily on techno-economic optimization and environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of sustainable energy generation technologies. This work is divided into five papers. The first paper discusses the techno-economic optimization and environmental life cycle assessment of microgrids located in the USA using genetic algorithm. In this paper, a methodology was developed that assessed the techno-economic and environmental performance of a small scale microgrid located in US cities of Tucson, Lubbock and Dickinson. Providing uninterrupted power the microgrid was composed of seven components -- solar photovoltaics, wind-turbines, lead acid batteries, biodiesel generators, fuel cells, electrolyzers and H2 tanks. The second paper is an extension of first paper and utilizes Artificial Neural Networks to predict energy demand while also incorporating social costs. With an aim to incorporate LCA methodology, the third paper discusses the upstream biodiesel production process which is a vital fuel source for the microgrid. In this paper, a supercritical biodiesel production process from waste cooking oil (WCO) using methanol in the presence of propane as a co-solvent was technically analyzed using Aspen Plus software. In the fourth paper, a system dynamics model of the cast iron foundry process was developed and validated with the actual energy consumption data based on which recommendations were made to reduce energy consumption by 26% or $2.6 million. In the fifth paper, an assessment of the threats to the aquatic resources due to rapid growth in the extraction of Shale gas in the US was performed with an application to the Kurdistan region of Iraq --Abstract, page iv

Biodiesel Production From Waste Materials: Process Development and Performance Evaluation

World energy crisis is a definite truth, and the rising fuel price is evidence of it. Implementation of renewable energy to overcome the energy crisis is essential. The requirement of energy, especially for road transportation sector can meet through renewable energy. Biodiesel is an appropriate alternative of fossil diesel to run an internal combustion engine efficiently. Currently, vegetable oil is the predominantly accepted feedstock for biodiesel around the globe. However, it is not a feasible biodiesel feedstock due to its insufficient availability and potential food security issues. Current research work explored possible potential biodiesel feedstocks, i.e., rice mill waste, sewage sludge, and kitchen food waste. Appropriate lipid extraction process and transesterification method were developed for waste feedstocks such as rice mill waste, sewage sludge, and kitchen food waste. Reaction parameters of lipid extraction and transesterification were optimized through Taguchi optimization technique. Taguchi model improved the lipid yield by 8.5% (dry wt%) and rice bran methyl ester (RBME) yield by 4.3% (dry weight%) as compared to manually obtained maximum yield. The relevance of Taguchi model for optimization of biodiesel production was verified. Impact of raw material processing on biodiesel properties was established. Influence of co-solvent such as methyl tert butyl ether and tetrahydrofuran on transesterification of sewage sludge lipid was demonstrated through Taguchi generated plots. The present study also developed a closed vessel microwave irradiation process for rapid formation of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from kitchen food waste. Traditional transesterification process face difficulties with sample moisture content. But, modified microwave technique utilizes excess moisture to produce a by-product without interrupting the transesterification process. Significantly less energy consumption of 0.088 kWh per liter FAME production was measured. Maximum FAME yield of 96.89 wt% was achieved at microwave cell pressure: 2.2 MPa, temperature: 170 0C, reaction time: 4 min and catalyst concentration: 0.5 wt% with single phase blend ratio 1:6:30 (oil: co-solvent: methanol). Microwave irradiation method and conventional heating in combination with cosolvent-acid catalyzed transesterification resulted in 2.7 and 2.6 times less energy consumption, respectively than the conventional acid catalyzed transesterification process. Selection of appropriate co-solvent for modified microwave process delivered a novel transesterification byproduct glycerol tert butyl ether (GTBE) instead of traditional glycerol. This GTBE is a potential fuel additive that can boost ignition characteristics during engine analysis. Present work also developed an ultrasonic reactor for biodiesel production. The study introduced the reaction parameter kinematic viscosity that significantly eases the process and accelerates the transesterification duration maximum by 4-5 times for sample with free fatty acid (FFA) content greater than 7%. Ultrasonic irradiation in combination with co-solvent improved the reaction output (95.56%), brought down the catalyst demand and smoothened product separation process. The product separation is much easier and faster than the microwave and conventional transesterification based FAME mixture. Commercialization of this method can be done effortlessly due to the simplicity of method and ability to process a wide range of raw material (in terms of FFA content and kinematic viscosity) with minimal modification to the process. Obtained breakeven price of biodiesel is found to be less than current fossil diesel cost. Performance and emission analysis of produced biodiesel were performed to examine the fuel efficiency. Engine performance and emission properties of sewage sludge-derived biodiesel (SSB) were assessed. Major concern behind SSB implementation is the change in fuel properties with geographical and seasonal variation. However, the current study established the positive aspect of SSB. It contains low polyunsaturated fatty acid irrespective of geography and season. Specifically, fewer C18:2 and C18:3 percentages studied for worldwide SSB assures the fuel of better stability, reduced auto-oxidation, and fewer pollutant emissions. Moreover, SSB can also blend with biodiesel derived from other feedstocks with higher polyunsaturated fatty acids, resulting in reduced auto-oxidation by lowering C18:2 and C18:3 concentrations. Finally, the optimum fatty acid profile was prepared through dual biodiesel blend (biodiesel-biodiesel) to ensure enhanced fuel property for better ignition and reduced carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. GTBE, the by-product of modified microwave irradiation process was used to prepare blend with biodiesel (GTBE-biodiesel blend). GTBE-biodiesel blend in combination with modified injection pressure resulted with higher brake thermal efficiency than fossil diesel and reported a maximum, 10.5% and 20% reduction in NOx and CO emission, respectively. GTBE as a fuel additive is economical as well as environmentally friendly as it is prepared from the dissociation of methyl term butyl ether, i.e., potentially hazardous to dispose of and banned by some countries. Multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis method (MOORA) was used to optimize fatty acid profile, GTBE-biodiesel blend proportion and injection pressure for improved engine performance and reduced emission

Waste Management Practices in Developing Countries

This book provides insights into waste management practices in developing countries, and the application of research and innovation in finding appropriate solutions to improved waste management. The chapters have been selected with a focus on organic waste beneficiation, a significant waste stream in developing countries; the role of government and associated policy interventions; citizen behaviour in support of greater waste recycling; and the safe management of hazardous waste, particularly healthcare risk waste