1. Multicriteria Definition of Small-Scale Biorefineries Based on a Statistical Classification
- Author
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Franck Michaud, Aicha Ait Sair, Kamal Kansou, Bernard Cathala, Unité de recherche sur les Biopolymères, Interactions Assemblages (BIA), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Ecole Supérieure du Bois, LIMBHA, PRES Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (UNAM), Région pays de la Loire, MDPI, and FLEXIBI
- Subjects
Computer science ,Process (engineering) ,020209 energy ,Geography, Planning and Development ,TJ807-830 ,Context (language use) ,02 engineering and technology ,010501 environmental sciences ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,TD194-195 ,01 natural sciences ,Renewable energy sources ,scale ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Added value ,[SDV.BV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology ,GE1-350 ,lignocellulosic biomass ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,trade-off ,multicriteria analysis ,Environmental effects of industries and plants ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,[SDE.IE]Environmental Sciences/Environmental Engineering ,Scale (chemistry) ,biorefinery mobility ,Biorefinery ,Hierarchical clustering ,Environmental sciences ,Variable (computer science) ,Statistical classification ,biorefinery design ,Biochemical engineering - Abstract
International audience; Biorefineries have many possible designs and therefore, present varied benefits in regards to sustainable development. Evaluating these biorefineries is central for the domain, and, as smallscale biorefineries (SSB) are commonly opposed to the large ones, specifying the concept of scale of a biorefinery is essential as well. However, there is no consensual definition of the “scale”, and the meaning of the term changes with the context. This paper presents a methodology to specify the concept of scale by grouping various biorefineries processing lignocellulosic biomass according to factors related to feedstock, process, economy and mobility of the facility, without any predetermined pattern. Data from 15 operational biorefineries are analyzed using a multivariate analysis combined with a hierarchical clustering. The classification obtained categorizes biorefineries into four design classes: smallest, small, hybrid and large scale. Small-scale biorefineries are characterized by a small investment cost (less than 2 M ), a low processing capacity (less than 100 t/day) and a low process complexity, while the end-products’ added value is variable. The mobility of the plants is a sufficient, but not necessary, criterion to have a small-scale biorefinery. Finally, the designs of the investigated biorefineries can be explained by two main trade-offs: one between the mobility and the processing capacity-investment cost, and the other between the process complexity and the added value.
- Published
- 2021