A Flexible Robust Possibilistic Programming Approach toward Wood Pellets Supply Chain Network Design

Zaher Abusaq (), Muhammad Salman Habib (), Adeel Shehzad, Mohammad Kanan and Ramiz Assaf
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Zaher Abusaq: Industrial Engineering Department, Jeddah College of Engineering, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Salman Habib: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Adeel Shehzad: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Mohammad Kanan: Industrial Engineering Department, Jeddah College of Engineering, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Saudi Arabia
Ramiz Assaf: Department of Industrial Engineering, An-Najah National University, Nablus P.O. Box 7, Palestine

Mathematics, 2022, vol. 10, issue 19, 1-27

Abstract: Increasing energy demand and the detrimental environmental impacts of fossil fuels have led to the development of renewable energy sources. Rapid demand growth for wood pellets over the last decade has established wood pellets as a potential renewable energy source in a globally competitive energy market. Integrated decision making including all stakeholders in the wood pellet supply chain (WPSC) is essential for a smooth transition to commercially viable wood pellet production. In this aspect, this study aims to suggest a decision support system for optimizing biomass-based wood pellet production supply chain network design (WPP-SCND). The WPP-SCND decision system minimizes the total supply chain (SC) cost of the system while also reducing carbon emissions associated with wood pellet SC activities. All objective parameters, including biomass availability at the supply terminals, market demand, and biomass production, are considered fuzzy to account for epistemic uncertainty. A fuzzy flexible robust possibilistic programming (fuzzy-FRPP) technique is developed for solving the suggested uncertain WPP-SCND model. The case findings show that the imprecise nature of the parameters has a significant impact on the strategic and tactical decisions in the wood pellet SC. By investing almost 10% of the total cost, robust decisions within the wood pellet SC can be obtained. It is established that the fuzzy-FRPP technique successfully provides robust decisions and achieves a balance between transportation costs, emissions costs, and economies of scale when making capacity decisions. Although the suggested decision support system is used to manage the production and distribution of wood pellets, the insights and solution methodology may be extended to the production of other biofuels. The proposed research may be valuable to authorities involved in planning large-scale wood pellet-related production-distribution projects.

Keywords: fuzzy optimization techniques; wood pellet supply chain; flexible programming; linear programming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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