Synthesis of Sustainable Circular Economy in Palm Oil Industry Using Graph-Theoretic Method

Jason Yi Juang Yeo, Bing Shen How, Sin Yong Teng, Wei Dong Leong, Wendy Pei Qin Ng, Chun Hsion Lim, Sue Lin Ngan, Jaka Sunarso and Hon Loong Lam
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Jason Yi Juang Yeo: Research Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Jalan Simpang Tiga, Kuching 93350, Malaysia
Bing Shen How: Research Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Jalan Simpang Tiga, Kuching 93350, Malaysia
Sin Yong Teng: Institute of Process Engineering & NETME Centre, Brno University of Technology, Technicka 2896/2, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic
Wei Dong Leong: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia
Wendy Pei Qin Ng: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, Miri 98009, Malaysia
Chun Hsion Lim: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Sungai Long, Bandar Sungai Long, Cheras, Kajang 43000, Malaysia
Sue Lin Ngan: UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
Jaka Sunarso: Research Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Jalan Simpang Tiga, Kuching 93350, Malaysia
Hon Loong Lam: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 19, 1-29

Abstract: Huge generation of oil palm biomass has stimulated the development of biorefineries for synthesis of bioproducts. By targeting the palm oil industry and the biorefineries as the consumers of these products, a sustainable circular economy can be created by recycling the biomass wastes to the said consumers. To evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of the sustainable circular economy, a mathematical model demonstrating the biomass network with consideration of recycling is developed in this work. Besides, Process Graph (P-graph) is incorporated to perform the combinatorial optimization of the biomass network, which targets three common resources: fertilizer, steam, and electricity for regeneration and recycling. Although the result shows that the linear economy model is preferred in terms of profitability, the circular economy model shows potential in reducing 39.292% of the imported steam and 13.469% of the imported electricity, while being 0.642% lower in terms of the gross profit. Three scenarios are then proposed to identify the potential bottleneck that can hinder the implementation of the sustainable circular economy approach, with the aid of sensitivity analysis. This work is expected to benefit the biomass-based industry sectors and the policymakers on future development and transition to the sustainable circular economy.

Keywords: palm oil biomass; integrated biorefinery; circular economy; sustainability; techno-economic analysis; P-graph (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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