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Optimal operation of a distributed energy generation system for a sustainable palm oil-based eco-community

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Abstract

The palm oil industry potentially can be environmentally sustainable through utilizing the vast availability of biomass residues from palm oil mills as renewable energy sources. This work addresses the optimal operation of a combined bioenergy and solar PV distributed energy generation system to meet the electricity and heat demands of an eco-community comprising a palm oil mill and its surrounding residential community. A multiperiod mixed-integer linear programming planning and scheduling model is formulated on an hourly basis that optimally selects the power generation mix from among available biomass, biogas, and solar energy resources with consideration for energy storage and load shifting. A multiscenario approach is employed that considers scenarios in the form of many possible weather conditions and various energy profiles under varying mill operation modes and residential electricity consumption. The proposed approach is demonstrated on a realistic case study for a palm oil mill in the Iskandar Malaysia economic development region. The computational results indicate that biomass-based resource is the preferred renewable energy to be implemented due to the high cost associated with solar PV. As well, load shifting and energy storage can be feasibly deployed for demand peak shaving particularly for solar PV systems.

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Abbreviations

a :

Biomass resource

b :

Biomass technology

e :

Energy storage device

f :

Biogas resource

g :

Biogas technology

l :

Shiftable load

p :

Plant operating mode

s :

Solar energy technology

t :

Time interval

w :

Weather condition

k :

Period

a a :

Availability of biomass resource a (t/y)

a g :

Availability of biogas resource g (t/y)

\({\text{cc}}_{b}^{\text{B}}\) :

Capital cost of power plant using biomass technology b (US$/kW)

\({\text{cc}}_{g}^{\text{G}}\) :

Capital cost of power plant using biogas resource g (US$/kW)

\({\text{cc}}_{s}^{\text{S}}\) :

Capital cost of solar energy technology s (US$/kW)

\({\text{cc}}_{e}^{\text{E}}\) :

Power capacity cost of energy storage device e (US$/kW)

C I :

Capital cost of inverter (US$/kW)

d e :

Depth of discharge of energy storage device e

M C :

Big-M parameter on maximum charging capacity of an energy storage device

M D :

Big-M parameter on maximum discharging capacity of an energy storage device

q b :

Heat rate for biomass technology b (GJ/kWh)

q g :

Heat rate for biogas technology g (GJ/kWh)

\(e_{p}^{\text{M}}\) :

Electricity demand of mill (M) under mode p (kWh)

\(e_{k,t}^{\text{R}}\) :

Electricity demand of residence in period k at time interval t (kWh)

e e :

Initial energy level of energy storage device e (kWh)

\(e_{l,k}^{\text{L}}\) :

Electricity demand of shiftable load l in period k (kWh)

\(\hat{e}_{a}^{\text{B}}\) :

Energy potential of biomass resource a (GJ/t)

\(\hat{e}_{f}^{\text{G}}\) :

Energy potential of biogas resource f (GJ/t)

h :

Annual plant operating time (hour/year)

\(h_{p,t}^{\text{M}}\) :

Steam demand of mill (M) under mode p at time interval t (t/h)

I w,t :

Solar radiation under weather w at time interval t (kW/m2)

\({\text{oc}}_{e}^{\text{E}}\) :

Energy capacity cost of energy storage device e (US$/kWh)

\({\text{ocv}}_{b}^{\text{B}}\) :

Variable operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of biomass technology b (US$/kWh)

\({\text{ocf}}_{b}^{\text{B}}\) :

Fixed operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of biomass technology b (US$/kW)

\({\text{ocv}}_{g}^{\text{G}}\) :

Variable operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of biogas technology g (US$/kWh)

\({\text{ocf}}_{g}^{\text{G}}\) :

Fixed operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of biogas technology g (US$/kW)

\({\text{ocf}}_{s}^{\text{S}}\) :

Fixed operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of solar technology s (US$/kW)

\({\text{ocf}}_{e}^{\text{E}}\) :

Fixed operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of energy storage device e (US$/kW)

\(\alpha_{b}^{\text{B}}\) :

Fraction on upper limit of power plant capacity using biomass technology b

\(\alpha_{g}^{\text{G}}\) :

Fraction on upper limit of power plant capacity using biogas g

\(\alpha_{e}^{\text{E}}\) :

Fraction on upper limit of power capacity of energy storage device e

α I :

Fraction on upper limit of inverter capacity

\(\beta_{b}^{\text{B}}\) :

Turndown ratio for boiler operation in a power plant using biomass technology b

\(\beta_{f}^{\text{G}}\) :

Turndown ratio for boiler operation in a power plant using biogas f

δ :

Amortization factor (y−1)

\(\varepsilon_{b}^{\text{B}}\) :

Heat conversion ratio for LP steam generation for biomass technology b (t/kWh)

\(\varepsilon_{g}^{\text{G}}\) :

Heat conversion ratio for LP steam generation for biogas technology g (kJ/kWh)

\(\varepsilon_{s}^{\text{S}}\) :

Heat conversion ratio for LP steam generation for solar technology s (t/kWh)

\(\eta^{\text{S,L}}\) :

Efficiency of DC to AC phase inversion from solar energy to load

η I :

Efficiency of AC to DC phase conversion

\(\eta_{s}^{\text{S,E}}\) :

Efficiency of DC to AC phase inversion from solar energy technology s to energy storage

\(\eta_{e}^{\text{C}}\) :

Efficiency of charging of energy storage device e

\(\eta_{e}^{\text{D}}\) :

Efficiency of discharging of energy storage device e

ω p,k,w :

Probability of scenario for mode p in period k under weather w

ϕ :

Total annualized cost of system (US$/y)

\(C_{b}^{\text{B}}\) :

Capacity of biomass power plant using biomass technology b (kW)

\(C_{g}^{\text{G}}\) :

Capacity of biogas power plant using biogas technology g (kW)

C I :

Capacity of inverter (kW)

\(C_{s}^{\text{S}}\) :

Capacity of solar power plant using solar energy technology s (kWp)

\(E_{b,p,k,w,t}^{\text{B}}\) :

Total electricity generated from biomass technology b for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{g,p,k,w,t}^{\text{G}}\) :

Total electricity generated from biogas technology g for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{s,p,k,w,t}^{\text{S}}\) :

Total electricity generated from solar energy technology s for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{b,p,k,w,t}^{\text{B,L}}\) :

Electricity generated from biomass technology b to load (L) for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{g,p,k,w,t}^{\text{G,L}}\) :

Electricity generated from biogas technology g to load for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{s,p,k,w,t}^{\text{S,L}}\) :

Electricity generated from solar energy technology s to load for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{e,p,k,w,t}^{\text{E,L}}\) :

Electricity discharged from energy storage device e to load for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{b,e,p,k,w,t}^{\text{B,E}}\) :

Electricity generated from biomass technology b to energy storage device e for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{e,p,k,w,t}^{\text{G,E}}\) :

Electricity generated from biogas technology g to energy storage device e for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{e,p,k,w,t}^{\text{S,E}}\) :

Electricity generated from solar energy technology s to energy storage device e for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{e,p,k,w,t}^{\text{E}}\) :

Total energy content of energy storage (E) device e for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(\Delta E_{b,p,k,w,t}^{\text{B}}\) :

Electricity in excess generated from biomass technology b for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(\Delta E_{g,p,k,w,t}^{\text{G}}\) :

Electricity in excess generated from biogas technology g for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(\Delta E_{s,p,k,w,t}^{\text{S}}\) :

Electricity in excess generated from solar energy technology s for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{e,p,k,w,t}^{\text{E,L}}\) :

Electricity generated from energy storage device e to load for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t (kWh)

\(E_{e}^{\hbox{max} }\) :

Energy capacity of energy storage device e (kWh)

\(P_{e}^{\hbox{max} }\) :

Power capacity of energy storage device e (kW)

\(H_{b,p,k,w,t}^{\text{B,L}}\) :

Steam generated from biomass technology b to load (L) under mode p in period k with weather w at time interval t (t)

\(H_{g,p,k,w,t}^{\text{G,L}}\) :

Steam generated from biogas technology g to load (L) under mode p in period k with weather w at time interval t (t)

\(H_{s,p,k,w,t}^{\text{S,L}}\) :

Steam generated from solar energy technology s to load (L) under mode p in period k with weather w at time interval t (t)

\(\Delta H_{b,p,k,w,t}^{\text{B}}\) :

Excess steam generated from biomass technology b under mode p in period k with weather w at time interval t (t)

\(\Delta H_{g,p,k,w,t}^{\text{G}}\) :

Excess steam generated from biogas technology g under mode p in period k with weather w at time interval t (t)

\(\Delta H_{s,p,k,w,t}^{\text{S}}\) :

Excess steam generated from solar energy technology s under mode p in period k with weather w at time interval t (t)

\(X_{l,p,k,w,t}\) :

Selection of time interval to place shiftable loads

\(Y_{e,p,k,w,t}\) :

Selection of charging state (1 indicates charging, 0 otherwise) for energy storage device e for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t

\(Z_{e,p,k,w,t}\) :

Selection of discharging state (1 indicates discharging, 0 otherwise) for energy storage device e for mode p in period k under weather w at time interval t

B:

Biomass resource or technology

C:

Charging state of energy storage device

D:

Discharging state of energy storage device

F:

Fixed operation and maintenance cost

G:

Biogas resource or technology

I:

Inverter

L:

Demand load

M:

Palm oil mill

S:

Solar energy

V:

Variable operation and maintenance cost

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support to complete this work provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) under the GUP Research Grant of Vote Number Q.J130000.2525.01H52 and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) scheme for the project “Development of Low Carbon Society Scenarios for Asian Regions”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT), Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

    Wai Shin Ho, Haslenda Hashim & Jeng Shiun Lim

  2. Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750, Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia

    Cheng Seong Khor

  3. National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa 16-2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8056, Japan

    Suichi Ashina & Diego Silva Herran

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  1. Wai Shin Ho
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  2. Cheng Seong Khor
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  3. Haslenda Hashim
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  4. Jeng Shiun Lim
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  5. Suichi Ashina
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  6. Diego Silva Herran
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Correspondence to Cheng Seong Khor or Haslenda Hashim.

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Ho, W.S., Khor, C.S., Hashim, H. et al. Optimal operation of a distributed energy generation system for a sustainable palm oil-based eco-community. Clean Techn Environ Policy 17, 1597–1617 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-014-0893-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-014-0893-6

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