Abstract
The operation of wastewater treatment facilities results in the direct emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from biological activities, which contributes to global warming. One of the objectives of this research is to investigate the issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions during the effluent treatment process of the papermaking processes. It is also the goal of this research to minimise the cost of road and intermodal freight transportation and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation. The real-world data is collected from one of Pakistan’s largest paper and board industries. Mixed integer linear programming has been used to formulate the multi-objective problem of minimising cost and greenhouse gas emissions. Using a genetic algorithm, the problem is addressed, and Pareto optimality solutions are presented to assist decision-makers in selecting the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions. Intermodal freight transportation is found to be 81.1% less expensive than road, and it is also 51.1% more environmentally friendly. According to the findings of the effluent treatment study, during the manufacturing of 240,000 tons of paper and board and 210 million corrugated boxes, 3.31 tons of CO2e is emitted into the atmosphere during the water treatment process. However, looking into the emissions produced by different paper manufacturing processes, such as pulping, coating and printing, could help to understand the effect of manufacturing on global warming.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Shoukat, R. Green Intermodal Transportation and Effluent Treatment Systems: Application of the Genetic Algorithm and Mixed Integer Linear Programming. Process Integr Optim Sustain 7, 329–341 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41660-022-00295-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41660-022-00295-7