Modeling and Optimization of Next Generation Feedstock Development for Chemical Process Industry

Biomass, as a renewable and locally available resource, has great potential for weaning our chemical process industry (CPI) from fossil based feedstocks. There are many different routes to transform biomass into feedstock for the bulk chemicals production. The switch from our current fossil fuel based CPI to a future CPI that utilizes biomass feedstock will require substantial amounts of research & development (R&D) and capital investments for technology development both by the CPI and the government. As such there is great opportunity for investigating how these investments will impact the evolution of the biomass feedstock system. This problem has two unique characteristics: uncertain decision-dependent endogenous technology evolutions and game theoretic issues, which limit the applicability of the existing representations and methods. This talk will explain the problem characteristics in detail, and give an overview of our research activities on developing novel frameworks and large-scale solution capabilities for this problem.