Thesis Title: Μathematical programming of biogas system from arable and livestock farms for CHP: case study in Lubelskie province of Poland

Wednesday 13 February  2019, at: 14:00, Venue: Hall Κ3.A17

Examination Committee

• Associate Professor Stylianos Rozakis (advisor)
• Associate Professor Petros Gikas
• Associate Professor Tryfon Daras

Abstract

In the following thesis, a case study on the mathematical modeling of a biogas system from agricultural byproducts for Lubelskie in eastern Poland is being carried out, with the main purpose of extracting useful conclusions able to mobilize investors of renewable energy to invest and developers-policy/decision makers to do so. A useful conclusion is the number of additional biogas production and exploitation units that a region could sustain. Chapter 1 introduces a first approach to the issue of energy recovery from agricultural waste. In the case of agricultural areas, anaerobic digestion is used extensively for the production of biogas, while the energy utilization of the biogas produced is by a wide variety of technologies, and aims at the cogeneration of heat and power. CHP is a one-way street in the context of the sustainable development of a region that has the above specific characteristics, so thorough analysis and description of biomass production and utilization technologies will always be an integral part of any similar approach. Chapter 2 attempts an introduction in the theory of rural planning ,so as to lay the foundations of purpose and scope. The sector is discussed in depth as an economic unit, while examples of modeling and explanatory diagrams of the demand and supply functions are presented, as they are formed after the successive models have been solved. Additionally, Chapter 3, the methodological framework, includes methods for evaluating agricultural investment, followed by the first attempt to combine theory and practice, Chapter 4 being a bridge between the world of theory and the real example, that of Lubelskie . It contains C.H.P examples within the EU first and lastly in Poland, while smoothly going to Lubelskie along with a hint in the current legislative framework for renewable energy (R.E.S.). A natural consequence is Chapter 5, in which what has been extracted following a substantiated survey is taken in the context of a technical and economic analysis, including inputs, outflows and data from standardization of the biomass supply curve. Finally, charts of net present value (N.P.V) are presented, while chapter 6 presents the tables and diagrams exported, with explanation and basic conclusion of how to improve the current approach.