ISE Seminar Series - Thesis Defense

"Economic and Environmental Impacts of Collecting Waste Cooking Oil for Use as Biodiesel Under a Decentralized Strategy"

Christopher Wood
Master of Science Candidate
Industrial and Systems Engineering

Date: Thursday, September 14th, 2006
Time: 11:00
Location: Room 09-3119 (Kate Gleason Engineering Building)

Vital aspects in the diffusion of renewable energies are the cost of producing the energy, as well as the environmental impacts associated with its lifecycle. As petroleum based energy becomes increasingly costly, alternatives will be relied upon to meet increasing energy demands. Biodiesel could be a near term solution for providing a transitional fuel to meet the energy demand of the transportation sector. However, the costs of biodiesel, as well as perceptions of a negative energy balance are hindering its widespread adoption. Using waste cooking oil (WCO) can reduce the cost of materials necessary for producing biodiesel, and by collecting and using biodiesel under a decentralized scenario, its cost can be further reduced. This research involves the design and development of a simulation model to analyze the cost and emissions associated with waste cooking oil collection for the decentralized production and use of biodiesel. A series of simulation experiments was used to evaluate different scenarios for utilizing the unexploited capacity of current food and beverage distribution networks for the collection of waste cooking oils. The economic and environmental costs associated with collecting WCO were compared to the economic and environmental savings from using biodiesel, including their impacts to service level, to determine feasibility. Heuristics are proposed for decision making under different company culture and demographics.

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Brian Thorn (Chair), Industrial and Systems Engineering
Dr. Andres Carrano, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Questions?
Contact Dr. Michael Kuhl at 475-2134 or mekeie@rit.edu