Sustainable Operations of Production and Service with Onsite Renewables Integration
In this dissertation, we propose an approach to support sustainable operations management processes to improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing and service systems. The proposed framework finds the proper management scheme considering onsite renewable energy sources. The impact of integrating cleaner energy technologies is an increase in the renewables share of the electricity generation from the demand side and a reduction of the systems' environmental footprint. In particular, we apply techniques of optimization under uncertainty to determine the optimal operation of manufacturing and service systems with onsite renewables integration. Considering that each system in which onsite renewable energy sources have been installed can be considered as a microgrid, we discuss the operation of microgrids in general and specific types of microgrids in particular, with the three major objectives discussed in the following. First, we study the operation of a microgrid with renewable generators, energy storage systems, and power exchanges with the main power grid. These operations include unit commitment of generators within the microgrid, islanding, power transactions between the microgrid and the main grid, dynamics of the energy storage system, and line switching within the microgrid. Second, we study the integration of renewable energy sources for manufacturing and service systems, as well as its impact on their processes: (i) We obtain the schedule for a single-item production process consisting of consecutive stages of a manufacturing facility, adapted to match the onsite renewables supply. (ii) We find the optimal job migration, assignment and processing schedule for a network of interconnected data centers operating under an emissions cap and trade system. (iii) We determine the lighting system schedule for a controlled environment vertical farm, in which the environmental variables are artificially managed to improve the efficiency of the growing process. We assume that each of these systems is powered by the grid as well as by onsite renewables and energy storage systems. Additionally, these systems operate under the demand-side management policies of time-and-level-of-use and power consumption reduction requests from the utility company. Finally, we study the operation of a power system that includes a network of interconnected diverse microgrids, each of which is equipped with onsite renewable energy sources and energy storage systems. The power system needs to satisfy the energy demand both at the individual bus level and for the network of microgrids, by using both large-scale conventional and renewable generators. There is a two-way energy flow between the microgrids and the power system, which must be considered during the operations planning for the entire system.
Energy Management, Onsite Renewables, Optimization, Sustainable Operations
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