Coming Soon | Programmatic Material Flow Analysis: driving process systems through logic
This article is in preparation.
Models of material flows and processes used for Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow Analysis are most commonly linear in nature, deploying fixed process in different proportions to meet demand according to a system of linear matrix equations. However, this approach cannot handle more complicated situations, such as when processes have limited capacity and should be dispatched in order of preference until capacity is exhausted. The solutions can also be hard to explain, since the resulting process operations are the result of the numerical solution to a large matrix inversion. We therefore propose a new modelling approach based on defining the logical steps through which flows are determined. The result is an efficient and explainable model which in simple cases is simple to define, but has the flexibility to embed more complex logic.
This modelling approach has been applied in a model of the global petrochemical sector’s operation, where it enables modelling situations such as “produce ethylene from route A by preference, but only until supply of green low-emitting hydrogen is exhausted; then satisfy remaining demand via route B, falling back on route C as the last resort.” The underlying approach is general to any Material Flow Analysis system and could be deployed in many applications.
Image: Erik van Dijk on Unsplash
