Subsidised water symbiosis of eco-industrial parks: A multi-stage game theory approach

Sustainable efficiency in cities in China-An interaction model among water, energy, and industry

With the inclusion of "Building Inclusive, safe, Resilient and Sustainable Cities and human Settlements" (SDG11) in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), the movement to promote sustainable development from an urban perspective is growing globally. Many studies examine urban sustainability efficiency from multiple dimensions, but scant attention targets the interaction among various dimensions. This research combines the water-energy-industry subsystem to evaluate the sustainable development performance of 29 provinces in China from 2018 to 2020. The results show that 1) a water system plays an important role in promoting a city's overall sustainable performance. 2) Urban sustainable efficiency has the characteristics of low value aggregation and high value dispersion in space. 3) Regional and sub-system sustainability efficiencies exhibit clear heterogeneity. 4) Rainfall improves the sustainable efficiency of cities, mainly through water systems. 5) The coupling between water and industrial subsystems is better than that between energy and industrial subsystems, and the coupling between the central region subsystem is the best. This paper offers a new perspective for understanding the current state of sustainability in China's provinces and provides more specific suggestions for improving regional sustainability efficiency in the future.

Game theoretic optimisation in process and energy systems engineering: A review

Game theory is a framework that has been used by various research fields in order to represent dynamic correlation among stakeholders. Traditionally, research within the process and energy systems engineering community has focused on the development of centralised decision making schemes. In the recent years, decentralised decision-making schemes have attracted increasing attention due to their ability to capture multi-stakeholder dynamics in a more accurate manner. In this article, we survey how centralised and decentralised decision making has been facilitated by game theoretic approaches. We focus on the deployment of such methods in process systems engineering problems and review applications related to supply chain optimisation problems, design and operations, and energy systems optimisation. Finally, we analyse different game structures based on the degree of cooperation and how fairness criteria can be employed to find fair payoff allocations.

Clustering and optimising regional segregated resource allocation networks

Policymakers and officials worldwide are making more stringent environmental norms and waste disposal policies to encourage industries to move towards cleaner production. One of the main challenges that industries face moving towards cleaner production is the adoption of different strategies for optimising their resource utilisation and waste reduction economically. This is particularly challenging for large-scale industries or a group of industrial plants located in an industrial region. This paper presents a novel approach to economic resource optimisation focussed mainly on large-scale industries, different industrial plants located in the vicinity of each other, or an industrial symbiosis network. In this work, a clustering algorithm is developed to segregate the given plants into different clusters based on the concept of load deficits and surpluses of each plant. The concept ideally allows only the plants with surpluses to send out their unused sources and plants with deficits to only receive external sources/resources. The clusters are formed based on the distances between plants, which in turn helps in saving transportation and communication costs. The clustered plants are then easy to optimise and manage for resource and cost optimality. The applicability of the proposed clustering algorithm is demonstrated using two case studies from the domain of water recycling networks containing multiple contaminants with detailed network design, highlighting the importance of clustering in an industrial symbiosis network. It is observed that directing the excess flows from one plant to other plants in the same cluster can save a considerable amount of fresh resources. It implies that in the broader aspect, the developed methodology can address the optimisation of economic resources and can aid in the better management of overall resources for a large-scale industrial symbiosis network.

Industrial water network vulnerability analysis using dynamic inoperability input-output model

Industrial parks provide opportunities for Process Integration among different enterprises. Inter-Plant Water Network Integration is an effective strategy for water conservation. However, increased interplant linkages can make the entire system vulnerable to cascading failures in case of loss of water flow in some plants. The potential indirect impact of water shortages on such integrated systems may not be evident without the use of appropriate models. This work defines inoperability as the fractional loss of water flow relative to normal operations. A comparison between the applicability of demand-driven versus supply-driven Inoperability Input-output Model (IIM) is conducted. Then, a Vulnerability Assessment Framework which integrates vulnerability indicators into the Dynamic Input-Output Model (DIIM) is developed to analyse failure propagation in water networks in an industrial park. The DIIM is then applied to simulate the cascading effects of disturbances. From a time perspective, the vulnerabilities of the industrial parks With Integrated Optimal Water Network (WWN) and Without Integrated Optimal Water Network (WOWN) are assessed considering robustness, adaptability, and recoverability as the indicators. The results indicate that supply-driven IIM is more suitable for cascading failure analysis of water networks. The average inoperability at 16% from supply-driven IIM is higher than that from demand-driven IIM. In the freshwater disturbance scenario, the dependence of the plant on freshwater is proportional to the rate of inoperability change, the time to reach a new equilibrium. In this study, the robustness of WWN is about fivefold that of WOWN, but the recovery rate is only one-sixth of the latter. This work can help identify system vulnerabilities and provide a scientific insight for the development of park-wide water management strategies.

Industrial site water exchange network synthesis considering multiple quality constraints and water headers

This work aims to extend the previous Pinch Analysis framework to the industrial site material recycling network with site headers synthesis from single quality to multiple qualities. The analysis provides guided resources management strategy in any eco-industrial park to reduce the reliance on raw resources that are extracted from the environment. The Pinch Point(s) are first identified for the overall network using the Material Recovery Pinch Diagram for all the qualities. The guideline for the cross-plant material sources transfer is then built upon the concept of the Pinch Point(s) for all the qualities to minimise the cross-plant source transfer or a number of connections. An iterative header targeting framework is then proposed to determine the flowrates and the qualities of the headers. Two case studies, which have single and multiple qualities Total Site water recycling network, are used to demonstrate the proposed framework, comparing results obtained using direct integration and centralised headers. The single quality case results in 4.1% lower fresh resource intake compared to without cross-transfer, while the multiple qualities case could have 5.3% lower fresh resources for two and three plants scenarios. This framework provides a proper analysis of the problem, which allows users to gain insights on the effective cross-plant source transfer schemes with headers constraint by resource qualities.

Analysis of the Development of Industrial Symbiosis in Emerging and Frontier Market Countries: Barriers and Drivers

Industrial symbiosis (IS) allows the use of the resources of a productive chain, based on collaboration between companies, finding ways to use the waste of one as inputs or raw materials for the other entity. IS seeks to generate environmental sustainability, maximize resources, and generate social, environmental, and economic benefits based on the physical exchanges of waste, residues, and materials, which generate various advantages for companies and environmental benefits for society. Over the years, research has been conducted worldwide on the implementation of IS in business settings and case studies related to IS in countries with strong economies; however, no papers mapping studies on IS that are focused on emerging and frontier market countries have been identified, and academic literature on research in these countries is also scarce. In this research, an in-depth review of the literature on IS cases in emerging and frontier market countries was conducted to provide future researchers with information on the similarities, weaknesses, strengths, and elements to consider in addressing the topic and closing research gaps in the area. In addition, a mapping was made of the evolution of studies on IS according to country, economic activity, distribution by journal, year of publication, methods used, barriers and drivers in the case studies, and the importance of this topic in the current academic context. In Asian and developing countries, the integration of companies and economic activities takes place in industrial parks, and they have legislation and government regulations that support IS. On the other hand, in the United States and Africa, integrating various sources such as energy, water, coal, and waste in industrial environments is at an early stage of development, and opportunities are being identified to promote IS between companies. This research interests a broad audience, including investors, regulators, policymakers, and researchers interested in fostering IS in emerging and frontier market countries as a mechanism for industrial and economic development.