A sustainability assessment model for selecting pre-processing equipment in hemp-based biocomposite supply chains under techno-economic, environmental, and social measures
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Engineering, School of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Akbariansaravi, Niloofar
issued: 2025-01-16T21:07:43Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Biocomposites have become a significant sustainable alternative in green engineering. The production of biocomposites relies on strategic decisions regarding biomass collection and size reduction during pre-processing within the supply chain. This dissertation aims to evaluate different biomass collection and pre-processing equipment configurations in a case study of hemp-based biocomposites supply chain in Saskatchewan, Canada, to identify the most sustainable operational options. A novel sustainable decision-making framework is proposed in three phases, integrating economic, environmental, social (job opportunity), and technical considerations. The first phase employs a Techno-Economic Analysis tool to quantify the economic criteria of pre-processing scenarios, including Mean Net Present Value derived from Monte Carlo simulations, Net Present Value under Risk, and selling price ranges. The selling price is identified as the most influential factor, contributing 72%-78% to Net Present Value fluctuations. In the second phase, environmental impacts of the scenarios are assessed using an attributional Life Cycle Assessment tool. The cultivating and harvesting stage, linked to the use of biomass, fertilizers, and diesel fuels, is identified as a critical contributor to the environmental impact in all the important impact categories. Additionally, the social dimension is evaluated by estimating potential job creation associated with this biocomposite supply chain. Technical factors are captured by gathering industrial expert insights on product quality, system reliability, and Technology Readiness Levels (this dataset in particular included an Unreliability Factor). The outputs from the first two phases are used as the inputs for the third phase, for which an Analytic Network Process model is employed with interdependencies among criteria and alternatives. To assess the robustness of the alternatives’ rankings from the Analytic Network Process model, a sensitivity analy…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/90134
note: A SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT MODEL FOR SELECTING PRE-PROCESSING EQUIPMENT IN HEMP-BASED BIOCOMPOSITE SUPPLY CHAINS UNDER TECHNO-ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL MEASURES by Niloofar Akbariansaravi B.Sc., Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 2016 M.Sc., University of Tehran, 2018 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Mechanical Engineering) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) January 2025 © Niloofar Akbariansaravi, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a dissertation entitled: A SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT MODEL FOR SELECTING PRE-PROCESSING EQUIPMENT IN HEMP-BASED BIOCOMPOSITE SUPPLY CHAINS UNDER TECHNO-ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL MEASURES submitted by Niloofar Akbariansaravi in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dr. Abbas Milani, School of Engineering Supervisor Dr. Taraneh Sowlati, University of British Columbia Co-Supervisor Dr. Kasun Hewage, School of Engineering Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Feng Jiang, University of British Columbia Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Amir Ardestani-Jaafari, Faculty of Management University Examiner Dr. Manjusri Misra, University of Guelph External Examiner iii Abstract Biocomposites have become a significant sustainable alternative in green engineering. The production of biocomposites relies on strategic decisions regarding biomass collection and size reduction during pre-processing within the supply chain. This dissertation aims to evaluate different biomass collection and pre-processing equipment configurations in a case study of hemp-based biocomposites supply chain in Saskatchewan, Canada, to identify the most sustainable operational options. A novel sustainable decision-making framework is proposed in three phases, integrating economic, environmental, social (job opportunity), and t…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-02
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0447763
language: eng
degree discipline: Mechanical Engineering
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Milani, Abbas S.
contributor: Sowlati, Taraneh
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90134