Transformable Decentral Production for Local Economies with Minimized Carbon Footprint

Abstract

Due to high energy-intensive processes and a dependence on carbon-based materials, the process industry plays a major role in climate change. Therefore, the substitution of fossil resources by biobased resources is indispensable. This leads to challenges arising from accompanying changes of the type, amount and location of resources. At the same time, transformable production systems are currently in the focus of research addressing the required flexibility. These systems which consist of modular production and logistics units offer the possibility to adapt flexibly in volatile conditions within dynamic supply chains. Hence, this work compiles elements for environmental sustainability, which minimize the carbon footprint in the process industry: transformable production systems, the utilization of bio-based resources, carbon dioxide and renewable energy as well as the application of these elements in decentral production networks. Finally, possible use cases are determined based on the combination of these elements through a multi-criteria analysis.

Operation of Modular Intralogistic Systems in Chemical Industry Production Networks

“…Modular production systems can offer a solution to the need for flexibility, as they provide the required capacities quickly, flexibly, and cost-effectively in the sense of plug & produce [10]. These systems consist of modularly designed process plants that can be configured according to modular design principles via standardized interfaces.…”

“…However, for the overall concept of modular production to work, these production modules must be logistically supplied and disposed of in accordance with the modular concepts [10,13]. Only with flexible intralogistic support, modular production plants can be transferred into productive value-added sections of real operating environments [14].…”

Development of a Reference Process Model for the Modularization of Production‐Related Logistics in the Chemical Industry

“…However, modular production plants require special solutions for supporting systems such as production-related logistics as well. This includes supply processes for production with products and multistage filling and packaging processes after production [6]. Accordingly, production-related logistics must also meet volatile system requirements, such as variable demand quantities, product or packaging types, in order to fully exploit the advantages of modular production systems.…”