Optimal integration of gaseous emissions from new industrial plants with the surroundings

This paper presents a mathematical programming model for the optimal location of new industrial plants considering simultaneously the integration of the gaseous emissions and the environmental constrains for the surroundings by synthesizing recycle and reuse networks. The model considers different options to locate the new plant and to integrate it with the neighboring urban areas that may be affected by the installation of the new plant because of the gaseous emissions. Air quality conditions and targets for each city (e.g., wind direction, speed to calculate the dispersion parameters, regulations, etc.) are considered. The objective function minimizes the total annual cost needed for the installation of the new plant, the treatment of gaseous streams, and the fresh sources required by the process units. Three examples for the installation of new plants in Mexico are considered to show the applicability of the proposed model. The results show that the proposed model is capable of identifying the optimal integration inside and outside the plant for the gaseous streams. The model also identifies the governmental incentives required to install the new plant in a specific location. These incentives are based on economic aspects as well as social benefits characterized by the generation of jobs. In addition, the proposed model is useful to identify the set of Pareto solutions that trade off the economic and the environmental objectives.