MILP model for emergy optimization in EIP water networks

The eco-industrial park (EIP) concept provides a framework in which several plants can cooperate with each other and exchange their wastewater to minimize total freshwater consumption. Emergy analysis is a methodology that considers the total, cumulative energy which has been consumed within a system; thus, by minimizing emergy, an environmentally optimal EIP can be designed. This article presents a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for minimizing emergy of an interplant water network in an EIP. The methodology accounts for the environmental impacts of water use, energy consumption, and capital goods within the EIP in a balanced manner. The proposed technique is then demonstrated by solving a case study from literature.