Modeling of mamona biodiesel supply chain: a Petri nets approach

Abstract

Nowadays many countries present critical problems related to energy demandsupply equilibrium. Petroleum-based products has been used as energy sources since Industrial Revolution but it is well known that they are not environmental friendly and reserves of this source are unable to face future demand for more than three decades. In this scene, the focus on substitutive sources has been strongly directed on biomass. This word is used to designate several fruit oils (including mamona) presenting the characteristics of being sustainable sources which also are entitled with the advantage of being a labor intensive source, adequate to underdeveloped tropical regions. This paper treats on the application of Petri nets to model the mamona biodiesel supply chain aiming to provide insights to help decision making when managing that chain. Through simulation of several operational scenarios one could show that the conceived model is very useful to guide optimized interventions on the mamona biodiesel supply chain.