Risk Analysis Commons^™

Energy And Economic Modeling Of Stillage Dewatering Processes In Kentucky Bourbon Distilleries, William Brennan

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

Stillage is a byproduct of alcohol distillation and must be managed in all distilleries to sustain operations. In the United States, fuel ethanol plants typically convert all stillage into Dried Distillers’ Grains with Solubles (DDGS). This process and its variations are well known. Typical stillage management approaches are not well known, however, for the Kentucky bourbon industry. A survey of stillage management approaches in operational bourbon distilleries was conducted. Process modeling was performed to evaluate the energy and economic considerations of the available stillage dewatering methods for a 7 Million Original Proof Gallon (MMOPG) distillery. Monte Carlo simulations were performed …

Quantitative Methods For Total Lifecycle Risk Likelihood And Impact Assessment In Sustainable Product Design Decision Making, Christian Enyoghasi

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

Sustainable products promise significant economic, environmental, and societal benefits. Numerous methods are available for use during the new product development process to identify alternate product designs that optimize sustainability performance. Once any such design is selected and the product is launched, many uncertainties are likely to affect its performance over the total lifecycle. Such uncertainties give rise to risks that can influence the overall product sustainability performance. However, comprehensive quantitative methods to evaluate the likelihood or the impact of different risks to enable sustainable product design decision making are lacking.

This research aims to address this gap by developing a …