Source: MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIV submitted to NRP
RESILIENT BIOMASS-COMBINED HEAT AND POWER SYSTEMS FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1022075
Grant No.
2020-67019-30772
Cumulative Award Amt.
$1,000,000.00
Proposal No.
2019-06696
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Apr 1, 2020
Project End Date
Mar 31, 2025
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[A1414]- Bioenergy Feedstock Logistics Program
Recipient Organization
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIV
(N/A)
MISSISSIPPI STATE,MS 39762
Performing Department
Civil and Environmental Engine
Non Technical Summary
Combined heat and power (CHP) systems offer higher energy gains while improving energy supply reliability and reducing energy costs and environmental footprint. Although CHP technologies have been widely studied using different fuel sources, the potential of biomass CHP (bCHP) systems in rural communities has received very little attention. Moreover, bCHP deployment in these areas is hindered by several challenges, namely, unclear value to exisitng or new utilities or end-users, limited CHP supply infrastructure, market and non-market uncertainties, lack of end-user awareness and economic decision-making tools.This research and extension project will consider the state of Mississippi as a case study to: (i) delineate the energy needs and bCHP potential of selected rural communties; (ii) determine cost-effective biomass feedstock supply-chain options and process design configurations; (iii) develop resiliency strategies for bCHP systems to withstand extreme events and natural disasters; and (iv) increase the knowledge and awareness of bCHP systems among utility stakeholders.We will first examine the rural energy needs and biomass integrated CHP potential to feed into a biomass supply chain logistics model to support bCHP facilities. Then, we evaluate various methods of assessing and for achieving resiliency and sustainability of bCHP systems in rural communities accounting for a higher degree of complexity inherent of individual process configurations. Finally, a community and stakeholder engaged participatory multi-criteria analysis will be used to understand the decision-making logistics of end-users. A new Extension program will be developed to disseminate the outcomes from this project through various professional venues, including a dedicated website.
Animal Health Component
60%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
60%
Developmental
15%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
80760502020100%
Knowledge Area
807 - Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery;

Subject Of Investigation
6050 - Communities, areas, and regions;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;
Goals / Objectives
To address the barriers related to bCHP deployment in remote and rural communities, this research and extension project considers the state of Mississippi as a case study to:Delineate energy needs and bCHP potential in select rural communities and design optimum bCHP systems (Research Objective)Develop robust bCHP system feedstock supply chain options to address resiliency and evaluate sustainability through life cycle assessment (Research Objective)Increase critical knowledge among targeted stakeholder groups necessary to implement bCHP systems in rural communities (Extension Objective)The above goals/objectives will be accomplished through five specific research and extension tasks designed to address the critical barriers for efficient deployment of bCHP systems in rural communities. The tasks are: (i) Assess energy poverty/needs, and generate biomass feedstock potential maps to determine the critical regions of rural communities in Mississippi for bCHP deployment; (ii) Evaluate bCHP system process configurations for the communities suitable for different applications and needs; (iii) Determine cost-effective biomass feedstock supply chain options and process design configurations considering reliability and resiliency; (iv) Perform life cycle assessment (LCA) based CHP process optimization considering different feedstock alternatives and process schemes; and (v) Develop an extension program to disseminate the knowledge and information necessary to deploy bCHP systems through stakeholder involvement and conduct participatory multi-criteria decision analysis.
Project Methods
We will first examine the regional attributes and biomass integrated CHP potentials to find Mississippi's rural/isolated communities in energy poverty as potential candidates to deploy CHP. The selected communities will be used to assess technical feasibility and economic assessment to analyze suitability of biomass CHP systems. Then the results will be used to develop biomass supply chain logistics model to support bCHP facilities. Next, an analysis will be carried out to determine various methods of assessing and for achieving resiliency and sustainability of bCHP systems in rural communities accounting for a higher degree of complexity inherent of individual process configurations. Finally, the results from the participatory multi-criteria analysis that communities and stakeholders are engaged will be used to understand the decision-making logistics of the end-users. An extension program and a stakeholder network group will be developed to disseminate the information of household- and community-level benefits of bCHP installation. In addition, technical details and practical guidelines derived from this study will be communicated through various technical, professional and social events and through a dedicated project website.

Progress 04/01/20 to 03/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural communities and industries, rural communities, private energy producers, energy engineers (agricultural, civil, environmental, industrial, and mechanical), community planners, financial experts, investors, academia including students,faculty, and staff), industry partners and government and regulatory agencies and other stakeholders. Changes/Problems:The project experienced a leadrship change, and a Co-PD transfer involving a change in institutions. This caused significant delays in funds transfer and research progress due to administrative delays. In addition, COVID-19 had a tremendous impact on student recruitment and research progress during the early years (2020-2022) of the project. However, the project team worked diligently to address these unforeseen challenges and completed all project tasks successfully with outstanding products and outcomes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project provided education and research opportunities for high school, BS, MS, and PhD level research students in agriclutural,civil, environmental, industrial and systems engineering and mechanical engineering disciplines. Marufuzzaman invited Kim and Yun to his graduate student thesis advising meeting (Abdullah Battawi) in Jun. 2020. Kim and Yun shared comments and suggestions to the thesis and its publication. Tagert invited Kim and Yun to her graduate student advising meeting (Kaitlyn Gordon) on Oct. 31. 2023. Gordon and Tagert prepared their research plans and the current progress, and Kim and Yun made suggestions and comments. The project supported two Ph.D. graduate research assistants, offering them: (1) Experience with literature reviews, market analysis, and technical research, (2) Training in Python-based system modeling and multi-objective optimization, and (3) Opportunities to publish research findings in respected journals and conferences, contributing to their professional development and academic careers This project supported one MS graduate research assistant under Task 3. The graduate student received experience with literature reviews, program development and evaluation, Extension agent in-service training, outreach activities, and environmental scanning. The student also received experience with geospatial analysis as part of this task. The project partially supported 1 MS student (Omar Alzahrani) and 5 PhD students (Abdur Rahman, Amin Aghalari, Jay Artil, Daniel Marulanda, Mohamad Dehghan-Bonari) in contributing to Task 2. The supported students have developed their theses and published journal and conference articles on topics related to cost-effective and environmentally friendly biomass logistics, supply chain design, and their management under both normal and extreme weather conditions (e.g., hurricanes). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results were diseeminated to broader scientific and technical audience including the policy makers, investors, environmental planners, engineers and other agricultural experts at various regional, national and international conferences through various educational and Extension activities. A few ketnote talks were also delivered at international conferences focusing on advances in energy, and environmental sustainability.. The IRR is freely and publicly available online for public and academic uses. There were several contacts from government agencies and university researchers to use the IRR for their purposes. Kim guided and instructed them on the details and proper usage. Yun and Kim participated in a workshop for scholarly and governmental agencies to promote the project outcomes and gather feedback. Discussion with the Rurality Index expert from USDA ERS at the 67th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, Virtual Meeting due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Nov. 11-14, 2020. Discussion with the Rurality Index expert from Purdue University and USDA ERS at the 68th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, Denver, Colorado, Nov. 8-13, 2021. Energy economics and governmental panel discussion at the 2023 Annual Meetings of the American Social Science Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, Jan. 6-8, 2023 Agricultural economics and rural community development workshop at the 2024 Annual Meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Irving, Texas, Feb. 1-4, 2025. Yun and Kim presented the project outcomes at three professional conferences, which drew attention from stakeholders related to energy deficiencies in rural areas, residential energy burdens, and rural community development. The results were disseminated through the journal publications and conference proceedings. These channels ensure that both academic and industry stakeholders can access the findings. Three peer-reviewed journal publications, including in the ASME Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities, Energies, and ASME Journal of Energy Resources Technology, were published under Task 1.2. Besides, three conference proceedings, presented at major engineering conferences such as the ASME Energy Sustainability Conference and ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, based on the work from Task 1.2. Research conducted under Task 2 generated 14 journal articles (Expert Systems With Applications, Forest Ecology and Management, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy Conversion and Management, Forest Policy and Economics, Computers & Industrial Engineering, Science of the Total Environment, Renewable Energy, and Computers & Chemical Engineering), 5 conference proceedings, and 10 conference presentations. Additionally, the research was disseminated to stakeholders through multiple avenues, such as the IISE Annual Conference, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Southeast Symposium on Contemporary Engineering Topics (SSCET), International Conference on Energy Sustainability, ASME, Competitive Energy Systems Symposium, and AIChE Conference. The results for this task were disseminated through conference presentations and a new Extension program under Task 3. Led workshop 'Biomass Basics and Biomass Bag Demonstration' at the South Mississippi 4-H Volunteer Leader Forum. Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center, Raymond, MS. August 24, 2024. (10 participants; evaluation data collected) In-service training presentation on new statewide Extension program "Powering Local Communities." Animal and Dairy Sciences Building, MSU. August 8, 2024. (32 participants) Delivered 'Biomass Basics' module of "Powering Local Communities" statewide Extension program to students at 4-H STEAM Day. June 25, 2024. (32 participants; evaluation data collected) Delivered 'Biomass Basics' module of "Powering Local Communities" statewide Extension program to students at 4-H Camp Explore. Holmes Community College, Goodman, MS. June 11-12, 2024 (two sessions each day). (35 participants - 15 male, 16 female; evaluation data collected) Delivered 'Biomass Basics' module of "Powering Local Communities" statewide Extension program to the high school Biology Class at Grace Christian School. April 19, 2024. (10 participants; evaluation data collected) Delivered 'Biomass Basics' module of "Powering Local Communities" statewide Extension program to the 4th grade after school Science Club (Group 2) at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary School. April 18, 2024. (13 participants; evaluation data collected) Delivered 'Biomass Basics' module of "Powering Local Communities" statewide Extension program to the 4th grade after school Science Club (Group 1) at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary School. April 11, 2024. (14 participants; evaluation data collected) Conducted a potato battery interactive station for the "Powering Local Communities" Extension program, where students learned about biomass and how it can be used to generate electricity, as part of the Mississippi Science Fest event. We were stationed at the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce Agricultural Museum. Jackson, MS. Sept. 15, 2023. (430 participants; 20 adults and 410 youth) Presented a workshop titled "Bioenergy: Education Resources and Two Hands-On Activities" to introduce the new Extension program "Powering Local Communities" at the 2023 4-H Volunteer Leader South Forum. First Baptist Church; Wiggins, MS. Aug. 26, 2023. (6 participants; evaluation data collected) 4-H STEAM Day. Planned and conducted with Jessica Drewry and James Wooten a breakout session that included a lesson on electrical circuits, completing different circuits, and how biomass can be used to generate energy. Bost Extension Center. June 27, 2023. (68 contacts; 27 adult and 41 youth) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The project achieved the following under Task 1.1: Completed an extensive review of the literature associated with the rurality index to analyze the level of rurality of the communities. Processed and managed various data sources to develop the Index of Relative Rurality (IRR). Developed, released, and maintained the IRR freely available to the public. Presented the progress and completed outputs in the major agricultural economics and regional science conferences, participated in the scholarly and governmental agencies workshop, and tried to publish journal articles. The project achieved the following under Task 1.2: Completed a comprehensive literature review of biomass-based combined heat and power (bCHP) systems for rural communities. Conducted a market survey of current bCHP system manufacturers and documented technical specifications and operational characteristics. Developed computational models using Python to simulate different design and operational scenarios for bCHP systems tailored to rural contexts. Executed case studies under varied U.S. climate conditions to assess system performance. Produced multiple scholarly outputs, including three peer-reviewed journal papers and three conference proceedings The project achieved the following under Task 2: Developed a logistics model to efficiently and economically manage post-hurricane damaged timber and demonstrated the model's feasibility using 15 coastal counties in Mississippi (see Aghalari et al., 2021 under the publication section (published in Computers and Industrial Engineering) for details). Developed a pellet supply system for the state of Mississippi, taking into account market-specific pellet production specifications and biomass quality characteristics. Results indicate that pellet production can decrease by 13.6% to 48.3% if high ash and moisture contents are not addressed properly (see Aghalari et al., 2021 under the publication section (published in Computers and Chemical Engineering) for details). A multi-objective optimization model is developed to simultaneously minimize costs and GHG emissions for a biomass-supported electricity generation facility in a rural community in Mississippi. Our results demonstrate that by properly selecting the power plant's location and capacity based on the supply chain network, wood waste-based electricity generation can reduce both GHG emissions and total operational costs. This model can be applied to any region to determine the ideal location for a bioenergy facility (see Nandimandalam et al., 2022, under the publication section (published in Energy Conversion and Management) for details). A critical review of challenges and opportunities involve in developing rural biomass supported energy systems using various process configurations including case studies in developed countries was conducted. An evaluation of integrated biomass (forest residues) and other renewable energy systems for resilient and cost-effective rural energy systems was performed. An evaluation of life cycle environmental impacts and comparison of biomass supported energy grid for rural communities with the conventional energy grid (current energy portfolio) was completed (Nandimandalam et al., 2022) An evaluation of agricultural residues for potential energy feedstock for bioenergy generation in rural Indiana counties was conducted. The potential of integrating wastewater treatment systems in the bioenergy (sludge as feedstock) supported CHP systems implementation and challenges was evaluated and completed (Sarpong and Gude 2021). Developed several advanced optimization models (see Kanieski da Silva et al., 2022; Sartorio et al., 2024) to understand how land cover changes due to salvage logging resulting from forestlands affected by a category-five hurricane. The models were tested and compared with the areas impacted by Hurricane Michael. Besides, several artificial intelligence (AI)-driven modes have been developed to assess the quality of the biomass and their associated impact on the production and transportation of wood pellets (see Abdur et al., 2024 & 2025, under the publication section (published in Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews and Expert Systems with Applications) for details). The project achieved the following under Task 3: Developed a new statewide Extension program "Powering Local Communities", approved in 2023, to educate youth and adult audiences about renewable energy with a specific focus on bCHP systems. Conducted a comprehensive literature review and an environmental scan to identify ongoing renewable energy programmatic efforts in Extension across the United States. Compiled and analyzed evaluation results from 4-H agents, volunteer leaders, and youth audiences on the knowledge gained from the new Extension program. There were 76 participants who were delivered the new Extension program over the course of five presentations. All evaluation results included in this section were from participants who were in the junior age group (ages 8-13), and all completed the paper junior evaluation. Of the 66 evaluations collected from participants, only 54 were fully completed in the retrospective section of the evaluation. Participants were asked to rank their knowledge before and after the session in response to three statements. Responses to the first statement (n=55), "different types of biomass", 82% of participants indicated an increase in knowledge based on their responses from before and after the session. For the second statement (n=50), "how biomass can be used to produce electricity", 76% of participants indicated an increase in knowledge. For the third statement (n=50), "benefits of using biomass to generate energy", 76% of participants indicated an increase in knowledge. Participants were also asked to respond to six statements using a Likert scale about their experience and enjoyment during the session. Participants could choose from a sad face (disagree), neutral face (neutral), and a happy face (agree) in response to these statements. These results are used to gauge participants' satisfaction with the presentation, activities, worksheets, and presenter. The responses to this section ranged from a low of 55% of participants who 'agreed' the 'information was easy to understand' to 90% of participants who 'agreed that the 'information presented was useful'. Table 1. Summary of retrospective evaluation results. Figure 1. Summary of participant satisfaction evaluation results.

Publications

  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Maharjan, K., Zhang, J., Cho, H., & Chen, Y. (2024). "Co-Optimization of Distributed Energy Resources Under Time-of-Use Pricing Frame." ASME Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 011003. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4064049
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Maharjan, K., Zhang, J., Cho, H., & Chen, Y. (2023). "Distributed Energy Systems: Multi-Objective Design Optimization Based on Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Impacts." Energies, 16(21), 7312. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16217312
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Schicker, P.C., Spayde, D., & Cho, H. (2022). "Design and Feasibility Study of Biomass-Driven Combined Heat and Power Systems for Rural Communities." ASME Journal of Energy Resources Technology, 144(7), 070909. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4053345
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2025 Citation: Kim, A., & Yun, S. (2025) Energy Burden Disparity: Comparing Rural and Urban Areas in the U.S. Under Review
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Rahman A., Street J., Wooten J., Marufuzzaman M., Wang H., Gude V.G., Buchanan R. (2025) Interpretable Wood Chip Moisture Content Prediction through Texture Analysis. Expert Systems With Applications, 275, 126989.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Rahman A., Street J., Wooten J., Marufuzzaman M., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2025) Moist-Net: Machine Vision-based Deep Learning Models for Wood Chip Moisture Content Measurement. Expert Systems With Applications, 259, 125363.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Sartorio I.P., da Silva, B.K., Henderson J.D., Marufuzzaman M., Crosby M.K., Tanger S.M. (2024) Understanding Hurricane Effects on Forestlands: Land Cover Changes and Salvage Logging. Forest Ecology and Management, 569, 122132.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J., Wooten J., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2024) A Comprehensive Review on Wood Chip Moisture Content Assessment and Prediction. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 189, 113843.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kanieski B., Tanger S., Marufuzzaman M., Cubbage F.W. (2022) Perfect Assumptions in an Imperfect World: Managing Timberland in an Oligopoly Market. Forest Policy and Economics, 137, 102691.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari A., Marufuzzaman M., Aladwan B., Tanger S., Kanieski B. (2021) A Bilevel Model Formulation for Solving a Post-Hurricane Damaged Timber Management Problem. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 162, 107726.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari A., ?Aladwan B., Marufuzzaman M., Tanger S., Kanieski B., Gnaneswar V.G. (2021) Optimizing a Pellet Supply System: Market-specific Pellet Production with Biomass Quality Considerations. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 153, 107417.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2025 Citation: Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2025) Integrating Texture Features and Domain Adaptation for Robust Cross-Domain Moisture Content Prediction in Wood Chips. Under review.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2025 Citation: Attreya S., Tanger S., Marufuzzaman M., McConnell E., Crosby M., da Silva B.K. (2024) A Mixed-Integer Optimization Approach to Assess Timber Hauling Cost Increases Under Bridge Restrictions. Under review.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sarpong, G., & Gude, V. G. (2021). Codigestion and combined heat and power systems energize wastewater treatment plantsanalysis and case studies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 144, 110937.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Aghalari, A., Gude, V.G. and Marufuzzaman, M., 2022. Multi-objective optimization model for regional renewable biomass supported electricity generation in rural regions. Energy Conversion and Management, 266, p.115833.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G. and Marufuzzaman, M., 2022. Environmental impact assessment of biomass supported electricity generation for sustainable rural energy systems-A case study of Grenada County, Mississippi, USA. Science of The Total Environment, 802, p.149716.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2025 Citation: Marulanda D., Rahman A., Street J., Wooten J., Marufuzzaman M., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2025) Vision-Transformers for Woodchip Moisture Content Prediction. Under review.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2025 Citation: Aghalari A., Artil, J., Dehghan-Bonari M., Marufuzzaman M., Gnaneswar V.G., Buchanan R. (2024) A Reliable Biomass Supply Chain Network Under Demand Prioritization and Uncertainty. Under review.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2025 Citation: Artil, J., Aghalari A., Nandimandalam H., Gnaneswar V.G., Buchanan R., Marufuzzaman M. (2024) Optimizing Feedstock Supply System to Support Biomass-based CHP System in a Rural Community under Extreme Events Renewable Energy. Under review.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nandimandalam, H. and Gude, V.G., 2022. Renewable wood residue sources as potential alternative for fossil fuel dominated electricity mix for regions in Mississippi: A techno-economic analysis. Renewable Energy, 200, pp.1105-1119.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Maharjan, K., Hwang, J., & Cho, H. (2023). "Design Strategies for Biomass-Based CHP Systems in Rural Communities." ASME 2023 17th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.1115/ES2023-107125
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Maharjan, K., Zhang, J., Cho, H., & Chen, Y. (2023). "Multi-Objective Optimization of Distributed Energy Systems Considering Time-of-Use Pricing Impacts." ASME 2023 17th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.1115/ES2023-107282
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Schicker, P.C., & Cho, H. (2022). "Multi-regional Design and Analysis of Biomass-driven Combined Cooling, Heating and Power Systems for Rural Communities." ASME 2022 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Columbus, OH. https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2022-96104
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J.T., Wooten J., Gude V.G., Wang H. (2023) An Interpretable Deep Learning Model for Wood Chip Moisture Content Prediction. IISE Annual Conference, 20-23 May, New Orleans, LA, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Marulanda D., Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J.T., Wang H. (2025) Generating High-Resolution Wood Chip Images with Diffusion Transformers for Enhanced Moisture Content Prediction. IISE Annual Conference, 31 May-3 June, Atlanta, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Eskorouchi A., Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J.T., Wang H. (2025) Automated Wood Chip Size Estimation with Deep Learning-Based Object Detection. IISE Annual Conference, 31 May-3 June, Atlanta, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Dehghan-Bonari M., Wright J., da Silva, B.K., Rezaei F., Marufuzzaman M. (2025) Agent-Based Inventory Management using Deep Reinforcement Learning: An Application in Timber Supply Chain. IISE Annual Conference, 31 May-3 June, Atlanta, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari A., Aladwan, B., Marufuzzaman M., Tanger S., Kanieski B., Gude V.G. (2021) Pellet Production Optimization using a Parallelized Progressive Hedging Algorithm. ISERC Conference, 22-25 May, virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kim, A., & Yun, S. (2023). Energy Burden Disparity: Comparing Rural and Urban Areas in the U.S., 70th North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, San Diego, California, Nov. 1518, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kim, A., & Yun, S. (2024). Energy Burden Disparity: Comparing Rural and Urban Areas in the U.S., a paper presented at the 2024 Annual Meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Atlanta, Georgia, Feb. 36, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kim, A., Yun, S. (2024). Energy Burden: Examining Rural and Urban Disparities in the U.S., a paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association, Arlington, Virginia, Apr. 46, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gordon, K., Love Tagert, M. (2024) Geospatial Analysis of Biomass Supply and Energy Need to Increase Resiliency in Rural Mississippi,  ASABE Annual International Meeting (AIM) 2024 in Anaheim, CA
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gordon, K., Love Tagert, M., Peterson, P. (2024) Educating Youth on the Connection between Biomass and Energy, ASABE AIM 2024 in Anaheim, CA. Student placed in the Student Oral/Poster Competition within the Education, Outreach, Professional Development (EOPD) technical community and received a $250 prize.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rezaei F., Kanieski da Silva, B., Henderson J.D., Marufuzzaman M., Street J. (2023) A Stochastic Model for Forest Harvest Planning Problem. INFORMS Annual Meeting, October 1518, Phoenix, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J., Wooten J., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2023) Moist-Net: Neural Architecture Search and Bayesian Optimization-driven Model for Moisture Content Prediction in Wood Chips. Southeast Symposium on Contemporary Engineering Topics (SSCET), 15 Sept., Little Rock, AR.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari A., Marufuzzaman M., Aladwan B., Tanger S., Kanieski B. (2021) Post-Hurricane Damaged Timber Management Problem Using Bilevel Model Formulation. INFORMS Annual Meeting, October 24-27, Anaheim, CA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Nandimandalam H., Gude V.G., Marufuzzaman M. (2021) Environmental Impacts of Power Generation from Biomass Residue in a Rural Community. 15th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, ASME, June 16-18, virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Gude, V.G. (2022) Towards resource-efficient and sustainable wastewater treatment systems, SEDAC (Smart Energy Design Assistance Center) University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In Sustainable Seminar Series. October 17, Virtual
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gude, V.G. (2024) Developing resilient-sustainable bioenergy systems for rural communities, presented at Growing Sustainable Communities Conference, Dubuque, IA, April 23-24.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Keynote Talk, Gude, V.G. (2025) Bioenergy systems for Rural Energy Systems Resiliency, International Forum on Clean Energy Science and Technology, Beijing, China, in person and virtual conference, May 16-18, (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Keynote Talk, Gude, V.G. (2025) Wastewater  A Systems Perspective, Inaugural IWEA (Indiana Water Environment Association) Technical Conference, Westville, IN, March 19.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Nandimandalam H., Gude V.G., Marufuzzaman M. (2021) Environmental Impact Assessment of Biomass Supported Electricity Generation for Sustainable Rural Energy Systems and Comparison with Current Electricity Mix. Competitive Energy Systems Symposium, AIChE Conference, April 13-15, virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nandimandalam H., Gude V.G., Marufuzzaman M. (2022), Feasibility Study of Biomass Residues as Feedstock for Bioenergy Generation in Mississippi, Poster presentation, Innovations in Climate Resilience, Columbus, OH.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Keynote Talk, Gude, V.G. (2025) The Potential of Bioenergy systems for Rural Energy Systems Resiliency, International Conference on Advances in Energy and Environment for Sustainable Development, jointly organized by Doon University (Uttarakhand, India), Siksha OAnusandhan (Deemed to be University, Odisha, India), and National Institute of Hydrology (Uttarakahnd, India), in person and virtual conference, March 28-29 (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Keynote Talk, Gude, V.G. (2024) Sustainable Bioenergy Systems for Sustainable Development, International Conference on Advances in Energy and Environmental Engineering, Dr. Vithalrao Vikhe Patil College of Engineering, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India (affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune), in person and virtual conference, December 17  18 (Virtual).
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2025 Citation: A special issue "Efficient Conversion and Utilization of Biomass Energy" planned for the journal energies published by MDPI publisher. The journal Energies ranks in Q1 for "Control and Optimization," "Engineering (miscellaneous)," "Electrical and Electronic Engineering," and "Energy Engineering and Power Technology." The goal of this special issue is to emphasize the challenges, opportunities and research advances in effective utilization of biomass for rural energy systems resiliency.
  • Type: Books Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2026 Citation: Book - Resilient Biomass Power Systems for Rural Communities, Elsevier, Under preparation to be published in 2026
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2025 Citation: A special issue Harnessing green and sustainable strategies for renewable energy generation towards alternative renewable fuel sector to be published in the journal Renewable Energy in 2025


Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Academic researchers, agricultural communities, agricultural industries, farm owners, energy industry developers, rural community development planners, designers, and other stakeholders. Changes/Problems:Another project member has moved to anoher university and a subaward had to be created. There were some administrative delays in the subaward processing for both the former PD of the project and the team member.Now that the subwards have been created and grants processed, the project team is on the track to complete the project succcessfully by March 31, 2025. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has offered several opportunities for training and professional development of graduate and undergraduate research students including the following: Team members have gained expertise in conducting literature reviews, performing product surveys, and utilizing modeling tools specific to bCHP systems. Team members have improved their skills in developing design strategies tailored to different rural community contexts, enhancing their problem-solving abilities and creativity. Through conducting additional case studies, team members have enhanced their analytical and critical thinking skills, learning to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios. Presenting at conferences has provided team members with opportunities to improve their communication and presentation skills, as well as network with professionals in the field. A new graduate student (Kaitlyn Gordon) was hired to start working on the project June 1, 2023, and she is pursuing a master's degree in Agricultural Technology. Team members have improved their skills in developing curricula focused on educating youth audiences. Presenting at conferences has provided team members with opportunities to improve their communication and presentation skills, as well as network with professionals in the field. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The IRR is freely and publicly available online for public and academic uses. There were several contacts from government agencies and university researchers to use the IRR for their purposes. The team instructed the details and proper usage for them. The findings of the study have been shared through conference presentations and published proceedings. Our team presented modeling techniques and design strategies tailored for bCHP systems, showcasing their potential for successful implementation across diverse rural community contexts during the project's reporting year. Environmental impact and life cycle assessment studies outcomes were presented at an invited seminar at Purdue University as well as at an invited webinar for academic-research-industry experts organized by SEDAC Center at UIUC. The results have been shared through poster presentations and demonstrations to 4-H groups (participants and volunteer leaders) and other local youth audiences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?From Task 1.1, a manuscript discussing the energy burden disparity between urban and rural areas in the U.S. will be submitted to Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy journal. The team will analyze the county-level agricultural production, focusing on livestock and poultry and energy necessity, by combining various data sources. Results will be disseminated through scholarly publications and at national conferences such as 2024 NARSC or 2025 Annual Meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA). The project team assigned to Task 1.2 will conduct further optimization analysis on the design and operational strategy of bCHP systems for various rural communities in the upcoming reporting period. Utilizing insights gained from this optimization study, the team aims to create a comprehensive design guide for bCHP systems tailored specifically for effective implementation in rural settings. Task 2.1. The team plans to accomplish the following goals before the next reporting period: (i) Developing a reliable feedstock supply chain system to deliver biomass to bCHP sites with priorities (e.g., hospitals may be a high-priority customer over a single household); (ii) Testing and validating the model in coastal rural counties in Mississippi; (iii) Understanding the barriers and system integration plans of managing and implementing such a reliable feedstock supply system Task 2.2. The team plans to accomplish the following goals in the next year: (i) Environmental impact and life cycle assessment studies for various agricultural and bioenergy applications including rural communities will be studied. (ii) Results will be disseminated at national conferences. In addition, at least two manuscripts will be prepared for possible publication in relevant journals. Task 3: The team plans to accomplish the following goals in the next year: (i) Additional modules will be developed as part of the Extension program 'Powering Local Communities' to share information on different types of renewable energy and related topics (grants to help fund renewable energy options) with adult audiences, including local officials and utility stakeholders. (ii) As the modules are delivered, evaluations will continue to be collected and analyzed to ensure proper delivery and implementation of this program. In addition, a geospatial analysis will be conducted to evaluate rural areas in need of additional energy supplies to biomass supplies in the state of Mississippi.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Task 1.1 Under this task, the Index of Relative Rurality Index (IRR) was published online as a part of the results and contributions. https://zenodo.org/record/7675745#.ZBio1XbMJhF The snapshot of the IRR index is available at: https://sites.google.com/site/akim0402/appendix The investigators are collecting economic data on livestock and food processing to discuss county-level energy use and the possibility of bCHP adoption for rural and isolated areas. Two major research presentation were made at national conferences which discuss the disparity in energy burdens between urban and rural areas in the U.S. Based on the feedback from these presentations, a journal manuscript in being prepared for possible publication. Task 1.2 The project team conducted supplementary literature reviews and surveyed available bCHP systems in the market. Models for various configurations of bCHP systems were evaluated. Design strategies tailored to diverse rural community types were formulated. The team conducted further case studies focused on rural communities. Task 2.1. The team developed a three-stage stochastic programming model to design a reliable feedstock supply system, where decisions are made sequentially to realistically represent pre-and-post disaster situations under uncertain infrastructure status (e.g., unavailability of the road and facility conditions) and customer demand situations. In stage one, pre-disaster decisions are made (e.g., the opening of depots and regular feedstock transportation decisions), while stages two and three represent, respectively, immediate decisions following a disaster (e.g., damaged timber transportation, pellet production) and post-disaster decisions (e.g., transportation pellets to end-users, storage) with a timeframe between several days to weeks. Data from 15 coastal rural counties in Mississippi were collected and a real-life case study was developed to derive important managerial insights. Our experimental results revealed that the biomass-to-bCHP supply chain decisions (e.g., depot location, storage, transportation decisions) are highly sensitive to intensity and the probabilistic infrastructure availability following a hurricane. Task 2.2 The environmental impact of considering biomass supported combined heat and power systems was studied for a rural county in the state of Indiana. The county electricity needs, industry and municipal and commercial electricity demands were used to estimate the power demand. The agricultural data provided estimated biomass residuals from agricultural operations for bCHP applications. The team further examined integrated configurations for bCHP applications such as using wastewater treatment facilities. Technical presentations were made. The team is also investigating the reliability, resiliency and sustainability indicators to evaluate the bCHP systems for rural applications. Task 3 The task lead created a new Extension program 'Powering Local Communities' approved as a statewide program. The team developed Extension curriculum focused on educating youth on biomass and the connection to energy and reviewed existing Extension programs/curricula on renewable energy.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J., Wooten J., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2023) A Comprehensive Review on Wood Chip Moisture Content Assessment and Prediction. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 189, 113843.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rahman A., Street J., Wooten J., Marufuzzaman M., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2023) Moist-Net: Machine Vision-based Deep Learning Models for Wood Chip Moisture Content Measurement. Submitted.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Artil J., Aghalari A., Marufuzzaman M., Gude V.G., Buchanan R. Optimizing Feedstock Supply System to Support Biomass-based CHP System in a Rural Community under Extreme Events. Submitted
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Maharjan, K., Zhang, J., Cho, H., Chen, Y., 2023, Distributed Energy Systems: Multi-Objective Design Optimization Based on Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Impacts, Energies, 16(21):7312. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16217312.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Maharjan, K., Hwang, J., and Cho, H., Design Strategies for Biomass-based Combined Cooling, Heating and Power Systems in Rural Communities, Proceedings of ASME 2023 17th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, July 10-12, 2023, Washington DC, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Maharjan, K., Zhang, J., Cho, H., and Chen, Y., Multi-objective Optimization of Distributed Energy Systems Considering Time-of-use Pricing Impacts, Proceedings of ASME 2023 17th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, July 10-12, 2023, Washington DC, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J.T., Wooten J., Gude V.G., Wang H. (2023) An Interpretable Deep Learning Model for Wood Chip Moisture Content Prediction. ISERC Conference, 20-23 May, New Orleans, LA, USA
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kim, A. and S. Yun, Energy Burden Disparity: Comparing Rural and Urban Areas in the U.S., a paper presented at the 70th North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, San Diego, California, Nov. 15-18, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kim, A. and S. Yun, Energy Burden Disparity: Comparing Rural and Urban Areas in the U.S., a paper presented at the 2024 Annual Meetings of the Sothern Agricultural Economics Association, Atlanta, Georgia, Feb. 3-6, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rezaei F., Kanieski da Silva, B., Henderson J.D., Marufuzzaman M., Street J. (2023) A Stochastic Model for Forest Harvest Planning Problem. INFORMS Annual Meeting, October 1518, Phoenix, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J., Wooten J., Gude V.G., Buchanan R., Wang H. (2023) Moist-Net: Neural Architecture Search and Bayesian Optimization-driven Model for Moisture Content Prediction in Wood Chips. Southeast Symposium on Contemporary Engineering Topics (SSCET), 15 Sept., Little Rock, AR.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Presenter, The Webinar Portal (March 20, 2024) Title: Removing Supply-Chain Bottlenecks in the Sawmilling Sector: Identification, Improvement, and Economic Benefits https://forestrywebinars.net/webinars/removing-supply-chain-bottlenecks-in-the-sawmilling-sector-optimal-routing-for-softwood-sawmill-supply-chain-for-strategic-repair-of-roads-and-bridges
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gude, V.G. A life-long learning experience in agricultural sciences and engineering topics focusing on rural economic development, Workshop on Innovations in Data Analytics for Smart Agriculture (iDASA), Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things Week International Conference, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, May 9-12, 2023
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Invited Research Seminar, Towards resource-efficient and net-zero water resource recovery facilities, Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, January 10, 2023
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Invited Speaker, Resource Recovery for Wastewater Treatment Systems, Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, October 19, 2023
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gordon, K.B. and Tagert, M.L. Educating Youth on the Connection between Biomass and Energy, 2024 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual International Meeting, July 28-31, 2024; Anaheim, CA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gordon, K.B. and Tagert, M.L. Geospatial Analysis of Biomass Supply and Energy Need to Increase Resiliency in Rural Mississippi, 2024 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual International Meeting, July 28-31, 2024; Anaheim, CA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gordon, K.B. and Tagert, M.L. Biomass Battery module was presented during a workshop at the South Mississippi 4-H Volunteer Leader Forum. August 26, 2023; Wiggins, MS.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gordon, K.B. and Tagert, M.L. Biomass Battery module was demonstrated for youth during the Mississippi Science Fest at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Museum, September 15, 2023; Jackson, MS. https://www.mssciencefest.org/
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gordon, K.B. and Tagert, M.L. A New Extension Program with a Focus on Biomass Combined Heat and Power Systems, North Mississippi Producer Advisory Council meeting, Feb. 15, 2024; Verona, MS.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gordon, K.B. and Tagert, M.L. A New Extension Program with a Focus on Biomass Combined Heat and Power Systems, Mississippi Ag Consortium meeting, March 7, 2024; Starkville, MS.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gordon, K.B. and Tagert, M.L. A New Extension Program with a Focus on Biomass Combined Heat and Power Systems, Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, Feb. 29  March 2, 2024; Memphis, TN.


Progress 04/01/22 to 03/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Academic researchers, agricultural communities, agricultural industries, farm owners, energy industry developers, rural community development planners, designers, and other stakeholders. Changes/Problems:This is an update on the CHANGE of project leadership, not an issue or a problem. The PI of the project has moved to another university. A subaward has been generated to support the efforts by the PI who still contributes to the success of the project. Dr. Marufuzzaman has graciously agreed to accept the leadership of this project. The change in leadership took place in August 2022. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided numerous opportunities for training and mentoring the graduate and undergraduated research students in the areas of CHP design and optimization for small scale applications. The project has rained and successfully graduated two PhD students in environmental and industrial systems engineering disciplines respectively. They conducted research and published research articles together. Several research talks and prenstations at discipline specific nationally (and internationally) recognized conferences have resulted in braoder dissemination of the research findings. These conferences focus on energy sustainability, climate change and energy resilience and systems engineering. Our extension efforts have resulted in securing some of the industry partners and participants for the case studies which are currently being developed to study bCHP applications and optimization. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, the results have been reported and shared with the agricultural industry owners such poultry farms and soybean farmers. The IRR is freely and publicly available online for public and academic uses. There were several contacts from the government agency and university researchers to use the IRR for their purposes. Kim guided and instructed the details and proper usage for them. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In Year 4 of the project, the team will continue to perform (a) the literature review and product survey of bCHP systems, (b) modeling of various bCHP configurations and design strategies for different types of rural communities, and (c) additional case studies for rural communities identified in Task 1.1. Using the computational models developed in Year 3, optimization studies of bCHP system design and operational strategy will be performed for different types of rural communities in Year 4. Our project team will partner with MSU's Industrial Assessment Center (MSU-IAC) to approach rural communities and provide technical assistance of bCHP design and analysis. MSU-IAC provides free energy, productivity, and waste assessments to small-and-medium sized industrial facilities through funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office. The environmental impact and life cycle assessment of various renewable energy supported integrated CHP systems will be compared with those aspects of biomass supported CHP systems. The analysis will include consideration of solar energy echnologies, bifouels and wind energy systems. This evaluation will better inform the advantages, challenges and considerations required for the development of biomass supported CHP systems in rural and remote communities. Kim and Yun will complete the energy poverty manuscript and submit it to Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy in Y4. The results will be presented at the 2024 Annual North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) Annual Meetings, Nov. 14-28, 2023, in San Diego. Yun and Kim will analyze the county-level agricultural production and energy necessity by combining various data sources and making it a journal manuscript. Depending on achievable quality, we will decide a target journal. With the progress outputs, we are considering presenting them at the 2024 NARSC or 2024 Annual Meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA). Kim and Yun will participate in the project meetings and actively collaborate with other project teams.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In Year 3, the team performed a comprehensive literature review on biomass based combined heat and power (bCHP) systems and its applications in rural areas. In addition, a survey of the current bCHP manufacturers has been conducted. Specifications of several bCHP systems from various manufacturers have been collected and documented. The literature review and product survey will be further expanded as the team is considering different system capacities and design variations for various rural communities. Meanwhile, computational models of bCHP systems have been developed using Python (i.e., an open-source programming language), and various design strategies of bCHP have been studied. The bCHP model developed in Year 2 was further improved in Year 3. Using the model, case studies were conducted for different climate conditions in the US. Two conference proceeding and a journal paper have been published based on the case study analysis. In year 3, PIs Maruf and Gude and their graduate students worked together on understanding the energy demands of the southern counties in Mississippi. These counties are prone to hurricanes with significant power disruptions. We gathered the data for various sectors to estimate the energy demands. In addition, relevant weather related data was gathered to account for the probability of hurricanes in the region. The group also investigated the feasibility and the environmental impacts of biomass supported rural electricity systems which resulted in three research journal articles. The team also worked on developing a survey form that focused on the social aspects related to the knowledge and acceptance levels of the biomass supported CHP systems in rural communities. The survey will be distributed for input soon. Kim and Yun have been working on Task 1.1. majorly for Y3. Kim published the Index of Relative Rurality Index (IRR) online as a part of the results.The snapshot of the IRR index is available at: https://sites.google.com/site/akim0402/appendix Yun completed data collection of historical land use and crop mix. Combining possible energy outlook data, Yun and Kim are developing a possible analysis of the county-level affordability of energy, which could be an index or general descriptive analysis. Kim and Yun attended The 2023 Annual Meetings of American Social Science Associations, Jan 6 - 8, 2023, and participated in the following sessions to perceive the recent analysis of energy use and production Understanding Social Stratification: The Case of Energy Injustice Environmental Justice and Inequality Regulation and the Housing Market: Investments that Make our Homes Greener Advances in Energy Economics Research Kim and Yun have been writing a journal manuscript to discuss energy poverty issues in rural areas using the Residential energy consumption survey (RECS) by EIA. The first manuscript will be completed by the summer 2023. Yun and Kim started collecting economic data on livestock and food processing to discuss county-level energy use and the possibility of bCHP adoption for rural and isolated areas.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Schicker, P.C., Spayde, D. and Cho, H., 2022. Design and Feasibility Study of Biomass-Driven Combined Heat and Power Systems for Rural Communities. Journal of Energy Resources Technology, 144(7), p.070909.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Nandimandalam, H., Aghalari, A., Gude, V.G. and Marufuzzaman, M., 2022. Multi-objective optimization model for regional renewable biomass supported electricity generation in rural regions. Energy Conversion and Management, 266, p.115833.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Nandimandalam, H. and Gude, V.G., 2022. Renewable wood residue sources as potential alternative for fossil fuel dominated electricity mix for regions in Mississippi: A techno-economic analysis. Renewable Energy, 200, pp.1105-1119.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Maharjan, K., Zhang, J., Cho, H., and Chen, Y., Distributed Energy Systems Design Optimization with Multi-Objectives on Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Impacts, Proceedings of ASME 2022 16th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, July 11-13, 2022, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Rahman A., Marufuzzaman M., Street J.T., Wooten J., Gude V.G., Wang H. (2023) An Interpretable Deep Learning Model for Wood Chip Moisture Content Prediction." ISERC Conference, 20-23 May, New Orleans, LA, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Hariteja Nandimandalam, & Veera Gnaneswar Gude, Feasibility Study of Biomass Residues as Feedstock for Bioenergy Generation in Mississippi, Poster presentation, Innovations in Climate Resilience, Columbus, OH, March 29-30, 2022.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G. and Marufuzzaman, M., 2022. Environmental impact assessment of biomass supported electricity generation for sustainable rural energy systems-A case study of Grenada County, Mississippi, USA. Science of The Total Environment, 802, p.149716.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Schicker, P.C. and Cho, H., 2022, October. Multi-Regional Design and Analysis of Biomass-Driven Combined Cooling, Heating and Power Systems for Rural Communities. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (Vol. 86687, p. V006T08A016). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.


Progress 04/01/21 to 03/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience include academic researchers, agricultural farm owners, energy industry developers, rural community development planners, and other stakeholders. Academic peer groups Drs Kim and Yun attended professional conferences during Y2 listed below and had discussions with experts in an extension of the concept in rurality index to energy poverty (energy burden, or affordability) index. The 68th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, Denver, Colorado, Nov. 8 - 13, 2021. During the meeting, we shared the idea of the index and collected her suggestions for includable variables and possible improvements for the current. Dr. Tagert contacted the President of the Mississippi Poultry Association (MPA), Mr. Mark Leggett, to request assistance in reaching poultry growers to collect data for a case study. Drs. HeeJin Cho, Gnaneswar Gude, and Mary Love Tagert had a videoconference meeting with Mr. Mark Leggett, Mr. Reed Wade (MPA Grower Relations Coordinator), and Mr. Chip Estes (Consultant) on August 12 to provide a project summary and answer questions. Dr. Tagert was then invited to attend the Mississippi Poultry Association's Grower Advisory Committee meeting on September 8, 2021, where she provided growers with information about the project and requested assistance for a case study. A second Advisory Board meeting was planned for August 2021, and this was scheduled to be an in-person meeting at the MS Farm Bureau Federation Headquarters in Jackson, MS. However, this was postponed due to the Covid-19 omicron variant and resulting increase in cases in the state. Now that numbers have declined, plans are underway to schedule another Advisory Board meeting for spring 2022. Dr. Tagert was contacted in February 2022 by an employee of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, who was requesting information on sources of waste biomass for a Japanese company interested in building a pellet mill in the state of Mississippi. Dr. Tagert shared papers authored by the co-PIs as a resource. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate and graduate students were mentored through focused research activities. Conference presentations and journal publications were achieved. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Many outeach activities were carried out. examples are shown below. Dr. Tagert was contacted in February 2022 by an employee of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, who was requesting information on sources of waste biomass for a Japanese company interested in building a pellet mill in the state of Mississippi. Dr. Tagert shared papers authored by the co-PIs as a resource. Dr. Tagert contacted the President of the Mississippi Poultry Association (MPA), Mr. Mark Leggett, to request assistance in reaching poultry growers to collect data for a case study. Drs. HeeJin Cho, Gnaneswar Gude, and Mary Love Tagert had a videoconference meeting with Mr. Mark Leggett, Mr. Reed Wade (MPA Grower Relations Coordinator), and Mr. Chip Estes (Consultant) on August 12 to provide a project summary and answer questions. Dr. Tagert was then invited to attend the Mississippi Poultry Association's Grower Advisory Committee meeting on September 8, 2021, where she provided growers with information about the project and requested assistance for a case study. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Task 1.1: Kim is currently working on the Mississippi rurality index to publish online as a part of the results. (https://agmsstate.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=9111f623951345a49178586a214c0723) With more improvements, this will be merged to the project website for the public. Yun will complete the analysis of land use and land cover data management in addition to the potential energy source outlook. Using the outputs, Kim and Yun will update the current version of the rurality index and develop county-level affordability of energy as an index. The data will be delivered to the project team. Depending upon Marufuzzamn's output, Kim and Yun will proceed with finding optimal locations considering engineering aspects. Yun will continue to electricity bill data collection through the extension and support Cho's case study for the applicability of bCHP system in chicken farms. Kim and Yun will present the first research output for the coming professional conferences. Task 1.2: In Year 3 of the project, the team will continue to perform (a) the literature review and product survey of bCHP systems, (b) modeling of various bCHP configurations and design strategies for different types of rural communities, and (c) additional case studies for rural communities identified in Task 1.1. Using the computational models developed in Year 2, optimization studies of bCHP system design and operational strategy will be performed for different types of rural communities in Year 2. Our project team will partner with MSU's Industrial Assessment Center (MSU-IAC) to approach rural communities and provide technical assistance of bCHP design and analysis. MSU-IAC provides free energy, productivity, and waste assessments to small-and-medium sized industrial facilities through funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office. Activities for Task 2.1 include: Developing and assessing the proposed biomass-based CHP site selection criteria by testing the method in rural Mississippi. Identifying the potential counties in Mississippi which are favorable for biomass-based CHP site selections. Identifying the backup feedstock sources, hurricane and tornado damage paths, and wet storage sites for storing damaged timbers Understanding the barriers and system integration plans of implementing the bCHP sites in the rural regions Activities for Task 2.2 include: Identifying ways to reduce the environmental impact of biomass supported CHP systems through carbon capture and storage schemes. Idetifying challenges and opportunities for rural adoption of biomass supported bCHP implementation. Evaluating the socioeconomic barriers faced by rural communities for bCHP implementation through a survey. Activities for Task 3 include: An advisory board meeting with stakeholders to seek feedback and guidance on the progress of the research project. Community and stakeholder outreach activities to disseminate research outcomes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Task 1.1: Kim and Yun are making research progress as planned in Task 1.1. Collaborating with Yun, Kim completed the rurality index for Mississippi at county and census tracts levels. To develop an energy poverty index extended from the rurality index, Kim and Yun focused on the concept of energy equality. In the US, unlike the developing countries, energy is an issue of how affordable to access the energy rather than how poor the accessibility to energy itself. To this purpose, Kim and Yun have been collecting energy resources relation variables in addition to socio-economic variables. Kim and Yun discussed the modeling outputs from Maruffuzzaman and his student to scrutinize the inclusion of the rurality index in their his planned in Task 2.1. With Kim's collaboration, Yun is currently analyzing the land use and land cover data as planned in Task 1.1. Task 1.2: Dr. Cho's team, consisting of himself, one Ph.D. graduate research assistant, and one undergraduate research assistant, has been making research progress in Task 1.2. In Year 2, the team has performed a comprehensive literature review on biomass based combined heat and power (bCHP) systems and its applications in rural areas. In addition, a survey of the current bCHP manufacturers has been conducted. Specifications of several bCHP systems from various manufacturers have been collected and documented. The literature review and product survey will be further expanded as the team is considering different system capacities and design variations for various rural communities. Meanwhile, computational models of bCHP systems have been developed using Python (i.e., an open-source programming language), and various design strategies of bCHP have been studies. The bCHP model developed in Year 1 has been further improved in Year 2. Using the model, a case study has been conducted for Ackerman, Mississippi, a rural town located in Choctaw County in central Mississippi. A conference proceeding and a journal paper have been written based on the case study analysis and submitted to ASME 2021 15th International Conference on Energy Sustainability. The conference proceeding entitled "Design and Feasibility Study of Biomass-Driven Combined Heat and Power Systems for Rural Communities" has been selected as the 2nd Place of Best Student Paper Award during the conference on June 16-18, 2021. A conference paper has been prepared and submitted to ASME 2022 16th International Conference on Energy Sustainability. Task 2.1: For Year 1, the following activities are conducted under Task 2.1. Understood the challenges of feedstock (pellets) economies, collection process, yield, market barriers during both normal and extreme weather scenarios Tested and validated the model in our test region (Mississippi) Collected data about the availability of damaged timber after a major hurricane (e.g., Hurricane Katrina) Task 2.2: Studied the environmental impact and life cycle assessment of biomass supported power generation in rural counities of Mississippi. Forest residues from industrial activities and forest management were considered. Data collection, inventory development was performed for the rural counties of Mississippi. Collaborated with industrial and systems engineering researchers to develop optimization models considering economic and environmental impacts. Tested and validated the model in Mississippi counties. Assessed the technoeconomic feasibility of biomass supported power generation in select rural counties of Mississippi. Task 3: Dr. Tagert contacted the President of the Mississippi Poultry Association (MPA), Mr. Mark Leggett, to request assistance in reaching poultry growers to collect data for a case study. Drs. HeeJin Cho, Gnaneswar Gude, and Mary Love Tagert had a videoconference meeting with Mr. Mark Leggett, Mr. Reed Wade (MPA Grower Relations Coordinator), and Mr. Chip Estes (Consultant) on August 12 to provide a project summary and answer questions. Dr. Tagert was then invited to attend the Mississippi Poultry Association's Grower Advisory Committee meeting on September 8, 2021, where she provided growers with information about the project and requested assistance for a case study. A second Advisory Board meeting was planned for August 2021, and this was scheduled to be an in-person meeting at the MS Farm Bureau Federation Headquarters in Jackson, MS. However, this was postponed due to the Covid-19 omicron variant and resulting increase in cases in the state. Now that numbers have declined, plans are underway to schedule another Advisory Board meeting for spring 2022. Dr. Tagert was contacted in February 2022 by an employee of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, who was requesting information on sources of waste biomass for a Japanese company interested in building a pellet mill in the state of Mississippi. Dr. Tagert shared papers authored by the co-PIs as a resource.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Philippe, S., Spayde, D., and Cho, H., 2022, "Design and Feasibility Study of Biomass-Driven Combined Heat and Power Systems for Rural Communities," J. Energy Resource Technology, 144(7): 070909. https://doi.org/ 10.1115/1.4053345.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Philippe, S., Spayde, D., and Cho, H., Design and Feasibility Study of Biomass-Driven Combined Heat and Power Systems for Rural Communities, Proceedings of ASME 2021 15th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, June 16-18, 2021, Virtual Conference. Received 2nd Place
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Maharjan, K., Zhang, J., Cho, H., and Chen, Y., Distributed Energy Systems Design Optimization with Multi-Objectives on Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Impacts, Proceedings of ASME 2022 16th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, July 11-13, 2022, Accepted.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G., Marufuzzaman, M., Environmental impact assessment of biomass supported electricity generation for sustainable rural energy systems and comparison with current electricity mix, Science of the Total Environment, 802, 149716, 2022
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Aghalari, A., Gude, V.G., Marufuzzaman, M., Multi-objective optimization model for regional renewable biomass supported electricity generation in rural regions, Energy Conversion & Management, under revision, 2022
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G., Renewable wood residue sources as potential alternative for fossil fuel dominated electricity mix for regions in Mississippi: A techno-enviro- economic analysis, Submitted, 2022
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari A., Aladwan B., Marufuzzaman M., Tanger S., Kanieski B., Gnaneswar V.G. (2021) Optimizing a Pellet Supply System: Market-specific Pellet Production with Biomass Quality Considerations." Computers & Chemical Engineering, 153, 107417
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari A., Marufuzzaman M., Aladwan B., Tanger S., Kanieski B. (2021) A Bilevel Model Formulation for Solving a Post-Hurricane Damaged Timber Management Problem." Computers & Industrial Engineering, 162, 107726.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari A., Aladwan, B., Marufuzzaman M., Tanger S., Kanieski B., Gude V.G. (2021) Pellet Production Optimization using a Parallelized Progressive Hedging Algorithm." ISERC Conference, 22-25 May, virtual.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G., Marufuzzaman, M., Evaluating the Mismatch between Cost and Environmental Emissions of Biomass-Supported Power Generation in Rural Communities Using a Multi- Objective Optimization Model, 10th International Congress on Sustainability Science & Engineering (ICOSSE '21), AIChE Conference, September 13-15, 2021
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G., Marufuzzaman, M., Environmental Impacts of Power Generation from Biomass Residue in a Rural Community, 15th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, ASME, June 16-18, 2021
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Aghalari, A., Aladwan, B.S., Marufuzzaman, M., Tanger, S., Da Silva, B.K., Gude, V.G., Pellet Production Optimization using a Parallelized Progressive Hedging Algorithm, IISE (Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers) Annual Conference, May 22-25, 2021
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G., Marufuzzaman, M., Environmental Impact Assessment of Biomass Supported Electricity Generation for Sustainable Rural Energy Systems and Comparison with Current Electricity Mix, Competitive Energy Systems Symposium, AIChE Conference, April 13-15, 2021


Progress 04/01/20 to 03/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Academic peer groups Drs Kim and Yun attended a professional virtual conference during Y1 listed below and had discussions with experts (Drs. Brigitte Waldorf at Purdue University and Elizabeth Dobis at USDA-Economic Research Services) in rurality and its measurements. The 67th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, Nov. 9 - 13, 2020. During the meeting, we shared the project outline and listen to their opinions and suggestions for the currently progressive works to set up the rurality index for bCHP. The research team has arranged for an advisory board meeting. Industry stakholders, state level agency administrators and research scientists were berifed about the research status during our advisory board meeting. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Task 1.1 - NA (PIs) Task 1.2 - Two part-time graduate research assistants and one undergraduate student were involved in research. Task 2.1 - NA (PIs) Task 2.2 - One graduate research assistant and one undergraduate student were involved in research. Task 3 - NA (PIs) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Planned conference presentations and publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Under Task 1.1, Yun will complete the land use and land cover data management. Using the outputs, Kim and Yun will update the current version of the rurality index and deliver it to Marufuzzaman. Kim will lead spatial analysis to select or rank the potential bCHP systems area in the aspect of economics standpoint. Yun will search if these outputs could be applicable to spatial optimization. Depending upon Marufuzzamn's output, Kim and Yun will proceed with finding optimal locations considering engineering aspects. Yun will continue to electricity bill data collection through the extension and support Cho's case study for the applicability of bCHP system in chicken farms. Kim and Yun will present the first research output for the coming professional conferences. In Year 2 of the project, under Task 1.2., the team will continue to perform (a) the literature review and product survey of bCHP systems, (b) modeling of various bCHP configurations and design strategies for different types of rural communities, and (c) additional case studies for rural communities identified in Task 1.1. Using the computational models developed in Year 1, optimization studies of bCHP system design and operational strategy will be performed for different types of rural communities in Year 2. In Year 2 of the project, under Task 2.1, the following will be completed before the next reporting period: a) Developing and assessing the proposal biomass-based CHP site selection criteria by testing the method in rural Mississippi; b) Identifying the potential counties in Mississippi which are favorable for biomass-based CHP site selections; c) Identifying the backup feedstock sources, hurricane and tornado damage paths, and wet storage sites for storing damaged timbers, and d) Understanding the barriers and system integration plans of implementing the bCHP sites in the rural regions In Year 2 of the project, under Task 2.2, life cycle impact assessment software (GaBi) will be used to study the various scenarios proposed under this task. These will include biofuels-supported (biodiesel and bioethanol) rural CHP systems. A more detailed analysis will be performed which will incorporate different CHP configurations. The results will be shared with the advisory board members and presented at regional nd national conferences. Under Task 3, More extension and outreach realted activities will be pursued. Dr. Tagert will be reaching out to a representative from the Mississippi Forestry Commission in the coming weeks to invite them to participate in the Advisory Board. The next Advisory Board meeting is tentatively planned to be held in person in the Jackson metro area during the first two weeks of August 2021. Most of the in-state Advisory Board members are located in this area, and Board Member Mr. Andy Whittington (MS Farm Bureau Federation) has offered space for this meeting.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Under Task 1.1, we have worked to develop the rurality index for Mississippi at county and census tracts levels. This accomplishment includes the data collected from the population estimates, American Community Survey, geospatial database from Census Bureau, and a geospatial 'network' database from Federal Highway Administration. A preliminary and the first version of the rurality index was developed and shared with other Co-PDs for modeling site selection in Task 2.1. Current efforts focus on data collection, land use and land cover data analysis as planned in Task 1.1. Collaboration with other Co-PDs for Task 1.2. is under process for developing the possibility of a case study for chicken farms using this data. Under Task 1.2 - A comprehensive literature review on biomass based combined heat and power (bCHP) systems and its applications in rural areas. In addition, a survey of the current bCHP manufacturers was conducted. Specifications of several bCHP systems from various manufacturers have been collected and documented. The literature review and product survey will be further expanded as the team is considering different system capacities and design variations for various rural communities. Meanwhile, computational models of bCHP systems have been developed using Python (i.e., an open-source programming language), and various design strategies of bCHP have been studies. An initial modeling using wood pellets as a biomass fuel source has been completed, and a case study using the developed model has been conducted for Ackerman, Mississippi, a rural town located in Choctaw County in central Mississippi. Under Task 2.1, data on the distribution of timber resources for the test region was collected. In addition, data about the availability of damaged timber after a major hurricane (e.g., Hurricane Katrina) was collected. A list of initial metrics were developed for biomass-based CHP site selection decisions . Under Task 2.2. A preliminary analysis and literature review of environmental impact assessment and life cycle analysis of biomass supported combine heat and power systems for rural or small community applciations was conducted. An evaluation of currently available software programs and data sets for environmental and life cycle impact assessment studies was also done. A preliminary study focusing on the environmental impact assessment of biomass supported electricity generation for sustainable rural energy systems and a comparison with current grid electricity mix was performed. Undr Task 3. The first Advisory Board meeting was held on Thursday, March 25 via Webex format. All project team members were present, along with five of our six current Advisory Board members. We received valuable feedback and will be summarizing the discussion, and a suggestion was made for an additional member to the Board. Dr. Tagert will be reaching out to a representative from the Mississippi Forestry Commission in the coming weeks to invite them to participate in the Advisory Board. The next Advisory Board meeting is tentatively planned to be held in person in the Jackson metro area during the first two weeks of August 2021. Most of the in-state Advisory Board members are located in this area, and Board Member Mr. Andy Whittington (MS Farm Bureau Federation) has offered space for this meeting.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: 1. Philippe, S., Spayde, D., and Cho, H., Design and Feasibility Study of Biomass-Driven Combined Heat and Power Systems for Rural Communities, Proceedings of ASME 2021 15th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, June 16-18, 2021, Virtual Conference, accepted. 2. Aghalari A., Aladwan B., Marufuzzaman M., Tanger S., Da Silva B.K., Gnaneswar V.G. (2021) Pellet Production Optimization using a Parallelized Progressive Hedging Algorithm. Proceeding to the IISE Annual Conference, virtual. (accepted)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: 1. Nandimandalam, H., Gude, V.G., Marufuzzaman, M., Environmental impact assessment of biomass supported electricity generation for sustainable rural energy systems and comparison with current electricity mix, submitted and under review, 2021 2. Aghalari A., Aladwan B., Marufuzzaman M., Tanger S., Da Silva B.K., Gnaneswar V.G. (2021) Optimizing a Pellet Supply System: Market-specific Pellet Production and Biomass Quality Considerations." Submitted to Journal of Computers and Chemical Engineering. 3. Battawi A., Marufuzzaman M., Kim A., Yun S.D., Gude, V.G. (2021) Biomass-based CHP Site Selection using Bayesian Network Approach. Working paper.