Process simulation and optimization of agro-systems by DNDC model

Abstract

Many people are still facing hunger and the global food shortages is still an urgent problem. Meanwhile, global warming is still severe. Therefore, we propose a simulation-based optimization approach for improving crop yield and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of agriculture system. We simulated and verified the crop yield and carbon/nitrogen cycle with Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) model. A set of empirical equations of DNDC model were selected and implemented in gPROMS for obtaining the optimal solution of fertilizer usage. A case study shows that the optimized framework improves crop yield by 18%, when 72.42kg N/ha urea was used. Meanwhile the GHG emission of the system was reduced by 10%. The results show the necessity of optimal planning and usage of fertilizer in agriculture system.