How does your unique process technology go from a beaker to a pilot plant or a successful commercial process? With the help of scale-up and process plant specialists your process technology will turn into a productive plant.
Making the leap from lab-scale chemistry to a commercial or pilot plant production facility requires expertise in system scale-up, controls integration and plant fabrication. Using your bench scale data, EPIC can help you successfully build a modular skid for your process technology through our thorough scale-up design process. Our modular design/build approach to pilot plants saves our customers an average 24% (2008-2010 avg) in costs over traditional construction methods.
Pilot plants, demonstration plants, and production plants must be designed and implemented by qualified engineers to ensure:
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Correct mechanical & process design (accounting for non-linear phenomenon)
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Project feasibility through 3-D modeling and design
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Data collection & instrumentation: Selection of proper equipment
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Complete construction management of process skid fabrication (to specification and tolerance)
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Commissioning at production rates
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Process safety
EPIC has over a decade of experience designing, fabricating and installing modular process systems. Our plant engineering specialists will take your proprietary process technology and build a custom plant in any of the following sizes:
Increased Scale Mechanical & Chemical Design: Challenges to scale-up
Why does a working lab scale process technology need an experienced engineering specialist for successful scale-up? As a system increases in size, many properties related to the system size increase change in a non-linear manner.
For example, reaction kinetics, fluid dynamics and thermodynamics change in a non-linear fashion, affecting each other as they change. A technology proven at lab scale may not produce the same results in larger scale.
EPIC’s scale up specialists use Aspen/HYSYS* and other modeling methods to address the challenges of scale-up during the front end engineering design stage of your pilot plant project. To read more about the specific challenges of scaleup, visit our Challenges to Scale Up page.
*(Aspen HYSYS – modeling and process simulation software for conceptual design and performance improvement of processes)
Process System Design
EPIC’s front-end engineering and scale-up design process, using Aspen/HYSYS modeling, ensures your process technology is designed correctly from the beginning. We establish the scalability of chemical technology and provide a reliable skid estimate. Our design engineers emphasize:
- Easy maintenance of equipment
- Ergonomics during operations
- Employee safety
Industry Codes
Our systems are designed and fabricated to meet all standard industry codes, including:
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
- American Welding Society (AWS)
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
- National Electrical Code (NEC)
- International Building Code (IBC)
- Any unique client specifications provided
Equipment and Materials of Construction Selection
Non-linear scale-up effects can be managed with the proper equipment, system sizing and materials of construction, but at what cost?
Design Engineers must balance cost savings and equipment selection without compromising the end goal of proving viability of final scale-up. Data collection is extremely important in pilot and demonstration plants but can be costly. Our depth of data collection and instrumentation knowledge allows our engineers to select the proper amount of instrumentation and testing stations, keeping costs under control while proving process technology.
Materials of construction, that are easily available and work in bench scale, can be expensive and hard to find in large quantities. Finding feasible substitutes requires experienced scale-up design specialists with knowledge of material properties and available equipment. Occasionally the equipment ultimately used at production scale must be used at pilot scale to prove process viability.
Project Management
One of our plant specialists will serve as a single point of contact. This engineer will be your Project Manager, overseeing your project through design to plant fabrication, installation and commissioning. With an average of 17 years of project management experience, our plant engineering specialists are well qualified to guide your project through the plant development process.
Your plant will be designed in-house by the same engineers that specify and program the instrumentation and controls. The physical plant will be fabricated in our State-of-The-Art shop, with direct supervision by the same Project Managers and Design Engineers. Client witnessed Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) will be completed prior to shipment, and your plant will arrive fully assembled and tested, ready for installation and start up.
Commissioning
Our Start Up Team will successfully complete plant commissioning and ensure that your plant is running at full production rates with punch list items complete before we consider the job finished. Operations and maintenance manuals and operations and maintenance training are included in every job, and completed before the end of commissioning. After startup and commissioning are over, the same engineers who developed your plant from the beginning are available for continuing support.
Process Safety Analysis
EPIC conducts complete Process Safety Analysis (HAZOP) studies. Our safety specialists evaluate every part of an original process design to ensure the plant or system will operate at the highest levels of safety. Read more about Process Safety Studies…
Types of Systems
EPIC designs and builds modular process systems for batch and continuous process technologies. We build both industrial and sanitary applications. Below is a list of specific technologies we have experience designing modular systems for:
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We build systems that process:
- Acids
- Bases
- Flammables
- Gases
- Liquids
- Powders
- Solids
- Solvents
- Slurrys