Scale-up without a base of experience
Young processes make it harder to set reliable scopes, budgets and schedules. The early-phase forecast matters more here than for any established plant type.
Industries · Process industry
Circular Economy & Biorefining
We manage recycling and biorefinery projects from cost estimating to the tie-in to the running site – and later the first shutdown.
- Early phase
- the decision is made before experience is available
- Integration
- the new plant has to fit into a running site
- Feedstock
- fluctuating quality is the rule, not the exception
- Projects
- mostly new builds, less often a classic shutdown
Market
From waste to feedstock
The circular economy is becoming an industry in its own right: chemical recycling – such as pyrolysis or depolymerisation – turns plastics that are hard to recover back into feedstocks for the chemical industry, and bio-based routes are joining the fossil ones. This is driven by rising requirements for recycled content along the value chain.
Technically the field is young: many processes are in scale-up, the product has to be integrated into existing chemical and petrochemical complexes, and profitability depends on feedstock quality, yield and integration. For projects this means: at the moment it is less often about classic shutdowns and more about building new plants and tying them in to running sites.
With a plant that does not yet exist in this form, the uncertainty lies not only in the technology but also in the plan.
Challenges
What is different here
Integration into existing facilities
Tie-ins to running integrated sites combine project and shutdown logic – including tight tie-in windows that are fixed years in advance.
Fluctuating feedstock
Waste and biomass streams vary in quality. Plant and schedule have to cope with this variability instead of assuming a constant.
Permitting and proof
New processes must be properly demonstrated in terms of permitting and safety – and this proof often lies on the critical path.
Profitability is part of the project
Yield, energy and integration decide whether the plant is viable. These variables belong in project control, not only in the investment appraisal.
Typical tasks
Your task – and what we offer for it
On the left: what operators in this industry come to us with. On the right: the service that covers it.
Sooner or later the first shutdown comes up
Lay the foundation for the first turnarounds: analyse what to expect, structure the organisation and support the first execution.
The budget has to be fixed
Bottom-up estimating instead of lump sums – with a stated range instead of false precision.
We are building a new plant
Control over the entire course of the project – scalable with progress.
The tie-in has to fit the existing facilities
Control of engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning from a single source – across all interfaces.
Leadership is missing on the construction site
Site Management & Construction Management
Leadership on the construction site: trades coordinated, quality documented, punch-list items worked off.
We are short of people for the project team
Schedulers, project controllers and construction supervisors – vetted and for exactly the months you need them.
Related services
Shutdown or project?
In this industry we support you in both worlds. From here you can go on to the services that belong to it.
Turnarounds
From the TAR-Check through scope and scheduling to leading the entire shutdown.
Go to servicesCapital projects
From feasibility through estimating and project controls to site management and overall responsibility.
Go to servicesFrequently asked questions
Questions answered
How do you deal with the scale-up risk of a new plant?
We give a figure and state its range: technical uncertainties, learning curves and alternative scenarios are named and translated into schedule and cost. The technical assessment of the process stays with engineering. For the schedule and cost forecast, DICTUM comes in – where our own reference values are missing, we work with comparable projects instead of estimates.
Can you deal with fluctuating feedstocks?
Yes. Waste and biomass streams vary in quality – that is not a disruption but operating reality. We plan schedule and cost so that this variability is shown as a range, instead of extrapolating an ideal value.
How do you connect a new plant to an operating site?
Through scope and integration management with tie-in logic. The tie-in window is usually fixed years in advance and is the hardest deadline in the project – the entire plan is built backwards from that date.
Why does a pioneering project need classic project discipline?
Because at these investment levels, improvisation quickly becomes expensive. New technology does not mean new methodology: we manage schedule, cost, scope and documents with the same proven project controls methods as in any other capital project – precisely because the technology offers fewer reference values.
Do you also support commissioning and ramp-up?
Yes. We support you across the entire life cycle – from the idea through planning and control to commissioning and a stable ramp-up. With first-of-a-kind plants in particular, the ramp-up decides whether the business case holds.
Terms such as chemical recycling are explained in our glossary – along with 58 other terms from the shutdown and project business.
Let’s talk about
your project.
Get in touch – we will respond within one working day, with people who know this industry. The initial call is free of charge.
Book an initial callPrefer to talk directly? +49 (0)211 5667 7754