FEL-1 — is this worth pursuing?
Technology screening, indicative mass and energy balance, order-of-magnitude CAPEX and OPEX, permitting and feedstock reality check, and a clear list of what must be proven before spending more.
S02
Studies that decide whether to build — and what it will actually cost.
FEL-1 to FEL-3 studies, techno-economic assessment, process flow and mass balance development, recipe and side-stream integration, and production pivots for existing lines. Every number is built from physics and quoted equipment, not scaled from a vendor slide.
- Stage gates
- FEL-1 concept · FEL-2 selection · FEL-3 definition
- Cost accuracy
- Class 5 → Class 3 as the study advances
- Analytics
- Mass & energy balance · TEA · LCA · load curves
- Output
- Decision-ready study, cost base, risk register
What you get
FEL-2 — which configuration wins
Option comparison on yield, energy intensity, utilities, footprint and cost; block layouts; preliminary PFDs; equipment long-list with budgetary quotes; sensitivity on feedstock price and product mix.
FEL-3 — definition you can contract from
Developed PFDs and P&IDs, equipment datasheets, plot plan and 3D concept, execution and schedule plan, and a CAPEX base with defined contingency and accuracy class.
Process & recipe integration
Fitting a novel material, recipe or side stream into an existing line: bottleneck analysis, load curves, quality risk, and the modification package needed to run it.
How it runs
- 01
Frame the decision
Agree the question the study must answer, the accuracy class required, and the gate the result feeds — investment committee, permit or FID.
- 02
Build the balance
Mass and energy balance from first principles, calibrated against pilot or operating data where it exists.
- 03
Cost it honestly
Equipment from quotes and benchmarks, installation factors stated, contingency explicit — with the assumptions that drive the result named.
- 04
Test it
Sensitivity and scenario work on feedstock, energy price, yield and utilisation, plus TEA and LCA so environmental claims carry numbers.
- 05
Hand over a decision
A study document, cost base, risk register and recommended next step — including a recommendation not to build when that is the honest answer.
- 30+ industrial consulting, feasibility and pre-engineering projects across biorefineries, biofractionation and extraction plants.
- 20+ material-development projects feeding recipe and process integration work.
- Studies written so the same team can execute them — no handover gap between study and delivery.
- TEA and LCA from FEL-1 onward, EU Taxonomy and CSRD-ready data, GHG Scopes 1–3.
From our own project record
Client, site and product identifiers removed — most of our work is under NDA.
A good study is the cheapest part of a plant. We write ours so the investment committee can see exactly where the risk sits and what it costs to remove.