che_november-2023 - 19

EPIC
struction very appealing
to new applications,
such as those in the sustainability
field, which is
growing rapidly due to
governmental regulations
and corporate sustainability
initiatives.
" We are seeing a lot of
activity
in the decarbonFIGURE
4. Modular construction firms typically have project
managers, procurement, project designers and engineers in various
disciplines on site, so anything that needs to be adjusted can
be handled in the fastest and most seamless way, which means
there is a significant reduction in time to market. Shown here is a
turnkey modular system that EPIC designed and built for installation
at a customer's facility
so that we are ready to deliver when
the site has been prepared. "
Koch's Villegas continues to say
that this arrangement also provides
greater efficiency and productivity
during construction. " A typical
modular project - including detailed
engineering, fabrication and
delivery - takes an average of
10 to 15 months to execute, depending
on scope and complexity,
while the same project, if field constructed,
can take 18 to 24 months.
So modular construction can typically
shave six to eight months off a
project's timeline, " he explains.
Thanks to parallel scheduling and
single-source responsibility, modularization
often allows processors to
bring projects to market faster, says
Kenny Reekie, vice president of sales
and marketing with EPIC Systems,
Inc. (St. Louis, Mo.; www.epicsysinc.
com). " In addition to sequential
scheduling and building, modular
construction firms typically have
project managers, procurement,
project designers and engineers in
various disciplines on site, so anything
that needs to be adjusted can
be handled in the fastest and most
seamless way, which means there
is a significant reduction in time to
market " (Figure 4).
Encouraging new applications
The ability to bring a project to market
faster and at a lower cost with
fewer risks makes modular conization
and sustainability
space, " says Koch's Villegas.
" These are small to
mid-sized projects, so all
the columns and tanks fit
within the required space
constraints for transportation
via truck. In addition,
they are looking for the
fastest time to market. "
Biofuels, bio-based
chemicals, recycling of plastics and
battery technologies are very popular
applications that lend themselves
well to modularization. " In addition
to being of the right size and offering
the required time to market,
many of these products compete
with an existing hydrocarbon-based
product, so there's usually a narrow
gap on whether or not the projects
are commercially viable, " says Villegas.
" The margins are thin, but
going modular with its cost savings
gives them the needed cost advantage
to make it work. "
In addition, many sustainabilitybased
projects are emerging technologies
that are not yet ready for
full-scale
production,
says
EPIC's
Reekie. " They are interested in modular
construction because it makes it
possible to cost effectively scale up
from R&D to pilot scale and beyond, "
he says. " As they come out of R&D
Zeton
laboratories, they want to make sure
they have the process refined and
can make it at scale without sacrificing
the integrity of the product, so
they must go through the intermediate
step of pilot scale before full-scale
production. Many of these projects
rely on modularity because it not only
allows speed to market, but also provides
the flexibility to move the process
to different locations and gather
data from the process if
it is autoFIGURE
5. For applications that have a high-value/
low-volume output, such as designed drugs and
semi-conductor chemicals, going modular addresses
the need for cost effectiveness and when
done via a pre-validated, standardized process
module, such as Zeton's ContiUnity technology, it
allows a continuous process
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
NOVEMBER 2023
mated properly, which can help further
refine the process before going
to full-scale production, which can
also be accomplished modularly. "
Koch's Villegas adds that modular
construction is attractive in emerging
applications with potential for
growth because it also provides
repeatability. " Going modular allows
performance benefits related
to scalability and repeatability. Because
many modular designs are
made to be interconnected like
Legos, we can design systems to
be initially delivered as small-scale
facilities to meet the current demand
and then, as demand increases, we
can deliver additional modules that
can be bolted on to increase capacity.
This is an important advantage in
a circular economy and where sustainability
projects are concerned. "
Modular construction is also beneficial
for applications that have
a high-value/low-volume output,
such as designed drugs and semiconductor
chemicals, says Zeton's
Girouard. " Not only does going
modular address the need for faster
time-to-market and cost-effectiveness
in these applications, but when
done properly with a pre-validated,
standardized process module [Figure
5], it allows high-value products
to be made in a continuous process,
versus as a batch, which is not only
more efficient, but also reusable,
transportable and contained within
a smaller footprint. "
With today's current economic
challenges and sustainability initiatives,
chemical processors of established
products, as well as those with
emerging products and processes,
may find that, under the right conditions,
modular construction provides
significant advantages.
n
Joy LePree
19
https://www.epicsysinc.com/ https://www.epicsysinc.com/ http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
che_november-2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of che_november-2023
