ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE SERVICES

Nowadays companies cannot operate without given attention to the peripherals aspects of their processes:  the liquid effluents, the gaseous emissions,  the solid and liquid residues that don’t directly contribute to the bottom line, but which can certainly detract from it. Sometimes, a simple change in the incoming feedstock to a less toxic chemical can decrease the hazardous identity of the process residues.

With EBL’s strong background in industrial operations and process engineering, our approach to environmental issues is to help facilities obtain and maintain compliance with all applicable environmental regulations and permit range, while providing flexibility in the operations that are needed to meet throughput and processing objectives.

Let EBL help you with assessing, inventory, design and/or evaluate (AIDE) the inputs, the outputs, and the internal workings of your system, and provide you with the recommendations you need to better manage the entire process, possibly saving money in the long run to protect your hard-earned bottom line.

Our  environmental services include:

AIR & GASEOUS EMISSIONS

• Title V permitting support
  • Emissions estimating
  • Emissions inventory preparation
  • Regulatory assessment support
  • Compliance assessment support
  • Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) evaluations
  • Best Available Control Technology (BACT) evaluations
  • Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) evaluations
  • Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER) evaluations
  • Monitoring, reporting, record-keeping requirements
  • Plan Approval application preparation
• Air pollution control system design
• State Operating permit application preparation support
• Construction permit preparation support
• Stack sampling planning and coordination
• Performance test planning and coordination
• Evaluation of overall compliance status & future needs assessment.

WATER, WASTEWATER, AND GROUNDWATER

• Assessment of process inputs/feeds
• Assessment/inventory of recycling/reuse and substitution opportunities
• Evaluate process modifications to enhance performance
• Regulatory assessment to summarize current and future requirements
• Process Water or Wastewater treatment system design
• Groundwater treatment system design
• Wastewater permit preparation support
• Preparation of laboratory/bench test protocols
• Stormwater permit preparation support
• Wastewater generation planning for future facilities

SOLID WASTE

• Assessment of process waste (residues), treatment and disposition alternatives
• Evaluation of opportunities to recycle/reuse or minimize waste generation
• Preparation of laboratory/bench test protocols
• Solid waste residue treatment system design to meet disposal requirements
• Solid waste permit preparation support
• Waste residue generation planning for future facilities.

THIRD-PARTY EVALUATIONS SERVICES

As an independent engineering company with competent and experienced engineers, EBL is ideally qualified to provide a critical process engineering evaluation before large project decisions are finalized. These services are sometimes provided to clients considering a significant investment in industrial process projects. Some of the Third party evaluation services provide EBL engineering includes:

• Plant Investment Due Diligent Support Service
• Independent Evaluation Of Third-Party Process Design
• Industrial Process Investor Services

PLANT INVESTMENT DUE DILIGENT SUPPORT SERVICE

Are you thinking of buying or selling or investing in a processing plant?  Perhaps counter-intuitively we urge you to pau’1se and contacts EBL engineering for due diligent service. 

A successful processing plant project requires sufficient and appropriate funding, investors and financial institutions in this sector need to be sure that their support goes into technically sound and profitable plants. With thirty years in the field and unparalleled expertise, our Plant due diligence (PDD) services can contribute to an accurate assessment of industrial processing investment projects of all sizes.

We work with both owners and lenders to promote safety and success in the processing industry. As an owner’s engineer, we are contracted as an independent, third party by the plant owner to ensure that contractors and suppliers meet their obligations, schedules, and budgets and that plants meet performance objectives. As a lender’s technical engineer or independent technical advisor, our experts provide independent advisory services and technical due diligence reports for financing, analyses, testing and engineering services.

Clients turn to us for PDD services for many reasons: our international network of experts and a wide range of expertise with inter processing plant years of experience, comprehensive one-stop solutions and extensive experience in the field.

Sadly, we have seen examples of management continuing to try and “make it work” 12 – 24 months after the date of acquisition – and all too often attributable to inadequate due diligence being performed.

Why Due Diligence is critical:

• The significant value involved in buying, acquiring, or selling a processing plant both in time and money
• The quality and performance of the processing plant and its financial information can vary significantly
• The brevity of information provided in the negotiation phase of the sale & purchase transaction

These factors put a reasonable amount of pressure on parties to the transaction to quickly make a decision.

To either:

• Continue with the purchase, investment or selling
• Go back to the negotiation table
• Walk away completely

INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF THIRD-PARTY PROCESS DESIGN

Starting any new industrial projects requires significant time, energy, capital and resources, Hence it’s important to know if your efforts are paying off, whether the design for the plant is well designed, and ultimately if the plant will meet it intended purpose. A third-party external evaluator can help answer these questions. EBL conducts independent, third-party evaluations of process plant design to ensure that’s the design will meet the intended design specifications.

Based on your needs and your project’s parameters, we choose a quality system framework to guide the development of a sound and systematic evaluation plan. This may include pre-intervention assessments, logic models and preliminary evaluation design, formative and summative evaluation processes, developmental evaluation perspectives, post-intervention assessments and plans and/or capacity building for long-term self-evaluation and growth.

Then, we connect objective research questions with your workplan activities. This highly specialized process brings together objective-oriented evaluation questions with the client’s design goals, and activities allow us to be uniquely responsive to your needs. Such a foundation ensures a high-quality, rigorous and customer-focused evaluation.

INDUSTRIAL PROCESS INVESTOR SERVICES

Before an investor puts down millions of cash to fund an industrial process project, they need to determine to the extent possible that the process will work as claimed and have a good understanding of the costs and risks. That’s where an independent process engineering company like EBL can help. We can provide technical assessment services and provide a level of due diligence without bias, such as:

• Independent process design and licensed technology reviews
• Process design validation reviews
• Existing operations evaluation for both active and mothballed facilities (process operations, equipment, safety, etc.)
• Utilities requirements evaluation
• Process design risk assessment
• Environmental regulatory risk assessment
• Process safety risk assessment
• Independent cost estimation.

INDEPENDENT PROCESS DESIGN AND LICENSED TECHNOLOGY REVIEWS

EBL has experience in designing and operation of a wide variety of processes and plants, results in substantial expertise in evaluating processes developed by others. We know what to look for, how to find it, and how to evaluate it. Has the mass balance taken into account all the raw materials needed, including utilities? Is the energy balance complete and are the heat integration claims practical? We have the capability, experience, and engineering design tools to evaluate a process design and determine quickly:

• Is the design basis strong or weak?
• Is the design information accurate?
• Were sound process engineering principals used throughout the design?
• Is the process likely to produce the material yield and quality claimed?
• Are effluent and emissions estimates realistic and have proper environmental control systems been included?
• Have all facets of the process received due consideration or have any important issues been oversimplified or not considered at all?

EXISTING OPERATIONS EVALUATION OF ACTIVE OR MOTHBALLED FACILITIES

When the purchase of an operational or shut down plant is being considered,Wecan assist by providing a valuable assessment of the operations and equipment. This is done by reviewing key information, inspecting the plant site, and interviewing the plant’s staff. EBL reviews design information, equipment documents, P&IDs, standard operating procedures, and operating data. If the plant is operating, we visit the site to tour the facility and witness the condition of the equipment and operations. We also interview plant management, engineering staff, operators, and maintenance personnel to get an idea of how the operation is being run and what major issues they currently face. Ourengineers have years of in-plant operations experience, which is invaluable when assessing a production facility operation.

If project plans call for the redevelopment of a Brownfield site (where a plant has been mothballed or partially dismantled), we will review the available plant documentation and past operating data, as well as provide an on-site process assessment of the equipment and facilities. If plans include use of the facility for other than its original design intent, EBL will evaluate the extent to which the existing equipment can be used ‘as-is’ or in a modified form. A realistic view of the challenges and gaps that exist between what is being purchased and what needs to be done to achieve the process goals is developed. Both high-level and detailed plans can be developed regarding the process changes that may be required, as well as generating a cost estimate to implement these changes.

Disclaimer: While EBL can verify the process integrity of the plant equipment, we cannot verify the mechanical integrity, which is an essential aspect of such evaluations. We have relationships with companies having these capabilities and can refer clients to such groups for this purpose.

UTILITIES REQUIREMENTS EVALUATION

Too often, utility usage can be underestimated or overlooked in process design (cost of compression, thermal loss allowances, etc.). Accurately assessing this cost can make the difference between thinking you are building a profitable operation, and knowing that a plant design may never be profitable because it is too energy-intensive. EBL will carefully check the heat and material balance for the process to ensure nothing has been overlooked.

PROCESS DESIGN RISK ASSESSMENT

The project developer and technology provider is convinced their project is the best thing since sliced bread. This investment opportunity only comes along once in a lifetime. Maybe they are correct, maybe they are not, but you need to understand the risks associated with the process.

• Is the design basis complete?
• If the process is being scaled up from a smaller version:
  • Is the laboratory or pilot-test data sufficient to confidently predict the performance of the larger processor are more data needed?
  • Was equipment scale-up appropriately performed?
• Is there enough margin and operational/control flexibility in the design to allow for process optimization after startup?
• Has raw material or intermediate feed stream cleaning/preparation/conditioning been adequately addressed?
• Have sensitivity analyses been run on crucial parts of the process to understand the effects on process parameters that are likely to vary?
• Have process effluent and emissions been accounted for and mitigation systems correctly designed?
• Is the process equipment selected likely to be reliable, and what are the expected maintenance needs to keep it running?

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY RISK ASSESSMENT

Nowadays companies cannot operate without given attention to the peripherals aspects of their processes:  the liquid effluents, the gaseous emissions,  the solid and liquid residues that don’t directly contribute to the bottom line, but which can certainly detract from it. Sometimes, a simple change in the incoming feedstock to a less toxic chemical can decrease the hazardous identity of the process residues.

With EBL’s strong background in industrial operations and process engineering, our approach to environmental issues is to help facilities obtain and maintain compliance with all applicable environmental regulations and permit range, while providing flexibility in the operations that are needed to meet throughput and processing objectives.

We provide key support for many new production facility projects. We can assist many existing plant operations to properly assess the environmental requirements and their process’ capability to meet them. We can help answer critical questions such as:

• What are the environmental regulatory requirements that need to be met?
• Is the process ‘as designed’ able to meet these requirements?
• Has sufficient operating margin been designed into the mitigation systems to handle potential process upsets?

We can assess, inventory, design and/or evaluate the inputs, the outputs, and the internal workings of a proposed process, and provide you with recommendations to better manage the entire process, possibly saving money in the long run and adding profits to the bottom line.

PROCESS SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENT

Understanding the process safety ramifications of a facility is a critical part of understanding the overall risk of an investment.  Whether you are investing in an existing facility or a newly designed facility, EBL can assess the amount of process safety risk that is associated with the process.  By using best-in-class hazard identification techniques and our in-depth knowledge of the OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) and EPA Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations, EBL can assess the following:

• The risk from catastrophic release events that could result in injury or even death to employees and/or the public
• General facility siting issues that may affect equipment placement or building locations and may affect the cost
• For existing facilities,
  • perform a GAP Analysis to identify the gaps in regulatory compliance with OSHA PSM FOSA and EPA RMP
  • estimate the cost of bringing the facility into full regulatory compliance with OSHA PSM FOSA and EPA RMP
• For new facilities,
  • estimate the cost of implementing a fully compliant PSM or RMP program.

INDEPENDENT COST ESTIMATION

EBL develops Total Installed Cost estimates for processes. These range inaccuracy from an Order of Magnitude (99%) to +25%/-10% depending on how detailed the process design has been developed. We work with equipment vendors to obtain purchased cost estimates. We then use industrial project cost indexes and factors (labour, electrical, structural, civil, etc.) to develop a factored cost estimate. EBL can independently develop such cost estimates for clients as a way of validating the cost estimates prepared by others. Significant differences between cost estimates can quickly point to items that may not have been adequately addressed in either the design, the cost estimate, or both.

DETAIL ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION/STARTUP PHASE PROJECT SUPPORT

When you have engineers from EBL, with experience in both plant operations and process design, oversee or monitor your new process construction, you can expect things to go much smoother during startup. Our expert can accomplish the following:

Ensuring the installation is implemented as originally designed

Minimizing costs where practical

Providing a single point of contact for questions or site challenges

Minimizing disruptions to existing site operations

Optimizing the design to meet site-specific conditions

Delivering an operator-friendly, efficient and safe process to your operations department

Recent experience has taught us the need for having a process engineer on board during the detailed design of equipment and on-site during construction face of the plant to ensure that the process integrity of the design is intact. We believe that an on-site process engineer specialist, an engineer familiar with the design and possessing extensive production experience, is extremely beneficial during the construction phase.  This serves the purpose of maintaining process integrity, directing minor changes that can result in improved operations and efficiency, and minimizing disruption to existing operations. EBL has significant experience in the process of engineering aspects of construction, commissioning, startup, and operations. As such, we can provide our on-site process implementation specialist to enhance the construction phase of any project significantly, no matter how big or small.

When implementing new construction and/or facility change, you need a cost-effective, efficient change process that minimizes disruptions to your existing site operations.  Managing the project to minimize the disruptions is another reason you need a process specialist to oversee process modifications during construction.

EBL has chemical process engineers specializing in process implementation that are eager to assist you in getting up and running. These specialists can oversee the new construction and resulting facility changes through commissioning and startup, which minimize time, costs and headaches along the way. The following are a few of the services we offer under project/process development support:

Process Equipment/Construction Bid Package Preparation

Vendor Bid/Proposal Review & Evaluation

Process Engineering Construction Oversight

Process Engineering Construction Phase Support

Startup Support.