Starting a chemical facility from a blank canvas leaves Stakeholders free to develop a process how they see fit. However, this approach has significant responsibilities. Unlike brownfield revamps, greenfield expansion requires creating infrastructure, utilities, environmental control, and logistics systems from scratch. The number of project-specific decisions made during these early stages can be overwhelming.Quanta has also supported grass-root chemical plant projects involving engineering, procurement and project management.
Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) is the key stage in the process of chemical plant construction. Completed after the work on conceptual feasibility, FEED establishes technical requirements for the implementation of the chosen project solution. The results of this design stage make it possible to understand the overall project cost and major risks, which is why FEED serves as the primary basis for Final Investment Decisions (FID).
When it comes to FEED for a greenfield expansion, there are several critical areas that need to be covered:
Coming up with a feasible solution for a chemical plant expansion requires extensive project-specific knowledge. That is why FEED engineering designs are usually used as a basis for moving towards more detailed disciplines. Thus, when FEED is completed, there is a transition to developing Basic Engineering Design (BED) to identify piping and logic schemes and functional safety requirements. BED, in turn, serves as the starting point for Detailed Engineering Design, which produces the necessary drawings and three-dimensional models for fabrication and detailed construction.
The success of a project under a FEED contract heavily relies on how much uncertainty there is about its technical scope and scale. Thorough front-end engineering design reduces the risk of costly changes and enables project delivery within budget. Thus, FEED helps estimate project costs accurately (achieve AACE Class 3/2 cost estimate) and develop realistic master schedules. Besides, resolving constructability issues at the design stage decreases the number of engineering change orders (ECOs), minimizes procurement lead time, and reduces overall cost spendings.
To achieve the best results from FEED for a chemical plant expansion, it is critical to utilize the CII Project Definition Rating Index to assess the project’s definition level before FID, initiate HAZOP and SIL analysis during the FEED preliminary phase, standardize equipment specifications, and establish the necessary interfaces between process, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.
Investing in comprehensive FEED engineering is the best way to ensure that greenfield expansion will follow the well-defined technical scope. With clearly established project limits and FEED cost estimate, it becomes possible to choose the most suitable project delivery method for a chemical process plant construction.
FEED typically represents 1.5 – 5% of the total project cost but impacts more than 70% of the deliverable costs.
FEED provides the refined cost estimate, and risk assessment required by the leadership and the financial investors to approve the project and allocate the necessary funds.
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