(Pre-) FEED Engineering
Are you preparing an investment decision for a black pellet plant? Blackwood can prepare a FEED engineering package which contains all the required engineering data as well as capex and opex estimates for making your business plan bankable or making a sound investment decision.
Some of our references:
- FEED for a 60,000 tpa torrefaction system at existing wood pellet plant (USA, 2011)
- FEED for a 75,000 tpa torrefied pellet plant (USA, 2012)
- FEED for 75,000 tpa torrefaction plant for Eskom (South Africa, 2016/17)
- Pre-FEED for 150,000 tpa torrefied pellet plant (Canada, 2019)
- FEED for 75,0000 tpa torrefaction system at existing wood pellet plant (Vietnam, 2020)
- FEED for 75,0000 tpa torrefied pellet plant (Thailand, 2021/22)
We know what it takes to develop a black pellet project. Our team developed the world’s first commercial scale torrefaction plant in Duiven, the Netherlands. And we have first hand experience with developing a sound business plan, signing feedstock and offtake contracts, as well as seeking funding for a project. So we know the importance of a FEED engineering package for making a final investment decision.
Each biomass feedstock will have its own feedstock specific torrefaction behavior. So as part of a (Pre-) FEED engineering study Blackwood will always conduct a feedstock test program to determine the torrefaction behavior of the feedstock. The information obtained from the test program will give the required input for the mass & energy balance of the torrefaction plant and will also give end-product specifications. These can be used by the client when discussing offtake contracts with end-users.
A FEED engineering package will typically include the following materials:
- Feedstock test program report
- Mass & Energy balance and process flow diagram (PFD)
- Preliminary P&ID
- Main equipment and instrument lists
- Electrical consumer list
- Utility consumption list
- Site lay-out and equipment lay-out
- CAPEX and OPEX estimates
Please contact us if you are considering to build a torrefaction plant and want to discuss our offering.
Case study: Pre-FEED for Canadian Project Developer
For a Canadian project developer we conducted a Pre-FEED study to obtaian the necessary inputs for their business case. We tested the four different feedstock species which were considered for the project. Based on the results from this test program Blackwood prepared a preliminary mass & energy balance and process flow diagram for the torrefction plant. This gave the client insight in the feedstock to product ratio; i.e. how many tons of wet feedstock are needed to produce a ton of black pellets. The Pre-FEED also included preliminary CAPEX and OPEX estimates. This allowed the client to complete a preliminary financial model for the project. The output of this model was used for the decision to continue to the next phase of the project development.
We also produced enough torrefied material of each of the feedstocks. With this material we produced torrefied pellets at the test center of one of the leading pelletizer suppliers. These pellets were then used by the client for marketing samples in their discussions with potential offtakers for the project.
