Engineering design and project delivery for regulated manufacturers
Find your sector
The regulatory profile of a COMAH chemical establishment is not that of a GMP pharmaceutical facility, and a high-care food plant presents a different problem again. Each of the six main sectors below has its own page setting out the pressures we see and how we work in them. Beneath each one sit the specific industries we are asked about most often.
If your industry is not listed, it is still worth asking. Most of what we do – hazardous area classification, HAZOP facilitation, pressure systems, 3D laser survey and multi-discipline detailed design – transfers directly across process industries.
Chemical
Chemical manufacturing carries a regulatory burden few other sectors match. A change of process, product or inventory can move a site across a COMAH threshold, invalidate an area classification or trigger a permit variation. We work on lower and upper tier COMAH establishments, from speciality batch plant through to continuous commodity production.
- Speciality, fine and commodity chemicals – Batch and continuous production, scale-up from pilot, debottlenecking and COMAH support.
- Coatings, paints, inks and surface treatment – Solvent handling, area classification and the fire protection your insurer will want to see.
- Chemical formulation and blending – Transfer, dosing and static control, and the inventory questions that decide COMAH tier.
- Downstream petrochemical derivatives – Turnaround engineering, pressure systems and honest assessment of ageing assets.
- Polymers, resins and elastomers – Exothermic reaction hazard, thermal stability and dust explosion protection on finishing lines.
- Industrial gases – Compression, cryogenic storage and distribution, PSSR, BCGA codes and oxygen enrichment risk.
- Battery materials and electro-chemical processing – Dry room design, solvent recovery, and combined dust and thermal runaway risk.
- Agrochemicals and crop protection – Containment for toxic actives, exposure verification and formulation plant design.
- Adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals – Reactive chemistry, isocyanate exposure control and powder handling.
More information on the chemical sector
Pharmaceutical
In pharmaceutical manufacturing the facility is part of the product. Annex 1, Annex 15 and ICH Q7 shape the design as much as the process does. An API plant, in particular, is a chemical plant that happens to be regulated as pharmaceutical, and the process safety position is often discovered late by teams assembled around quality expertise.
- API, formulation and non-GMP plant – Solvent inventory and DSEAR, potent compound containment and Annex 15 qualification.
- Life sciences and biotech processing – Single-use against stainless, clean utilities, bioburden control and scale-up.
More information on the pharmaceutical sector
FMCG
FMCG plants run on changeover, throughput and hygiene, and the commercial pressure rarely leaves a convenient window to fix any of them. The engineering constraints are usually cleanability, utility headroom and combustible dust, and they are almost always cheaper to design out than to work around.
- Food and beverage processing – Hygienic design, CIP systems, combustible dust and CO2 asphyxiation risk.
- Personal care and cosmetics – ISO 22716 GMP, purified water systems, ethanol handling and aerosol filling.
- Detergents, soaps and household chemicals – Spray drying tower dust explosion risk, surfactant handling, bunding and containment.
- Nutraceuticals and dietary supplements – Powder blending, dust control, allergen segregation and cross-contamination.
- Flavours, fragrances and aroma chemicals – Ethanol handling, odour and VOC permitting, and high-SKU changeover.
- FMCG liquids and powders – Changeover reduction, pneumatic conveying, CIP design and capacity constraint.
More information on the FMCG sector
Energy
The energy sector is where the largest share of new UK process plant is being designed, and where the least design precedent exists. Hydrogen at scale, carbon capture, energy from waste and sustainable aviation fuel are all being engineered against a regulatory framework still being written around them. That combination is where front-end engineering earns its cost several times over.
- Biorefineries and bio-based chemicals – Feedstock variability, fermentation scale-up, ethanol handling and SAF projects.
More information on the energy sector
Medical
Medical device and healthcare manufacturing combines cleanroom discipline with an evidence trail. The facility has to hold its classification in daily use, not just at validation, and the design decisions that determine whether it does are made early.
More information on the medical sector
Other sectors
Warehousing, logistics, distribution and the wider process industry. Much of this work is not regulated in the way a COMAH site is, but the engineering questions are the same ones: capacity, utilities, layout, materials handling and safe operation.
More information on other sectors
Not sure which applies to you?
Most sites sit across more than one of these. If you are not certain where you fit, describe the plant and the problem and we will tell you plainly whether it is work we do.
Talk to us about your site. Request a call