Owner's Engineer — Blue Ammonia Production Facility (1 MTPA)
Industrial & Energy Infrastructure | Pre-FEED | Owner’s Engineer
An independent energy developer advancing a 1 million metric ton per annum blue ammonia production facility engaged Star Knowledge Engineering Services as Owner’s Engineer during the Pre-FEED phase. With an EPC contractor already under contract, the owner needed an independent technical voice — a team with genuine process and engineering depth to review EPC deliverables critically and surface issues before they became expensive problems downstream.
The Challenge
Pre-FEED coordination for a large-scale process facility requires integrating process systems, structural design, utility infrastructure, and spatial planning in an environment where design information is still evolving. The owner needed an independent reviewer whose judgment was not influenced by the EPC’s schedule pressures or cost assumptions — someone who could cross-reference deliverables across disciplines and identify the inconsistencies that single-discipline review misses.
Our Approach
SKES reviewed 24 EPC deliverables across process, electrical, and spatial engineering — including 21 OSBL Process Flow Diagrams, a Plot Plan and Material Balance document, a Battery Limits Definition document, and the project’s Design Basis and Assumptions. All documents were reviewed individually and cross-referenced against each other — the most productive approach for identifying the interdisciplinary inconsistencies that Pre-FEED packages routinely contain. Findings were compiled into a formal technical review package and issued to the owner for action with the EPC team.
What We Delivered
SKES identified four categories of technical issues. The Hydraulic Power Recovery Turbine (HPRT) was absent from energy block flow diagrams despite its direct role in offsetting the CO2 removal section’s power load — its omission produced an inaccurate energy benchmark of $22.5 MMGJ per annum with downstream implications for utility sizing and project economics. An H2S concentration of 0.372 ppmv documented in the design basis was flagged for verification against downstream equipment material specifications and safety system thresholds. Electrical load list discrepancies against equipment datasheets were identified, affecting the sizing basis for substation and power distribution design. Plot plan constructability gaps were noted including equipment access constraints, pipe routing conflicts at battery limits, and insufficient maintenance envelopes.
Services Delivered
Owner’s Engineer Services
PFD & P&ID Review
Electrical Load Reconciliation
Plot Plan Assessment
Design Basis Verification
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