equipment_sizingcostingefuel
Screening model for a hydrocarbon separation section recovering SAF blendstock and co-products from a stabilised hydrocarbon mixture, with energy demand estimates and a granular equipment purchase cost split.
Total mass flow of stabilised hydrocarbon mixture entering the separation/stabilisation section.
min 0.1 · max 500 · step 0.1 · t/h
Average annual utilisation of the unit, including planned and unplanned downtime.
min 10 · max 100 · step 1 · %
Fraction of inlet mass recovered as SAF blendstock cut. Remaining material becomes co-products, recycle, and small losses.
min 0 · max 80 · step 1 · %
Strategy affects separation severity, recycle fraction, and utilities/CAPEX multipliers.
Parallel separation trains. Used to compute per-train capacity for scaling, then aggregated back to total CAPEX.
min 1 · max 6 · step 1 · -
All-in electricity price for the site (screening).
min 0 · max 300 · step 1 · EUR/MWh
All-in cost of thermal energy (e.g., steam or fired heat) used for reboilers/strippers.
min 0 · max 200 · step 1 · EUR/MWhth
Used for CAPEX annualization via the capital recovery factor (CRF). Enter as a decimal ratio (0.08 = 8%).
min 0 · max 0.25 · step 0.005 · ratio
Amortization period for annualizing equipment purchase CAPEX.
min 5 · max 40 · step 1 · years
Total hydrocarbon inlet capacity
Nameplate inlet to separation section
Number of parallel trains
Used for per-train scaling and total CAPEX aggregation
SAF blendstock production rate
Recovered kerosene-range cut (mass basis)
Co-products production rate
Non-SAF liquid/gas products dispatched to blending or storage
Recycle flow
Internal or upstream recycle/return stream (screening fraction)
Annual hydrocarbon inlet requirement
Total mixture processed per year
Annual SAF blendstock production
Mass of SAF cut recovered per year
Annual co-products production
Remainder products (mass) recovered per year
Annual heat demand
Reboilers/stripping/stabilisation duty proxy
Annual electricity consumption
Pumps, controls, refrigeration/auxiliaries proxy
Scaled specific equipment CAPEX
Per (t/h) of inlet, equipment purchase only
Total equipment purchase CAPEX
Columns + exchangers + pumps + condensers + product recovery (excludes installation/indirect/owner costs)
CAPEX: distillation columns
Equipment purchase allocation
CAPEX: heat exchangers
Preheat/coolers/reboilers (purchase cost allocation)
CAPEX: pumps
Transfer and circulation pumps (purchase cost allocation)
CAPEX: condensers
Overhead condensation and associated equipment allocation
CAPEX: product recovery systems
Cut recovery, product rundown, and storage interface allocation
Scaled fixed O&M fraction
Annual fixed O&M as fraction of equipment purchase CAPEX
Annual fixed O&M cost
Labour, routine maintenance, overheads (screening proxy)
Annual variable O&M cost
Consumables, waste handling, routine chemicals (excludes energy)
Annualized replacement cost
Periodic internals/rotating equipment refresh (screening)
Annual energy cost
Electricity + heat (based on user prices)
Annualized CAPEX (CRF)
Equipment purchase CAPEX annualized over project lifetime
Total annual cost
Annualized CAPEX + fixed/variable O&M + replacement + energy
Levelized separation cost (SAF basis)
Total annual cost divided by annual SAF production
Levelized separation cost (energy basis)
Converted using SAF LHV
Indicative green H2 demand (integrated e-fuels context)
Stoichiometric signal for FT-like SAF production from CO2 + H2
Indicative CO2 demand (integrated e-fuels context)
CO2 feed signal for FT-like SAF production
Calculator context
This calculator provides a pre-feasibility (screening-stage) estimate of mass flows, utility consumption and equipment purchase CAPEX / OPEX for a hydrocarbon separation unit recovering SAF blendstock (e-kerosene cut) plus co-products from a stabilised hydrocarbon mixture, consistent with an e-fuels / Fischer–Tropsch liquids pathway. It is intended for early project definition in a generic (non-region-specific) context, using standard chemical engineering scaling and literature-typical intensities.
The model is structured as a simple mass/energy balance with scale-up costing:
Operating time
Mass balance (cuts, recycle, losses)
Utilities (screening intensities per tonne of inlet, adjusted by cut strategy)
CAPEX (equipment purchase only) with scaling (common in IEA/IRENA/NREL-style techno-economic screening and classic process design texts)
OPEX, replacement, and levelized cost
E-fuels physics signals (indicative)
49 assumptions used in the calculations
Prevents division-by-zero and unstable ratios in screening calculations.
Used to avoid inline numeric literals in the DSL.
Market range 0
Used to avoid inline numeric literals in the DSL (unitless identity and boolean true).
Market range 1
Used to avoid inline numeric literals in the DSL (selector option id).
Market range 2
Used to avoid inline numeric literals in the DSL (selector upper bound).
Market range 3
Used for percent bounds and conversions without inline numeric literals.
Market range 100
Converts percent inputs (0-100) to fractions (0-1).
Market range 0.01
Used to convert capacity factor into annual operating hours.
Reference capacity for scaling the specific equipment purchase CAPEX and O&M fraction.
Represents an order-of-magnitude equipment purchase cost intensity for multi-column hydrocarbon fractionation and associated systems.
Represents economies of scale for equipment purchase costs in process plants (six-tenths rule family).
Lower bound to prevent unrealistically low scaled specific CAPEX at large capacity.
Upper bound to prevent unrealistically high scaled specific CAPEX at small capacity.
Fixed O&M as a fraction of equipment purchase cost, representing staffing, maintenance contracts and overheads at screening level.
Allows modestly lower O&M fraction for larger facilities due to shared labor/overheads.
Prevents unrealistically low fixed O&M fraction at very large capacities.
Prevents unrealistically high fixed O&M fraction at very small capacities.
Represents non-energy variable costs (chemicals, filters, waste, routine consumables) proportional to throughput.
Represents periodic replacement/overhaul of internals (trays/packing), seals, and selected rotating equipment components.
Fraction of equipment purchase CAPEX representing the cost of periodic replacement items during a major refresh.
Represents purge, flaring, sampling, and handling losses across the separation section at screening level.
Represents a screening recycle/return stream fraction associated with heavy ends return, off-spec recovery, or cut optimization.
SAF-max mode typically increases recycle/off-spec recovery due to tighter cut specs.
Balanced mode uses the base recycle fraction.
Diesel/heavier-product emphasis typically relaxes kerosene cut tightness, reducing recycle/reprocessing.
Sharper separations generally increase reflux/reboiler duty.
Balanced strategy uses base heat intensity.
Relaxed kerosene cut sharpness can reduce reboiler duty.
Tighter cuts may increase pumping, refrigeration/condensing duty and controls, raising auxiliary electricity.
Balanced strategy uses base electricity intensity.
Relaxed kerosene cut sharpness can slightly reduce auxiliary electricity demand.
Sharper separations can require more stages/height, tighter materials, larger exchangers, or additional columns.
Balanced strategy uses base CAPEX intensity.
Less stringent kerosene cut can reduce required fractionation severity and equipment size/complexity.
Represents typical reboiler and stabilisation heat duty per tonne of hydrocarbon feed for a moderate-severity separation section.
Represents pumps, controls, and auxiliary loads per tonne of hydrocarbon feed.
Columns are typically a dominant share of purchase cost in fractionation sections.
Exchanger networks (including reboilers/coolers) are a major part of purchase cost.
Pumps are usually a smaller share of purchase cost compared with columns/exchangers.
Condensing systems may include condensers, receivers, and related equipment; separated here for requested granularity.
Represents product rundown, recovery/skids, and dispatch interface within equipment purchase scope.
Converts tonnes to kilograms for LHV and stoichiometry conversions.
Market range 1000
Converts MJ to MWh (1 MWh = 3.6 GJ = 3600 MJ).
Market range 3600
Represents a typical lower heating value for kerosene/jet-range fuels used to report EUR/MWh-fuel.
Used to optionally convert SAF mass to volumetric production (litres).
Converts cubic meters to litres for volumetric reporting.
Market range 1000
Indicative hydrogen requirement for producing FT-like hydrocarbons from CO2-derived syngas; used only as an integrated e-fuels context signal (not separation unit consumption).
Indicative CO2 feed requirement for carbon in FT-like hydrocarbons; used only as an integrated e-fuels context signal.
Overall electricity-to-fuel (LHV) efficiency typical range for power-to-liquids; used to compute indicative upstream electricity requirement for integrated context.
