PRONTA Engineering

Line 05 · Industrial Plants & Projects

Your plant's limit is almost never where everyone looks for it.

Finding the real bottleneck costs a fraction of what an expansion costs. And when the expansion is genuinely needed, we design all of it—layout, process, mechanical, structural, electrical, and control—with one party accountable for the result.

Industrial building with process equipment

FEL methodology

4 stages, each with
its own deliverable
Class
5 to 2
increasing cost
accuracy

Each stage decides whether the next one is worth it.

The problem

Expanding is expensive. Expanding what was not the problem is worse.

You buy a new line and output does not rise, because the limit was in material handling, in the utilities, or at a transfer point nobody measured. That is exactly what engineering is for: to put the investment where the constraint actually is, and not where it is easiest to see.

How we structure a project

Four stages, and at each one you decide whether to go on.

We work with the Front End Loading methodology: each stage closes with a deliverable and with a cost estimate more accurate than the one before it. Nobody commits the detailed-engineering budget before knowing whether the project holds up.

Stage 01

Conceptual

Concept definition, evaluation of alternatives and scenarios, block flow diagram, equipment list, and conceptual layout.

Class 5 cost estimate
Stage 02

Pre-feasibility

Design basis, process flow diagrams, mass balances, equipment specification, and basic layout.

Class 4 cost estimate
Stage 03

Feasibility

P&IDs and operating philosophy, final equipment specification, 3D models, and definition of plant utilities.

Class 3 cost estimate
Stage 04

Detailed

Final 3D model, issued-for-construction designs and information, execution plan, and constructability.

Class 2 cost estimate

The disciplines

Four disciplines, one party accountable.

You talk to one person, not to four firms that blame each other when something does not fit during installation.

Process

  • Plant design and layout optimization
  • Capacity increase analysis and process improvement
  • Bottleneck studies
  • Dynamic modeling of processes and systems
  • Mass and energy balances
  • Energy efficiency studies

Mechanical

  • Mechanical system design and analysis
  • Equipment specification and selection
  • Utility networks: steam, compressed air, natural gas, and process water
  • Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA)
  • Equipment integrity under API 579-1 / ASME FFS-1

Civil and structural

  • Structural analysis and design
  • Foundation design
  • Seismic and wind load analysis
  • Structural retrofit and rehabilitation
  • Water management and drainage design

Electrical and control

  • Electrical system design and power distribution
  • Load flow and short-circuit studies
  • Grounding, shielding, and power quality
  • Instrumentation, control, and automation integration
  • Energy management and efficiency

Models and digitalization

Before we touch the plant, we build it on the computer.

We simulate the process, the operation, and the flow before you commit to a purchase. And we capture the plant as it actually stands with a laser scanner, so the engineering starts from what is there and not from a drawing twenty years old.

  • Process simulation with Aspen Plus, HYSYS, Matlab, and Simulink.
  • Discrete event simulation for capacity, maintainability, and line availability studies.
  • CFD and finite element analysis, including coupled thermo-mechanical analysis.
  • 3D laser scanning with a range of up to 70 m, point clouds in FLS, E57, and RCP.
  • CAD modeling on the point cloud to install or modify equipment, piping, and systems.
Three-dimensional model of an industrial plant
3D model built on the scan of the existing plant.

Selected projects

Four plants, four different problems.

Master plan for a pharmaceutical processing plant

Full development of the master plan for a plant designed to the EU-GMP standard. Technical assessment, definition of capacities and growth scenarios, conceptual, basic (FEED), and detailed engineering, general layout optimizing process, material, and personnel flows, sizing of critical utilities, mass and energy balance, technology selection, and support through commissioning.

Antioquia, Colombia2018–2020USD 30M+ investment

Nuclear fuel processing plant

Master plan for a facility that processes fuel for small-scale reactors, handling highly sensitive materials under extreme safety, traceability, and control requirements. Layout with security zones, mixing, pressing, encapsulation, and dispatch processes, continuous cooling systems, radiological contamination control, and decontamination protocols.

Germany2025–202680 t/year capacity

Handling of ore fines with high metal content

Pre-feasibility engineering to convey and discharge fines back into the process, with recirculation from cyclones and baghouses. 150 meters of pneumatic conveying with 40 meters of vertical lift, material handled at 140 °C, cooled screw conveyors, and reuse of the existing infrastructure, all in an active operating environment with restricted space.

Córdoba, Colombia2025USD 10M/year recovered

Debottlenecking of a metal refinery

Pre-feasibility study to install preheating, pneumatic conveying, and dosing of three fluxes in 5 t/h refining furnaces, with constraints on space, circulation, and maintenance access, and without interrupting operation. We evaluated alternatives and suppliers, and ran the technical and economic comparison of CAPEX and OPEX behind the choice.

Córdoba, Colombia2022USD 1.2M investment
Equipment room in an industrial plant

We also supply the equipment

Through a network of partners for specialized industrial equipment. We handle sourcing end to end: technical selection based on the engineering, specification, import, and customs clearance, using the free trade agreements in force to reduce duties.

What it covers
Critical equipment, specialized tanks, process components, auxiliary equipment, and gas treatment systems.
What it guarantees
Traceability, regulatory compliance, prompt delivery, and technical support integrating it into the plant.

Contact

Let's start by finding the limit.

Tell us what you want your plant to achieve and where it is getting stuck. The first conversation costs nothing and ends with a read on the problem and a possible path forward.

pronta@epronta.com

Medellín, Antioquia · Colombia

We reply within two business days.

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