A company developing a novel chemical processing technology needed to package their laboratory test system so that it could easily be deployed as a demo unit at a customer site.  Hamel Engineering provided a detailed mechanical and electrical design for a containerized system to meet their needs.

While the equipment packaging was relatively simple, the greater challenge in this project was protecting this sensitive equipment from the site environment.  This equipment and process had stringent environmental requirements, and had only ever been tested in a climate-controlled laboratory space.  Hamel Engineering developed an environmental envelope that provided the necessary temperature regulation, ventilation, and ingress protection while providing access for service and modifications that are typical for these types of demo units.   

A developer of a modular power system that was ready for market entry was shocked by the high cost to install their simple, well-engineered equipment.  They tasked Hamel Engineering with redesigning their equipment to reduce the cost of future installations.

The biggest cost driver for these installations was the amount of field work required to assemble and commission the system.  Hamel Engineering was able to lower the installed cost of the system by over 25% by simply streamlining the layout and interface locations for various utilities connected to the plant.  We also provided a design concept for the next generation of the power equipment, improving the modularity and limiting the total number of interfaces to realize a projected installed cost savings of more than 60%.

An early stage energy storage company retained us to develop the system architecture of their novel electrochemical storage solution for grid-scale applications.  This company had only tested their electrochemistry at a bench scale, and was in need of a partner with system commercialization and deployment experience.

Hamel Engineering developed a techno-economic model of their system that utilized iterative sizing to inform system level design decisions at scale.  The model allowed flexibility of the technology under development, while imposing real world constraints for COTS balance of plant equipment to efficiently modularize the system and optimize for first cost and levelized cost of energy.

An established battery energy storage program needed a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) developed for their multi megawatt-hour batteries to reduce EPC costs, streamline site construction, and limit site-to-site variation of their installations.  

The challenge of this project was to standardize the design of the site as much as possible without over-constraining the design to the point where potential deployment locations would be geographically limited.  Hamel Engineering partnered with a large EPC firm to develop a FEED covering the complete design of the battery equipment installation, while providing detailed specifications for the location dependent portions of the projects such as ground work, thermal management systems, and AC electrical interconnects.  Additionally, this FEED development informed design changes to the battery equipment itself to support streamlined site deployments. 

An energy research division of a multinational manufacturing conglomerate contracted Hamel Engineering to support a development lab buildout as an Owner's Engineer and Project Manager.  The lab plan included the installation of numerous pieces of custom test and analytical equipment, and the handling and storage of hazardous substances.

Hamel Engineering represented the owner's interests in all phases of the construction planning and execution, using our experience to design lab and material handling workflows, implement cost reductions, design and implement safety programs, and manage contractor progress.