Industries
Reactors, jacketed vessels, bulk storage and clean-utility piping for chemical and pharma plants.
Quick answer
Structural Engineering Services supports Chemicals & Pharma projects worldwide with reactor & jacketed vessel design, storage tank design (api 650), piping design services, equipment support structures — delivered by senior engineers on licensed software to international codes.
Governing codes
Sector challenges
Chemical and pharmaceutical plants are judged on containment and traceability. The design has to prove on paper that the vessel, the jacket and the weld standing in front of an inspector are the ones that were calculated.
Challenge 01
Process media dictate exotic alloys, clad construction and lined vessels where carbon steel would be a liability.
How we answer it
Material, cladding and weld-overlay details are engineered with the corrosion allowance, and dissimilar-metal weld procedures are called out on the fabrication drawings.
Challenge 02
A jacket adds a second pressure chamber, differential thermal expansion and local stress at every attachment.
How we answer it
Jacket closures, limpet coils and agitator loads are designed to code and verified with FEA wherever the geometry falls outside design-by-rule.
Challenge 03
GMP projects need traceable calculations, material certificates and weld records, not just drawings.
How we answer it
Deliverables are produced in a numbered, revision-controlled structure that maps to the validation package and the vessel data book from the first issue.
Challenge 04
Mixer torque, start-up transients and batch cycling fatigue nozzles, lugs and support steel.
How we answer it
Vendor agitator loads are applied as real load cases on shell, lugs and support steel, with cyclic checks to the applicable fatigue annex rather than a blanket allowance.
Relevant services
Designing reactors, jacketed and limpet-coil vessels with agitator loads.
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Designing vertical, horizontal, fixed and floating roof tanks to API 650 and related codes.
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Developing complete piping engineering from layout and routing through to isometrics and BOM.
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Designing platforms and supports for vessels, exchangers, pumps and rotating equipment.
ExploreTypical assets
From a single assembly to a complete package — the asset types our chemicals & pharma teams work on week to week.
Jacketed, limpet-coil and half-pipe reactors with agitator and nozzle loads.
Bulk chemical storage, day tanks and dosing vessels with containment support.
Hygienic, lined and spec-driven piping with slope, drainability and isometrics.
Access steel and mezzanines around reactor trains, designed for drum handling.
Modular dosing, clean-in-place and utility packages designed as shippable units.
Spill containment, drip trays and secondary containment support structures.
Codes & specifications
The base code is only half the story. On chemicals & pharma work the client specification usually overrides it somewhere, so we agree a single reconciled design basis before any calculation starts.
Browse all codesVessel and jacket construction, with Div 2 for cyclic or thick-walled reactors.
European and UK routes where the plant is CE or UKCA marked.
Conformity category drives the design route, NDE extent and notified body involvement.
Piping for toxic media, where a single failure is unacceptable and NDE goes to 100%.
Hygienic design: surface finish, drainability and dead-leg limits for pharma service.
Support steel, mezzanines and foundations for reactor trains and tank farms.
Free quote
Send the drawings or datasheets you already have. We will tell you what is missing and quote the scope in 24 hours.
Project lifecycle
Most clients bring us in at detailed design. We can start earlier, or pick a package up mid-stream — here is what you get from us at each stage.
Options, preliminary sizing and budget tonnage, before the scheme is frozen.
Equipment list, vessel sizing and plot or mezzanine arrangement.
You receive
Design basis, load schedules and layouts good enough to price and procure from.
Mechanical datasheets, material selection and the PED or code route decision.
You receive
Full analysis, code checks, 3D modelling and issued-for-construction documentation.
Vessel code calculations, FEA where needed, piping model and support steel for construction.
You receive
Shop queries, RFIs and as-built updates while steel is being cut and erected.
Shop inspection support, weld and NDE queries, and data-book compilation input.
You receive
Deliverables & handover
Pharma and chemical clients receive deliverables numbered to their own document-control scheme from the first issue, so the validation pack does not have to be rebuilt at the end of the project.
| Deliverable | Format | Issued at |
|---|---|---|
| Design basis and calculation report | PDF, signed and checked | Detailed design |
| General arrangement drawings | DWG + PDF | FEED to detailed design |
| Drawing register and transmittal | XLSX + PDF | Every issue |
| Mechanical design calculations | PV-Elite output + PDF with code references | Detailed design |
| Fabrication and nozzle orientation drawings | DWG + PDF | Pre-fabrication |
| 3D piping model and isometrics | Native + PDF/DWG, line-numbered | Detailed design |
| Stress report with support and nozzle loads | PDF + CAESAR II .c2 input | Detailed design |
| Tekla 3D model | Native .db1 + IFC 2x3/4 | Detailed design |
| Single-part, assembly and erection drawings | PDF + DWG, one sheet per mark | Detailed design |
| CNC files, bolt list and BOQ | NC1/DSTV, DXF, XLSX | Pre-fabrication |
| Nozzle, lug and agitator load FEA | PDF report with stress linearisation | Detailed design |
| Vessel data book index and NDE plan input | XLSX + PDF | Pre-fabrication |
Two-stage check
Originator, then senior checker signs off every sheet before it leaves our office.
Native files included
You own the model, so another team can pick the work up at any point.
Revision control
A revision table on every sheet; superseded issues are archived, never deleted.
Your transmittal route
Issued through your document-control portal with your numbering, or over secure FTP.
Directory
Jump straight to the market you build in. Every page sets out the governing codes, units and delivery window we work to there.
8 markets
Start your project
Free, no-obligation proposal from a senior engineer.