Fixed-capital-cost estimation INDEX

Equipment Costs. Methods 3, 4, and 5 under fixed capital cost estimating methods require equipment cost estimates based on published references. Table 4-G is an index of cost sources for process equipment. In the next few pages of this chapter there are presented Figures 6-3 to C-30, which are installed cost data derived largely from Chilton or Aries and Newton. Arrangement is by alphabetical order of equipment titles,... 

Ernst et al.5 indicate that the Super Pro Designer contains models to help estimate the direct fixed capital cost based on 1995 dollars. These numbers may be suitably updated using the current CPI or other suitable index. Maintenance cost were set at 25% of the purchase cost of the equipment per year. Laboratory costs were allocated to capital costs. Labor costs were carefully calculated based on number of operator hours per equipment hour. This was done after analyzing scheduling of the entire process as well as noting that the operator time on each equipment was reasonable. 

The common types of estimates are presented along with the basic relationships for scaling costs with equipment size. The concept of cost inflation is presented, and some common cost indexes are presented. The concept of total fixed capital investment to construct a new process is discussed, and the cost module approach to estimating is given. Finally, the software program (CAPCOST) to evaluate fixed capital costs (and other financial calculations) is described. 

METHOD F investment COST PER UNIT OF CAPACITY. Many data have been published giving the fixed-capital investment required for various pro-eesses per unit of annual production capacity such as those shown in Table 19. Although these values depend to some extent on the capacity of the individual plants, it is possible to determine the unit investment costs which apply for average conditions. An order-of-magnitude estimate.of the fixed-capital investment for a given process can then be obtained by multiplying the appropriate investment cost per unit of capacity by the annual produetion eapaeity of the proposed plant. The necessary correction for change of eosts with time can be made with the use of cost indexes. 

Step 2 Using the data in Step 1 with f.o.b. equipment cost data, add to the equipment list the cost and the corresponding cost index of the cost data. Update the cost data to the current cost index, sum the updated purchase costs to obtain the total f.o.b. purchase cost, Cp, and multiply by 1.05 to account for delivery of the equipment to the plant site. Then, multiply the result by an appropriate Lang factor,/l, to obtain the total permanent investment (fixed capital investment), C-ppi (i.e., without the working capital), or the total capital investment, Ctci (i.e., including an estimate of the working capital at 15% of the total capital investment or 17.6% of the total permanent investment). 

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