Process Engineering
Process Engineering Consultant for Food and Beverage Plants
Food process engineering turns a recipe into a plant: mass balances, line rates, and sanitary design set to FDA food-safety expectations. When a line will not hold rate, a cleaning cycle will not pass, or a new piece of equipment does not fit the utilities you already have, the answer is rarely in one discipline. Solon works the flow, the utilities, the sanitation, and the controls as one system, and documents it so your team and your contractors build against the same set of numbers.
A bottleneck is usually four problems wearing one coat
A line that will not hold rate can be an equipment fit problem, a utility demand problem, a cleaning sequence problem, an operator movement problem, a controls logic problem, or a gap left behind at commissioning. Chase it as one and you buy equipment you did not need.
Solon separates those causes before anyone specifies hardware. We measure what the process actually demands, compare it against what the plant can actually deliver, and put the difference in writing. That document is what lets an owner make a capital decision instead of a guess.
Scope of Work
What process engineering covers on a Solon project
Flow and Mass Balance
Process steps, mass flows, and cycle times documented end to end, so equipment sizing and rate expectations rest on measured demand rather than vendor assumptions.
Utility Balance
Glycol, hot water, steam, compressed air, and drain loads assessed against real production sequences. These are the systems that quietly cap output when a line is added.
Sanitary Design and Cleaning
Sanitary flow, drainability, and CIP circuit design reviewed so cleaning cycles pass validation without adding hours to every changeover.
Controls and Commissioning
Sequence of operations, functional test criteria, and startup verification specified up front, so the controls scope can be tested against something written down.
Deliverables
What you receive
Process Flow and Mass Balance
A documented basis of design your equipment vendors, contractors, and internal team all quote and build against.
Utility Load Assessment
Demand calculations by system and by production scenario, identifying which utility becomes the constraint and at what volume.
Sanitation and CIP Review
Circuit definition, coverage assumptions, and cleaning sequence logic reviewed against the products actually being run.
Functional Test and Startup Plan
Test criteria, punch-list structure, and production-readiness checks so startup is verified rather than hoped for.
These are owner-side documents. They exist so you can hold a vendor, an integrator, or a general contractor to a defined scope, and so the plant that gets built is the plant that was specified.
Proof
Where this work has run
Process engineering is part of how Solon has carried plants from drawing to first commercial batch. At Old Gregg Brewing in Austin, the work spanned facility planning, equipment selection, glycol and hot liquor systems, PLC controls, commissioning, and production startup, from business planning and permitting through the first commercial batch.
At Balanced Rock Brewery, Solon served as the owner’s technical representative through construction, coordinating mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and controls trades and planning systems integration across glycol, hot water, compressed air, and drains, then running startup sequencing and production-readiness verification.
At FMN Brewery, the same scope ran internationally, covering process flow design, equipment specification across cross-border supply chains, PLC design and commissioning, operator training, and regulatory documentation. At Tibi Soda in Monterrey, Mexico, the engagement centered on quality assurance and equipment selection advisement on site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you replace our engineer or work alongside them?
Alongside. Solon works owner-side. On projects like Stay Put Brewing in Austin, that meant advising the engineers, architect, project managers, and construction teams, and staying hands-on through equipment installation.
We already bought the equipment. Is it too late?
No. A large share of process work begins after purchase, when equipment has to be fitted to utilities and cleaning systems that were sized for something else. Documenting the gap is what makes the fix affordable.
Is this only for breweries?
No. Solon works across beverage manufacturing, food processing and co-manufacturing, dairy, nutraceutical and supplement production, contract manufacturing, and industrial and pharmaceutical operations.
Can you help with food safety and regulatory requirements?
Yes. Regulatory compliance and food safety systems, including HACCP and FSMA, are core competencies, and regulatory guidance has been part of engagements such as the Idle Brewing production build in San Antonio.
Bring us the constraint, not the symptom
Tell us what will not hold rate, what will not pass cleaning, or what will not fit. Solon will define the scope before it turns into capital.
Related work: Facility Engineering and Design, Automation and Controls, and Project Management and Commissioning.