The short answer: under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), each plant is designed and built on site as a one-off project, and the risk of it working lives in that project. Carbotura works the other way. Each ACM Modular Production Unit is a manufactured product, made to one production specification, tested in the factory and deployed. Capacity grows by replicating confirmed production units, not by designing larger plants.
| Dimension | EPC project | Carbotura DFM deployment |
|---|---|---|
| What is delivered | A bespoke facility | ACM modules, each a manufactured product |
| Design basis | Engineering drawings for each site | One production specification; the multiphysics simulation is the a priori production specification |
| Where performance is proven | On site, at commissioning | In the factory, then on site: every module passes within a 2.5% manufacturing tolerance |
| How it grows | Scale-up: design and build a bigger plant | Capacity replication: add identical modules |
| Who is accountable | Split among designer, contractor and equipment vendors | One party: the Authorized Systems Integrator (ASI) |
| Technology | Often site-specific | No new technology: every component is established and commercial-grade |
| Timeline | Set by site construction | 12 to 24 months from permit issuance to commercial operation |
A 400 TPD plant is four modules
A standard 400 tons-per-day deployment is four 100 TPD ACM modules. The first module carries the site’s shared infrastructure and building, and the others share it. A building holds up to 2,000 TPD, and a campus up to 30,000 TPD, reached the same way: more identical modules.
Every module is made to the same specification, so the whole fleet uses one set of spares, a repair is a module swap, and what one module teaches applies to all of them. The building’s installed N+1 line-capacity architecture carries its named throughput while a module is out.
Who does what
Carbotura is the OEM. It authors the ACM module production specification and governs how modules are manufactured. The Authorized Systems Integrator (ASI) is the single accountable party for factory, site and integration acceptance testing, deployment, and the system warranty and performance guarantees. Each sub-tier partner gives a component warranty for its own scope, through the ASI.
The innovation is integration. Every technology in an ACM module is established and commercial-grade, with prior industrial-scale use.
Common questions
Is Carbotura an EPC contractor?
No. Carbotura does not operate under an EPC model. Its plants are deployed under Design for Manufacturability (DFM): ACM modules are manufactured products, made to one production specification and replicated for capacity.
Does Carbotura run pilot plants?
No. There are no pilots and no bespoke construction. The smallest unit is a small-scale modular production unit, made to the same production specification as every other module.
How does a Carbotura plant get bigger?
By capacity replication. More identical ACM modules are added, up to 2,000 TPD per building and 30,000 TPD per campus. Nobody designs a larger plant.
Who is responsible if a module underperforms?
The Authorized Systems Integrator (ASI). It is the single party that holds the performance guarantees and the system warranty, so there is one party to go to.
How long does a deployment take?
Deployments run 12 to 24 months from permit issuance to commercial operation.
What does the 2.5% manufacturing tolerance mean?
Each module has to perform within 2.5% of its production specification to pass acceptance testing. It is a tolerance on a manufactured product, the way any factory states one, not an estimate of whether the design will work.