Home / Who we are
A small studio, deliberately.
Sherle exists because the engineering that early-stage chemical companies need is not what large EPCs are built to sell, and not what freelance drafting can deliver.
Founder
“Every plant I've worked on had one assumption nobody wrote down. Finding it early is most of what this job is — and it's far cheaper to find on a spreadsheet than on a skid.”
The gap we were built for
A company with lab data and a Series A has a specific problem. Large EPC contractors are structured around projects an order of magnitude bigger, and their commercial model does not fit a six-week design basis. Independent drafters can produce drawings but not the judgement that decides what should be drawn. In between sits the work that actually determines whether a novel process scales: choosing the property package, writing an honest risk register, deciding whether the pilot should be continuous.
That is the work we do.
What we believe about engineering
Fundamentals before software
A simulation that has not been checked against a hand-calculated balance is a rendering, not a model. Every flowsheet we issue has been closed by hand at least once.
Operability is a design input
Plants are run by people at three in the morning. Access, isolation, drainage, sampling and cleaning belong in the design from the first layout, not as an afterthought at IFC.
Assumptions get written down
Every design basis we issue carries an explicit assumptions register. It is the most useful page in the document and the one most often missing elsewhere.
Say the uncomfortable thing early
If the energy intensity will not survive contact with an electricity tariff, or the separation train costs more than the product is worth, you should hear it in week one.
Sectors we work in
- Biomaterials and biorefining — fractionation, solvent recovery, drying
- Specialty and fine chemicals — batch to continuous conversion
- Electronic-grade and high-purity chemicals — purification and handling
- Carbon capture, utilisation and waste valorisation
- Battery and electrode materials
- Food, dairy and nutraceutical processing — membranes, evaporation, spray drying
Where we are
Bengaluru, India, working with clients across India, Europe and North America. Most delivery is remote; site attendance is scheduled around commissioning and factory acceptance tests.