Energy & BuildingsAdvisory & TrainingScope 1Scope 2
De Smet Engineers & Contractors (DSEC) designs and builds agro-industrial and bio-based plants worldwide, from studies to full turnkey delivery, with energy efficiency and fuel switching built into the process design.
About De Smet Engineers & Contractors
De Smet Engineers & Contractors (DSEC) was created in 1990 by the De Smet Group, a supplier to the edible oils industry, and was soon joined by sugar experts from Abay Engineering. Based in Mont-Saint-Guibert, it acts as an engineering and general contracting company and process integrator for sugar and ethanol, vegetable oils, renewable fuels, bio-based chemicals, alternative proteins and fertilisers. It has offices in Belgium, France, India and Mauritius and has worked in more than 65 countries, historically in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, with many references in Europe. Its services range from technical audits and FEED studies to EPCM and full turnkey EPC contracts, from €100k to more than €200 million. Being independent from equipment and technology suppliers, DSEC selects the best technical option for each project, with a focus on energy saving. It has been ISO 9001 certified by SGS since 2012 and has been majority owned by the Parlym group since July 2025. Clients include Biowanze, Cristal Union, BENEO, Prayon and Cargill.
What De Smet Engineers & Contractors has delivered
BiowanzeBioethanol
Adding a biomass cogeneration boiler to a running bioethanol plant
Biowanze in Wanze, Belgium, wanted a new biomass cogeneration boiler next to the bioethanol plant DSEC had built for it years earlier. DSEC managed the construction as EPCM contractor, with Vyncke as boiler supplier, and integrated the boiler, turbine and biomass storage into the existing plant. Civil works were ready for boiler erection slightly ahead of schedule, and the unit entered industrial operation in 2023.
A biomass boiler island running on straw and wood chips
For Cristanol, part of Cristal Union, at Bazancourt in France, DSEC designed, supplied, built, installed and commissioned a biomass boiler island producing steam from straw combustion and wood chip gasification, on a semi-turnkey basis. The island includes the feed silo, boiler, economiser, cyclone, reactor and filter, and started operating in 2011.
A multi-year plan to run a chicory plant on biomass only
BENEO asked DSEC, which had built its chicory inulin factory in Pemuco, Chile, some 15 years earlier, to start a multi-year energy saving plan. Once fully implemented, the plan aims to cut the plant's thermal energy use enough to run it on a biomass boiler alone and shut down the heavy fuel boilers. The first phase covers the design and installation of a new evaporation unit and its integration into the plant, working alongside BENEO's local engineering team.
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